Whee!

I have had an idea in my head for a very long time of a cuff type bracelet made from my painted canvases. With all the moving and deadlines and such over the past year, I just have not been able to set up my sewing machine and play with it. At Art and Soul I saw a similar cuff type bracelet made with a different material with a way cool closure that I knew would be perfect for what I wanted to make. Today, I finally had the time to sit down and try it out. I have to say I am very pleased with the results. It is probably a good thing that I had to wait so long to play with this concept. I have constructed and deconstructed it many times in my head, so my first effort seems pretty solid.
What do you think?




The cord is waxed linen. It is wrapped around the canvas disks in a figure eight.

The longish beads are paper beads I made from magazine pages that I wiped excess paint onto as I was painting.

This is the underside.

Here is what it looks like laid out.

So, I will wear it for a while and gauge the comfort.

It is so fun to get an opportunity to play and try something new. I have been so caught up in production work lately that I just have not had time to play. Production work bores my socks off. I am quite tired of making paper earrings. Don't get me wrong, I love that people want to buy them, but I am ready to conquer new terrain and come up with my next fabulous thing, or just lose myself in art play.

New Stuff! and a question

I have been loving my oil painting class and all the things I have been learning there. I am still creating my whimsical acrylics and collages though. The new skills I have acquired are bringing new depth to my works. In the last few days, I have felt compelled to create some more strict collage pieces. Here are the results.


Now, for the question. I was working on the background for another floral in this series, and I really love the background on it's own. What do y'all think. Can this be a stand alone piece?

In an unusual twist....

I managed to get alot done on the aforementioned canvases. Here are the WIP photos. They are still not finished. I need to add detail to the flower, and stare at them for a couple of days to see what else needs attention.

More Big Canvases

OK, so this is not such an exciting picture. This is where I am today though. I have promised two large paintings for an auction to benefit my son's school, the Sandhills Classical Christian School. These canvases are 20" x 60". I have finished the background. In this picture, they are upside down. I am planning to have bird on one, and a black-eyed susan on the other.

Working bigger is an interesting adventure to me. I have only begun working on larger canvases in the last year. I am a bit ADD and impatient, so smaller canvases were fun because I could finish a piece in one sitting. My acrylic paints dry quickly, and I could help them along with my heat gun. With the larger pieces, the background can take several sessions of painting and drying before I can start adding the focal subject. With my schedule being what it is. I do one scetion at a time, then go pick up kids, cook dinner, etc... These two panels have been in process for a couple of weeks.

Tonight or tomorrow, I will add the focal subjects.

I am not put off, by the process. I think the methodical, bit by bit, with lots of waiting is good for me. I am learning to be more deliberate with my art. The finished pieces have more depth and attention to detail.

I don't have much to tell ya, except that I have been exceptionally busy. I have opened an ebay store to share my supply finds, and my art work. Please stop in and browse- http://stores.ebay.com/Magpies-Treasure-Nest_W0QQssPageNameZl2QQtZkm

I am still creating birds almost obsessively. I have started trying to do some more realistic work in addition to my more whimsical stuff. The Indigo Bunting ACEO above is an example.

I also invite you to investigate my Yahoo group called the Embellished Circus. We have been a small closed group for about 2 years now, but have recently opened to outside applications. It is a fabulous art swapping group. You can visit the group Blog here- http://embellished-circus.blogspot.com/ and click the link toward the bottom right of the page if you would like to apply to join us. Sooner or later, I will add a link to join on here...It will probably be later.