BIRD NEST

This is one of my paintings done this summer with Melanie Atkinson. It is oil on a 6 X 8 canvas board with a palette knife.

PLAYING CARD COLLABORATIONS
Here are three more playing card collage collaborations done with collage buddies. The end ones are done by Liz Cohn and myself, and the middle one is a collaboration between Liz, Al McDermid and myself. Full view to fully appreciate them.

DAUGHTERS OF A DOG SHOW IN EUGENE OREGON
This is the poster for the upcoming show that will feature the works of my collage group of ladies from around the world.

PORTRAIT HEAD SCULPTURE
Small portrait head that I made from clay. It is about six inches tall.

BOZETTI
These are clay sketches that I did in sculpture class. They were each done in 5 minute intervals. Two are of a model named Vicki, and one is of a model named Alex. These are my favorite things that I did in the sculpture class. They were the most fun to do, and turned out the nicest in my opinion, due to the expressive results.

PHOTOS FROM HISTORIC GREENWOOD CEMETERY

I went to Downtown Jackson, MS a few weeks ago and finally took some photos there. It was very cold, but I managed to get some shots in places where I really should not have been. I teamed up with a partner in crime who is a good friend of years, and we put on some blues music by friends and local blues artists Y'all's Blues Band, and just rolled with the flow, and right on through the ghetto!

One place I'd always wanted to go, and finally did, was Greenwood Cemetery, a historic cemetery down there that I have long wanted to shoot some photos in. Many of Mississippi's notable folk are interned there. It's quite lovely, especially in the spring. I am going to go back, or try to and take some more shots when the flowers are blooming. Here are a couple of the best shots I took there.

There were more great shots from sketchy places. I'll save some of those for later posts.

PEACEMAKER
Well, he's the King of the Blues. Birds that are blue, that is; or the funky, benevolent ruler. You decide. I just do the art.

This is a mixed media collage on black mat board. It measures 8 X 10. It has paper clippings, fancy papers, rubber stamps and ink, lots of gesso and gel medium, mica water colors, vellum, tape transfers, and a bit of postal ephemera. It was nice to be able to get some collage in before the semester gets too hectic.

SPARKLE TWINKLE: ALTERED BOOK FOR DAUGHTERS OF A DOG COLLABORATIVE PROJECT
This is my altered book for the Daughters of a Dog collaborative project on Deviant Art (deviantart.com). I used a paper catalog that was nicely done with heavy bond paper samples all attached together with a chain and contained within a sleeve. I had to spray mount some of the pages together to get a good thickness for my work. It is turning out good. I am ready to put it in the mail to the other daughters tomorrow.

There was a lot of tissue paper and gesso used, along with tape transfers, vintage photos, paper clippings, rubber stamps/ink, frottage, packing tape, gold and silver leafing, doo-dads of metal and paper, etc., and glitter; lots of glitter!

Front Cover


Back Cover


Sign-in Spread


Peek-a-Boo Page (two views)




Chain Dangle


Sleeve Front


Sleeve Back

PLAYING CARD COLLABORATIONS
These are playing card collaborations done with my friends from the Daughters of a Dog Group. This is another activity shared by our group. These small collages are made onto playing cards and mailed from daughter to daughter. Each daughter makes an artistic contribution to the card, then sends it to the next person. Whoever starts the card gets to keep it.

There will be a show of our journals in Portland, OR in March, 2011, as well as a show of our playing card collaborations.

ALTERED BOOK PROJECTS - DAUGHTERS OF A DOG
I'm a daughter of a dog. That's right. I said it. I'm a member of a group that does altered books, and it's called Daughters of a Dog. It's a very exclusive group with strict guidelines for membership. People are dying to get into this group. Believe me. The first rule of membership is that you must be a woman over 40 years old. The second is that you must be a collagista extraordinaire. It is an international group formed on deviantart.com and I am honored to be a part of this wonderful, fun group of ladies. I just wish we all lived in the same town. Needless to say, we put some bucks out on postage sending our projects to each other all over the globe. Here are a few spreads I've done so far. I try to do them when I'm not busy with art school projects. They are a joy to do and the friendships made with these talented ladies from all over the world are priceless. Check out the daughters at http://daughters-of-a-dog.deviantart.com/ or you can click the link in my links list on this page.

HERO


SISTERS ONE & ALL



CRAFTY, BUSY DAUGHTERS

STILL LIFE WITH TURKEY FEATHER
This is my final piece for pastel class. I am not totally satisfied with it, but I had to go with it as time ran out. About midway into it, I realized that I really wanted that pomegranate and bird to switch places, but that was not possible, so I just had to keep on trucking. I'm still not that great at setting up a still life on my own. The more you do it, the more you learn though. Anyway, I think this could have been better, but it's not a total loss. I was apprehensive about doing such a large piece (it is 18 X 20) but it went fine. I especially like how the round vase turned out, because I really captured the gradations of the glaze on it pretty well. I will just be glad when I get to the point where my work does not look so much like student work anymore. I suppose that happens when you are not a student anymore? Ha!

LITTLE MADONNA
This is Nupastels and Rembrandts on Strathmore paper. I'm unhappy with it except for the rocks, which I went to great length on to get right, and I think I did a good job on that. The background is fallen and dead leaves and dirt, and I think I got it too dark for the rest of the picture. In working on that, I kept getting dust on the white robe of the statue, and dulling the whiteness, so I had to keep freshening it. I think that messed it up some. Anyway, I got tired of working on it, but I will be going back to freshen it up and lighten the background some.

This is the little Madonna statue that stands in front of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Raymond, Mississippi. It is a favorite place of mine.

PAINTERLY PEARS
Another giant fruit trio in pastel on Canson paper. Yum-yum!!!!!!!

TETHYS - WORK IN PROGRESS
I'm almost finished! This is the first sculpture from my beginning class that I really like! It is the first figure we have done. Up to now it's been body parts, skulls and generic heads. This is a reclining figure! Wooooooo! It is terra cotta and is about five inches tall and about 12 inches long.

The theme is Tethys, Greek goddess of seas and mother of rivers, grandmother of Poseidon. She is resting peacefully on a gentle wave. Just a few minor touches and she's ready to be fired.

FEELING FRUITY
Here are some 12 X 16 pastel paintings I did in pastel class. The goofy names are what my teacher called them, so I will call them that too, since I am also goofy. Though I am somewhat frustrated in the class, I do believe that I'm learning something from it, and I like the medium more than I did before.

Monumental Pomegranates


Lovely Lemons

NEIGHBORHOOD DOGGIE
This piece is 9 X 12. It is Nupastels, Rembrandt pastels and some charcoal on Strathmore paper. I was assigned a landscape for homework in my pastel painting class. We were supposed to use a photo we had taken or that we had a personal connection to. I did not really have much to choose from in the way of landscapes that particularly excited me. So I picked this photo of a neighborhood doggie that used to join my daughter and me on walks. My daughter, Skye, had snapped a photo of her one day. It's close enough to a landscape to suit me. I mean look at that, there's a big sky and a leafy, grassy area. Viola! Landscape! There just happens to be a giant pug face in the foreground. Darnit, I find most landscapes to be so boring. I had already attempted two others and was stuck until I decided to do this, and finally was able to finish something. I'm telling you, I was on the verge of tears because I thought I was never going to get my blankety-blank homework done. I was feeling like I absolutely had been drained of every drop of talent I ever had. I've been in a rut all weekend. Thank goodness I finally finished something!

NOM NOM NOM
It is what it is. It is yum on Granny Golden's vintage china plate, with a glass of pomegranate-blueberry juice. I think a cupcake could be next. With a glass of milk, which is what I actually wanted to do when I set out this time, but they did not have any cupcakes at the store that were good looking enough. Soon kiddies, soon...

CONCEPTUAL SCULPTURE - NIKE
This is a sculpture I did for a project I'm working on in Art History I. I have to do a paper, and an oral presentation with props that include two studio art pieces. This is one of my studio art pieces. My topic is Classical and Hellenistic Greek art. So I have done a conceptual sculpture of Nike, the winged goddess of victory. Most of the statues I have encountered in my research are missing a head, limbs, or both, so my Nike is missing these appendages. Bless her heart, she has retained her wings. I have given her a Hellenistic sweeping garment a a slight contrapposto pose to keep with the style of the periods. I hope she dries out in time!

BLUE BOTTLE & PEARS
This is a still life on a 9 X 12 piece of Strathmore pastel paper. This is a smooth paper that I decided to try. It has a grainy texture and is gray with some darker slate colored fibers in the paper. It's pretty to look at. I like how it shows through in the drawing. This is not a complicated still life, but I like the colors. The teacher is really good, and has excellent knowledge of the medium, which has really helped a lot. I am really starting to enjoy the class.

SQUEAKY TRIO
My daughter told me that I needed to do something different from the things I've done in the past. So here is what I did for my last assignment in my pastel painting class. Pastels are a new medium for me. So far I like them fairly well. I used NuPastels and Rembrandt soft pastels on 9 X 6 Strathmore paper for this craziness.