Free Art (for a small fee)

See this mixed media painting? It's yours. Just be the first to e-mail me and ask for it. Why? Because I have lots of old artwork hanging around that I will probably never put in a show, and my walls are already full of art, a lot of it my own. This one was done about two years ago and is just gathering dust in my work room. It is 11"x 14", done on a wooden board. It is pretty light and can be framed or not. Think of this as an end of year sale. You only have to pay for the shipping. So if you have a fish thing or just like the colours, or like old Chinese newspapers turned into a watery background let me know. Art is to share. Happy New Year!

Ho Ho Homemade

I love making things at Christmas. I love making personal presents for people at Christmas. Sometimes I forget how long that takes. I saw on the HBO TV show, 'Treme', (Tre-may) that Mardi Gras participants in New Orleans begin making their costume for next year the day after the Mardi Gras parade is over. I am never that long-sighted. Usually around Thanksgiving I get some ideas for gifts then realize that the lace-knit scarf I am attempting to complete is only 3 inches long. This year I realized I just had lots and lots (a whole lot) of scraps of paper that I had practiced printing on for possible collage/mixed media projects. I also had leftover pieces from old projects. Plus I had been demonstrating meat tray printing (seriously, save those styrofoam trays) from a class I taught last month and decided to have fun with those. It is the simplest form of printing and can be done by drawing a simple image on the styrofoam with a ball point pen (press hard) then brushing paint over the surface and stamping on paper.  A little black marker outline for accent plus a dot of gold ink and....Voila! Christmas card!

 I have to admit I love quick results. It's so instantly gratifying that you can afford to toss the prints that are smudged or less than perfect. But a little imperfection is also what makes this technique so charming.

I was originally making little mini quilt Christmas cards but they take quite a bit longer. So far I have made exactly one:

 So I went back to paper cards. A little paint, glue, and sparkle. Some easy carve block prints put to good use. After that I will have to sort out who gets what card. I may run out. I might have to go back to the drawing board.