Zebra painting is completed; plus two requested painting paintings of trains

You Might recall a few post ago me mentioning working on a painting of some zebras.... well the pieces is finally complete. I originally wanted it to go with the peeled acrylic collection I've been working on but after working on it a while I decided it would be better not to add the acrylic peel pieces. I am very happy with how it turned out. The image I referenced was one of a mother zebra in the background and her young-in' in front of her. My goal in this piece was to have the two blend together. It gives that feeling of continued connectedness.

A dear friend of mine has a three year old son who just loves trains. She requested that my sister and I make some paintings for her to put in his room of trains. (I have a twin sister who also is an artist). So to complete this project my sister and I decided to do something we never have done before expect when we do street painting... we worked on both pieces together, taking turns adding, adjusting, etc. both paintings. As an artist this is not an easy thing to do. Relinquishing control of your piece to another person to see them make changes.. and sometime changes you may not agree with. It was a fun process; luckily. We worked well together and encouraged each other to make adjustments and would give each other feedback. We are truly happy with the outcome and so was our friend who requested them.

The pleasures of Pastel

Currently I have been working on pieces using pastels. This has to be one my favorite mediums to work with. I like to use the chalk pastels both on traditional paper materials as well as on the ground. I recently just got back from participating in at Street painting festival where artist use chalk pastels to create paintings on the asphalt. Using the pastel medium on paper verse the ground are very different in some ways and they each pose there own set of challenges. I've included images of the work I've done on pastel board as well as a couple of  images of street paintings I've done. The postive about using pastel on a paper or a pastel board is that it last where as creating pieces on the ground  deteriate and are no more with in a few days. The other challenge with doing chalk on the ground is the wear and tear your hands take. The postives are the pleasure others get from seeing you work as well as seeing your work when you are done which they don't get the pleasure of doing when you are working in a studio at home. The other great thing about street painting  is the community it creates among artist who never knew each other prier to the event.

"Motherly Love"  $350











Easton Chalk Festival 2013

Easton Chalk Festival 2012













Illusion street painting

Sarasota Chalk Festival 2013

First Love

As an artist it's fun to try different mediums. I have always been one for stretching myself and trying new things when it comes to art. I've played with paper piecing, chalk pastel, acrylic paint, murals, glass, etc., yet I always come back to my first love.... drawing. It doesn't have to just be in pencil/ graphite drawings I also enjoy using pen too. While working on the acrylic paintings I have also been doing some drawing and sketches on the side as well as working on an illustrated character. Below you will find images mostly of animals as that has been my current focus and interest.

This is the beginnings of a portrait of my pet

This is a sketch in prep for the tiger painting you saw in the previous post.

This piece is an abstract Native American face

Simple abstract drawing

One more completed

I have completed one more painting in the 'acrylic peel' style. It is of a tiger and it too is fitting for a child's room. My goal is to do several different animals in their natural environment and I desire for each pieces to have a whimsical quality to them.

 $250 "The Eye of the Tiger"

I am currently working on a pieces with a slight twist. I'm doing a painting of a zebra but this time I'm not doing it in its natural color of black and white. I decided to add some color to it. I will post a pic to this post as soon as I get it completed.

Creating something wonderful

My current body of work entails playing with acrylic paint in a new way. While in college I took a trip to the Columbus Museum of Art where I saw an artist was using acrylic paint in a new way. The artist was applying acrylic paint to plastic and letting it dry. Once it had dried they were peeled it off and then to display it they draped it on some rods. I was amazed my this new way to play with the medium that I decide to try it. And to my pure amazement it worked. I then decided I would apply this new concept to my work but I would also reapply my dried acrylic pieces to paintings I was a;ready working on. I am thrilled with they are turning out.The series I am currently working on is a series child's room themed  pieces.

$250 'Big Blue'

     $250 'Sippy'                       Willow of Wonder

My interpretation of Grief in an art form

As an artist I find it refreshing how I can use creative expression as an outlet for how I'm feeling. I can express things that I am unable to express verbally. In 2010, my younger brother past away and I was struck with grief. As I was facing this new reality of lose and grief I found art as my source for expressing how I felt. Words were not there, so I expressed my feelings through my art. There was one piece in particular that started a series of pieces. I call it the FOG. Its my interpretation of the early stage of grief. The idea for the piece came to me while sitting in my car. It was a rainy day and I felt overwhelmed with sadness and I leaned my head against the glass and in doing so noticed the fog my breath created on the class as a rested there a while. At that moment it came to me that this was a perfect image of what the beginning stage of grief was like; the rain hitting one side of the window pane and fog forming on the other. The tears soak the outer facade of the person while inside the person is in such a daze they are just going through the motions of life without fully being there in the moment because their grief is so encompassing. The image to the right is the art piece I did that reflects this idea.

I created another piece in this series that reflected my feelings once the lost set in. I did this piece using chalk pastels in purples, greens, and yellows and drew it on drawing paper. My goal with this pieces was to express my sense of frustration with lose and grief.








The black and white pastel image is a third pieces I created in the series. This is a less dramatic representation of grief.