A new season

Not only do I now have a new website (which I hope everyone has checked out) but it's a whole new season too.
Fall is in the air. You can feel the temps drop in the evening and a chill in the air in the morning.
Time to consider bringing in the plants that spend the summer outside.
I've also been busy working on torn paper paintings to be able to give a whole new look to the wall at The Little Beach Gallery.
This red & white Sea Buoy is one of them.
I had found a book about shipwrecks that had been type written and felt this was the perfect thing for the background that has the feel of a turbulent sea. The Gelli printed pages with the blue swirls gives it a bit of a Van Gogh appearance.

Another style I've been doing is a "Birds Eye" view.
This one is my second..."Birds Eye - Beach Road". Love the look and feel of these.
The other bonus, you can hang it in any direction...vertical or horizontal.
So, it can work in almost any spot you have open for a painting.

So, with fall in the air, a new season of work is being created. Lots of time in the studio, but it feels good to have my muse working overtime.
At the same time, I'm also planning a nice extended weekend trip with my husband to New Orleans.
Yes....a short Thurs. to Mon. trip. I think it'll be a lovely break for both of us. A chance to kick back and have some fun. I also have an art friend who lives there and can't wait to get together with her as well.
The bonus...it's in Nov. So, living here in New England, I know for certain that we'll also have a bit of warmer weather there too!!

Inspiration travels the miles!

Having been an art teacher at one time, I love when I receive letters from young people who are inspired by what they see in my work.
Most artists hope that what they do sparks something in others. I have been fortunate enough to have this happen many times, and it always delights me.
Well, I recently received an email from the UK. This was from an art student working on a project, and her work was inspired by several artists, one of which was me and my Torn Paper Paintings!
I felt honored. It always seems soo surreal when you realise how small the world is. Along with this acknowledgement came a request for an "artist's statement", which I was happy to provide.
After several emails between us, I was sent some lovely pics to show what was being worked on.

The first is a pomegranate. It was painted with acrylic then collaged with tissue paper and newspaper. Stitching was added into it in the end.
Soo much lovely texture on this one!

(click the pic for larger image)

Next I received a pic of something that looked more than a bit familiar.
It was that of my "Balance" painting which had been published in the "Incite 3" book . Using that painting as the model it was re-created using the text in the background as I had and the cups and saucers on top were acrylic painted.
I think she did a wonderful job.

I've been told that there are several other pieces in the works. I hope to receive pics of those one day and maybe I can share them as well.
Thank you Ceri. 

Hope you find many forms of inspiration along your journey!

As winter comes...

I hate to see the beautiful flowers in my gardens meet their end as winter comes in.
Looking at them fade, I found that I simply had to do something to keep their beauty alive in some way.
Yes...why not create a Torn Paper Painting of them!! So I did.
I had created an earlier piece with daisies, so decided to create a smaller daisy painting with a bit of metallic gold additions. Love the effect.
The next one I did was an assortment of the remaining garden flowers.
I have a cobalt blue vase. It's round with little holes all around it to insert flowers into.
I now have a lasting memory of the last blooms of the season.

Fun with gel

Gel mediums....sooo much fun to be had.
I've recently been experimenting with different types of gel mediums to add a new texture dimension to my Torn Paper Paintings.
Many of my subject have a beachy seaside feel since I live on the New England coast. Among these subjects are of course mermaids.
Well....some of these gel experiments are going to come in quite handy with the backgrounds. I'm talking about "gel skins". Lovely thin layers you can design with colors and movement...then when dry, can peel them up and use them in the paintings.
I'm in the middle of working with some of these little gems...and will give you a better explanation on doing them after the experiments are complete.
I've added just one pic here to inspire you and get the wheels turning.
Trust me....creating these can be as addicting as working on the Gelli Plates. They are nothing alike...but both have endless possibilities!!!

Chigirie = Paper Painting

Koi - Torn Paper Paintings - Jan 2009

Very recently I received a bit of fan mail from a fan of my Torn Paper Paintings FaceBook FanPage.
This lovely person was not only very complimentary of my work...but was also very knowledgeable in an earlier process of "paper painting" that dates back many years ago to Japan! Since she was kind enough to share this with me...I thought I'd pass this information on to you as well.
The best way to do this is with links. You can of course start with "Wikipedia", this will give you a great bit of information on the art form. You can then continue on from there.
One site is called "Shiori "- Japanese Washi Paper shop. You can not only get information, but buy paper as well.
Another... "Asian Lifestyle Design"  ....and here's another with more info.."Click-a-Japan".
Here, at "Chigirie Art" be sure to scroll through the stunning collection of pieces! Soo beautiful!!!
Yes...I could go on giving you links. There are many. But I'm sure you'll find many on your own.
If you do take the time to look through the links and read about chigirie as it was done in Japan, you will see that although the basic ideas are the same,there are numerous differences in the way in which this process is done today by myself and others as opposed to this earlier Japanese method.
Everything in life evolves and changes...including art.

A Brand New WebSite!!

Yes....a new year, a new site.

Instead of the Torn Paper Paintings being simply a part of my watercolorRus website....they now have their very own site!!

And....to make things even easier....the name of the new website is TornPaperPaintings.com

It is beautifully done and I was able to add more content to it. Sarah, who owns and runs SarahsSimpleSites is my wonderful designer. Thank you Sarah....you did an awesome job!!! Anyone who hires you will certainly get more than their moneys worth!!

Sooo....be sure to check it out. Always happy to hear your thoughts!
PS....I'll be having another HUGE announcement about my Torn Paper Paintings coming up very soon!!
Keep an eye open!

Beaches everywhere

There has been such a demand for torn paper beaches that my art room is overflowing in the theme.

As you can see here...there's always a batch of beachscapes hanging on my easel....with more that you can't see in the works on my drafting table.

I'm almost caught up and have some new pieces all sketched out and ready to start playing with....can't wait.

Backyard inspiration

Every year at this time I am given a close up view of some beautiful waterlillies. Out back in my pond we get a vast number of lily pads and beautiful white lotus flowers.

I've taken sooo many wonderful shots of them from the dock thinking I may use them in my art one day.

Well....I finally got around to it. Decided to give them a try in my torn paper painting. I do hope to make more...but here is the first.

My rice papers lent themselves beautifully to a large part of it.

A new inspiration

Just when you think you've seen all the variations on paper painting...you find another.
As I was having my morning coffee yesterday I turned on a cable channel for a bit of early news...and there it was...a segment on artist Derek Gores.
I have no idea how I've missed his work until now.....it's just wonderful.

He has a technique which is almost a controlled AND random act that becomes a detailed portrait!!
His work has many beautiful portraits which include several of Obama over the last few years!
Click on his name....I've added the link. When you see the front page....watch that slide show. You will be quite impressed as the picture changes from something which looks like nothing...to a great piece of work.
Beautiful beautiful work. Thanks for the inspiration Derek!!

Art Video

I discovered that I had a software available that I didn't realize I had....so I spent all afternoon on Mother's Day creating a video of my Torn Paper Paintings.
I've included music as well as some of my pieces in progress so that you can see how they come to life.
I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think!!

Show at Navio

Over the weekend I attended an art show opening with my husband and daughter. This was a show I didn't want to miss because it is was the Paper Painting work of Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson.

As it has been through the ages with one artist being inspired by another, when I was first moving from watercolor and started working with collage and had begun creating my paper style, I saw Elizabeth's work and was quite inspired.

I'd seen some other's similiar, but her work was quite eye catching! She indeed has her process down.

I was not only interested meeting her that evening, but very much wanted to see her work up close as well.

It was soo interesting for me to see the vast difference in our work this way.

As any painter can tell you, just because you use the same paint as another, doesn't mean the works will look alike.

We both use paper...but honestly...that's where it ends. From a distance one might say that the style is the same, but up close is where that changes.

Elizabeth's work looks soo much like an oil painting! Yes, indeed you know it's paper, but she works in a darker palette of colors and applies her paper in a bolder, heavier manner than mine.

She also works on wood panel and all her wonderful farm animals are framed in barn board frames without glass...again, as oil. They are beautiful to look at and the textures make you keep your hands behind your back because otherwise you're tempted to reach out and touch them!

My paper pieces are quite different in the fact that I come from a watercolor background. My palette is quite a bit softer in color and my application of paper is much lighter. I don't use the wood panel...they are done mainly on 200lb watercolor paper, so I can only push the paper just so far. As for framing...I create a floating mat style for mine and they are framed under glass.

Soo...although they are both Paper creations...one looks like oil and the other like watercolor.

For me, this was great to be able to see in person.

As for meeting Elizabeth, this was a lovely bonus. She was very warm and friendly and we had a long and interesting chat. I was delighted she was able to fly up for the opening.

Elizabeth...it was also great to be able to see that "paper skirt" up close as well!!

It was also nice to find a new gallery, Navio, so close to home. What a lovely job these artists have done with it. I plan to watch for more of their shows and I wish them the best.

Little Beaches

I decided that I needed a few of my torn paper paintings to be on the much smaller side so that the gallery could have a more varied price point.

The beachscapes seemed to lend themselves quite well to this. They will be framed up in the end to what will amount to 8"x10".... much smaller than the usual.

The actual size of the paintings themselves are.... 4"x6" for the top one pictured, and 5"x7" for the

one pictured below.

Paper Goldfish Painting

Finally.....I finally finished another piece that I had been working on for a while. I enjoyed doing the Koi piece that I had done earlier and thought that maybe I'd do a bit more with fish.
I really like the way this one came out. Each time I do one of these there is a whole new learning curve...but I guess that's the fun of it.
I got to use a number of painted rice papers that I created special for this one.
Guess I'd better get the next one in the works!

Name that cow

I finally finished another one of my larger paper pieces. It's 11"x14", which may not sound all the big for some things....but for this process it is still very much of an undertaking for me.

This one is for a local show which, yes, ends up having quite a collection of cows.

I normally do watercolors for this show but figured I throw in something different this year.There has never been any torn paper collage of this sort in the show before....so I guess we'll see how well it goes over.

For the "white" parts of the cow I slipped in numerous little bits from one of the local newspapers.

The snout also has some pieces from the black and white label used in our local brewery.

Now.....I need a name....and I think I need some help with that.

Any ideas are welcome. Would love to know what others think.

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!

A New Piece

Yep...my first new piece for the new year!!
While still being pretty new with this torn paper style and having for years struggled with collage....I'm really liking this!
My daughter gave me a beautiful collection of lovely handmade papers at Christmas and many of those were used in this piece...along with a bit of Asian text that I put bits of in the tail and fins.
I really enjoyed doing this one and already looking forward to the next.

One more under the wire

The last cupcake piece for this year!
Since I want to try bigger pieces using this paper painting process, I figured I'd get myself rolling, now that the holidays are almost over, with a slightly larger 5"x7" piece.
This was a good warm up. I ran into several spots where I had to completely redo what I'd done because it simply didn't look right to my eye.
I'm pretty satisfied with the end result and ready to start the new year with something other than a cupcake.....unless it's the edible kind...lol

More art

With the holiday weekend and all the shopping and stuff going on right now it's sometimes hard to fit in some art that is just for the fun of it.
Well....finally did one! On one of my sites there was a collage sheet put out for coming up with something for a trade this Friday.
The text I used for this postcard says...."Saying goodbye to the body we knew or growed used to".
I just loved that. I used the eyes I have for my avatar....so now I can really relate to those words!

An experiment

Having recently been quite inspired by the torn paper paintings of artist Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, I decided to give it a try.
Wow....is it ever harder than you might think. While I did completely enjoy the process and the mess making, I certainly have a great respect for the beautiful work she does and how effortless she makes it look.
I know I've got a long way to go, but I do intend to do some more of these and hopefully get a LOT better at it...lol
Just thought I'd share this one and show that even artists that are confident in the medium they normally use can produce less than wonderful work when trying something new. But that's the fun of it!
Get out of you comfort zone and give something new a try!

Halloween theme

is the theme for this months postcard trade. Soo...this is my postcard for that one. Not sure if I'll make another or not...but had fun with this one. And YES.....used another book page as a background. I'm worried I'm a bit addicted to doing that, but for some reason it just seems to bring the whole thing together for me. Kinda helps my fear of the dreadful "collage".....AaaaHHHH!!!