Ah Paris, the city of Love!

Inspiration Avenues challenge "I Love Paris" is brought to us

 beautifully by our IA sister Hettienne.

 Hettienne's wonderful photos and descriptions of Paris 

have me longing to go and experience it for myself! 

Oh, please check out her personal blog for 

another gorgeous tour of Paris! 

~+~

I tried 2 other pieces but they didn't feel right, this one

is much closer to the feeling I wanted to capture.

I created a traditional collage and then played around with it  

giving it old fashioned romantic vintage feel

Here are 3 versions

( this one makes me think of French Toile!) 

It's not too late to enter the I Love Paris challenge yourself!

Hope to see you in Paris!

and

thank you so much Hettienne for the inspiration!

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!

chucking the plans and the teapot challenge

Boy just when i thought i was getting the feel for abstract art,
this week happened!

I sketched a few designs in pastel pencils that
i thought were terrific.

But when i was painting them..... totally awful!

The more i looked at those mini sketches,
the more awful my work became.

So after working on the two paintings for a day and a half, 

i chucked the sketches &
 just did what i  thought worked for the piece;

 and when i was happy with what i saw,
i stopped! (lesson learned from last week!)

Life Circle

Abstract Landscape

Now i think in total honesty i should tell you
 that my much beloved hubby, 

actually laughed out loud when he saw the abstract landscape.

hmmm...... of course this wonderful man doesn't like abstract or expressive art & though he respects VanGogh, he wouldn't want any of his work in the house. So maybe, and this is my semi desperate way of coping, his laughter at this piece may just be a good thing!?

~~~~~~~~~~

And for the Inspiration Avenues "tea pot" challenge, time was a bit short this week,
 but i took one of my photographs and played around digitally
giving it a new look for Shel's challenge.

"Green Tea"

continuing in the abstract

In a recent post, "becoming Brave HeArted" I wrote how "i'm trying to be brave enough to listen  to the voice that's deep inside trying to get out, not to hold back and be safe.... & as i do, i see my art getting more expressive, bolder and more abstract!" here's my next piece.....

This mixed media painting is on the large side for me, 6x6 inches, box canvas with 1 1/2 in deep sides that are painted.
I re-learned  an important lesson the hard way with this one.  When i first did this, my heart was pounding wildly at how perfectly the painting captured my vision, and then i did what i told myself i would never do again.... i thought  "what if i add...."; and it wasn't bad, but then i had to add to that, and then by my third addition i hated it.
So after kicking myself, i started fresh & when my heart was happy once more i STOPPED! :)
i just hope i don't fall off the wagon & start doing the "what ifs" again!

And on a side note  Peggy Gatto was having a "Garden Cross Give-Away" and i was one of the winners!  What a wonderful way to kick start July!!  Thank you Bunches Peggy!!! :D

Inspiration Avenue's challenge & PostCard Swap UpDate

Inspiration Avenue's challenge for this week is "Art Journaling" and our hostess Maggie showed us so many beautiful examples of art journals, plus she included videos showing how some go about creating them!

I have an art "idea book" / sketchbook but haven't used it as an art "journal" and what's in there isn't even close to the examples of what Maggie showed us. However i decided to give it go.....

~~~~~~~~~~~ + ~~~~~~~~~~

And now for the 

Post Card Swap Up Date!

Only four arrived, I hope the fifth one wasn't lost in the mail! But here are the four that arrived and you can tell that each one was made with their own artistic flair!

I love each and everyone, & thank you all so much!!

This was the very 1st card that arrived & is so pretty! It's from Peggy Gatto !

A wild Bohemian w/ a 3D butterfly was created by a mother & daughter team, LiLa O!

Earthy & loaded with texture, "BE" is from Jeanet Annott !

This lovely creation is from my IA sister, Cindy & is decorated with tiny jewels !

Plus this surprise bonus from another IA Sister, Kim !

This swap was so much fun i can't wait for the next one ! 

becoming Brave HeARTed

At etsy where i have my little online shop, there is a new feature they'd like us to incorporate, called "about" (link goes to my "about" page). In this section we're to write what makes us tick, or how we make our creations. 

Despite my anguish about having to put down my philosophy, the exercise really was good for me. It forced me to seriously think about why i create. I thought of two artists that i admire and their outlooks. One, Russ Potak, said to "paint with abandon". Another, Kim Collister, a "sister" via Inspiration Avenue, talks about being brave and fearless. 

Courage

 I am trying to be brave enough to listen  to the voice that's deep inside trying to get out, not to hold back and be safe. Little by little, more and more, I've been listening to that voice and as i do i see my art getting more expressive, bolder and more abstract!

Andachten ~ Devotions

 I'm not sure where this heart is taking me on my artistic journey, but i hope to be brave and fearless on it!

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!

P.S. Postcard Swap!

The Inspiration Avenue's "P.S."  postcard swap is in full swing! Postcards are being mailed and postcards are being received, and good things are arriving daily!

Here are the postcards that i have mailed out. Three are going to IA sisters. These three cards all have something in common, they have a chickadee bird. What makes that special is that my sister-in-law gave me a very special birthday gift which was wrapped in gorgeous bird tissue paper. I love that paper & have saved it to use on special projects.  I thought this paper would be perfect for my IA Sisters postcards!

The other two postcards are on their way to South Africa and England.

So far I have received three and when all five arrive I'll share them with you right here! :)

Darkness & Light ~ Artists Play Room Challenge

Jennifer McLean's challenge for this week's Artists Play Room is Darkness and Light.  I've been thinking about this all week and decided to do a landscape. The  challenge for me was having a strong sense of the darkness and light  (my weakest area) yet i didn't want it to be too harsh.

So I did an ink & pen landscape, then added washes of color. I really liked it but for this challenge i wanted to see what would happened when i enhanced it digitally.

 4x6 inches, Fabriano 140 lb Hot Pressed

Thanks so much for another terrific APR challenge Jenn! I loved doing it :D

Days of the Week - I A Challenge

Kim of IMGIRL, is hosting her first Inspiration Avenue Challenge, her theme, "Days of the Week" as according to the nursery rhyme.   We were challenged to create a piece of art that fits the description for the day we were born. Kim even included a link so we could determine that. :)

 Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

 It turned out I was born on a Wednesday.... "full of woe".

I tend to create more uplifting or even whimsical art & landscapes and rarely create anything somber, so this was a bit of stretch!  What kept going though through my head was the classic Spiritual... "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows but Jesus. Nobody knows the trouble I've seen; Glory Hallelujah."

I painted this with burnt umber ink and and a bit of Mayan Blue watercolor, on 5x7 Fabriano Hot Pressed paper.

 For this version I played around and digitally enhanced the color a bit .

It still isn't too late to submit your entry for the Inspiration Avenue's challenge, you have till Sunday noon!
Thanks so much Kim for this interesting & terrific challenge! I really enjoyed this!... oh maybe i shouldn't say that since i'm a woeful Wednesday child... revise that... it was a miserable experience! LOL  ;D