Inspired by Anahata Katkin / Papaya!

Halo of Roses

Digital Painting/Collage

This is a photoshopped painting/collage of my paintings, except the labyrinth image, that came from Dover. I've had this girl half painted laying around and never knew how to finish her or what else I could do with her, so I scanned the painting and this is what I came up with. I borrowed a lot from Tattoo Nouveau- hair roses mandala background. The composition is inspired by the gorgeous work of Anahata Katkin.

Anahata is one of my artist/designer crushes. When I grow up I'd like to have a freakin' awesome inspiring art bizz like Papaya! I'm always wowed by everything the Papaya team does, especially anything paper. I'm a wrapping paper & stationary & office supplies nut-especially when its pretty-pretty.




detail view: layers texture layers color layers!

New paintings!

Protecting
Acrylic on canvas
12"X16"
This piece is much larger than my scanner so the image area you see here is from the middle of the painting. I really enjoyed painting the mushrooms and her dress. Still trying to figure out my style.





Love Bird
Acrylic on Canvas
9"X12"
I tried a mixed media collage background but you can't see it in this scan. Being more free and loose with paint and trying new faces, I love the little fairy bird.

The baby has been keeping me busy this week, I wish I had more paintings finished. There are five sitting around my desk, all waiting to have some attention but I don't know when I'll get to them all. I'm a neglectful artist, babies are demanding!

Journal Pages 16 & 17 (red and yellow)

Journal page 16
Red
How to Be Authentic: Do what makes you happy. NO MATTER WHAT
joy+love+art.
This should be my mantra for the rest of the year.
With art making, doing what makes me happy, no matter what, is the key to being authentic. To being myself. I worry worry worry about what other people are doing and making, and I worry about staying current, about keeping about. Worry worry worry. Will someone like it, will anybody care?
Worry.

This is not the road I wanted to take, It is not healthy, its not ME. So I am going to write it down as many times as I need to. Do what makes me happy, no matter what.
Even if I'm scribbling with chalk on the sidewalk. ESPECIALLY if I am scribbling with chalk on the sidewalk.
Mermaids and faeries and little girls with big eyes and big lips and crazy hair and colorscolorscolors.
No matter what.

Journal Page 17
Yellow
It started out a lot more yellow than this. But yellow is a bit of challenge for me.
I really wanted to play around more with all the textures and brushes and dover images I have.
I was trying for soft, feminine, and grunge-y all at the same time.
I like it, I don't like it. I don't know.
Maybe if I incorporate more of my own imagery.
It was a learning experience so I'm not going to judge it.

Journal Page 11 &12

Here is Journal Page 11 from Sunday.
The top half of the image was done by hand, and then the bottom half I tried to duplicate the idea of it digitally.


Sunday was a visiting-the-family-day. We packed up the car with gifts, and drove two hours south to see everyone. I have four sisters, so there was a lot of talking and eating and excitement... and gift-giving. Monday was a visiting-the-family-hang over day. I did manage to get to the art store and buy some much needed new paint brushes and two very large canvases which I can't wait to paint on.


Journal Page 12:

I almost missed the memo that this was a color-a-day themed week. But it turns out I was doing a blue page for Monday anyway. Which I ended up finishing digitally because I didn't want to ruin my ultrasound photos.

I have about a million and a two fonts on my computer. I find them, I love them, I never use them. The same goes with photoshop brushes and textures and all of that. It was nice to use materials that I didn't have to pay for ^_^ Now if only I could get the hang of all this digital stuff. I see all the goodies on my computer then I forget about things like composition.

Journal Page 4

Journal Page Four. I started out doodling all over the paper and journalled random thoughts and song lyrics over the last few days. I painted over a lot of my writing, because I like the look of it hiding just below the surface. I had a couple butterfly images printed out from Dover, so I glued those on in places... Then I found my Elmer's Painters markers, which are opaque and write over a lot of surfaces without a problem. I started doodling some more and the butterfly mandadla just sort of emerged. I really like the idea of it, so I might end up painting a nicer, cleaner version.

I started to paint and draw a couple of pages ahead, so that when I feel like it I can journal, instead of trying to plan out a time to sit and make something. It is a lot less perfect, but I like the spontaneity of it all, and sometimes the images just come together.

Journal Pages! January 1st and 2nd

January 1st: Yes! Layers and Layers and layers and layers. I painted, then painted, then painted some more... I glued a bunch of magazine photos down, painted again, then I wrote a bit, then I painted again.
It was fun, a bit of jump-starting my brain on this one. I think the next couple I do will incorporate the magazine collage and painting. I don't over-think so much, I just sort of automatically glue things down. It was fun, and liberating, and everything that I wanted this journaling experience to be.




January 2nd: Fly Away. More layers of collage and paint. I took the idea further and attempted to create a little girl with cut outs. It feels a little Alice in Wonderland-y. Her hair was the most fun.


These pieces came out a bit darker than I thought they would, but I'm okay with that. It is all about the process for me, right now, the experimentation and the mess.

Playing WIth Tissue!

My first 'real' attempt at a movie. Part two coming up!

You can use dyed and fused tissue paper as a surface to write on in art journals, in collage, in scrapbooking. Or you can use it paper mache, decoupage, as a background for atcs/aceos... use your imagination. It's fun!

In Progress

I am working my way through my "Work In Progress" stack... slowly but surely. (It is huge!)


Thought Process Cho and Second Thoughts These are also the last of the wooden panels for now. (I think) There is a lot of black, purple, and red in these pieces, and for one reason or another they just don't feel quite Done yet. (I always have this problem.) Thought Process has a lot of things going on in it that you just can see here. There are girls with floating hair floating in clouds, roses that bleed, paint rivers that turn into pages, then birds, then butterflies. Well thats the idea so far, it is still coming together. Cho is based off of a photo of Margaret Cho I saw in the paper. Second Thoughts has evolved quite a bit from what it started out as, in the beginning it was very bright green with gold metallics. She has no eyebrows! HA, I just noticed. Anyhow, these pieces are put them aside for now until I can think of something else to add. I do this with everything which is why my WIP stack is...well... stacking up.

This untitled piece is based off of the Little Red Riding Hood story. There is a lot of collage work happening in the background that I am hoping to reveal in certain bits, and continue layering on paint and more paper. It is interesting to see something in such a beginning stage, this is where, if I don't like it, I will paint completely over it. (Improbable here, there is a lot of tissue and paper collage under all that white.) Little Red has a mood to it that I like, so I will keep painting it and posting progress.



And lastly is a painting for my little sister Krista, Magical Dream Squid. The caption (if I had one...) should read "While other little girls had sparkle ponies to play with, my little sister would go on dream adventures with her magical squid." I started this painting with acrylics, and I finished it digitally. (So, unfortunately, the hard copy remains unfinished and In Progress)