New Stuff!

This last year I've really been drawn to "pretty things". I suppose I needed a break from the serious art I had been doing in the last few years. I've really just allowed my self to paint light-heartedly. I think it's been a good season to explore fun, easy going, simple art. These two are a good representation of what I've been doing recently.

Title: A Page from my Book



I removed a page from an old gardening book, put a little paint on it and glued it down to a sturdy piece of card stock. Then I drew the flower from one of the pictures in the book. I used black ink for the flower, and I took an artists friends advise, He told me once "That I should practice drawing in pin, even sketches, without using pencil first. This way you only have one chance to get it right." It's a good skill to have, so I gave it a try and I think it turned out pretty great.

Titled: Pink Flowers



I had been sketching a lot of geometric shaped flowers in the past months. So I decided to turn them into a painting and this is what I came up with. I cut out some of the flower shapes out of a page from an old book. I used acrylics for the flowers and back ground and I embellished the abstracted flowers and swirls with permanent black ink.

Happy Valentine's Day!

123 Fine Arts Newsletter

February 2011

This months Creative Project
Valentine’s Day Art

What you’ll need: A small piece of poster board, scrap papers, pages of text (old books), magazines, scissors, glue, Fine-tip markers, fabric scraps, acrylic paints, brushes, cup of water, stamps, and a stamp pad.

1. First cut a piece of board (I made mine about 6x8 inches). Glue pages of text (old book) to board and paint over it with a light layer, so that you can still see the text under the paint.

2. Cut out shapes and objects that you like out of magazines and scrap paper I used a woman, flowers and a butterfly. Glue them down. Use your paint to embellish your objects.
You can use stamps to embellish, also, after paint is dry.

3. I also covered the skirt portion of her dress with text from an old book. I used strips that were about 0.5-1 inches long, and started gluing them from the bottom up.

4. Than I cut out a small piece of fabric for the top of her dress. I also added some half-pearl embellishments.
To finish I wrote “Happy Valentine's Day” in ink and wrote a personal message on the back of my board.
And Val-La! Something beautiful and personal for your loved one. A little piece art just for them! And of course any time is a good time to make a mini collage, not only for Valentine's, but any occasion!

Food for thought
A Poem “Love”

“When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the North lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in they're clinging to the earth....
All of these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart....”

The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran on Love

Have a great Valentine's Day everyone! Find a way for you and the love of your life (or you and some good friends) to spread the love this February. Maybe get together and make Valentine's cards for the people in your life who could use some encouragement. Make someone else feel loved this Valentine's Day.

Peace be with you.