New Art: Sea Horse

I am living art this year by spending more time in the studio, trying out new art supplies, and sharing my art and myself with the world.  I have produced more pieces in the last year than in my whole 48 years combined.  I am happier than I have ever been in my own skin.  With each new piece I feel my true self emerging from years of pushing back the creative urges because the stuff of everyday life was getting in the way.  Not much about everyday life has changed.  There is still laundry to do, groceries to buy, and school to teach. Yard work, dogs to walk, a husband to keep fed.  So, what changed? I stopped expecting life stuff to be perfect.  Why did I not paint?  I had to much stuff in my life to take care of.  I reduced the stuff, did away with the unnecessary, and gained time.  I fill that time now with things that make me happy...painting, reading, taking art classes. I live art when I am with others in art classes.  I live art by sharing my work.  I live art when I spend all weekend at home in my studio and never cut on the television.  I live art when I have no idea what time it is.  I live art when I forget to eat.

The piece above is my latest. It is done with all gelli printed papers.  All the papers were science worksheets left over from the classes that I teach.  There is a little colored pencil, some acrylic inks, and charcoal for the outlining.  Mixed media collage / paper painting has been my medium of choice this year.

I am linking to Emily Freedman's blog and Link Party: We Will Make Art.

Happy, Happy, Happy!

My daughter and her friends off to a big Halloween Party!

My Jacks are smiling!

4x4 mixed media using gelli printed papers, rubber stamps, acrylic inks, and charcoal.
The pumpkin is made from a styrofoam fake pumpkin that was carved out  and then some details added in using paper clay and paint.

Wide Open Space

Space to breath, space to be inspired! 

Blue Flowers #2

Gelli printed papers, scrap book papers, acrylics, and charcoal.

24 x 24

Minnies and box!

Today was a nice day!  It is homecoming week at the high school where I teach.  Today was Disney Character day.  I pulled together a Minnie Mouse costume at the last minute this morning.  It turns out we had quiet a few Minnies running around the classrooms!  These are two of my sweet girls in 4th period class....just had to get a pic of us Minnies together!

When I got home, I had a box at the front door!  I love boxes left at the front door.  A box usually means my mamma has sent me something special, or maybe I've ordered something cool, or I am getting something from a blogger friend!  Turns out to have been an original painting and a print from a very talented artist and blogger friend, Karen Fields.  Her work is bright and cheery and I am proud to have them in my home! Check out her blog and Etsy shop here.  I am sending out a painting to her tomorrow... the one I gave sneak peeks of a few days ago!

Thank you Karen!  I love them!

Using a little neon in my paintings.

I have loved adding some neon paints into the gelli printing process.  So peeks of neon are started to show through in my latest mixed media paper paintings.  I'm loving the pop!

a few peeks at a readers surprise!

These pictures are smidgens of a 12x16 mixed media piece that I am sending to a blogger friend!  Giving is so much more exciting than selling!  This is the first piece that I have done that all the papers that I used were Gelli plate printed first.  And what I really love is that all the paper came from the recycle bin in my classroom.  Most were left over worksheets and microscope diagrams (I teach science!).  It also includes my new favorite paint color, neon pink! 

Haunted Houses

These are some pieces that I did a while back for a haunted house ATC swap.