Deliberate Indecision

"Deliberate Indecision"
mixed media
11 x 14" framed

When in doubt, I make a collage.

Some of My Favorite Things

"Remnants no. 002"
acrylic, hydrocal, fabric, wire mesh, and tea bag on board
9x9"

Second piece in this series.
The hydrocal (plaster) is challenging but I like the way I can get more dimension with it in conjunction with the wire mesh.  The addition of the tea bag with the image on it adds a greater sense of identity to the piece.
Hard and Soft; Smooth and Textural; References to Sewing and Ancestry...some of my favorite things.

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!

Arch and Ivy

Arch and Ivy
8x8"  mixed media collage

The last few pieces (some of which I've posted and some not) have been heavily layered.
I wanted to go back to work with layers that are thinner thus revealing, not totally hiding, the ground or base layers.
As with much of my work, the materials and process influence my decisions.
The circle of ivy leaves was one of the original elements in this collage.
The archway developed or appeared as I added other papers and paint.
I am finding that the stained tea bag papers remain transparent so what ever is underneath still has some presence.
They also take paint well.  The arch appeared from the stained marks on the tea bag and was enhanced by some
watercolor paint.

Ten Little Leaves

10 Leaves
6x6"

More painting and stitching on  tea bags.
Here the artwork is done totally with tea bags collaged to a thin base paper then painted with watercolors
and hand stitched.
The tea bags accept the paint really well and the stained marks and texture from the tea is a bonus.
I cut through the tea bags in some areas to expose the white base paper.
I really struggled with those white recessed areas.   They were just too white.  In the end I used some colored pencil and shellac to tone them down.

For sale on my  Etsy site for $65.  

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.

Promise

Bulb in a Vase
3.5x3.5" floating in a 6x6" box

I came across this image from a collage I made a few years ago just as I was noticing all of the spring bulbs coming up in my garden.   In the past I have often forced bulbs in the dead of winter by putting them in a bowl of stones and water.
Usually February is when I feel the need for something blooming, just to give me encouragement that spring is actually going to happen.  And after this past winter that is truer than ever.
So here is a little bit of that hope in a small  painting on a tea bag.

$50 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

Jeff's Leaf

Jeff's Leaf
3x3" floating in a 6x6" box

Transfer of an original collage onto a used tea bag.
More color was added with watercolor paint, shellac and pen and ink.
French Knots to embellish.
I need to drink more tea;  I am almost out of tea bags to repurpose!

Letting the Work Speak to Me

Variation on a Theme no. 5
8x10"

Working with this large, curved, white collar was a challenge.  I guess it was the fact that it is so large on this 8x10" piece of paper and that it has such an organic nature.  A lot of my work tends to be more geometric.  So it is good to work against the grain, so to speak.  There was lots of staring...me staring at the big white collar and the big white collar just staring back.  I was waiting for the work to speak to me.  Sometimes it does; sometimes I just have to guess at what the work wants.  I think in the end the big white collar did not want to be so big, so visible.  The addition of the woven belt and the stained tea bags on the left helped the composition as did the pink circles on the right.
Over all, this Variations Series is telling me I need to work with smaller collage pieces when working in this size range.
But I did not learn the lesson soon enough.  I have already started and almost completed Variation no. 6 which also has a pretty large collage element.

Mended Door, Tea Bag Painting

Mended Door
3.5 x 3.5" recessed in a 6x6" frame

I received a comment yesterday about the tea bag painting of a poppy addressing the stitching on a piece so small.
(Thanks, Heather!)
The stitching in that piece was on the original collage that I resized and then transferred to the tea bag.
In this piece you can see the size of the stitches and that they are sort of out of proportion to the rest of the painting.
The used tea bags are somewhat fragile, depending on what kind of tea bags they are, how long I let them sit before I emptied out the contents, etc.
I don't mind the small tears and holes.  I think they add a certain character that is authentic to the fact that it is a recycled material.  In this piece I added more watercolor paint, pen and ink lines for definition and some shellac.  The shellac adds more strength to the piece without affecting negatively the translucency of the tea bag.
The artwork is not mounted directly onto the inside of the box, but raised on some foam core so that it appears to float within the box.

Priced at $50.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

Painting on Tea Bags!

Poppy
3x3" recessed in a 6x6" frame

I love poppies!  And they are just beginning to emerge from my garden.  I love the kind of fuzzy irregular leaves, the tall thin stems, the red-orange flowers and even the stalks with the seed pods that remain once the petals have fallen off.
Those stalks are so sculptural.
This small artwork is a transfer from another poppy collage that I did a number of years ago.
It is transferred onto a used tea bag, hence the small size.
I added some more watercolor paint and drawing elements.
I am finding the used tea bags to be a good receptacle for paint and ink, although they are rather fragile.
I haven't experimented with fresh or new tea bags but think they might be stronger.
I like the staining quality that one finds on a used tea bag so I am willing to work with the delicate nature of these bags.  There are also additional characteristics like small tears and spots of tea that add to the artwork.

Cheating...Yes or No?

Variations on a Theme no. 3
8x10"

More light colored work, although a little bit of pink crept in, some of it from the staining on the tea bag I used and some from my watercolor brush.   I've had this doily for a long time and love it but could never find a way to use it.
Glad it became the star of this piece.  I do have a few more of them. They were all individual pieces but the raw edges tell me that they must have been part of something else at one time.
So am I cheating by using a bit of color and some black here and there for contrast?
My goal was to make white/light colored pieces without much color.
And to use the materials I have without purchasing new items.
So what do you think?  Am I a cheater?!

The Backbone of My Work

Two Park Benches
6x6"

Final collage in the Chairs of Paris Series!  That doesn't necessarily mean you won't see chairs again, but for right now I am done with chairs and benches, flea markets and antique shops.

I find that I often return to my past artworks for inspiration or for source material for new work, as I did in this series.
Doing this adds an authenticity to what I do.  While I enjoy looking at the work of others, visiting art galleries and shows, viewing Pinterest and Etsy, I know myself and that I can get easily distracted  by the great variety of work in these places.  I see people working with techniques I'd like to try and materials I wish to use.  One of my art goals for this year is to remain true to myself.  I know I have posted some things that are somewhat like me and my work, but also me experimenting with someone else's style, technique, materials, etc.
But I almost always return to what I call the backbone of my work...imagery of some sort, collage and encaustic.
I work better and more authentically when I have a "image to hang my hat on" (as Jim Dine said) and/or a concept from which I can work.
I need to remind myself of that from time to time.

This piece is 6x6" mixed media collage on a board with encaustic.  It is ready to hang and requires no framing.
It is priced at $75 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase, visit my Etsy shop. 

The Essence of a Flea Market

Pink Velvet Seats
6x6"

There is always so much to look at when one visits a flea market, no matter where it is located.   I get easily distracted by the variety of objects, colors, and arrangements that I see.  It is similar to the way I view an art exhibit.  I want to run through the whole exhibit (or flea market) and see what is there.  Then go back through and see everything again, savoring and dwelling over the things  that really draw me in.
This collage is  an example of that phenomenon.  Chairs, umbrellas over cafe tables, and light posts all call to me in a compact area of the flea market.  There is an atmosphere created by outdoor flea markets that I tried to capture here.  Old yet alive.  Dark yet festive.  Casual and at the same time elegant.

 This is another mixed media collage from my Chairs of Paris series.  It is on a wooden panel with encaustic measuring 6x6" and priced at $75 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase, please visit my Etsy shop.

More Chair Obsession

Two Benches / Two Chairs
6x6"

I love those small wooden folding chairs that were everywhere in Paris.
The bench in the distant background is also of the same style.
These collages remind me of the Spring weather that is just around the corner for Ohio.
Can't wait to get out my chairs and porch furniture and to see green grass again!!

This is 6x6" on board; mixed media collage with encaustic medium; priced at $75 with free shipping in the US.
To purchase, visit my Etsy shop.

Surprise and Mystery

Leaf Tears         6x6" on board

The image here is pretty straightforward.  The technique is related to the layering I am interested in achieving.
The leaf that is printed on the paper with the text is collaged to the board along with a few other light colored papers.  The mark making on the right side was created using a wood burning tool...lots of fun.  The layers also contain tea bag papers, watercolor and acrylic.  I wanted to be sure to maintain or save the teardrops on the leaf so I used clear shellac on them to create a resist for the next layer of watercolor.  Some of the gold and red toned areas come from a piece of silk organza that was painted with watercolor.  The black thread is the final layer.  I am not sure if it is too contrasty or not.  I do like the tension created with the thread and the various implications that it suggests.

There is a richness that comes from creating many transparent layers that I am really drawn to.
There is  no way to directly paint the kinds of overlapping transparency that is in this piece without doing many layers.  Or at least I don't know how to do it.  There is both surprise and mystery that occurs when I allow myself to be playful and see where all of these transparent layers will lead me.

This piece is 6x6" on a board and priced at $60 with free shipping in the US.  You can find it on Etsy and convo me for shipping costs outside of the United States.

No Bones! Just Sticks and Stones

Sticks & Stones

Here are the two pieces together.
I think the contrast between the sticks that protrude and the dark stones that recede works.
The colors in the backgrounds are not identical.  I don't know if that is a big deal or not.
Each piece can works as an individual object.
But I did want to photograph them together and view them side by side.

A Cairn of Stones

Stones    8x10"

Here is the companion piece for "Sticks" which I posted yesterday.
The pile of stones in this crevice is what I was after.
The colors are off a bit from what you see in "Sticks" because I worked on them on two different days.
Also the lighting / time of day when I photographed them was different.
There are so many variables when working and then documenting.
Anything can affect the outcome!

"Stones" is 8x10" on board and is priced at $85 with free shipping in the US.  To purchase or for shipping outside of the US please email me.

A Bundle of Sticks

Sticks
Bundle of sticks on an 8x10" cradled board.

I have used sticks and stones in several artworks over the years, often with a reference to the childhood saying about sticks and stones being hurtful while words are not.  The work on this panel is placed overtop of book pages that allude to the word idea, although the words on the page are not hurtful...just words.
I don't often center imagery or objects right in the middle of the picture plane so this is a bit of a departure for me compositionally.  But I had an idea and ran with it, completing this piece in a rather short time about...2 1/2 hours or so.
I credit some of that short time to becoming more proficient with the plaster and shellacking process I am doing.  I have a better idea of what will happen in each layer and the way I want to order the layers. So all in all I had a good time on this snowy Sunday where I was kind of house bound.  Not complaining...I like the snow and the time to spend in the studio.

This piece is priced at $85 and includes free shipping in the US. To purchase or for shipping outside of the US, email me.