Feast for the Eyes

Sometimes while waiting for a piece to dry so I can move onto the next step, I sit at my computer and hunt for inspiration. One of the ways I've found that gives lots of examples without lots of website hopping is just going to google images and doing a search for Mixed Media Art. All kinds of little thumbnails are there for the browsing. See something you just must see up close, click the thumbnail and it'll take you there.

gonna give it a whirl

I listened to a podcast the other day that said we should have a list of 5 things we WILL do every day, not ALL day, but EVERY day. These 5 things must be something we enjoy doing, if they were things we didn't enjoy, well, of course we'd most likely fail at it. Which is why you will not see exercise, dieting, laundry, or housework of any kind on my list LOL

I don't know what those 5 things are just yet for me, but I DO know that art is one of them. The best thing about that is, it can encompass so much! I don't have to go down and complete a canvas every day, however, if I have the time and want to, I can. I am going to open it up to say that I have to spend time in my studio every day, even if that means cleaning it, or looking at my art books.

So in an effort to start my day off right, I went down and took 20 min to make this ATC. I used only things that were on my desktop, which usually isn't very challenging to do because my desk top is usually a cluttered mess of left overs from projects done before.

So as my week rolls on, I'm going to try to come up with my other 4 things, but in the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy that I have 1. I encourage you all to do the same.

Kasey K Photography

I know that when you come to my blog you are expecting to see my work. However, as an artist, and being part of the artist community, I believe that it is our job to support one another and help promote each other. Therefore, when I see something that I feel is outstanding, I share it with all of you here so that you too, may be inspired by what inspires me.

First off, I may be a bit bias, because this beautiful, talented young lady is also my favorite niece named Kasey. However, that aside, it doesn't detract from the fact that she has a brilliant eye for photography. She's just recently embarked on a very exhilarating, albeit, scary adventure of stepping out on her own to fulfill her dreams of her own photography business. She's a graduate from MIAD and worked as a photographer, and still does some free lance for VIP.

Kasey has such an amazing personality and special "quirkiness" to her that shines through in her photo sessions. Her creative ability to foresee what props will work well and what lighting is best, amazes me. She sees things through her camera lens in a way that many of us will never see. She has such a passion for what she does and it's quite evident in the pictures she takes. The whole world is a photo to her and I am enjoying watching her grow and her business grow. Kasey has stepped out to do what most of us only dream of doing, being brave enough to do what we love the most and making a living at it. Kasey, you're my hero, and I'm so proud of you.

Below is some examples of her brilliant work, some of them are just shots she took on a whim while on vacation with her mom, others are photo sessions with clients. If you'd like to see more, or even better yet, you'd like her to capture some of your memories for you, here is her website: Kasey K Photo.

love fairy tag

just a small 3x5 laminate tag. I'll string some ribbon through the top.

sisters 4x4

I'm doing a small show next weekend and so I'm trying to work on some smaller pieces, this is one of them.

Wish Fairy

I really think this turned out sharp. It's on a 5x5 piece of canvas board and then framed.

fairy on a hill

Ok i have played with this post for a month of sunday's now and for the life of me I have NO IDEA why blogger keeps turning that pic. I really like how this piece turned out though so I wanted to share it, you'll just have to tip your head when you look at it LOL It's on an 8x8 canvas.

If anyone knows how to fix this let me know.

Coming & Going

Here's my finished pieces.

a work in progress

This is a new adventure for me. I'm really having fun with seeing where it takes me. I've had this paper mache body form sitting in my studio for about 2 years. I have another assemblage type thing that I'm working on as well and I actually pulled it out to see if I could make it work with that when this idea struck me. So I cut it in 2 and attached each side to a 12x12 gallery wrapped canvas and have gone from there. I think they make a fairly large enough statement themselves so I'm not planning on adding alot of color to them, but will add some to give them a bit more dimension and depth. Lots of fun textures going on though, torn pages, tissue paper and cheese clothe. I can't wait to see where these end up.

Free hand painting

Free hand is so not my thing!! I just really feel that I'm not very good at it. However on occasion it just calls for it and if it's simple enough I can usual do a fair job of it. I've no clue where this idea even came from, it just did. Not sure if you can tell but the gold paint has oodles of texture to it!! I'm not really sure how this piece should hang, I guess it would be all up to whom ever buys it.

The Good Ol Days

This is done on a 12x12 gallery wrapped canvas. I love the look of old houses and this one is no exception. Lots of texture in this one too. I did something kinda fun with this, I painted it yellow, then added the blue on the bottom. Once the blue was dry I got out my sandpaper to bring back out some of the yellow, great depth and character.

Beaded Poured Paint

Some more fun with poured paint. I loved this one cause I used the air brush paints and added some gel medium to it. It's super textured and brightly colored. There's a few other closer up pics on my Etsy shop if you'd like to see them, click the link on the right hand side of the page.

Faces of Kellie

Don't know if you recall, but some time ago I started a scrapbook of Kellie, my oldest daughter. In my day of silence in memory of all the lost children who were never given a chance to have a voice, I am celebrating my children. I need to finish this up so I can start with my next projects of my other children. I started this so long ago that I think I need to add some more recent pics to it.

Hold your children close and count them as blessings.

A fun Challenge!!!

Come on Artists, lets "Support" the cause!!! There is a non-profit organization called Bra's for the Cause. They do an annual auction fundraiser of decorated bras. There is no cost to submit one, heck they'll even send you a free bra if you ask them too. I thought this would be a seriously fun project to do.

They just concluded the 2009 auction, so that would give us about a year to complete one. I'd love it if some of you artist joined me on this and shared your completed bra masterpieces here for everyone to see.

Etsy

I've added a few things to my Etsy shop, most of them have been posted on this website, so if there was something you saw that tickled your fancy, head on over and pick it up!

charms

These are 2 charms I made for a friend of mine. I really wanted to keep them for myself though LOL

pandemonium

Nothing like playing with some poured paint when you're feeling stressed or bored. This is done on an 8x11 canvas board and most of the paints are air brush paints. They are so much fun!!! Super vibrant colors and very fluid so they move well for this kind of thing. Probably won't ever do anything with this, who knows, maybe I'll frame it and hang it in my studio :)

Etsy

If you've never visted Etsy, you should! It's an awesome marketplace to buy only handmade items. Support artists from all over the world! I've even opened a shop, you can check out A Note From The Queen, too :)

Artist Postcard

Thought it might be fun to have a Artist Postcard that just tells a little bit about me and also has my information on it. Besides, it gave me something to do today LOL

Fairy Dreams

Finished this piece a bit ago, just hadn't gotten around to taking pics. It's on a 20x20 canvas, lots of texture, and way fun colors! Collage image is from Lisa's Altered Art.

It's for sale too, if you're interested, shoot me an email. 100% of the profits will go to my church, Lakeland Community Church.

Finished

Wish there was a better way to photograph this. I'm so pleased with this whole thing that I'd really like to take it back home with me LOL

Domino Pendants

Haven't done these in ages, but had a box of domino's sitting here so I figured I'd give them a whirl again.

For church

I'm putting these 3 pieces up at my church. The door piece I did last year, but because of the space I'm putting it in, I felt it needed something bigger. So I made 2 companion pieces to it. I think it works, cept I'd love to find a small key hole to add to the one w/ the hinges, I'll keep my eyes peeled and if you know where I can find one, holler :)

This is just a close up of the keys so that you can see the words and such on the keys. Thanks Tim Holtz for making kewl art stuff!

Ink Blot bkgrds

Was having issues tonight while i was in the studio, nothing wanted to work right, so I cut some loose canvas up and made some fun paint bkgrds. Think I might just cut these up and frame them as is, not sure yet though. We'll see what happens when I start cutting.

Spring-y and so not my usual thing!

Ok just so everyone doesn't think I've fallen off the face of the earth and that I haven't been doing anything I'm going to share some canvas's that are in progress, starting with this one.

Used lots of stencils in this one, not sure where I'm going with it, but I forced myself to use happy springy pastel type colors. Who knows, maybe it'll look NOTHING like this when I'm done, but for now I'm just looking at it waiting for inspiration to strike!