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

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

Shadow Dancer

This:

Horizontal on the amazing adjustable easel:

Plus an Inkjet image printed on an Apollo transparency looks like this:

Plus some Elmer's Caulk, a palette knife and some luck....

Ends up looking like this:

and the gratuitous close-up: 

 

And again, my wise art friends, how do I get this puppy sold??

xoS

PS. Venus Astonished and Shadow Dancer

both have a reoccurring theme. 

It's way deep

and I don't want to get into it now. 

You can probably tell that it has to do with heartbreak, 

I mean Venus is so astonished with this life, she bails!! 

She goes back to where she came from! 

She got hurt, yes, she could survive that,

but what really made her head back to sea was Disappointment!

Constant Disappointment!! 

Hoping, wanting and not getting. 

Being let down, sometimes by people that are not capable of giving her what she needs

so part of the blame is hers! 

Insanity is hoping for a different outcome over and over when the process is exactly the same! 

And Shadow Dancer,

she is there for one reason and one reason only.

To Excite.

Good grief, how sad is that. 

Her body is the only 

important thing about her. 

She is judged by her beauty and weight.

She has no personality,

soul or heart

in the shadows.

She is expected only 

To Excite.

Crap. 

I went off didn't I?

and I didn't really want to get into it.

I think I need a minute. 

xoS

Venus Astonished WIP Finally Done

This

Plus this:

Plus a little of this:

Plus a whole lotta that:

Plus a pinch of this:

Finally!! 
Equals this:

And the gratuitous close-up:

This is 16x20. 

How does one set a price for a 
mixed media thingy?

Where do I take it?

Do I walk cold into a local gallery? 

I suppose I could google it.

But I would much rather let my art friends

tell me the 411.

You have 48 hours. 

Then the googling begins. 

teehee.

xoS