Take a vintage wooden cigar mold, add a great brass? iron? decorative thing that was part of something else at some point in time, include an antique microphone part and old calipers...and then what do you have? An assemblage. This measures 14" high and 13" at its widest.  

A small 2.5" x 3.5" ATC collage. It started life as a monotype gelatin print.

Musings

People enter our lives for many different reasons and due to various circumstances. Many we stay involved with on some sort of consistent basis - again for different reasons and various circumstances. Some exit quickly, often because the acquaintance failed to excite one or both but the parting does not create feelings of loss. Some exit after a longer term relationship, often for complex reasons and circumstances. These partings can be bittersweet, leaving one with mixed feelings of relief, sadness and longing. 

The collage above started as a gelatin printed monotype to which both a silk screened image and printed images from one of my abstracts were added.

A Pot of Gold

Found some time this afternoon to paint and collage. This is an ATC made with acrylic paint, molding paste, gelatin printed tracing paper and vintage images. Sometimes I feel as if I could do these all day long. The possibilities are endless.

Verdant

All is green, all is growing.

Hand built, glazed and gas fired to cone 11 pod vessel. Measures about 7" high. I have some new ideas for ceramic art - yea. Traveling vessels to take to other worlds.

Can I just say that life is good here in the Hudson Valley?

Busy-ness

I have been busy weeding, gardenig, not cleaning the house, working the day job and following my artistic soul. Below is a sampling of what's been filling my days.

The assemblage piece above is a hand built pottery ancient artifact flask that was wood fired, slightly over painted and treated with adornments. It's on a vintage cut glass pedestral with vintage 'Egyptian' beads and stands about 7" high.

 This pod vessel is hand built, glazed and gas fired to cone 11 (very, very hot). This pod is about 6" high. I do like how this piece came out and feel as if I'm starting to develop an artistic voice in this medium. Not so sure what the voice is saying but - hey - go with the flow, be happy and don't fret about not cleaning the house.

And....my latest fascination is with ice dying fabric. These pieces are inspiring me to start messing with textiles again. The serendipidous coloring and imagery is so appealing. This dyeing method seems to create the most gorgeous abstract art. Abstract art rules.

Show and Tell

This pod vessel came out of the wood kiln this past Saturday. Those black textured looking marks towards the bottom are what's left of the copper wire I wrapped around the piece before it went in the kiln. This measures about 5" x 5", so not large. I like it.

I painted this last night. Seems to have lots of imagery. Where that comes from is anybody's guess. This is acrylic on heavy paper and it's large, 23" x 30".

So glad it's Friday with all the great promise of the weekend hanging in the wings.

Hand built pod that was glazed, gas fired and over painted. Complete with antique hat pins. I'm going to try offering some of my ceramic art as sculptural pieces. Someone recently told me their beauty could stand alone without much adornment. I kept trying out different mounting possiblities and adornments for this one but ended up with this very simple presentation. It measures about 4" high and about 4" at its widest part.

The Rising

I have been indirectly yet oddly effected by two deaths this week. 

We have many moments and elements that makeup our lives and help to define who we are as people. Levon Helm's music has been a part of my life since the early 70’s. When I asked Steve why I was so strongly effected by his passing, Steve (in his way of sometimes getting right to the heart of the matter) said “because he is of our generation and our time is ending”. The man speaketh the truth. Rest in peace Levon, you helped me carry The Weight many times and, I suspect, will continue to do so.

Three weeks ago we had our annual fundraiser at the Wallkill River School of Art. One of my abstract mixed media paintings was bought by a woman in the end stages of cancer. She passed away shortly after the fundraiser. This week I was told that she stared at my painting during the end days. Perhaps it provided Alice with a modicum of comfort? Ahhhhh, what better compliment could I ever receive as an artist?

Abstract for a Sunday

Sketched out the basics of this abstract during the week and started painting it yesterday. My husband really likes it. I think I do too. It's acrylic paint on 140lb watercolor paper and measures 22" x 30".

This pod vessel is glazed and wrapped with copper wire getting ready to be placed in the wood kiln. I'm hoping the copper creates flash marks on the surface. We shall see.
Above is a flask vessel also ready for the wood fired kiln.

I have visions of this opened pod with an assemblage 'crown' placed on the inside. Of course I still need to learn how to solder in order to make the assemblage crown.

And this is the Tony Moore's wood kiln in Cold Spring that will fire for 4 days burning a number of cords of wood in the process. The second opening towards the back is the wood chamber. That's where my pods will go. Pieces placed here get the most amount of carbon imprinting from the smoke and the ash. After firing for 4 days all the pieces stay in the kiln cooling for 2 weeks. Patience is the name of this game. I can't wait.

Production!

My good friend Melanie came up on Friday and stayed through last night. Her agenda was to aid in getting me working. And it worked. We painted, felted and hand stitched. Completely narcissistic pursuits and utterly delicious. The top piece is a glimpse of a felted work in progress that I envision stitching to heavyweight cotton paper and encasing in a cradle frame. The bottom piece is an acrylic painting that seems to have been inspired by the spectacular full moon from the weekend. It measures 23 x 30"

And....from scratch hot cross buns are rising right now....keeping the train moving along that creativity track....

Artifacts

I'm so intrigued with ancient vessels I painted some last night. This is large at 18x24". I'm not sure if this is done or if it needs more layering and texturing.

Plans

Yesterday I created this collage from a gelatin plate print, transferred images, paper images and additional layers of paint. It measures about 10x8". But what I really need to be doing is building some clay pieces for the wood kiln firing that begins in a couple of weeks. Firing in a wood kiln produces some amazing effects that suggest old, old, old. What is more enticing than an ancient artifact? Not much!

The vessel below was created by Ben Richey and give you a good idea of some great wood fired YUM effects.

Cosmic-Ness

Last night was one of those times that the stars were all in alignment and the good fairy was waving her wand over my world.

I ‘attended’ a Twitter Chat Party that included many of the artists involved with Seth Apter’s book, The Pulse of Mixed Media. It was an hour of fast streaming posts that included much laughter, talk about art and some great nice-to-meet-you conversations. If you don’t know about Seth or his book head over to his blog and see all the good art and artist exposure over there.

The Twitter fun came on the heels of receiving the information that Orange Regional Medical Center would like to include some of my large abstracts in a summer show that exhibits in a main hallway there. What? Really? Who would have thunk it?

Larger

Continuum (above)

Passages (above)

Shrine (above)

All of these are 4"x6". I'd like to make them into cards that can be used to express greetings and also act as a small gift to the recipient. Of course that is if I can find those cards with windows that I know are around here....somewhere....

Early Morning Exercises

Two more ATC's done early today. Darn, this morning art making is becoming a trend but now it really is time to do something related to the vacuum and dust rag. Maybe more art fun this afternoon as a reward?

In the Beginning

An early morning artist trading card collage. Much like our winter weather it gives me a feeling of 'other worldliness'...or maybe....just plain weird and bizarre!

And now I'm off and running and hope to jam pack my weekend with lots of interesting garage sales, fun with the husband, good food and a glass of wine or two. Enjoy.

Writing on the Wall

These small little artist trading cards started out as gelatin plate prints and ended up looking like this after I added photo transfer images from one of my abstract paintings, some marks and additional layers of paint. I like to make these little jewels to sell in my Etsy shop....they have found homes all over the world...how cool is that?

The Struggle

I should be cleaning. I could be doing laundry. I must complete some work from the day job (that has now become a 24/7 venture, thank you very much). But instead...I painted...to feed my soul. Now it's time to throw some dinner together. My poor husband.
Acrylic paint, gesso & soft pastels on claybord. 24"x18"

Small Abstract

When I started this small one (5"x7") I had thoughts of something quiet and low key in color as inspired by Graceann Warn's work. I, by no means, wished to copy her work but I wanted to push my envelope a bit.

Working on a Collage

Hmmmmm.....I took the gelatin printed on tracing paper collage from the other week and added some layers of paint and transparencies......hmmmmmm. It measures about 13" x 13".

The Nature of Things

I'm attempting to present my artistic visions in a simpler manner. This is not always easy for me to do...want to add a bit here...and then there...before I know it I'm toying with the dreaded overworked issue.

My messages often revolve around thoughts of the past holding keys to the future, the continuum of life, renewal from ruin, etc, etc. Today I took one of my pod vessels, put it on top of an old wooden model of a beehive (very cool) and added 3 adornments only.

Hooray for me.

Fibers

Awhile back on did some felting on cheesecloth. This morning I messed around with them and added fluid paint, squeezed them and ended up with these little beauties. They are just crying out for some handstitching and other enhancements. Hopefully this weekend will allow this to happen....Steve wants to go to the movies...I want to sit and get lost in the world of fibers and thoughts....stay tuned...

Collage

I created a bunch of gelatin monotype prints on tracing paper and proceeded to rip them up. Then, with help of matte medium, I arranged them into a collage. The colors are a bit brighter in real life than this photo. I'm still trying to figure out if I like this technique or not so...I'm going to take Zeke for a walk and enjoy this sunny afternoon.
Oh...and...it measures about 13" x 15"....

Pods, Vessels and a Bird

Can I just say that I'm getting more and more psyched about these pottery explorations? These just came out of the gas kiln today. Assemblages here I come.

Guardian

An old drawer, a wooden spindle, some tracing paper wallpaper, a hand built - glazed - gas fired - over painted pod vessel and some linen string equal a new assemblage. Definitely part of the this whole memory keepers / secrets thing I've been doing lately.

Gelli Plate

Plunked down the money and bought a Gelli Plate. While similiar to prepared gelatin printing plates (from unflavored gelatin) it is not the same. The Gelli Plate is firmer and seems to dry out the paint faster than a gelatin plate. Ghost images (second pulls) don't seem to happen but the Gelli Plate does makes some great textures and detailing. I'm not unhappy with it and think it deserves more exploration. Onward!

Abstracting

I grabbed the paper, the paint, the rubbing alcohol and got to it!

18" x 24"

Might just end up in the Wallkill River School's annual fund raiser.

Pastel Abstract

Karen Stiehl Osborn posted the photo above on Facebook yesterday. I asked her if I could interpret it in a painting. She gave me her blessing.

So last night I picked up pastels for the first time in - like forever. I've never done an abstract with pastels. I'm not even sure how I feel about this painting but I do know that I liked visiting this medium again. All that layering and rubbing (or adult finger painting as someone I know calls it) really speaks to me.

More Gellies

Messed around with gelatin plate printing on this snowy Saturday morning. I'm pretty satisfied with the results and find that Golden fluid acrylics work really well on the gelly plate. I have some other art plans for this weekend....that involve a photo taken by Karen Stiehl Osborn. Karen is an incredible multi-media artist. More later....

Gellies!

My daughter came to visit today and since I had the gelatin plate ready for printing we decided to give it a go. Of course I completely forgot to take work-in-progress photos but some of the more successful results are below.

The first two are mine. I was just getting into the groove when we had to stop and Feed The Boys as it was getting late in the day and they wanted to get on the road before dark. What a drag when life and commitments interfere with ART!

Heather made the two below. This first one is quite sweet. There is lots of very subtle texture in the background that doesn't show well in the photo. It's very serene and lovely.

This one of Heather's also come out quite nicely. She added some detailing and enhancements with colored pencils. Pretty good for a first go around with gelatin printing wouldn't you say?