From this to that

This morning has been spent cleaning. Not house cleaning- computer cleaning. Old files. Delete, delete, delete...
While cleaning, I came upon lots of old art. In particular, these two images:

This is how an idea is born. I first made the above ATC several years ago. It made me smile as I was in the throws of the emotional roller coaster and hot flashes of the blessed menopause. (My art usually does reflect my inner world somehow.) But I digress...the ATC stayed with me. Several years later when I started making my assemblage dolls (the first being Cinderella and Prince Charming), I then made my Menopause Queen. She is my best selling assemblage doll. Each one I make is unique but with the same theme. She will have a different crown, different jewelry and such, but her essence hearkens back to my original ATC. This original ATC was a digital piece. Then I made several paper pieces and then it evolved to the doll.  This is how the artistic process works for me. I think I love the process almost as much as the art itself. It is that process that engages me piques my interest.Part of that process is the "HUNT". And that is even more fun than the actual art making at times. I love the 'hunt'. Or should i call it the ART of THE HUNT. It is an art for sure!

Anyway, while cleaning my files today I thought of all of this and wanted to share with you, the cyber world of the Internet where I claim my tiny little space called my blog.

Steampunk mini book

I am just about finished with my Steampunk mini book. I really enjoyed making it and I love the Graphic 45 papers. There are a few additional pieces I added to the book after I took the pictures.

front cover

this page is my own artwork. The cool thing- that little propeller actually works!

It spins around. How cool is that?

There are more pages, but blogger is acting up and I just don't have the energy to mess with this anymore....

digital collage # 2 from article

American Beauty, digital collage

I was very happy with how Digital Studio magazine used this digital collage I created for an article I wrote - they gave it a full page spread! How cool is that?

Pick up your own copy of Digital Collage magazine and check out my article. There are hundreds of digital images, art and layouts in this amazing magazine!

working with poppies

watercolor using the cadmium colors-

cad yellow, cad red - both rather opaque

scanned painting altered in ps

I've been painting poppies. I read a great article in a watercolor magazine recently about artwork that really struck a chord. Basically it said that athletes and musicians do a lot of practicing to perfect their chosen field. Artists on the other hand, tend to think of each and every painting session as a means to an end- to sell the artwork. So true! The article went onto suggest that artists spend more time practicing...and less time thinking about selling art. It resonated with me. So I picked poppies as my focus and have been experimenting- acrylic and watercolors, all watercolors, digital, you name it.

The goal is to 1) become familiar with the different mediums and how they interact, 2) paint better poppies and 3) have fun!

one painting - many images

I painted the first image below and scanned it. Once in photoshop I blew it up in size, pulled out images and applied filters to make completely new images.

One painting ~ many images!

original painting, gauche over acrylic 7" x 7"

digital improvements

digital I

digital II

I drew and posted 'digital I' awhile back and then forgot about it. Last night I came across it and after looking at it with fresh eyes, I realized it was rather anemic and blah. So I added a layer and then brought in a watercolor background. I think this is a vast improvement!

Lesson learned- sometimes it helps to walk away from artwork- put it aside for a time- and then go back to look at it with fresh eyes. Had I done that back when I first created this I think I would of seen the anemic blahness of it. Ah well...

analog meets digital

original painting with ephemera

same painting with digital elements added

I sat down today to continue my 'blue series' of paintings and boats. As usual, I veered WAY OFF of the path.

As I thought about the words I had glued down to the paper, I decided I wanted to paint an allegory about life. (the ephemera is from an 1867 primer.) Me being the boat, life being the sea. I also decided that I wanted to paint a 'real' boat, not a simple stamped version. I painted an old-time wooden yacht in the ocean. Once I finished the little painting, I scanned it in and then added digital elements with Photo shop. The bottom image is the combined version. I like how it turned out.

digtal vs. paper and glue

The one thing that I do not like about digital-- there is no end product to touch or feel. I commented about that to my friend Andrew, and he said something very wise wise to me:

"I feel that a marriage of both low-tech and high tech is the best way to go - too much high tech will make you feel you really have nothing to show, and too much low tech will be so labor-intensive it can leave you burn-out. The key thing is to make the most out of both of them to get the best of both worlds."

(Quote © Copyright 2009 Andrew Borloz - all rights reserved. Used with permission).

Hunting Island, SC lighthouse

pastel on hot press paper

I took the reference photo of this lighthouse while on my honeymoon. The lighthouse is really black and white- I added the color because I can :)

Tulip, pastel on hot press paper

note to self: background matching the yellow in the flower makes the flower look like it has holes in it.

Wacom tablet and Painter - heaven!

Needs work, I know! But I have to start somewhere!!

I am obsessed with my new toy. I bought a Wacom tablet and have been drawing non-stop since! My wrist is very sore- I need to stop now! This is my first drawing...of sorts- I used a photo as a reference and then repainted it in painter, another new toy. Needs work, but like I said, my wrist is killing me, so no more tonight, besides, it's almost 1 am...time for bed.

Published in Digital Studio!

I was very excited to receive my copy of Spring 2009 Digital Studio. I was given one page (that being page 102) to show some digital artwork I created. I love computer art as well as getting messy with paint and paper.

For years I worked in the pharmaceutical industry and it is very 'clinical'. Most designing was very technical, very dry and very medicinal, so to play in Photo shop and Illustrator with color and funk is a real treat! I am very honored to be in the magazine!

Tags = Happiness

What is it about tags that I love them so much?

I love the instant gratification they offer when making them. I love the potential of a tag- by that I mean I usually use my tags to adorn gifts or to send to some one for a birthday or other happy occasion. The potential is the happiness or the event. Tags = Happiness is the equation.

I love the variety- small, huge, grungy, shabby, chic, youthful etc. They are a tiny bit of art to be enjoyed and they usually go with celebrations.

These tags I made from my vast digital collection. For several years Dover has been sending me free download samples of their clip art. These Santa images are from Dover clip art. I took them into Photo Shop and made them into tags. Once printed, I grunged them up a bit using a sponge and 'vintage photo' distress ink by Tim Holtz. I also added glitter to all of the greenery and added a red tie string.

They are perfect for my Christmas packages to label. Each one about 1-1-2" x 3" - large enough to be seen on a package, but small enough to be an embellishment, part of the main event, so to speak.

(you can clink on each one to see up close.)