The Art Bar Mini Show 2013

It's time again for the Art Bar Mini Show.  This is just one of the paintings I submitted for sale at the Mini show this year.  I chose not to paint any birds, so instead I did several mixed media pieces on canvas.  Some are nudes, and a few are roses.  We'll see if they sell this year.  I've had good success selling at the mini show for the last 5 years.

Altered book with Gelli prints

This is one of the pages of my latest altered book.  I layered the pages with Gelli prints and other papers, and it's ready for some art jounaling, to which I'm totally addicted. 

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Celtic Sunset Mixed Media

This painting was kind of an experiment.  I had been reading the book How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill, and I liked the Introduction so much, that I printed it out in script on the computer to use as a crumpled paper background on this pastel.  The words are barely visible in the painting, but the texture adds quite a bit of drama.  Pastels were applied over the paper after it dried, and then I sealed the painting with final fixative.  After that was dry, I applied spray shallac to the whole thing to really seal in the pastel.  I was awarded an honorable mention for it in the Wisconsin Pastel Artists "Summer Wrap Up-Fall Ahead" exhibition.

http://www.fineartamerica.com/marciahero

The Beautiful Peonies

A few weeks ago, I decided to attend one of Fred Bell's painting classes on Friday mornings.  I had the day off, and Debbie Callahan thought it would be a good idea, so I went, armed with my acrylic paints, brushes, and a photo of a black peony.  Fred was extremely helpful, and the painting I finished was very loose and fun.  In fact, I was so happy with the result, that the next Friday I had off, I went back to his class and painted a white peony.
This Friday, I hope to paint a pink (Sarah Bernhardt) peony in class; we'll see how it goes.

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Marcia's Art stuff: Rusty bolts

Marcia's Art stuff: Rusty bolts

Art Journaling Thoughts

I don't know why art journaling is so appealing to me.  It's not that I can sell my journals, like I sell my paintings.  And I don't paint just to sell.  So maybe that's the attraction--it's the creative outlet, whenever and pretty much wherever.  Sitting in a doctor's office, for example, I can simply take a piece of paper and doodle on it and then use it on a page after I get home. 

My techniques run the gammet.  Sometimes I like to just water down my acrylic paints and brush them onto a raw paper page, leaving a watercolor like wash, then add stickers, die cuts, and painting over that.  Other times, I like to tear papers and use them to collage the page, then apply some acrylic paint with my fingers in random areas, then apply gesso over that, and then perhaps, some stencils or stamps, or both.  After that, I sometimes add pockets and envelopes made out of paper, cards, or fabric.  Sometimes I sew the pockets in, and sometimes they're just glued on. 

Recently, I traveled to Florida and took a small art journal, a postcard size set of watercolors, a set of watercolor pencils, and some gelli roll pens.  The pages of the journal are less layered, and
mostly painted with watercolors, and accented with the pens, but it was a wonderful way to spend down time on a rainy vacation afternoon.

Lately, I've done a few pages by scraping off the leftover paint on my palette, then letting that dry; then I paint a simple portrait over that, allowing the original layer to show through the skin tone.  That's the technique I used on "Girl with Pigtails".

The Creative Person

I read this on The Huffington Post--excerpt from an article by Scott B. Kaufman  and it rings true, for me at least.

Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they're also often quiet and at rest. They work long hours, with great concentration, while projecting an aura of freshness and enthusiasm...This does not mean that creative people are hyperactive, always "on." In fact, they rest often and sleep a lot. The important thing is that they control their energy; it's not ruled by the calendar, the dock, an external schedule. When necessary, they can focus it like a laser beam; when not, creative types immediately recharge their batteries. They consider the rhythm of activity followed by idleness or reflection very important for the success of their work.

Creative people tend to be both extroverted and introverted. We're usually one or the other, either preferring to be in the thick of crowds or sitting on the sidelines and observing the passing show. In fact, in psychological research, extroversion and introversion are considered the most stable personality traits that differentiate people from each other and that can be reliability measured. Creative individuals, on the other hand, seem to exhibit both traits simultaneously.

Creative people's openness and sensitivity often exposes them to suffering and pain, yet also to a great deal of enjoyment... Being alone at the forefront of a discipline also leaves you exposed and vulnerable.

Art Journaling

It really all began in 2002 with a garden journal to keep track of what I was planting in my garden, and it has morphed into art journaling--painting, collaging, stickering, stamping, stencilling, sewing, beading, printmaking, and writing, all within the confines of a sketchbook or visual journal.  I'm addicted to it.  here are some of my favorite pages.

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/marcia-hero.html

Colorado trip

We're out here in Erie Colorado visiting Chuck's cousins.  Erie is just east of Boulder.  They're wonderful people and tend to like the same things we like, so it's always fun to stay with them.  We arrived last Sunday .evening, so Monday morning we spent some time getting our internet linked through theirs and rested from the drive from Milwaukee.  In the afternoon, we drove into Boulder, stopped at the AAA office, and picked up maps and brochures and the like so that we could navigate around town and up into the mountains.  We found a nice dowtown area with an outdoor shopping mall and stopped into a small Mediterranean restaurant called "Felafel King".  The food was very good, and so were the prices.  After that, we headed back to "base camp".   After going out for Chinese food for dinner, I took out some of my art supplies and played around with the watercolor pencils.  I painted a small still life of Judy's "money tree".  I don't know why they call it a money tree, since it certainly doesn't grow money.  If it did, I would have purchased one by now.  Judy painted a watercolor birthday card for Sandy, her sister.

Tuesday, we drove up Canyon Road to the damn on Boulder River.  Just beyond that is a town called Nederland, so we stopped in the tourist office and asked about scenic areas to paint.  The gentleman who worked there was very friendly and accomodating,  He gave us a simple map of the Peak to Peak highway and pointed out some highlights.  "Go to Brainard Lake, park in the parking area east of the lake and you will have a beautiful vista of the glacier".  So we went, and he did not mislead us. 

A little history of the last year, and some journal pages.

It's been a long time since I posted before today.  Last year after my sister had a 2nd major heart attack (and didn't die, miraculously), she moved back to Wisconsin with her husband to be closer to family.  Now she's considering moving back to Nevada, and we're (the family) all convinced she's not running on all cylinders.  Oh well.

On May 1st of last year I had an accident at work and tore my right rotator cuff, resulting in a surgery to repair it in June.  I was out of commision for 5 months, off of work, no painting with my right hand, and had to resort to trying to paint abstracts with my left hand--painting a successful abstract is actually more difficult than a representational painting.

Now I'm back at work, painting with my right hand again (thank goodness), and am taking Lorin Willey's Thursday night oil painting class. 

I am obsessed with art journaling and have tried a lot of different background techniques, and am experimenting with different papers and wet and dry media.  AHHHHHH--the possibilities are endless!!!


Journal page with hand painted doodled flowers, mixed paper background and butterfly die cut.



Journal page of my Art Angel Muse.


Journal page, self portrait.


Journal page with ART letter zentangles.



Journal page with oil painting greeting card pocket.

Girl with pigtails

I fingerpainted this over a background on which I cleaned off my palette using a palette knife. I love how the colors show through a bit under her skin tone.