The Beauty of Working Small

Untitled
6x6"
mixed media collage on wood

As I move into the new year I have several art commitments coming up as well as a trip to New York City, so
I am once again working small and on a variety of ideas and imagery.
I have not forsaken the "Botanist's Journal Series".
I am still working on those pieces, just mixing it up a bit.
Actually the flower in this piece is from a copy of one of the Botany pieces (see Golden Poppy, Dec. 14 post).
Look for this new small piece on Etsy after the New Year.

There is something very satisfying about working small.
 Immediate results and a sense of accomplishment that often takes so long to achieve when working larger.
It also allows one to try new techniques or colors, imagery or abstraction and then analyze what works and what doesn't.
Just what I need right now.

Apple Blossoms from the Botanist's Journal

"Apple Blossoms" from the Botanist's Journal Series
14 x 20"
mixed media collage on canvas

The illustration of the apple blossoms and the writing about it are layered on a painted canvas with papers, fabrics, and threads.  Sewing paper seems to be imbedded in my art practice.  Also incorporated are mono prints on silk organza and some stamping.  There is some dimension to the work from the sections where a vintage quilt was incorporated.  I really want to incorporate more direct drawing into these pieces but am having a hard time making that leap.

Second Piece from the Botanist's Journal

"Late Season Sweet Potatoes"
13x14"
mixed media collage on paper

This is the second piece in the Botanist's Journal series.
The drawing of the sweet potatoes was done by my dad as part of some college course work he was taking.
The work is heavily layered yet with as much transparency of layers as I could get.
I am happy with the looser quality of the collaging and the lean toward more abstracted work.

Life Maintenance or When Real Life Takes Over

"Botanical Lies" (first side)
Originally posted on July 1

"Botanical Lies" (reverse side)

So, you may have noticed that my posts have been few and far between as well as all over the place...artwork, gardening, canning the produce, old shorts, art fairs, workshops.   That is kind of how the summer has been.  Add in lots of company and cooking and hopefully you can see how real life usurped the idyllic art life.
When this happens I call it "life maintenance", just carrying on with all of the duties that daily life requires.

But I am closing in on finishing this two-sided accordion fold book titled "Botanical Lies" which I wrote about back on July 1 (Yikes!).  The top photo here is the finished side that was previously posted in July.  The lower and larger photo is the reverse side of the book which is almost done.  So close, and with the prediction of rain for this week maybe I can get into the studio because I won't be able to work outside.  The left half of the reverse side needs more work and I want to do some negative painting as well.  My goal is to get this finished this week.  And I don't have much more time to work on it as it has to be delivered to the show it will be in around the middle of September.

Taa Daa!!

"Botanical Lies"
This side done!  mixed media collage on paper

"Botanical Lies" detail

Finished this side, at least for now.
I was able to insert the dimensional grass element that you see in the detail.
It wasn't as hard as I was making it out to be when just thinking about it.
Sometimes I just overthink things.
Now, on to the other side.

More Progress on "Botanical Lies"

More progress on "Botanical Lies"

Slowly I am making progress on this piece.  Some of what I did the other day affected the right side.  Once I got in the groove again I was able to integrate the collage elements and what I had done previously well enough.
I am now considering some way to add some dimensional elements to this piece by having additional sections that project from inside the folded areas.  Hard to explain.  Maybe harder to do!  But I can see it in my head!
Of course, what I see in my head doesn't always make it to the final artwork.

And this is a 2-sided piece,  so I still have the other side to do.
Yikes!  Taking more time than I originally thought it would.

Progress on "Botanical Lies"

Progress on "Botanical Lies"

Thus far, I have begun to work from right to left (?! go figure) using acrylics and colored pencil to expand upon my drawings done with pen and ink as well as stitched line drawing.  When I work in sections as I have done here I always worry about integrating the 2 parts.  Especially if some time has elapsed as it has with this piece.  While I have been doing other artwork, I haven't touched this piece for a week.
We will see what happened when I get back to it today.
Then there will be another time lapse since company arrives tomorrow.
Can't wait to see you guys!!

A Blog Worthy Demo

Paisley
6x6" encaustic painting

Last Thursday and Friday I was teaching an encaustic painting class.  As a part of the class I did a few demos of  various encaustic techniques.  Usually my demos aren't anything to write home about. Or in this case to write a blog about.  But this particular demo had some potential and above is the final result.
The paisley design came from a sheer fabric that I adhered to demonstrate the use of fabrics when working with encaustic.  Some of the other techniques include using stencils (dots in the lower right corner), creating textures (left side), and collaging paper (heart in upper right corner).

My husband, who is also an artist, and I recently had a discussion about the value in working a surface or a project or a concept until it gets to some resolution.  I am not always able to get an artwork to a finished state that I am happy with with, but I agree that the process of trying to do so can result in valuable insights into the ways in which one works with their materials and ideas.

More About "Botanical Lies"

Box for "Botanical Lies"

Botanical Lies & box

I love putting things in boxes!  So, creating this accordion fold book and finding a way to display it allowed me to utilize a box once again.  The tags hanging from the box in the first photo above show the title,"Botanical Lies".   The second photo  displays part of the accordion fold book (in progress) emerging from the box.

My book project is part of a larger body of work done by the artists who are a part of ABC...Art Books Cleveland.
We are participating in a display of book arts in conjunction with a larger exhibit at the Cleveland  Museum of Art,
"Painting the Modern Garden, Monet to Matisse".  For those participating, we are asked to create an original artist book that has a garden theme.  The finished books will be displayed in Ingalls Library located in the Cleveland Museum of Art  during the month of October with a special one night exhibit of the works in the atrium of the museum on October 14, 2015 from 6:30-8:00pm.

My idea was to create a book of fantastical flowers inspired by the work of Gaugin and Rousseau.  I started by drawing my own versions of flowers and adding found botanical drawings along with collage elements from works I had done in the past.  I did some stitching on the paper to emphasize leaves and stems which I plan to paint later.  Because I am stitching on paper, what I do on the front side affects the back of the paper as well.  So this will be a two sided book with imagery and information on both sides. I like that the stitching causes me to think. What happens with the stitching which was deliberate on one side affects  what I can do on the back or opposite side.  Working back and forth from one side to the other sets up a dynamic that doesn't happen when  one considers just the front or one side of the paper.

Simple, Yet Not Simplistic

Pages
8x8" mixed media collage

This is the last of the small collages for awhile.  Spare and thinly layered.  Simple without being simplistic.
I have started 3 other projects: an accordion fold book, a dimensional portrait (of sorts), and a sculpture using some cocoons or pods that I made with the stained tea bags.  These will be rather time consuming and depending on how I multi-task, I will post them in-progress and maybe not in order.
I am excited about all three and especially about moving from the more straightforward mixed media work into something more experimental.
The accordion fold book is the piece that is more grounded in what I usually do.
The sculptural piece is the most "out there" or experimental one.
And the portrait is somewhere in the middle of these 2 extremes (if they can even be called extremes).
Stay tuned!

Wine and Dine

Wine and Dine
mixed media collage  8x8"

I have a stash of paper napkins that have a set of silverware printed on them.  Up until now, I've used them sparingly...for special dinners, special company...because I like them so much and can't seem to find them again.
 I discovered that I can split the backing from the front image. They then become rather transparent when used in a collage.  Especially when I shellac over them.

In this piece I appliquéd them over top of the bottle images and they appear is if they are inside of the bottles, making a fun play on the idea of Wine and Dine.

For sale in my Etsy Shop for $85 including shipping.

Integrating and Unifying

At the End of the Road
6x6"

This was total play!  I did not start out with an idea of what I wanted at the end.  The only preconceived element was that I would create some texture in plaster with a cotton doily I have.  As with much of my work, it is mixed media...very mixed media!  In the layers of the collage there are found papers, part of a photocopy of one of my artworks, plaster, shellac, watercolor and acrylic paint.  I worked back and forth between all of these elements, sometimes sanding the layers with my mouse sander.  I applied the shellac and used the sander the way one might apply paint or erase out charcoal or graphite.

Because plaster and shellac take time to dry between layers, I find that I can multi-task, working on several pieces at one time.  What happens in one piece often becomes something I incorporate into some of the other pieces depending on what else is going on in them.  I like that when I look at the finished works I often can't tell the order of my process.
For me this is the definition of truly integrating all of the elements into a unified whole.

Back to Work

Swing
6x6"

So...finally I am back in the studio!  I still have gardening to do, but I feel like I can start to balance home and garden with the studio.  In the past, because I was teaching, summer was my studio time and the rest of the year was for teaching.  Now, I can flip-flop that and concentrate on artwork in the winter months and the garden and home in the summer.We will see how that works out.
So you have here another tea bag painting...a transfer of an original artwork onto a tea bag enhanced with water color and stitching.  I like the intimacy of these small pieces.  There is a freshness to them and an unexpected quality of play.

Mother's Day Reflection

Joanne 1927

This Sunday is Mother's Day.
In honor of my mom who is no longer with me in person but definitely with me in spirit I offer this encaustic work which pictures my mom dressed up and holding a cute little purse.
I have put a halo of sorts on her head.
In the background is the image of a dress, appropriate because she sewed many of my clothes and taught me to sew.
As an avid gardener, both vegetables and flowers, I include this blue flower. and the brown vines.
I miss her every day and think of her whenever I sew, garden, can vegetables, or do home improvement projects which she did constantly throughout her life.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Quilt on a Clothesline

Clothesline Art no. 3:  Quilt
6x6"

This is the third and final piece in this particular series of clothesline artwork.
It is a photocopy of an earlier collage with the addition of the sewn paper sheets and quilt.
I like how this piece looks as if it is hanging in a field of wheat.

The work is $45 with free shipping in the US.  Look for details on my Etsy shop.

More Clothesline Art

Clothesline Art no. 2
6x6"

Not everyone has white sheets. In fact, the  range of color and design in sheets today is amazing.
It is Friday here and a day when I typically do some laundry.  Should I string up the clothesline and hang my wash out?  It is currently 40 degrees but sunny.  I have never hung my laundry out while wearing gloves!

Clothesline Art

Clothesline Art no. 1:  White Sheets
6x6"

In the Spring and Summer I like to hang my wash outside on a clothesline.  I love the smell of the clothes "kissed by the sun" and I like seeing them wave in the breeze.  It does take more time to carry them out and pin them to the clothes line.  Throwing them from the washer into the dryer is definitely easier, for sure.  But for now I am happy with this little nod to domesticity.

I also have always liked seeing clothes hanging on a line.  I live in Amish country and these admirable women hang clothes out year round.  I like the architectural look of clothes on a line and the way people choose to hang the clothes....all the sheets and pillow cases together, all of the underwear together, shirts together, overalls together.  While I am doing laundry for just 2 people, I do tend to put like articles together on the line.

This series of just 3 pieces is a nod to all that I like about hanging clothes on a line outside.
It is somewhat abstract yet I think the sheets are readily seen as such.  The background came from a photocopy of a collage I made a few years ago.  "Fresh" sheets have been sewn onto the line adding a bit more dimension to the new work.

The work measures 6x6" and is mounted on a board, ready for hanging.  It is priced at $45.
To purchase, please visit my Etsy site.