CAMY LOVES SUNFLOWERS!

A cheery sunflower for a sweetie named Camy.

I used a corner frame sample for the base to attach the sunflower and leaves ( using painted recycled linoleum) and then I attached beads and fabric ties for more fun.

This is a house warming gift for my friend Camy.

She is as cheerful and sunny as a whole field of sunflowers and a wonderful artist.

I am so thrilled for her today.

She is a bright spot for all who know her.

xoxo to Camy.

QUIRKY FACES TIMES FOUR

These are the four faces I created using painted recycled linoleum.  I added found objects for features

and each face was mounted on wooden cradle boards 6 x 6 that I covered with dictionary paper.  More in the future I think.  These will be in the upcoming show Untamed and Reclaimed at the CCAH show.

Opening is this friday evening.  We are to dress up.  I have my outfit ready to go.. and it should be great fun.

ta for now

GOOD DOG

 WEEKEND ART:

Recycled linoleum painted and cut into doggie parts and then assembled with pop rivets.

Collar made from a black zipper section and eye is a large washer painted black and attached using

a large pop rivet.

Next the wooden cradle board painted with acrylics.  I scribbled a dog verse throughout the background.

and lastly dribbled lime green paint to create grass like effects.  Can you tell I am in the mood for spring?

Waiting for the paint to dry.  Sigh.  I am so impatient. The dribble paint is fun but it takes at least overnight to thoroughly dry.

TADA!

A happy colorful mutt dancing among the flowers. 

Another wonderful day doing art in my studio.

Joy-full indeed.

PIF

PAY IT FORWARD

donate some art to a worthy cause in your area.

If you are like me, you have a stash that is sitting in your studio.

It makes you feel so good to contribute an art piece for the good.

Whenever I read of a local benefit with a silent auction, I jump up and

donate some art.  Contributing and good feelings.

A nice way to spread the good vibes of ART!

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

TWO FRIENDS: FRICK AND FRACK

FRICK

FRACK

They live on the same block and pal around all the time.

You just never see one without the other.  Co-dependency at it's best.

one.  two.

Finding "hair" for my characters keeps me on constant watch.

I have been known to slowly wander the hardware store with my artist antenne full on.

You just never know what you will find.  Ditto at the thrift shops.  We have some great

thrift shops here locally, but sometimes their selctions are too "nice".  I lean toward the

more junk elite kind of stuff.  Free piles are often a good score place for electic finds.

And till the yard sales start up again this summer, I am kind of limited for sources.

I will tell you what I used for the tall spikey hair.  That one is compliments of my husband.

While he has been known to bring me home flowers, often, he will bring home great finds

that he knows will light up my life.  That black spikey stuff?  It's from a huge bristle brush

that you see attached to buses..to keep the gunk from spraying out as the wheels whip down the road.

Sort of a curtain of bristles.  I have one that obviously dropped off the bus and my sweet honey picked it up and brought it home to me. 

How wonderful is he?

The small spikes on the other one, is hair pins.  In case you were wondering!

PIF

If you spot something totally wild and cool, remember the kooky artist in your life.

ta for now.

WE ARE FAMILY

So here's my art for the day.  I had a big old paintbrush, a wisk broom, and some kind of goop scooper thingie jiggy tool. Perfect for faces.  Using "stuff" to create the face elements on the painted recycled painted linoleum ( love love working with this stuff) I created the faces.   I had originally hung them as solos, but then decided they would look really fun together..

a family. 

 So I dug out an old cabinet door, painted it with my favorite colors and attached these happy faces.

And I love it.  

How lucky am I to do art!?

Giggles and grins.

PIF.

it's all good!!

I invite you to do the same.

3 CUPS OF COFFEE

3 Cups of Coffee

This is a fun piece I did using recycled products and items to create this art.  The birds, cups and heads are all made from recycled linoleum that I paint.  I am having lots of fun using this as an art medium.  I started this piece out by using an old kitchen cabinet door that I prepped and painted a nice red.  The red paint was from one of those on sale sample paint containers at Lowes.  I always pop by the paint sale table and see if there are any colors that I can pick up.  It's an economical way to buy paint.  I stenciled the numbers on in black and then added the elements of recycled linoleum art.  I decided it needed a fun border, so I started out with white polka dot,s which led to red polka dots and then I added  circles cut from book pages.  Then to tie in the black birds I added the black painted stripes.  And then I decided I was done.

This will be one of the pieces that I put in the upcoming show in March at the CCAH gallery.

More to come.

ta

ART WEEKEND

recycled linoleum art

my new fun art phase

This recycled cabinet door started with a coat of varied greens and blues with white spatters.

I decided to create a girl and a bird standing in the garden.  I made the flowers out of painted recycled linoleum and fabric.  Even some oil cloth.  The stems are black zippers.  I used telephone wires for her hair

and then created a mosaic for the upper borders of the frame. 

I am sitting with it for a few days.  I am still battling my cold which now has turned into a sinus infection

so am running to the clinic the morning to get some antibiotics. This bug is cutting into my work schedule and my art time.  Can't have that, now can I?

PIF>

embrace your good health.

and stay creative.

ta

WORK IN PROGRESS

Bare bones so far on this piece.  Adding the elements and then I can work on detail.  I was trying to decide on the border color.. and because of all the bright colors decided white.  Thinking about adding black stripes or checks but not sure yet.  I want to do a lot of flowers and then arrange them .. for now they are simply setting on the board. 

I have caught a rotten cold and it really depletes my creative energy.  Yesterday I was too sick to do anything.  Today feeling better, but having to do some laundry,etc before I can totally do art.  Which is probably better anyway. 

I have been using the linoleum for the flowers but decided to add some fabric on the round flower.  I will also paint some colors and patterns on the lino flowers when I get them all done.  When everything is done, I want to seal it all with Golden's high gloss varnish. 

Planning on a series of this style for the upcoming show in March which is about recycled art.  I have really liked playing with the linoleum.  It's easy to cut and creates wonderful texture.  I am in the mood for springtime flowers and color.  January can be so dreary.. but not here in my studio!

But for now,

time to catch up on the necessary parts of life.

PIF

create a joyful space in your world

it makes everyone smile!

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT ART OR NOT

I have an art show coming up in March.  That's 6 weeks from now.  And I have been brewing ideas for several weeks now with no true vision of what I want to do. 

Does that sound familiar?

So this morning I made a conscious decision to be unconscious...

 thanks to a fellow artist's comments about such.

This is my morning's work.  Prepping linoleum as my art medium.  Just going with my current

interest in recycle art.  Repurposing.  I will use these painted pieces of linoleum to create my series of

recycle themed art.  The small squares air drying on a clothes dryer rack, something I use often to dry painted dictionary pages.  Works quite well.  The multi colored painted piece above is larger as I was going for multi colors.  I might do another  less blended piece.. more jackson pollack kind.. splatters and splashes, to get another kind of color and texture.

As to unconscious.  Yes.  That is the exact message I needed to hear this morning.

Relying on my thinking brain rather than my muse.. would continue to create blocks for me.

Opening the door to the unknown and letting play and heart come into my art, that is where I want to go.

I know this.  I have know this for a long time.

But my persistent brain keeps bullying it's way into the studio.

So thanks for PIF

from the artist who commented on his FB page.

He has no idea what he did for me today.

I hope I am PIF for you today.

Let your art muse guide you.

ta for now.



SO MUCH FUN WITH RECYCLED ART!

I made more pins after yesterday's great SALE for 10 of these recycled linoleum pins to one great

artist friend of mine

http://elizabethsthilairenelson.blogspot.com/

Her art is AMAZING and her creative, abundant energy is mind boggling.

She saw my pins on facebook, and wanted 10 of them!

To have someone of her art caliber love my art, and buy, well I was just one happy girl yesterday.

Things have been perking up around here.  I have unloaded some dead weight from my business... some by their choice, some by mine.  And lo and behold, the good jujus just started flowing my way. 

New Year, New Hope, New Possiblities.

It's a beautiful way to start your year.

And I am very grateful and and mindful of the shift in energy.

ART just makes my life complete.

smiling,

PIF

and I will!

ta for now

BTW

the new pins are listed on my etsy site

http://www.lindadrake.etsy.com/

fun for Valentines Day

birthdays

or even bliss yourself.

xoxoxo

MORE SUNSHINE

This morning I decided to sit on the couch, watch True Grit.. the original version with John Wayne, and stitch

up my insert for this art piece I did yesterday.  I used some old white fabric that is wonderfully quilted, probably from an old mattress cover.  I liked the soft homey look to the fabric.  I lightly penciled the words in,

changing House to Home because it just is more, well, HOMEY!  than house.  I also added more

linoleum art to put a sun over the words.  I really, really am pleased with the outcome.  It just is a happy

piece of art. 

And I was so happy to watch the old John Wayne True Grit.  We went to see the new version last night.

I wasn't impressed, I am sorry to say.  I have always liked Jeff Bridges but for me, he just didn't cut it

for this movie.  For one thing, I had a hard time understanding his drawl.. he mumbled and often I couldn't understand exactly what he was saying.  I liked Hailee Stanfield protrayal as Mattie about as equally well as I liked Kim Darby.  Matt Damon was better than Glen Campbell, that goes without saying.  But the new version overall, no.  Filmed in Texas, not Colorado like the original version, so I am probably biased.  Though anyone

would like the scenery in the original I would think! 

I am still a TRUE fan of John Wayne.  Always will be.

PIF

smile at someone today! 

LAUTHTER IS THE SUNSHINE IN A HOUSE

Another beautiful sunny day and I have spent my morning creating just for the JOY of art.

I had this wooden frame in my stockpile.. a find from the thrift shop.  I look for these flat wide wooden frames

that I can do art on.  I have been playing with the linoleum and did some cut out flowers, hearts and even a butterfly.  So I decided to create an assemblage of these shapes on this frame I had painted turquoise.

The words struck a cord in me.. a quote from William M. Thackeray. 

Though now that I google it, I am finding

"A good laugh is the sunshine in a house"

I printed the words on cardstock and temporarily mounted it

in the frame.

Because I am planning on stitching the words on cloth.

But for now, this will do till I get time to do the stitching.

Adddint the roof was an added last touch after I choose the words.

I think this will be a happy addition to our happy home.

so smile today.

and remember to

PAY IT FORWARD.

more on that later.

ta

HEART WINGS

24 x 24 mixed media

titled

HEART WINGS

I used Starbuck cup sleeves to make her wings.

Her dress is painted paper collage.

I have used this method before but not as painterly as this attempt.

I think I am hooked. 

Really fun.

Birds were torn from painted dictionary pages.

I have about 6 dictionaries that I use for mixed media.

I find them at the thrift shop.

I especially like the kind of paper in dictionaries.

I used a pencil to outline some areas.

Kimberely brand #9xxB

works beautifully over paint.

These are painted linoleum squares.  Another fun experiement I tried. 

Linoleum cuts so easy to make any shape.

I have to find some more of this "medium"

I love it!

This piece will go into the upcoming show at the Glenwood Springs Art Center.  It was so great

to be back into doing art.  I have been so busy through December with orders.  It's really, really cold outside these past few days.  Single digit.  I am not a winter person, especially when it gets this terribly cold.

So doing art in the studio with my wood burning stove crackling softly in the back ground,

Marley laying peacefully at my feet, and mom reading while she's here visiting..  we have had a nice

time.  Life is Good.

New Year.

Thinking about what my new word for 2011 will be.

ta for now.