Art Everywhere

It's still raining so as usual there is plenty to do in the studio. Here is another collage in the works and it just didn't seem to be coming together so I pulled out my paint's and as you'll see in the next photo was able to come to a conclusion that finished it off nicely.

 

The main difference here was adding a few more paper embellishments and then painting areas in a more unifying color. Other that all I did was add a lot of leaves and vines to tie it all together.

I'm always surprised at how these collages look when put on curved surface. They really seem to pop.

This organizer was the best thing by far that, my hatband found  for the studio. He got me one for the brushes and one for my pencils. They're only six inches square but they each hold 196 items. The brush holder emptied 3 vases and saved a lot of space on my work table. I'd highly recommend them or any product like that if you are trying to organize your art supplies.

This photo shows all three mugs I've put my work on this month.

This was one of my paintings. I'm sure you've seen it before but I really appreciate it now that I can have my morning coffee out of it and get a close look at it.

This was one of my favorite collages of recent years and my current favorite mug for coffee lately. It's more of a garden theme and the gnome makes me laugh as I sit out in the garden these days.

The next 2 photos are the same mug but are from a 25 year old collage that I had cut down to fit in a storage box. Details of that are in a previous post but the only way to get it all on the bug was to make each side different.

Foggy Friday

 A lot of the time here in Minnesota the weather is a factor in how we plan our activities. Today was foggy with temps in the 40's so I didn't feel like spending it outdoors.

What's fun about that is having a great excuse to spend the day in the studio. That sounds great, doesn't it? Until I realize that "my studio" is just a 6 foot long board 15 inches deep. That we mounted under the living room windows to hold all of my art supplies.

Of course, once I get involved in a project I'm so happy that it doesn't matter where I am.

Today I started by clearing off the old typewriter cart that I use for a work table before diving into my next project.

Before I forget, here's a photo of this years daffodils that I took yesterday in my favorite vase.

 Beyond cutting out more items to collage with and making this card for a friend I didn't do much but had a great time any way.

Wonderful Wednesday

BEFORE

AFTER

One of my favorite things today is how much easier it is to get things done now that my supplies are organized. 

My next project will be to get a desk top storage drawer unit to organize my paints in. As those of you that follow my blog may remember, I have tried many different ways to do this but hadn't found one that really worked. It will be interesting to see if this will really work.

Making this card really amused me. The card stock that I made it from was what the stickers came on.

added to that was a scrap of a map, flowers cut from a sale flyer and I finished it with the last sticker from that package.

I couldn't resist the urge to make anoher garden themed collage. this one is actually more paint than paper. I LOVE IT!!!

 Yes, this is another head of lettuce. We're now growing enough of our own that we hardly ever have to buy any and that is wonderful indeed.

The Honeymoon Post - Lettuce Alone

 I'll bet you were wondering what you'd find on this post.

The simple answer was an old joke my Dad used to tell when my Mom was a waitress (and yes, i know how unbelievable this sounds) my Dad was a travelling salesman.

He was always doing things to get her attention so when she'd ask "what do you want to eat?" he'd say "Honeymoon Salad" and when she asked "what is that" he'd reply "lettuce alone" (let us alone).

He used to crush the napkins into the shape of a horse and leave them for her (often in place of a tip)

She must have enjoyed his sense of humor because he kept telling that joke and they were married for over 60 years.

I guess that makes me the punch line.

The one little hydroponic grower that we have

has been producing very well. If I grow lettuce in all 3 spots I can raise enough for salads but lately I've just been growing one and that keeps us in enough for sandwiches and burgers etc.

I even took some time to do a painting of those beautiful leaves.

I grow different varieties from time to time but found leaf lettuces too limp and much prefer the baby romaine that I've been growing lately. It's beautiful, has more body to it and the leaves are just the right size for sandwiches and burgers.

Out in the Garden for Work and Play

 

A little party to start out the season began some sidewalk art we like to call the ART WALK that visitors will be encouraged to add to as the summer goes on. The first items added were the sun, a bird and a flower. What would you like to add?

The first things to bloom this year were the daffodils

Chilly weather never stops the fun because we have both electric heaters and a campfire ring for warmth, snacks or lunch. Stop by for s'more.

This was the planter in front of the Studio before I seeded and transplanted it.

This planter is on the side of the house. Yes, we designed and built it too.

Here's a view of the front yard that is on left hand side as you approach the house from the street.

A Surprise Discovery in the Studio

 Hello Everyone,

We've had a few rainy days so I've been staying indoors and rearranging my studio space in the corner of the living room.

The most exciting part of that was finding one of my earlier collage paintings. It went out to a writer in 1994 and was returned when she passed away a couple of years ago. It was hung over her desk because

"It made a great reminder that the right words are right in front of you if you take the time to find them"

The paper colors had changed over the years but it was in otherwise in the same condition it was on the day I finished it.

I'm sure that some of you are wondering what the idea behind this image is a simple one.

I once saw a video on Willam De Kooning talking about the way he painted. When it came to women he felt he just couldn't capture the mouth and the lips so he would cut that piece of the model on a cigarette ad and imbed that in the painting. I figured that it didn't do his career any harm and it might just bring it luck. It was very satisfying to work on and several people liked it but I ended up giving it as a gift anyway. Still it was a great experience and the gal that owned it loved it so even that is success of a type and I moved on to other things.

As I was moving on I made another discovery. Keep in mind the fact that I did this collage 30 years ago and you will be as amazed as I was to see the Idea pop up in a recent magazine.

    Compare the two. First a detail view of my painting and then the photo from the magazine. What do YOU think?

Here is a detail view of the corner of my painting.

Do you see what I mean now? The similarity is unmistakable, Don't you think so?

Finding this surprised me even more than finding the painting had. Like Gomer Pyle used to say, Surprise, surprise!

What a day! You never know what you'll find just around the corner.

Keep your eyes open for the surprises in your life and your days will be more exciting too.

Back in the Garden

 

So excited about getting back into the garden that I painted this over my Morning coffee.

This planter is quite a mess after the winter so the big project was to clear off the debris and reseed for the season.

The yellow geraniums made it through the winter and were off to a great start so I added some flower seeds in a number of other colors and transplanted some yellow daffodils that will be blooming soon so I will be excited to see how it looks when everything is up and blooming.

These daffodils are blooming up along the side of the house.

It's been wonderful to start having company in the garden again as well. So far we've had one campfire and a picnic and are looking forward to many more.

The only downside there has been is one big, bushy squirrel sitting on the raised planter just calmly reaching in and pulling up the bigger seeds and shoving them in his mouth.

Sometimes  I wonder why I bother. I plant the seeds and it just comes right along behind me pulling them out again.

How is it going for you this season? I'd love to hear your tips, tricks and stories and Please, follow this blog. Your feedback is appreciated.

Julia

Spring Things, Experiments in paint and dirt

 Well, I'm sure that you've noticed that I'm not getting to the computer as much as I used to but the weather has been so nice that I just wanted to get things wrapped up in here and get out in the garden.

The first thing was to take this decades old collage and turn it into two that will fit into my storage box for small work.

After I'd cut an 8 x 10 inch image out all that remained is to made another 8 x 10 inch to go with it out of the scraps.

The first thing that I needed to do was take the left over scraps apart and arrange them on a new piece of watercolor paper before painting between and over them.

I was quite happy with the results and I hope you do too. Especially those of you that buy my work from time to time. This collage is an important ome because it explains the journey between my different types of work over the years.

 

Here is the remaining core of that 25 year old collage.

The other wonderful thing about this is that you can tell my choices of supplies is. Everything has lasted really well and looks as good now as it did back then.

I like the look of it even better on products in my zazzle stores.

There is very little to sat about this one is that it's just fun and doesn't attempt to tell a story or attempt a dialog with the viewer.

Here's are some quick sketches in watercolor, gouache and colored pencil of the sunflower sprouts growing in the pot in the window.

This of course is the hydroponic planter which is currently growing lettuce and strawberries in the living room.

Watercolor sketch of Strawberry leaves.

Ink sketches.

Strawberries and Sunflowers.

EXPERIMENT; Collaging with hand painted papers as a background.

I tore the spriped and floral papers into small pieces and arranged them on top  of the black and white painting.

After that I painted more lines and dots and went wild with my catalog and magazine cut outs.

 

I think this one surprised everyone.