wall collage series

I've been teaching myself some new stuff for the last couple years and finally found a technique I really like... it's expensive to do and frustrating as hell but the result is (in my opinion) really pretty. The colors remain vibrant while the shapes and lines in the image become just a little bit muted, softer and translucent to whatever is behind them.

Due to the texture of the layers of vintage paper, it gets a gritty, grungy look with little (or big) missing chunks. It makes a mess and my hands get dirty... I like that. These were all made on small 3/8" panels so they would be easy to hang together for an art wall sort of look.

All of these were originally done on canvas and then cut and mounted on panel board. I'm slowly but surely getting a good grip on substrates are best for which techniques and am able to decide between wrapped canvas, cradled wood, or gessoed panel prior to starting each new piece. It seems like there won't ever be a point where the learning stops.

Some of these have sold, and some are still available in my Etsy shop.

some new work and new music

This post was brought to you by two things I found last night...

and

Colours of Byron from Rest Your Eyes on Vimeo.

I worked most of the day on Tuesday putting the final touches on some new pieces, then took a frustrated break at night when I couldn't get them exactly where I wanted. I don't want to force it, I want to be in a groove and feel it and let each piece of paper or splatter of paint happen on its own, but I also wanted to get these done and bring them to get scanned and made into prints and feel like I've been somewhat productive over the last two months.

Halfway through some sushi (that came with the above fortune) and a mason jar of pinot gris I happened to find Garrett Kato via Spell & The Gypsy Collective's blog... wow. His unreleased song "Silver Moon" is in the video above (about Spell's native Byron Bay) and hearing just the first five chords was such a heart stopping moment that I frantically searched the internet for who this could possibly be. I immediately bought both his albums, plugged in my iPod and got back to work with my little brick studio filled with his incredible, gravelly Eddie Vedder-esque voice and guitar-harmonica-violin acoustic storytelling. By 3:30am everything was finished and I was in love with "Tree Talkin'" and "Pull Down The Window". Pretty cool night.

Here are Mandala, an untitled piece, Salt Water, Sea Fever, The World is Pretty Amazing, and Promise.

Today I'm making the trip up north to the print shop that scans my work... so hopefully these will be available soon :)

Home, a custom work in progress

For the last couple weeks I've been working on a large custom piece I was commissioned to do as a mother's day/birthday gift and just finished it last night. Creating custom artwork is so much different than creating art on my own... in commissioned artwork, I haven't hatched the idea myself or been inspired by something specific. I haven't had the idea working through my head, catching and intertwining with little colors and thoughts for however long it takes to form something that can be put down on a canvas. It's a challenge because there is so much to live up to in the expectations of the buyer. Because it is someone else's project in their mind's eye, either a whole painting or just a feeling, I need to ask enough questions and get enough answers in order to turn it into just the right combination of paint and paper. 

This process, and all art, is like a conversation in two languages. Much like how poetry is what can be felt versus what can be written, art is what we hope to see or feel, the answers that we look for, what we have to tell each other, versus what we can actually speak onto a canvas. Or maybe onto a board, or a piece of paper, or a chunk of metal, or a concrete wall, with paint, or pencil, or old letters or stamps or ink.

I think this is why I like working with mixed media... anything that we can use to create artwork is our vocabulary, and the wider it is, the more able we'll be to translate the things that create art-- hopes, fears, beliefs, needs, joy-- from our minds onto a waiting canvas. A single word doesn't make poetry or a song, but the right ones in the right order can deliver something meaningful and unforgettable... the right paint or paper or string or text in the right places can too.

I think that's why its such a challenge to create a custom piece of artwork for someone, and why I like it so much. There are emails, sketches, phone calls and photos back and forth, but I'll never know exactly what they want in the way my eyes and fingers and brushes know what I do. It's like conversing in a language I'm not fluent in, but trying anyway, and hoping that between the two of us enough can be conveyed that what is in their head can flow through my fingertips and into something beautiful-- and right.

how many stars in a night sky?

some photos from a sleepy cloudy winter sunday.

night swimming, almost finished. this came to me last night and i worked on it almost nonstop. i think everyone remembers a night when they stood with their toes in the surf, gazing out into the wild dark black sea...

sea foam close up...

some smaller fiber artworks i've been working on...

new snowboarding jacket. i loved this little surprise on the sleeve :)

a lily in the bouquet of flowers my boyfriend sent me for our three year anniversary... i love that every time i lean in to my painting desk i get a whiff of roses, lilies and snapdragons.

brushes...

gracie... i found her in high school and my mom took care of her while i was in college.

when i graduated college, my mom flew out to massachusetts with her and we were reunited. she is an amazing buddy to have around in the studio when i have to work alone and is hilarious to watch. its surprising how much you can share with something that can't even communicate with you :)