MARGARETHA
Here's another mixed media piece on an 8 X 10 canvas board. The background is acrylic with some confetti stars and a bit of pink glitter. I took the colors from the belly dancer's outfit. They remind me of Fruit Stripe gum *licks lips and says "yummy"*! I've used tissue paper for the starry moon-like backdrop. An old piece of an earring adorns her outfit.

The image comes from the vintage resources site. It's from a postcard circa 1907. Can you guess who she is? The numbers on the gold leafed star give a hint.

GARDEN OF TO-MORROW
Here's a small mixed media piece done on a 5 X 7 board canvas. I used raw umber, yellow ochre and white acrylic paints to make the mottled background. The music piece and the image of the girl came from the vintage resources site. I found the treble clef during the outing with my art class to the junk shop in Raymond; it was actually an earring (not a terribly pretty one). I used a rosette from some tissue paper to make a background for the clef. The butterfly wings I've given the girl came from a magazine, and the butterfly to her left is a sticker. Her crown is cut from some scrapbook paper. It's all finished off with gel medium as usual.

CONTEMPLATIONS OF THE HEART
I'm revisiting a beloved image from the vintage photo site for this mixed media piece, this time in color. I've used a 9 X 12 board canvas leftover from when a still-life I was working on at school got destroyed over spring break. The background is acrylic paint and tissue paper. I colored the tissue paper with metallic marker to pick up some green from the image. I used pearl beads and confetti hearts and stars for accents, then finished it all off with gel medium and a spritz of Krylon. I need to find a pretty, ornate type of frame for this one.

CHERRY BLOSSOM GIRL
Here's a new 16 X 20 mixed media piece. I used acrylic paint for the background and to paint the cherry blossom branch. The photos are from the vintage photo site. I've used a sheet of origami paper, some fortunes, an old postage stamp from my vintage stamp stash, and some chopsticks from a local restaurant to complete the piece. The Japanese text also came from the vintage photo site. I framed the piece in frame that is gold with an accent stripe of rusty red that matches the color in the origami paper. I am happy with this one. I like the colors, and the little geisha girl is so cute. I'm definitely putting this one in the gallery show.

CLOUD DANCERS
Here's a new mixed media piece for my gallery show this summer. This is done on a stretched 18 X 24 gallery canvas. The ballerina image is from the vintage photo sharing site I've mentioned before, and I've used it in a prior piece. I've used two old cloisonnes pins that I found at a junk shop in Raymond on a recent trip with my Design class, and some old pieces of jewelry as little accents (I love the little piano!). The clouds are made of tissue paper. The little frames are leather and chrome. The background is acrylic painted with a wet-on-wet technique that I've used in the past. The crowns are hand cut from a magazine and accented with metallic RoseArt pens. It's all finished with gel medium.

I have framed it in a gold frame that is somewhat ornate, but not too terribly frilly and it accents the art nicely.

STRANGE COMPOSITION
This is my latest oil painting. It is 8 X 10 on a board canvas. It's a red delicious apple stacked on top of a golden delicious apple, with a lime resting in the foreground. I tried putting a number of items into the still life on the left side, but kept taking them out as nothing seemed to look better there than the shadow of the red delicious.

HOME-MADE BOOK PROJECT

I had to do a project for my graphic computers class. Part of it was simply to prove that I know how to use the software. That was easy enough. I chose to create a book using poems I've written about my life in the South. The file is done and ready to turn in as a PDF. I was also instucted to do whatever I wanted creatively with it as far as the physical production of the book.

At first I thought I'd just send it to Kinko's. Then, I was in my drawing teacher's office and noticed that she has this little collection of home-made books in a display case...I was hooked. I knew when I saw them I'd have to create my own. This is something I’ve never tried before.

On short notice I was limited on what I could do because of supplies. I had to use things I already had on hand as there was no time to go on a supply excursion. My drawing teacher loaned me a book to help out, but supplies listed in it are hard to come by on short notice (bee's wax, horse hoof musilage...???). It did give me some ideas about binding though, which is what I was mostly after, and I was able to do a variation from the book with the materials I had on hand.

Front View with Bookmark


I used mat board, red craft paper and the backs of old notebooks to construct the front and back covers. The front cover comes from a collage I did some time back and I used a jpg that I desaturated in photoshop to make the black and white effect. I also used it as a backdrop for old family photos that I scanned and used in the book as well. I used gel medium to fasten some metal moons and a cupid and star to the front to add some interest. The binding is an organza ribbon run through three holes I punched with an awl. The finishing touch is a twig from the back yard.

Inside Cover


Overall, I think the craftmanship could be better next time, but for the limited time and materials I think it turned out nice, and it was not terrilbly torturous work! The hard part was deciding on the binding and figuring out a proper variation for what I had on hand to work with, then executing it without screwing it up.

Back View


Accompanying Bookmark

FUN WITH CHARCOAL
Our latest projects in drawing class are charcoal drawings. Here are some still life drawings done on 18X24 drawing paper. Messy fun!

Bricks, Fruit & Flowers


Spot


Bones

VINTAGE BABIES COLLAGE
I put this collage together on a piece of cardboard that measures roughly 10 X 17. The background is made from tissue paper, torn/wadded paper, and scrapbook paper that I burned to get a rough edge. The black and white pieces come from a Web site that shares vintage photos for use by artists. I used some of the three cent stamps Jason Moulder so kindly sent me at the new year to give a nice purple accent. Some items from my international postal stash are added to finish off the piece.

SKULL STILL LIFE WITH APPLE, WATER PITCHER & RED BOTTLE
Yes, I've once again painted that old protector of the brains that I appreciate so very much. This time in a still life with a water pitcher I picked up at a local second-hand store, a Macintosh apple, and a red bottle which may start to look familiar in days to come as I've painted it in one of my earlier paintings and I like it very much.



This piece is done in oil on a 16 X 20 stretched canvas and it's one I've been working on in my spare time at home on my own. It's the first one that I tried a final glaze on, which is something that some old dude at the art supply store told me about that he likes to do on his paintings. I knew nothing of this technique other than I'd heard the term thrown around here and there. I thought what the heck, I'm mostly experimenting anyway. So I tried it out using the method as explained to me by the old dude at Art Supply Headquarters, who, I don't know his name, but he's always super nice to me and nice to chat with. I liked the effect I got with it as it seemed to unify the piece. I used a little yellow ochre with a lot of linseed oil, and after speaking with my art teacher about it, she says you should always use a transparent color, which yellow ochre is not. Lucky for me I used a very thin wash and I don't think it was enough to mess anything up.

ANALOGOUS PAINTING
This is my analogous project from design class. It's on a 9X12 canvas board. The project was to paint a still life using an analogous color scheme. The bowl and the piece of fruit, which we don't know what is, were actually green. The pitcher, however, was red. In this painting, the pitcher reminds me of a giant pickle. The entire thing screams green and yellow. It's very analogous; I definitely accomplished the goal of the project. I'm not sure I like the painting though. It's is too loud to suit me.

Oh well, I guess it turned out OK for what it was meant to be. I can't say I like it much though. Someday, I'll be a real artist, and I'll be able to paint things I want to paint, not what is set before me by a teacher. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the learning process, it's just that the same items time after time get boring. That pitcher has been set before me umpteen times and it's getting o-l-d.

SOMETHING FROM DRAWING CLASS
This is an ink and brush drawing done on watercolor paper with India ink. It's the only one I've done so far that has turned out decent enough that I'd actually want to share it. We've been doing these in my drawing class for the last four sessions, and I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of it a bit. I might even like it a little, the medium I mean.

I like it more when I can set up my own items at home. The same old stuff at school gets a tad old. I'm beginning to really hate a certain gourd and roper boot, and there's a flower pot that I am actually plotting to knock over and break if I have the opportunity and can make it look like an accident. I'm waiting for my chance...

COMPLEMENTARY COLORS PROJECT
This is another oil painting I did in my Design 2 class. It's a complementary color study on an 8X10 canvas. We were supposed to aim for a bit of an abstract look with this one and to try more color sharing.

BOTTLE WITH APPLES
This is another class project. It's a still life set up by the teacher from items on hand, thus the continued theme that seems to include bottles and fruit. So, this makes my third little oil painting on 8X10 canvas. Next week, we will do a complementary color study of a subject of our own choosing. I am thinking squeaky toys, or percussion toys from my music stash, or possibly a still life with a small skull, the blue bottle from the prior painting with the oranges, and speckled egg.

SOLO PRACTICE RUN
Here is my second oil painting, a still life I set up of some bottles and a couple of oranges on a piece of tile. I used a light directly above it. It's painted on an 8X10 canvas board, which is really too small, so it's off the surface. I wanted to try to paint without any guidance from the teacher, just to see if I could do near as good a job. I was going out on a limb with the glass, since we have not been through that in class.

LEARNING TO PAINT IN OILS - FIRST DESIGN CLASS PROJECT
These apples are painted on an 8X10 canvas board from a photo provided by my teacher. This is the first painting I've done in oils, and the fastest painting I've ever produced in my life.

NEON MUSHROOM DOODLE
Neon gel pen doodle on a crappy piece of paper. Sorry for the bad photo.

VALENTINE COLLAGE
I went to an estate sale in Jackson yesterday with my friend, Tammy, who likes to frequent such events. She thought I should go since there would be art stuff as an artist lived there. The house is in one of the older Jackson neighborhoods which used to be quite nice called Alta Woods. It was nostalgic for me since I'd spent some time there during my childhood, going to church, then later on I'd dated Warren, whose grandmother had a house on the boulevard there, then he'd rented an apartment there that I'd wanted after we'd broken up, as a gesture to try to get us back together; it didn't work, but I digress. It was cool to drive around the neighborhood and reminisce while waiting for Tammy to arrive.

I didn't find much in the way of art supplies other than a box of willow charcoal. I scored a couple of great old squeaky toys to use for a still life in art class though. But Tammy, lucky girl, found this great old valentine, and later that evening she and her family were over and her five year old daughter asked if I would make a collage with it for her daddy, Larry, for his birthday. Here's the collage below. I apologize for the poor photo. My camera is broken and I had to get my spouse to take a photo. He does not put the care into taking the photos that I do, but I took what I could get. Keep in mind also that it's made under pressure from a five year old who's more than a little precocious (I say that in the sweetest way).

Materials: Mat board, toile tissue paper, paper heart doilies, pearly craft beads, vintage valentine, heart, love and butterfly stickers, rubber stamping on torn tissue, mailbox numbers, decorative metal heart thingymabobber, crown saved from some broken ponytail holder, unidentified thingy I don't know the proper name for.

THE B & W VALENTINE DOODLE
Done while watching a movie. Just some ink on paper in a 5.5 X 8.5 sketch book.

THE LOVE DOODLE & THE PEACE DOODLE
These are just some doodles. "The Love Doodle" which is done in blue ink, was doodled between singing and playing songs during a jam session last Saturday night. "The Peace Doodle" which is done in glitter gel ink, was done while sitting around the house yesterday evening and watching a movie.

PLANET X SERIES: SPACEBABY
Another Planet X piece on scrap mat board. This is another 5X7 one doodled in ink at the doctor's office while waiting to be treated for sinus infection and pink eye, except this time it was me, not the daughter being treated.

THE ROCKER
My rocker dude is sporting Sheryl Crow's policeman's cap. All the other hats I tried on him are from top left, Bono's Bolero, a Charlie Chaplin Derby worn at a recent Police show by Andy Summers, some unknown dude's hat of which variety I'm unsure, and Stevie Ray Vaughn's signature hat to the right side. Outfit by Diamond David Lee Roth. Guitar and electric Violin by Fender. Bat and backgrounds on white by my ink pen.

Collage of magazine clippings on scrap mat board. Peace out.

GOODBYE
I felt like collaging yesterday, and I had found this really cool antique doll in a magazine, so this is what I came up with. It's mostly magazine clippings. I used a few stickers and I stenciled the skull and drew in the pattern by hand.

PLANET X SERIES: CYCLOPS
Another 5X7 ink and colored pencil on scrap mat board. I doodled the ink part of this one during a long wait at the MEA getting my daughter checked out for pink eye and sinus crud, so I was able to figure out it takes about three hours to doodle one of these out. I'm not sure how long it took to do the colored pencil part, I did not keep track of that, but it was quite a while.

In the end, my daughter said the result was creepy and my spouse said he wonders what direction my art has taken lately. Can't I just have some fun dammit? I'm not trying to win a prize here. I have these crazy little ideas. So humor me. I humor filthy rooms, pet mouse jail breaks, grumpiness, and weak-ass coffee. So I'd say I'm due!

TWO NEW PLANET X SERIES ADDITIONS
I did these two over Christmas holidays. Flora is on a 4X6 mat board scrap. Vampire Batgirl is on a 5X7 mat board scrap.


FLORA




VAMPIRE BATGIRL



VAMPIRE BATGIRL DIGITAL EDIT
I did not like the face on the batgirl, so I decided to try out my Wacom tablet to change her face. This is the result. I really did not know much about what I was doing but I know more now. I think I like this one better. What do you think?

PLANET X SERIES: SUNRISE
Same deal as the others, but this is the sun rising over the planet.

PLANET X SERIES: LUNA
Same deal as the others, but a moon rising over a mountain. I actually was inspired to do this one by a memory of a moon rise that I saw years ago atop Half Dome at Yosemite; simply the most awesome thing I've ever seen.

PLANET X SERIES: FLY GIRL
Same deal as the other, just a different life form from Planet X. This groovy little gal can go anywhere she wants, and is always lookin' fine in her high-fashion pink gone-gone boots.

PLANET X SERIES: LIGNEOUS
So, I'm feeling like doing something different. Here's the start. First in a series of drawings of things from a place in my mind called Planet X. You may have heard the B52's sing about it. I'll call this piece Ligneous. It's ink and colored pencil on a 4X6 scrap of mat board.

SNOWFOLK
More drawings in ink colored with pencil on 4X6 mat board. It's the middle of December here and it's warm. It's making me ill. I wish it would snow!

FESTIVE BIRDIES
These are small drawings I drew in ink then colored with pencil. They're done on pieces of scrap mat board and measure 4X6 inches each.

GOOGLY GALAXY
Here's a little acrylic galaxy on a 10x10 canvas. I did not start this out to be a fish themed project, but it turned out rather fishy. Can you see the fish jumping up from the bottom with his mouth agape? And the googly fish eyes looking at you?

BORDER
This is a border I made just doodling with ink on matt board. I made this for my online art portfolio I'm currently constructing. I will include a sampling of my poetry along with my other art work on the website. I scanned this border into Photoshop, and then pasted the poem on the top layer. This is the result. I want to have the poems displayed on something that looks like stationery I've created myself, something fairly simple. Click on the picture for a better view.

LITTLE BIG FEST, RAYMOND, MS
The Little Big Store, located in the historic old train depot in Raymond, had an art and music festival Saturday. My spouse and I loaded up the blazer and took my art to show, and had a good time. My brother James was there showing his awesome photography, along with some of my MySpace artist friends. It was fun to meet some other local artists too. The day was beautiful and the music was good. I was blessed that a few folks liked some of my art well enough to take it home with them as well!

FUNKY PINK SKULL
Another 8x8 acrylic on canvas. This is the last one for a while. These were really fun to do.

FUNKY MAD SKULL
Here's another 8x8 acrylic on canvas done today.