New Art, and possibly a new obsession!

     It has been quite some time since my last post here, and my blog, as well as my art, have been undergoing some changes. After much thought on the matter, I have decided to change my blog name from "Primitives & Whimsies" to "Art & Whimsies". I know it's not a major change, but it feels like it to me. I have not made "primitives" for quite some time.... so I am not really sure why it took me so long to make this change.

    At the same time I am starting to feel that my art is taking on it's own individuality... finally. That, to me, is a big deal!

Here are a few newer paintings that I have been working on....

 

Keeper of the Sea (progress photo)

          Practicing painting "loose", as opposed to my usual OCD detail all the time. This one was fun, it was nice to just relax and let the paint do it's thing.

Mixed Media Collage on cardboard.

Mixed Media collage on watercolor paper

 These last three were part of a facebook challenge, led by Jane Spakowsky (GrittyJane), which was a 10 Day Painting Challenge. We were challenged to make one piece of art a day, for 10 days. It was a great challenge... but one that I did not quite finish.... I made it to day 7. Oh well! It was fun anyway =).

Now to the newest obsession... or at least it might be if all works out well ;).

For the longest time I have been admiring, and one day hoping to adopt, an adorable Blythe doll. *sigh* They are just so cute, customizable, and photogenic!!!! But the price tag gets me every time!! About a year ago I had my eye on one on Ebay that needed a lot of work, which would have been perfect because I that is exactly what I was wanting to do..... but I hesitated and missed out on a great opportunity. Since then I have gone back many times, but they just seem to be getting more and more expensive!! For my first time customizing, I just could not see spending that much.

Then I stumbled upon the adorable Tangkou dolls!!! Seemed too good to be true, a doll very much like a Blythe, but for 1/3 of the price! So I started looking online for reviews and saw some great things, and very little that was bad. So I decided to buy myself an early birthday present =). 

Here is what she looks like.

Click to go to Tangkou site

    I think I am in LOVE! I ordered her about a week ago, and have been patiently waiting for her to come in! Thankfully Hubby checked the post office this morning, and she is in, just have to wait for him to bring her home =).
    So, you can probably expect another post tomorrow with pics!!

The Big Thaw Arts & Craft Fair

I am SOOOOOOOOOO excited!!! I will be doing my very first art fair WOOHOO!! With my hubby by my side, we will be taking a huge leap into the art fair world.

This April 16th will be the very first (hopefully to become annual) Big Thaw arts, crafts and vintage fair at the Mayo St Arts Center in Portland, ME. You can click on the photo above and it will take you to the blog site for the fair.

I can't get over how talented the state of Maine is!!! You have to check out the vendors sites, there's some really cool stuff in there. I've already got my eye on a few things =).

I have been working my bum off painting and creating for the fair!! Here's a little preview of what I will have to offer.


Several new original Mixed Media paintings, along with prints of all sizes of older paintings.


The debut of my new jewelry, made with prints of my paintings.



Crochet fingerless gloves and woman's hats. Don't you just LOVE the display hands?!?!?! Just got them in today, perfect multitaskers!!


Of course, whatever does not sell out at the fair will be put up on Etsy =). And I will be offering prints of all originals very soon.

Be sure to check out my hubby's photography at SJohnsonPhotos, he will be sharing the booth space with me =)

Slowly But Surely

She's coming along nicely.... but slowly! Hubby took some pics of me painting the other day.... so I thought I would share :).
Like my messy desk? I have to have everything I could possibly need right within my reach, obviously lol!


I realized after he took these pics that I did the highlighting on the top of the birdhouse on the wrong side.... unless she is from a planet with two suns. I'll have to fix that.



I'v got quite a bit more to do before she is finished. Then I have to ask my wonderful hubby to build me a frame, since she is painted on reclaimed particle board.... the heavy duty kind. I like to paint on reclaimed surfaces whenever possible.


Doesn't he take beautiful photos??? He has an etsy shop too, where he sells beautiful photography prints. You can find his work here at Shaun Johnson Photography.

I hope you all had a great long weekend!!!

Free Time = Paint Time

WOOHOO!!! Yay for free time! I actually have a little bit of time to paint this weekend. Our weekends have been so full lately, it's nice to just be able to hang out with the family at home, and enjoy some painting time at my little desk.
Here's little sneak peek at what I'm working on. There's a long way to go, but I'm liking her so far :)


Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

New Frontiers

Wow!! It has been far too long since I have posted anything on here. There is so much going on that I want to share.... but maybe not all at once =).

First of all, Valentine's Day is right around the corner! I have been working on some LOVE themed mixed media paintings that I have just added to my Etsy store.

I am hoping to have some V-Day cards made up very soon with these images, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Second of all =). Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not content unless I am trying something new. That in mind.... I am considering setting up a second Etsy shop specifically for cute, whimsical accessories. I have been crocheting for a while now, and am running out of people to crochet for lol! Not to mention, running out of $ for my ever increasing yarn hoard. I haven't figured out a shop name yet... but when I do you better believe I'll be sharing the news.

Here's some photos of a project that I worked on last night... gotta keep my hands toasty warm, it gets down right freezing during these Maine winters!! These are coming in "handy" while I'm working on other projects. tee hehe!



Here is a link to the pattern for these adorable fingerless gloves.... just in case you're feeling crafty =). She also has an adorable Etsy shop with some of the cutest handmade stamps i'v ever seen!!

Learning Through Art

I am so excited to share this with you! This summer my husband and I decided that we wanted to pull our 8yo son out of public school and homeschool both him and our 5 yo. It has taken much prayer and research for us to come to this decision, but it has been wonderful so far.

I am taking a fairly relaxed approach to their schooling, making sure that the important things get accomplished daily, but giving them plenty of room for natural learning through play and creating with their hands.

I have wanted to incorporate art into their learning as much as possible. Our 8yo has been asking recently to learn how to paint and draw "like Mommy".... so yesterday we devoted our whole day to researching journal making and making him his very own handmade art journal.

We found this excellent video tutorial by an amazing mixed media artist (who I very much admire) named Tascha Parkinson.




After watching this video we were ready to get to work on our own art journals.... we just had to adjust things a bit to get a larger scale with our own books. We got our bristol paper and cardboard ready, and picked out our cool scrapbook papers.





Next we set to work gluing, and gluing, and gluing some more =).
Have to get the boys used to getting their fingers dirty if they are going to make art.



Then came the tricky part...... securing all of the pages of bristol paper inside the book. This was Logan's first time with a sewing needle.... and I think he did great!



After much work.... and thankfully no blood, sweat (well maybe a little), or tears.... we were finished!!! YAY!



Now to get drawing and painting in them!!
I specifically used the bristol paper because I knew that it would hold up well to pretty much anything we might want to play with.

We both learned so much in just this one project together. Not just art, but history, math, teamwork, following directions, and even more real life skills that will be useful for so many things in the future. And it made us closer as Mom and Son.

"Upcycled" Portrait finished... and more

I have been working hard on several paintings lately... too many at once I think =). I have a couple waiting on my dear sweet hubby to build frames for, so they will look all pretty.
BUT, I did manage to finally get photos taken of the "upcycled" project that I was working on. She came out quite beautiful, I think.

My talented hubby made the frame out of scrap wood leftover from a project that he was working on, he makes beautiful Primitive birdhouses and furniture. One day I will be a good wifey and share some photos of his work too =).

I used several layers of paint and crackle on the background, along with stamping with my new favorite tools.... bubblewrap and bottle covers for circles. Then I layered on some collage elements from scrapbook papers and some printed vintage sheet music.

I recently picked up Kelly Rae Roberts' book "Taking Flight". WONDERFUL!!!! I can't put it down! It is both informative and inspiring!!! I decided to give some of her techniques a try and this is what I came up with the first time around. I have a few more that I am finishing up using many of the same ideas.

I am really having a hard time figuring out where to list my paintings! I might try these out on ebay and see what happens. Selling paintings is still very new to me. Still testing the waters a bit =).

Now on Etsy & Ebay

These are my offerings for the week on both Ebay and Etsy. You can click on the photos to see the description and more photos.
It feels really good to actually have some things up for sale again!
Be sure to check out my other items on Etsy, I have a couple of prints for sale on there right now too.

Fairy Princess & Angel

I have been working one some new mixed media paintings over the past week, specifically for prints. They are 9x6 paintings on watercolor paper, and have been mounted on thin sturdy cardboard. I'm not sure if i will be selling the originals to be framed, or just the prints. But either way as soon as i can get the printing sizes worked out i will have them up on Etsy.

"Long Ago and Far Away" was created using collaged pages from a 40's vintage book, acrylics, watercolor pencils, printed paper, charcoal and is sealed in beeswax.

The angel is watercolor pencils, acrylic, charcoal and is also sealed with beeswax.
Look for them soon on my Etsy shop.

He loves me... He loves me not...... Art Journal Entry #1

I have finished my first art journal entry.
I did not intend for this to be a "Valentine's" theme... but i find it to be very appropriate.

I am posting photos in stages, i love to see how a painting develops from sketch to finished product.

In this first stage i have sketched, in graphite, a general idea of what i wanted the finished product to look like. I don't particularly like drawing hands, and my hands aren't very good for modeling. However my 7yo son has very nice hands... so i made him be my hand model for this sketch =)

Next i painted in her face with a mix of watercolor pencils and acrylics. Her hair is painted in acrylic, and the background is different shades of purple acrylic wash.


I just love how the finished product came out! I finished off her hair with highlights of plum, and her dress in turquoise acrylic. Her corset is silver, and i have used a piece of old lace as a kind of stamp to give it a black lace effect, which i also used down the left edge of the page. The daisy in her hair is from a gardening magazine. I finished it off with wisps of wind in silver, aswell as black and silver heart lacy stamps.

Fairies and Geishas and Art Journals... oh my!

COLOR!! Oh how I love it! All colors, even the "ugly" ones =). I spend much of my time working in Primitive colors, which is fine, I love what I do…. but sometimes BAM the color explodes!! That is what I love about altered art…. layers and layers of…. you guessed it…. COLOR!

I also have a thing for fairies. They are so whimsical and magical…. anything with wings fascinate me actually.

This piece may be my favorite so far. I used layers of paint, paper, watercolor pencil, ink, magazine clippings, buttons and beeswax. I love the colors in this, they are some of my favorites!

What can I say? I have been on an Asian kick lately, whether it is with my cooking or painting.

I love my Geisha Girl! Her kimono and fans are made from layers of printed papers, and everything else is painted with acrylics. I have shaded everything with a metallic bronze acrylic to add a glow, and I love how it gives the jade background a patina that looks much like tarnished copper.

ART JOURNAL!!

I love the idea! Something to carry around to jot down ideas, work with new techniques, and just play in every day! WOOHOO!

My brother-in-law bought me this beautiful journal for Christmas several years ago. It is made completely from recycled handcrafted paper. I love it!! However, I had no idea what to do with it….. until now. The pages are very heavy, much like watercolor paper. It was completely free of any sort of decoration, a perfect canvas for the imagination! And, of course I had to start by prettying up the cover a bit =)

(I had to get my messy table in there too, hubby just doesn't get the organized chaos of art…. I actually cleaned it up a bit for the photo)

I cannot wait to get started!! I will probably be journaling this online too, it's always good to have a sounding board, and what better than the world-wide-web for that??

Off to paint I go!

Experamenting with Beeswax

This is my first attempt at sealing with beeswax. It took a bit of work, and some scraping, but it came out ok for my first try i suppose. However i did learn that sometimes layers of acrylic, and hot wax don't really mix. I had a bit of trouble with this piece, mostly around her chin and jawline... although the photo accentuates the flaws a bit more than in person. Overall i am happy, and really enjoyed the process. Awe shucks, i think this one might just have to stay with me =).

And on a side note, beeswax smells WONDERFUL!! My house smells like honey all the time now =)

An Altered State of Mind

I have decided to dive head first into the deep end of mixed media painting and altered art. Now that I have begun, I can't stop!

I have been experimenting with different ways to create texture on canvas.

Revelation 22:2
"On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding it's fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."

This first painting is of a "tree of life". I started with a canvas panel, which I then decoupaged with tissue paper (recycled from Christmas of course), and then covered that with acrylic gesso.
The rest is painted with acrylics, and detailed in black ink.