"Joy!"

"JOY!"
Acrylics and Mixed Medium
Birch Panel

24" X 24"
(SOLD)
 

This painting began (again) with a prepared background 

that I had composed quite a while back.
As I said earlier, I do Backgrounds  and set them aside until the right idea comes to mind 

for what I have to work with.
I realize this seems to be a slap-hazard way of creating any type of art, but it works for me.
(What can I say?)
When I thought of a whale breaching in the Ocean 

In my Minds eye I was picturing joy and freedom.

Firstly I set out deciding the positioning of the Whale

and what part of the Breech I would portray.
I drew a small sketch
(Yes, believe it or not I have now drawn a Bird a Fish and a Whale )
I knew (again) that I wanted to portray water and an immense span of it.
So I set up the boundaries of the level of the water.

(the white goop shown below)

and

 that determined the positioning of my main focus.
I poured the Liquitex pouring medium just below the top 1/2 of the board and it did not pass my barrier (thankfully)
I (at this point) just had one line of pouring medium

(as shown in the below photo)

Again, please understand that I am working by the seat of my pants here.

 I do not know any tried and true way to do this so I improvised with what I had on hand.
And luckily for me, it worked.

 I then penciled in the Whale with a water colour pencil and painted it in.
above and below what was now the water line

Close-up of painted water/wavesThis photo shows how the Pouring medium makes the water realistic as in a splash!

 

Detail

I hope this kinda gets you all into trying new techniques and products.
Yes, I know Pouring medium is not a new product, but it was to me.
I love working with new ideas and methods.
Yes I fail at them as well, but it sure is fun  trying.

Sometimes it is well worth trying to use a new art product without really knowing what it can do.
I knew that Pouring medium dried crystal clear and looks like glass.
With this work I used the medium in layers letting one level completely dry before adding another.
I wanted the water to look and feel like actual waves.
I think I achieved what I set out to do!
Later everyone
~~Kathleen

"Ocean,Kelp,Sky"

"Ocean, Kelp, Sky"
Acrylics and mixed medium

on Birch Panel
24" X 24"

I started experimenting with mixtures of Blues on a Birch Panel a while back.
The beauty of this method is that one never knows what the actual end result will look like.
You end up with what the paint gives you.

on this one I applied Gold leaf across one side on an diagonal
Let the whole thing dry, placed it on the shelf.

I then promptly forgot about it

until the other day.

While flipping through the Rack
I came across this one and thought
"Would a fish ever look great on this!
so I penciled in a fish.

I was at complete odds with myself as to how I would paint in a fish 

so it would look  like it was in actual water.

Not as if it had been applied atop the already prepared  background.
As a mixed media Artist, I collect things.

I collect a lot of things

and 

like a Raven or a Magpie, I especially love shiny things.

yep, Blue foil.

I then got the insane idea that I would cut out individually each strip of foil 

and compose the flowing fins as individual pieces.
Affix them to the background and have wonderful movement.

And I set out.

three days later I had a reasonable looking  Beta Fish

that actually had movement.

The next photo show the progress of this endeavor!

When the Fish was done I taped off the board following the Gold leaf

and

poured Liquitex pouring medium on the blocked off area.

You don't want to know how long it took the medium to dry.

You can see in the photo below 

on the upper Left corner how the area is now like Glass.

(reflection)

 I then  (again )waited for it to dry more.

after the Pouring medium was totally dry I rubbed a deeper blue over the Gold leaf

(Blue and yellow make green)

and had my kelp

the top right hand corner is a matte finish as opposed to the Glass like bottom with the Kelp as a separator

a rather poor detail of the beta Fish.

"Seasons"

"Seasons"

(Taken at an angle to show the varied sheens)

16" X 20"
Acrylics and Mixed media
on Canvas

Recently I had the pleasure of being gifted trial sizes 

of 

Liquitex products.

among these were two trial sizes of

spray paint.

so, of course I had to try them.

I had begun a canvas with tree trunks , 

intending to let my imagination run with whatever happened.
What better than Leaves?

This was the Partially finished canvas I started with.
Birch tree trunks atop Gold and Copper Metal leaf.

Obviously, this was not anywhere complete,
and
for some reason I just didn't tune into what I had.

Stuff was sorely missing on this canvas.

 So, I grabbed one of my Stencils and started out with the Gold paint

then added leaves of Silver on top of  them.

and the shape and form began.

I notice that I had left a serious gap in the middle of the canvas

So I added more Gold & Silver leaves in the middle,

toned down some more  of the Metallic paint

by washing the canvas with a very light leaf green

and scrubbed it off,
I then faded some of the leaves in and out.
The Seasons of the year fade in and out with grace.
and so do the leaves on the trees.
I wanted the leaves to look like some were emerging and some were fading away.

and ended up with this;

I like the Liquetex Metallic sprays, you can paint Acrylics over them.
(Something that is next to impossible with other Metallic Spray paint.)

I will always hold the actual  Gold and Silver Leaf dear to my heart.
I love working with leaf.
That said, the effects of these sprays is great!
They are almost too bright (Shiny) for my liking, 

but that can always be toned down 

with an overlay of acrylic wash or paint.
I hope you enjoy this painting

and how it came about.

It was fun experimenting with new products.

~~Kathleen

 "The River"
Acrylics & Mixed Media
On

Canvas
12" X 18"

It is not often that a person can create a work of Art 

on a canvas that looks like a painting

but is not one.
This work was composed entirely without brush work.

The sizing used to affix the Gold,Variegated,

 and Silver leaf was painted on by brush.
That put an end to the actual use of any brushes.

The background on the Canvas was painted a Matte Black.

I applied Goldens Light Molding Paste to form ridges that would represent
 tree trunks 

on the Upper right 1/3 of the Canvas.

I did the same to the lower left to denote bushes.

Then I  I randomly laid down the leaf in a rough

pattern

and left it to dry.

At this stage I had not used the Copper leaf yet.

 You can see the black areas where, after the leaf had dried fully,

 I had taken a very stiff brush and scumbled areas of it to distress the Leaf.

That was it for this part of the background.

Once the base was dry I poured Goldens Green gold

atop parts of the leaf, let it sit for 20 minutes and started buffing it off.
leaving the  shiny leaf with a green undertone.
Next,

I decided where I wanted the water to be.

 I  painted sizing where I wanted the copper strips to be.

(I did not take a photo of this step, so the one above is just after I started defining the trees.)
Once the Copper Leaf dried, I then painted sizing in between the copper
and 

randomly affixed Gold and Silver leaf slivers randomly.

This gave the "Water" a visual  flowing movement.

My next step was to decide where I wanted trees to go on both sides of the River banks.
I dropped small splotches of Jenkins Green paint where I thought trees would be most pleasing and then formed them with Saran wrap.

This is a method that I learned a long time ago and I still use it a lot for shaping abstract trees on my Art.

Laying the wrap on the wet paint and manipulating it to form groves and branches is very effective. and once dried  leaves a very pleasing effect.
You can see on the tall lower tree on the right

The the detail is achieved by laying the wrap on the paint,

and  pinching the Saran wrap over the over it.
The darker lines are where the paint goes into the creases of the wrap

and are very defined when they dry.
Example 1

Example 2

The end result depends so very much on how the initial laying of the Leaf ends up,
and

what a person "Sees" in a work.

I saw, from the very beginning that this would be a landscape 

and have water running through the middle of it.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the work

this shows the Molding paste formed ridges to shape the trees.

this is a detail of the layers on the river.
You can see as well, how the Manipulated paint works with the wrap.

If you have any questions on working with this method (Saran or Cling wrap)

please comment below or send me an email.

ptunys@gmail.com

Hope you like it

~~Kathleen

"Larches in the Rain on a Late Autumn day"
16" X 18"

Acrylics & mixed media on canvas

I love Larches.

They are tough as nails, capable of almost bending in 1/2 during a wind storm,
and
straightening right up once the wind has passed.

Beautiful green, and Spruce like.

They have needles that turn gold in the Autumn and drop before the Winter sets in.
(Unlike Spruce and Pines.)

My children are fortunate enough to have a shelter-belt of Larches fronting their property.

Larches in  Canada are also called"  Tamarack"

'Tamarack' is from the Algonquin word 'akemantak' which means "wood used for snowshoes".
        Historically, tamarack was widely used in wooden ships, for timbers, planking and to join ribs to deck timbers. Native Americans used the roots to bind seams of birch bark canoes, the wood for arrow shafts and the bark medicinally.
http://www.larchwoodcanada.com/what_is_a_larch_tree

They have a "Special" feel and look.

They are quite unique in that they are
deciduous.

Most coniferous trees are evergreens, but some deciduous trees are evergreens as well. Evergreen trees keep their leaves in all seasons, lose them gradually as the weather cools

 The needles on a Larch are never quite as stiff as on an Evergreen.

This painting is  done on a base covered  randomly with molding paste to denote trunks .
It is over painted and the trees emerge.
 The photo below highlights the ridges of the paste after painting.

I hope you like this.
I kinda do!
~~Kathleen

"Fourteen Trees on a River Walk"

Acrylics on Canvas
12" X 12"
(SOLD)
An exercise in light where you have a daytime painting with no sun!
No sun means no obvious shadows, not an easy task.
But with variances in colours (blue & white only)
I did it!
Actually in this painting I have used only three colours.
Phthalo blue (Green Shade)
White  & Paynes gray

"There is always Love"

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE.

I have been working on this pair for a while now.
I am very pleased with how they turned out.
A very different style from what I usually do!
"Tryst"
12' X 12" AND 12" X 14"
ACRYLICS AND MIXED MEDIUM
On canvas.
"SOLD"

This pair is unusual as the background of both paintings is very 
defined and not smooth.
I chose to place the shiny gels atop a Matte painted canvas for contrast.
The end result 
is
striking.
(A real statement of love)

Side by side

~~Kathleen
All comments welcome.

"How on Earth was that done?"

"The Beginning"
Acrylics And Mixed media
Birch Panel
24" X 24"

Today's entry is not about my art.
It is how the art forms of others make me better at what I do.

It is about the wonder that surrounds those of us 

that ask

"How on Earth was that done?"

A lovely friend of mine is an author.

She is dedicated to her work and has worked 

(sometimes agonizingly)

passionately on her manuscripts.

Through her, I have learned that if we do not take time

 to appreciate the intensely dedicated work of others to complete a project,

we will fail to complete the roles we have assigned ourselves in any good fashion.

For any Artist, be you a Baker, a Shoemaker, a Nurse, a Teacher, or an Author,

unless you realize and appreciate the trials and tribulations

 of others creations, craft, or profession,

you cannot appreciate the fabulous standards your own works have to live up to.

The people surrounding us (often unknowingly) are all artisans in their own right.

I put paint and other mediums on a canvas.

when I am finished one I am either pleased with the work 

or

 so dissatisfied that I will completely change it, 

or  junk it and begin anew.

Without the proper tools we use to craft in our chosen profession

we are left floating in nothingness.
Sometimes the proper tools are what we see
when we look at other people going about their daily life
 and completing certain tasks.

Everything we do goes way back in time to when someone said,
"I have an idea on how to make this work, 

I will craft it and share it with others,

 so they can utilize it and create something new with it."
We, in turn use the tool, improve on it, 

and often turn it into 

 something totally different.

I cannot tell you how many times that the end result of an  Art-work

 that I present to the public is a totally different concept from what I had in mind at the beginning.

Authors revise, edit, revise and edit more.

Nurses  & Teachers are constantly improving on their profession.

Everything changes constantly

and

if we do not stop and ask
"How did that ever get done?"
The true meaning of  the tools we use in our everyday lives

are useless,

and what we do becomes meaningless.
~~Kathleen

Wasted Leaves, Resurrected"

"Wasted Leaves, Resurrected"

Acrylics/mixed medium

Birch Panel
24" X 24"

The other day, while taking out the garbage, I tripped over something in the snow.

I used my foot and uncovered the object.

I was saddened to see a part of a book.

Looks like someone, for whatever reason, tore the pages out of binding
and
ripped it into sections..

I had tripped over one of the sections.

The pages were in reasonable shape, it was too cold for any moisture to 

damage the leaves.

I picked it up kinda slapped it against my leg to knock the snow off what was left.

Such a waste.

The beautiful words inside were lost ,
The binding was lost, a tree was lost.

Nothing good would come of it ever again.

I took it inside with me, lay it on my work desk and let it dry for a couple of days.

All the time wondering how I could do something to

make it better.

A hopeless task to be sure.

I love books.
 They were my constant companions when I was young,
And all throughout my youth. 

They were my refuge.

I owe Books so much.
 As, who I became, how I acted, and what I knew,
 came from reading books.

When the pages were dry, somewhat stiff and marked,
I saw them as an artwork desecrated, and incomplete.

The idea for this work of art formed slowly in my mind 

and

Kind of came together on its own.

I was saving some of the pages, and reforming them.
I gave them life with colour.

This work of art emerged slowly.

I documented my progress and present it to you here.

I hope you like it.
I have saved the rest of the unused pages.
For another time, another use.
All is not lost, and in my mind,
I paid homage to a once beautiful book.
and helped it become something incredible again.

~~Kathleen

 The cut outs from the pages in the first application of colour.

Final paint and the leaves drying.

Detail of the words on the Leaves

Rough arrangement of the leaves

Glueing each leaf down

Drying after the top glaze is done

~~