Collage with Tea Bags

One of my morning rituals is drinking tea after my devotions & I thought

 "why not incorporate/reuse the teabags into my collages?" 

Here are examples & a mini film as how I do it.

 The one above is called "the Golden Hour" and is available at etsy.

Below is a mini series call "Tea Fields" also at etsy.

All these collages can be found at etsy

tea bag collages

Mini Autumn Swap

What is a mini Autumn Swap you may ask?

Well it involves mini art in the format of ACEOs.

ACEOs aka ATCs are Artist Trading Cards

and measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

They can be in any medium any style the only rule is the size.

Well the ACEO team from etsy was holding a swap.

It was real simple - theme,  Autumn

& we exchange with just one person!

I was really blessed to get Lee of Watercolors or Else !

She sent me not one, but two beautiful aceo's

and they arrived in a handpainted card!

All are most certainly frame worthy!!

I love the tree and the shadow under the leaves - gorgeous!

My offerings weren't nearly so grand -

a collage made using handmade artisan papers, 

"an Autumn Day" is from an old vintage book,

and a genuine maple leaf I saved from last autumn.

this I did in water colors

 and I enclosed them in a collaged note card

So thank you very much Lee for being so generous

with your beautiful art

and thanks to the ACEO etsy team for holding this swap!!

a Pair of Pears for Artists Play Room

Jenn McClean, IA sister, friend, artist, blogger extraordinaire, and now a contributing editor of the new art magazine "Featuring", has another challenge for  The Artists Play Room this week  ...  "Pears".

I thought I'd use this challenge to see if i could do an 

abstract collage of pears.

Pears 1

&

Pears 2

Here's how i did these...  

*WARNING, Don't try this at home!*

Because i have no idea of the "proper" way to do this and wouldn't want to lead any of you astray!

(also color and quality of step by step photos aren't very good 

as they were taken rather hastily 

on the kitchen counter where i work)

I made "sketches" in acrylic paint on 

Strathmore Archival Acid-Free Premium linen canvas 246 lb. paper

casually painted the backgrounds knowing a bit of those colors will be seen under the upcoming layers of paper and paint

then i begin adding torn papers

more paint and more papers

still more layers, 

sealed with varnish

& finally trimmed the edges of the finished pears

I wasn't that happy with the 2nd pear, it was too "warm" and drab.
I also needed better contrast
so i added blue and a touch more white.
~

I have noticed that my method of work has been changing.
It is more loose and free. 

i have a vague idea of where i want to go and

allow the painting to guide me... 

 i am loving this new freedom!

BOOKMARKS! ~ Artists Play Room challenge

Jennifer McLean of Just Add Water Silly, and hostess of the Artists Play Room, gave us the topic.. "Bookmarks" for this week's challenge.

Now I have bookmarks that i painted in watercolors in my shop, but I wanted do try creating them in mixed media collage. Besides, for Mothers day, my daughter gave me a Dick Blick gift card and took me to their shop in Chicago. What i time i had selecting all sorts of gorgeous papers, it felt like heaven!! 

So by doing my bookmarks in collage, i would be able to play with & to experiment with the papers!

Foliage ~ IA's Team Challenge

Jenn from Just Add Water Silly, is this weeks hostess For the Inspiration Avenue's Weekly Team Challenge, and her theme for this week is "foliage".

Originally i intended to do a watercolor with lots of ferns and fiddle-heads that i am so fond of; however yesterday i changed my mind & decided to try this as a collage. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment in the process of creating this piece, and with each collage i make, i love the medium more and more.

dissatisfaction and a Re-Work

Have you ever done a piece, and even though people said nice things about it, the more you looked at it, the less you liked it?  Well that's the way i felt about a piece i did for IA's Team Challenge on texture.                                                                 
                

  Although i loved the color palette of the "green"
version, it was just way to busy, and i became increasingly dissatisfied with it. So i "quieted" the noise with more torn paper for the corners and with transparent acrylic paint and mediums, trying to give it that mellow encaustic look.

I'm content with this piece now, but am considering adding green and perhaps a bit of blue transparent acrylic layers to it.... hmmm

I'm very taken with the combining of paint and collage and have more ideas in my head waiting to get out!

For the BIRDS

I am always on the lookout for beautiful papers & wonderful vintage items for my mixed media collages. Just recently i found an old paper back bird book dated 1949. My heart skipped a beat with this fabulous find! As expected there were  marks & stains on some pages,  nevertheless, it is wonderful for this creative soul.  The hubby & i love watching the  birds  that come to our feeders and have three other bird books in the house so i had no guilt about tearing up this old book for art's sake :)

The first collage with Sparrows was small, just 4x4 inches while the second of the Eastern Blue Bird is 5 x 7, both are on Ampersand board. I must confess that i am still learning as i go with mixed media collage. The first small one, was almost  perfect, but i decided to add some handwritten verse to it. Yup you guessed it, i blew it. Fortunately collage is a forgiving medium allowing me to change the design of the piece. Two more are sitting on the kitchen counter awaiting the final touches.

IA Challenge "You've Got Mail"

Jennifer McLean is this weeks Inspiration Avenues' weekly team challenge host. It is her first time hosting and she has done a fabulous job! Jenn's terrific theme is "You've Got Mail" and was alot of fun to work on!
The size of my piece, an ACEO ) 2.5 x 3.5 inches)  allowed me freedom to try something different.I've always loved the look of "painted" collages and this is my first attempt at it. The end result is quite a bit different from what i had planned, yet I'm rather pleased with it.
I'm always amazed at the fabulous artistic talent from Inspiration Avenue! Go and take a peek at this week's challenge & consider joining in on the fun, you have till noon Eastern Sunday to submit your inspiration :)

"from my heart to yours"
miniature collage by Diane Rank , the Expressive Palette

Inspiration Avenues Team Challenge ~ Texture!

I was so excited about starting this, my first team challenge for Inspiration Avenue! It's all about texture, & a mixed media collage seemed like the perfect medium. A little woodsy square that i made a couple of years ago with polymer clay  became my inspiration jump off point. Lots of gorgeous handmade papers, vintage items, including a playing card from France, a large piece of mica & some other finds compose this highly textured piece.

even a blade of grass.....

"The moment one gives attention to anything, even a blade of  grass, it becomes a mysterious awesome indescribably magnificent world in itself." ~ Henry Miller

When i read this quote it was an instant connection, "yes!!" that is exactly how i have always felt, but never quite put that belief into words. It's akin i suppose to "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", but it goes much farther than that, putting the wonder of the object totally within us. We have to be open to see it's wonder, & then allow ourselves to express the feeling of what we are beholding.

That is how i paint, more than what i see, i paint what i feel.

This is a mixed media piece-  a miniature watercolor painting (ACEO), combined with collage. It is entitled "Even a Blade of Grass".