Cooking As Art

   Art comes in many forms and I for one believe cooking is an art! Especially when it's done with love and enthusiasm, the way all things in life should be done.   My son loves to cook and is becoming quite accomplished in the kitchen.

    This Monkey Bread, which isn't your run of the mill, easy to make type of Monkey Bread, we made together. It was a great way to keep our minds off of Jimmy, the love of my life, being in the ER while we waited to find out what was wrong. Waiting's never easy, but that type of waiting's torture!

   Anyhow, always remember to make life's moments count. Something as simple as making Monkey Bread can be a "moment" when it's done with love and enthusiasm.

Painting

I added some more paint to this face. I know most people would do the underpainting of flesh tones first, but I've never done things like most people! I'm more of a fly by the seat of your pants, running amok type. Just ask anyone who knows me. Anyhow, the addition of layered acrylics adds more depth and definition. The more of this your achieve, the less "flat" the face becomes.

Mixed Media Work

I've been working on several mixed media pieces the past week. This one's inspiration is 'The Visitant' by Theodore Roethke, a poem I came across in a library discard. The image of the woman at center is a packing tape transfer. Love the ethereal quality of tape transfers! At right is a face done with fluid acrylics, Neocolor II crayons and gel pens. She started out as a stencil called Eva by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. Love how you can use her stencils as a jumping off point for creating fabulous painterly portraits! I don't feel quite finished yet, definitely needs more layers to tie it all together.

Journal Pages

  As usual it's been too long since I blogged. Not going into the boring, medical details of what's been keeping me from doing so. Who wants to hear that? Certainly not me!

  I'd uploaded these journal page photos back in August, with every intention of posting them right away. But, it didn't work out the way I'd planned!  

  All these pages are from the journal made out of old file folders, scrap paper and heavyweight paper. The pages are staggered, with varying sizes,  lots of folds, creases and pockets. It makes for a much more interesting journal, both to work in and visually!

  Most of the border images on these pages are created from copies of previous pages I've done. I print them on the laser printer and cut into strips. I think it makes my pages unique and clearly reflects my style!

 The spread above contains transfers. On the left I did a gesso transfer. On the right a gel medium transfer. Both backgrounds are painted using gouache and watercolor. I typically use acrylic paint on my pages, but decided to try something different this time. 

The page below was painted with gouache also.I love the vibrant colors with a hint of softness.

Here you can see how the various page sizes offer a peek into what came before and after. I think it makes the journal more interesting and visually striking. It also makes you want to peek just around the corner to find what comes next!

A close up of one small page, which is actually a flap. 

This one has a fold in it and has been stapled into the journal with decorative metal staples. When folded you can only see the imagery, not the writing.

Another section where you can see how the different size pages reveal bits and pieces of what's contained within. Again, I love the vibrant colors of the gouache, especially the greens! The file folder edge is covered in decorative tape. It looks great and adds stability.

A combo of watercolor and gouache was used for this page. I like the goofy image at the top coupled with the vintage advertising image. The right hand side border is a portion of an older page I photocopied.