Miami in Paper

Whew....I can't believe I finally finished this one. At least...for the moment, I think I'm finished. I've been working on this one off and on for quite some time.

I did this from a picture that I took of a building on South Beach in Miami. I just love all the deco buildings there.

Trying this paper process on something like buildings was quite the undertaking. It's one thing to focus on a small subject...but a street scene....what was I thinking.

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I changed this piece as I went along.

In the end...I'm pretty please with it. This one is approx. 11"x14". I've got one more piece in the works that is about the same size. Again, it's one that I've been doing a little at a time. It's looking good soo far, so we'll see how it goes!

Nature Moos

At my favorite private art site we have a swap going on for nature inspired moos with text.

What better way to go than using my old vintage dictionary. I love using those pages. The nature images I found there were exactly the inspiration I needed as well. I painted a thin layer of acrylic over the page and when dry, I drew a larger section of the image I picked from that page. I added just a tiny touch of watercolor paint after I did the ink drawing. I then used distress inks and finsihed it up with a quick spritz of walnut ink.

I really like the way these turned out.

Golden Mermaid

On the art site that I do my trading on we have another swap happening.
This one is for "altered mermaids". Well...I just love mermaids, so I had to find the time for this one too.
We are all working from the same body pattern which is approx. 8" long. I used old text pages and distress ink for the top half. For the tail, I first gave a coat of gold paint....this is for two reasons. One, it helps the adhesive for the gold leaf stick better (which was my next step). Second, if there were any spots that were to show through the leaf in the end, it would blend in beautifully.
I then added a verigated gold leaf to add more interest than a solid gold.
I used a beautiful collage face image and two buttons that I removed the shank from and used for the boobs. I made her a beaded necklace and made charms of waterlillies and scallop shells out of shrink plastic. On her head she has two large shell sequins and little pearl beads. I think it gives her almost a bit of a 20's flapper look.

Flowers and Cyclops

My mothers day got off to a lovely start with flowers from my sweet little girl! She never forgets no matter where she is or what she's doing! Sooo beautiful and some of my all-time favorites...gerber daises and oriental lilies.
Then of course, what would a day made for me be without some good art time. As a challenge at a private art site we're are to create a "cyclops bunny". Don't ask....I have no idea how or why they came up with that theme...lol But let's face it...how can you NOT take that challenge??
Sooo....Since my WonderWanda avatar is so well known for her big eye...it only made sense that she be my cyclops as well. I have to admit that I just love the way she came out and had soo much fun making her.

In Flight

Rarely do I find myself with my camera at hand at just the right moment.

Luckily....this time I did.

It was such a beautiful day today that I just had to take time out to sit on the edge of the dock for a while.

My first lucky moment was in seeing the first dragonfly of the season!! Yay!

The other was in watching the swans that have decided to live on the pond this year. I took the first pick while watching them just swimming around.

I sat there a while, chatted with a neighbor and was just going to go back inside when they suddenly took flight. I grabbed the camera and hoped for the best.

The first shot of them were as they were coming my way...the second was as they circled around to head back out to the far end of the pond.

What a beautiful sight they are in flight!