Recognition and exposure

One painting in a new series I painted early in the year is being featured in a Treasury on Etsy. That’s like… a big deal! Top right!

The whole series is titled: “These city walls”. It’s 22.5 x 23.5 abstract painting on unstretched canvas. It is modern, abstract.
This painting represents urban decay. This original painting is called Papers.
It is an original.
It consists of antique collage papers, stencils, acrylic paint.

The next one in the series is 11 x 15 abstract painting, original, on hardboard, ready to hang. Edges are painted black.

Detail:

This one has found a home in Australia:

This next one I love. It’s very hard to photograph it right. It’s on Arches watercolor paper, 24x30. “Tsunami”

Details

This next one is on black paper, 18 x 18:

This one is on black paper too:

This one is on harboard, 8x10, titled ‘Sunrise”

This next one, Waterfall, is SOLD!

And this last one, on hard board, 11 x 14 is “Sunset”

Valentine’s Birthday and so much more

With a birthday on Valentine’s day, I have been showered with heart warming gifts.

My dear friend Liz in Oregon, who is a marvelous quilter and a member of one of my Lace Round Robin made this beautiful fabric collage for me. Notice how the hands form a heart? HER hands, which she traced and reduced on the computer before cutting in fabric. And do you see all the details, the tiny little red buttons, and the rhinestones? Love!

I have also exchanged a fabric collage with my new friend in the UK, Alison. She sent me this wonderful vintage page. And the tag!!! Notice the tag!?!?!?!? All that hand embroidery is just exquisite. I did suggest she considers using some of that beautiful stitching in her collages, it’s so beautiful, and something that most of us don’t do or won’t do anymore.

 

Here is the one I sent Alison. I had just finished a batch of dyeing, and I had this deed wine color. An acquired taste, but Alison has received it and she likes it:

 

Beautiful Suzy in Australia sent this beautiful fabric ‘card’. Don’t you just love these soft pastels? Lovely.

Lucky me, she’d already sent me a collage last month, this time in these gorgeous browns and rusts that I so love.

 

My dear friends from Canada surprised me with a dozen red roses!!!! Imagine. I thought I was passed the age of getting red roses on Valentine’s Day. And aren’t they just magnificent?

 

In the middle of all this happiness, I managed to finish a new bracelet cuff, and to list it on Etsy.

 

And I even posted a painting on Etsy too. This one is 16x20, on stretched canvas.  It was done earlier and didn’t seem to have made it to the Etsy site, so here it is. I exhibited it in a show in Vancouver. It was quite popular and got rave reviews, but I ended up selling a much larger one. I used alcohol inks on a canvas base.

I did paint too!

I’ve worked on several paintings this past month too. Here they are.

This first one gave me a lot of trouble, and has many layers, a deep history.

This one I did while visiting with a friend in her studio. I think I was influenced by her style. (don’t I wish) I hadn’t painted for a while and it was a relief to start on something, even if under the influence.

This next one feels very galactic. I finished it with leveling gel. I’m not sure I’ll do that again. I find it very unlevel, for being levelling. Not worse the time or hassle. Or expense.

‘This one is the result of a demonstration of various techniques for a friend. These are very fun for me to make.

This one is possibly still in process. I’m not too happy with the left side, so dark. I started with random texture on the canvas, and went from there. Many,  many layers here too.

And finally, an exercise, influenced by the work of Anne Bagby. I cut stencils, cut my own rubber stamps, stained tissue papers, and applied all (it seems) to create interesting surfaces. Then I repeated the process on canvas, with the help of a Botticelli reader.

Two new books are out

It sounds like I just got published… I’ve actually finished two journal type books. Those are more journals than usual, since they have quite a few blank pages destined for journaling or scrapbooking.

The first book, very lacey:

The next book is made around original canvas paintings. It’s quite colorful, and it too has many blank pages for journaling:

Lots of Exquisiteness

It seems Mother Nature doesn’t care that it’s been below normal temperatures here in Western Canada, or that Spring never did arrive. She still goes about her business and produces exquisiteness…

Can you tell I adore roses?

Now to my watercolors…

Missing Paris– grunge paintings

My wonderful friend –you know who you are- shared with me her techniques for grunging up a painting. This was great fun. They are both very urban. Here is the Paris interior, one of those ‘hotels particuliers’, meaning mansion, not a resting place for tourists…

I”ve seen many walls like this when I lived there.

Don’t you just smell that musty smell of old castles and Paris apartments? It measures 11x14 on stretched canvas.

This next one is “Urban grunge”. Could be any town, really. Paris too.

The textures are really fabulous. I hope Blogger makes the painting justice. It is on stretched canvas, 16x20.