Happy Halloween!

The Orange Green Man

Mailable Art

This is the prototype for my new project, Mailable Art.  It went through the US postal system with flying colours.  (There was some florescent orange lines on the front, but since I used a varnish they came right off with a wet finger.)

Mailable Art is hand made mini-art in a postcard form; no two postcards are alike.

No one likes to get only bills and junk mail; Mailable Art adds a smile to someone's mailbox. 

I'll post examples latter on (once they are created).

I'm Back

After taking a "it is just too hot to do anything break," I am posting again and taking advantage of the three weeks I have off before fall semester starts.

Below is the first page of my sketchbook for Sketchbook Project 2012.  This year I am starting earlier, but need the weather to cooperate so that I can go hiking for inspiration and not collapse from high ozone levels and 3-digit temps.

My theme this year is "A Path Through the Trees."  I plan to incorporate a lot of samplings from my outdoor adventures, like this birch bark, and to pull from my science foundation.

I am also starting another project that I will post about tomorrow.

Collector

mixed media on canvas

dried plants, dead butterfly, tissue paper, photograph, old book, acrylic paint

This is a piece I did last summer.  It was the first piece of my art that sold.

The Weed Whacker

flower plots and butterfly garden
protected by a 5 inch wire fence
destroyed by the weed whacker
killed before the bloom and nectar

broad leaf, tropical plant
bright green plumage happiness
sunshine morning, sparkle in light
only a 3 inch stump after the weed whacker

pain and agony; life no more
only a bare stump burnt in the high sun
no need for water and food
I am no more; I am whacked.

Bird on a Fence

Branches

paper, watercolour, thread, shadow box

Happy Easter

 

In the Meadow

mixed media on canvas

Flora and Fauna

Earlier this week I applied for a juried art show for my very first time. It was the Flora and Fauna show at The 930.  I thought the show would be perfect for me, but I was rejected.  But applying was a really big step for me, so I am still happy I tried.  I will keep trying.  In the meantime, I turned my rejection email into the first page of my new art journal.  I am finally following my advice about trying to do art on a daily basis (the lesson I learned from the Sketchbook Project).  I have called the piece Flora and Fauna.

Type

I got these great type pieces at an antique store yesterday.  I have walked past the display many times, but yesterday my brain went "ooh, type, how cool."  I even got this pretty wood box to keep them in.  I had a lot of fun testing them out.

Foggy Manzanita

Life of a Kentucky Raccoon

I have had a long life as a wild raccoon
But I fear it will end soon

I loved to rummage a garbage can
And I am apt at avoiding a speeding van

Alas this Winter will be my last
My health is fading fast

An infection in my eye
Might lead me to die

But with the help of a raccoon rehab
My life will turn out fab

My twilight years will be spent
In luxury and retirement

Living in the wild was the best
But I am due for a long rest

Snowy Owl

acrylic paint, coloured pencil, marker

Sketchbook Project Finished

Today I mailed my Sketchbook.  I have to admit that I've had a bit of an artist-block and I completed my Sketchbook in an all day marathon session yesterday.  This project was a true experiment.  I tried some things I have never done before (some worked, some didn't).  I participated in this project because I thought it might be fun and I might learn something.  I have learned what I will not do next time.  I have also learned that I need to do some form of art every day (or something like that) to keep my creative juices flowing so that I do not get blocked again.  Below are a few of my favorite pages from the Sketchbook.

Self Portraits

I was visiting my parents recently and one of my favorite tasks while home is to go though old stuff.  I found some of my childhood art (though most of it seems to be in Missing Sock Land).  Below are two of my self portraits (which was always the one assignment I dreaded in art class).

crayon and paper

Preschool

pencil and paper

Grade 6