Hoppy Easter!

Spring has finally arrived! It is still a bit cool for this time of year but much warmer weather can't be too far behind. And with Easter and Passover being celebrated this weekend it should be a pretty busy few days. "Hoppy" is a mixed media piece I created for our Art Journaling group with Kelly Hoernig. It is a 6" x 6" archival panel with layers of printed tissue paper, hand dyed silk threads, a photo of my resin bunny and some other decoupage elements with a little hand lettering and drawing thrown in. A couple of people commented that he looked like a chocolate bunny. Maybe the Easter Bunny will leave me one of those. May you have a peaceful spring season however you choose to celebrate... so hop to it!

Simply Sensational Scarves

This is the second class I will be teaching at Artist Expo in Houston - July 16-20. Silk is sometimes considered a difficult medium to do with all the prep, then steaming to set the colors at the end of the painting process. The dye I use for this technique is a protein based dye that grabs the silk very quickly. It is perfect for a great variety of free form patterns and is very easy clean-up. The best part - no steaming!! After the dye adheres (the residual water is clear) simply roll the silk in a towel to remove as much water as possible and then iron dry. The ironing part is not to set the colors but to remove the wrinkles. Ironing while damp makes it much easier to have smooth silk at the end. This is too much fun!

Orchid Solo

I am finally back to teaching - YAY! This is a 4 hour class I will be teaching at the 8th Annual Artist Expo in Houston from July 16-20, 2013. This is a fantastic art convention!! Everything is under one roof and local restaurants & shopping is really easy access. I have two classes this year and am also planning to have a booth on the trade floor. You don't want to miss this! Go to www.artistexpohouston.com for more details - registration is now open!!

The first piece of a new series! Let me introduce you to Secondhand Rosie... Rosie came to me fully formed in the dead of the night. I was leaving early the next morning on a trip and needed a good night's sleep but Rosie had other ideas. She and her friends woke me and insisted I get up right away. I could see an entire series of paintings all at once and this almost never happens. Usually I work more in a trial and error method. She will be my first workshop for the year and I already have 36 students signed up!

Dark Path

Shifting creative gears has its ups and downs. Right now, I am trying to use the catalyst of the fire to change the way I make art and follow a new path.

Now that I'm done rebuilding the house...

It has been a long time since my last post. The house kicked serious butt. The mojo was seriously compromised for a very long time. But things are changing. New work is being completed. Teaching a mixed media workshop in April. Teaching in Houston again in July and seriously excited about that. And I am participating in an Art Journal group that is all about experimentation and creativity. It is too fun and is just what I need to jumpstart some new ideas!! I will be sharing some of my pages in progress in some upcoming posts and talking about how I created them. I will share a page from the journal today. This is just the first layer but uses a tool that is probably in every painter's toolbox but probably hasn't been used in years... the lowly graining tool. Check it out!