ATC PLAY

Sometimes

you have to go back 

to your roots.

Artist Trading Cards

are my first love.

And my first foray 

into mixed media art.

I'm going through

an upheaval aka

disequilibrium.

My only chick is about to 

leave the nest.

Themes are running around here.

Middle age, 

and 

Launching my kid

are fighting for time

in my freakin psyche.

It's like an 

emotional roller coaster

around here. 

I wonder if 

I could be analysed

by these 

seemingly random

ATC subjects 

that just popped

into my head. 

Me thinks there is

a conspiracy afoot.

teehee.

Thanks for looking.

And I hope 

you are experiencing

more equilibrium than

disequilibrium.

xoS

On the First day of Christmas my Muse gave to me: ZOMBIES

It started out so innocently.

I was simply practicing sketching.

I couldn't get the eyes right.

Par for the course for me.

So I kept erasing them.

I showed my daughter 

what I had done so far.

She said "I love it,

don't change a thing, it's done".

First I thought she was nuts.

Then I thought, yeah, I like this.

Creepy. Different. 

So many variations to be had.

My muse brought me Zombie Katie Holmes.

IMO she is a talentless Zombie.

Feel free to disprove my thinking. 

Ok, that's not very compassionate of me.

I get a bad karma pass cuz

I'm a beginner Buddhist.

Not sure how long I can milk that one.

teehee.

Xanax Zombie

Robot Zombie

Thank you so much for visiting 

and commenting.

Tell me what makes you a Zombie.

And how do you counteract it?

Besides Art of course.

xoS

Bird on Blue

Last summer I painted this puppy outside 

on a beautiful day. 

I added some stenciling, which blobbed up

here and there. 

So, I wasn't so thrilled with it.

And it hibernated in the back of my mind and the back of my studio

for a whole year.

Inspiration finally struck. 
I love the technique in which 
Angela Cartwright extends her painting
outside the photographs in her book, 
Mixed Emulsions.

(see page 41)

In the photo above, 
I've adhered the image of the birds
to the canvas, and rubbed up most of the white paper paper on the front off. 
So the surface looks very textural and grungy. I then painted over the image, 
and painted the background white.

In the photo above, 
I am tweeking the stencil. 
Adding an outline with pencil,

and a wash of more paint.

I love Golden's Iridescent Bronze.

Below you can see, 
I've written one of my most favorite poems in ink around the image.
Well, campers, Ranger Adirondack Inks 
bead up on top acrylic paint and NEVER dried.
I sprayed the surface with a sealer.
NOPE. No go. So I had to bag that idea. 
I didn't know it yet here:
I added dot stencils.

I ended up painting a thin white wash
over the words,
which got smeary but I like it. 

It looks like a hidden secret. 

Which in a way it is.

This poem is my soul's secret sanctuary.

In the photo below, 

you see how I've extended the branches 

past the image.  

What is the poem you ask?

It is by a 12th century Buddhist monk:

The wind whistles in the bamboo

and the bamboo dances. 

When the wind stops, 

the bamboo grows still.

A Silver bird 

flies over the autumn lake. 

When it has passed, 

the lake's surface

does not try 

to hold on to 

the image of the bird. 

Beautiful, is it not? I re-learn the lesson of this poem sometimes twice a day. teehee.

I am trying so hard to be an autumn lake. 

Care to join me?
xoS

Black and White and Green All Over

My fav part of the process. 

The background collage.

In my mind's eye I was thinking 

black, white and lime green. 

Wait till you see what I ended up with. 

Completely not black white and lime green.

See!! I told you!! I love drips! 

I am a drippy dame. 

Layers of paint, stencils and assorted blobs.

Now the fun part:

Using alcohol and a cotton swab,

unveiling parts of the collage underneath.

What I have so far:

Living with 

the work in progress 

for inspiration:

Next post will be about that 

bird painting in upper right corner.

I had a summer with productive spurts

combined with sluggishness!

And FINALLY

I finished my parent's painting,

The Orb.

Here I am with my baby, with mixed feelings.

Happy and Proud of what I created

but sick to death of it!!

Kind of like parenting

a kid who is about to turn 18. 

teehee.

The long view without

my noggin in the middle. 

teehee.

Thanks for looking, visiting and

commenting. 

May the Muse Be With You.

xoS

Ludicrous

Ludicrous.
$175
9x12 Wood Panel.
"She cried because she had considered a liaison with a ludicrous man who collected baseball jackets."
I am in love with collaging 
on a panel versus a stretched canvas. 
Duh. 
I picked up 3 for 40% off at Michael's. Micheal's is on my shit list. 
They do not stock Golden's Varnish.
And I want it NOW.

Stencil courtesy of Stencil Me Brightly.

Thanks for looking. 

xoS

Spray Paint is The Shit

I bought some AWESOME stencils on etsy.

The seller is Deidre Wicks and 

her shop is called

Stencil Me Brightly. 

egads, these are wonderful quality and 

I am hooked, hooked, hooked.

My favorite palette: 

red, white, turqoise, black. 

Sprayed on Acid free tissue paper. 

The tissue will no longer be sheer after spraying.

The spray paint is opaque. 

I thought I would have a "sheerer" result. 

I love what I got, tho.

Next time I will try acrylic sprays 

and see what happens. 

I am a newbie,

or spray virgin, if you will. 

So this is a learning experience for me. 

I had so much fun. 

I'm going to cover a canvas with this:

(and then add lots of embellishment) 

Sprayed some scrapbook paper:

The eye will be the center piece

for another collage.

Adhered torn pieces to a canvas:

Wrapping the collage around 

to the back of the canvas. 

Started doing that awhile ago.

Love the heart veins in her neck:

I have to get back to this painting or my parents will think I'm a procrastinator:

Yup, my muse just went off in a different direction.....had to listen!

Thank you, Diedre, for enabling my muse and making such a wonderful product! I have 3 more collages in the works!

xoS

P.S. Spray paint outside.

Wear a mask over your mouth 

and crappy clothes

cuz the wind blows the paint everywhere.

Also, wear big cheap sunglasses/goggles to protect your glasses/eyes. 

I got paint on my lenses and in my eyes.

Shame on me being an optician and what not. When the muse strikes 

I've been known not to wash or brush

until she leaves, 

but I usually have the sense to take

safety precautions!