Poultry Mixed Media Series

Cluck, Cluck

Cock-a-Doodle

Cocky

I've been working on a mixed media series using roosters and chickens.  All three of these were started when I offered to clean out a messy watercolor palette at a recent PAC play day at Collage.  The artist said she couldn't paint as her palette was too messy.  I cleaned it taking very little paint while doing so and here is the result.  Strange beginning?  Yes.  There are so many people who now have chickens in their backyard.  It's quite remarkable. 

A weekend away at Menucha

The Portland Art Collective spent the weekend away in the Gorge at Menucha.  The weekend was filled with lots of laughter, conversation, art making, friends, food and fun.  I did just shy of 70 postcard sized pieces of art.  At times, I tend to be a production line artist.  I started on Friday night painting one side of the former PAC art show postcards.  I did 3 color ways.  Blues, Greens and oranges.  Then I started to compose my collages.  The subject matter ranged from waterlilies, palm trees, houses, daisies and more poplars.  I used a lot of different handmade papers and old paintings that I cut up. I used solid papers, a Japanese rice paper, a scrapbook paper, and old sheet music.  Collaging took all day Saturday.  Saturday evening I did some embossing of birds for the nest pieces like those I posted earlier.  Sunday, I used my sewing machine with the free motion foot and stitched on each piece.  The stitching acts as calligraphy.  As an exclamation point.  I still have about 25 pieces to stitch. Maybe tommorrow!

A Plethora of Poplars

Collaged Daisies and Palm Trees

Stitched Waterlilies

July Picnic Portland Art Collective Swap

Every July the Portland Art Collective has a picnic.  It's always about beautiful weather, good friends and good food! We also hold an art swap.  Last year we did a cookbook where each artist brought a front and back page with arted up recipes.  Other years we did Prayer flags and Equisite Corpses.  This year we decided to use our old show postcards as a surface and the rules are you make one piece of original art for each person in the swap. The pieces will all look similar by artist. Notice mine are similar but definitely different.  In the end we will go away with a pile of original pieces of art.  No two alike!  I am sure many of these pieces of art will be framed!  Here's several versions of mine.  Notice I incorporated my new found freeform stitching into it!

Wedding Cards

My niece is getting married soon and I decided to make several card prototypes to be able to key into the one I like the best.  I practiced my new stitch caligraphy after collaging.  I got a lot of practice!  What do you think?  Which do you like best?