Wo-ha-li (Eagle)

"Wo-ha-li" (eagle) was rendered first in India ink and then painted with Twinkling H2O's from ColourArte.  I was saving it for a future post, nearer Independance Day, but am posting the eagle today because I just learned that four bald eagle nests in our area were destroyed by the tornado in Sand Springs, OK last Wednesday, March 25, 2015.

 Bald eagles are migratory birds, and Oklahoma is an important wintering place for the species.  It is reported that since the tornado eagle parents are circling River Park with piercing calls, looking for their nests and 7 chicks that were killed.  They will not find their young this year, but next year they will be able to renest in the same area.  

In the 1700's the bald eagle was chosen as the United States national symbol representing, strength, freedom, clear vision, and determination.  But it's history of importance in America dates much earlier than the 1700's.  Many Native American tribes consider eagles to be religiously symbolic, carrying prayers to God.  

I did not realize the full impact of the eagle's symbolic meaning amongst Native American culture until I stumbled upon its importance at a Keetoowah Cherokee event.  An eagle feather was accidentally dropped to the ground.  The people gathered around the feather and prayed.  The feather is considered a sacred symbol and it could not be retrieved without this cleansing ceremony.

We see these honored and protected birds often in this area.  I recently missed a prime Kodak moment when I was driving from Tulsa to Muskogee.  I noted an eagle hovering and diving almost in front of the cars ahead of me.  I thought he was ill or injured because his movements were so erratic.  But as I came nearer, slowing down because I was afraid he would fall on the road ahead of me, the eagle suddenly dived down in front of my car, swooped up a small animal from the bypass and soared away with his tasty treat. These are the best areas to view eagles in Oklahoma, (and I frequent them in the winter time just for that purpose!) :

• Lake Eufaula
• Fort Gibson Reservoir
• Grand Lake (Twin Bridges State Park)
• Great Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge
• Kaw Lake
• Robert S. Kerr Lake (Sequoyah NWR)
• Keystone Lake
• Wister Lake

CLICK HERE TO VIEW LIVE CAM OF EAGLE NESTS IN OKLAHOMA

Here are also some feather paintings rendered in flat acrylics and embellished with Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists

Easy Mermaid Tutorial

Want an easy way to 
make a mermaid for your art?




















You will need :
magazine photos
scissors
gesso
glue
Sharpie marker, metallic bronze
Radiant Gel Dimensional Paint, Olive Vine

and a Tiny smidgen of imagination (No, not a product! More of an attitude!)

Before I toss out any old magazine, I thumb through it to find interesting pictures and save them for art collages.  (To be perfectly honest, sometimes I buy the 10 cent magazine discards that the library sells just to have the photos.)  

I do my best to categorize cutouts into two-gallon zip top freezer bags, with labels such as "animals," "people," "flowers," "texture," "backgrounds," and etc.   But sometimes I just throw them on my art table.  Below is a fashion model, fish and some jewelry.  When I looked back at these laying on the table, I realized there was a mermaid trying to swim out!

But she had some problems!  No tail, words printed across her dress, and I didn't like the idea of a mermaid with sleeves.

I cut out the spaces inside her arms, trimmed each side of the waist area a bit smaller (Oh to be a mermaid!  No diet, just scissors!), and brushed a thin coat of white gesso over her dress and neck.

Now for the tail?  I real fish tail for her!

Glued the fish tail so that it curved to the side, knowing that I was going trim the tail to fit her skirt.

 Marked the area I wanted to trim away with a bronze colored Sharpie marker.  Snipped off the excess part.  

I combined the bronze marker and Radiant Gel Dimensional Paint, Olive Vine to define her dress, being careful to blend the tail and body together. (Below)















 Yes, I am aware that her skin tones are far from perfect because of the gesso, but that can be corrected.  One way is to paint her skin under entirely with a peachy color and repaint the facial features.

  My mermaid's future includes many more embellishments and a watery canvas.  At this point I have a couple of options. I often change my mind as I monitor and adjust my art in progress, but at this moment I am considering gluing her to the canvas and then glazing the entire canvas with  Radiant Gel Dimensional Paint, Stargazer,  I suspect that when I do this process, the varied skin tones will either blend or appear to be refracted light underwater.  

If I don't like what happens, I can always always go back to the gesso option. And on second thought, I might like the painterly effect this would allow.

And the jewelry on the photo above?  Ahhhhhh! This mermaid will swim amongst the jewels of a sunken treasure chest!  

EASY PEASY!!!!

David, Horses, Museums, Sluggers, and Good Food in Louisville, KY

These photos were taken last July (2014) in Louisville, Kentucky.   I'm slow in posting them. Such a beautiful and interesting art infused city deserves it's space here, despite the delay.

Artist, Serkan Ozkaya, believed that Michelangelo's "David" in Florence, Italy was the greatest masterpiece.  When he rendered his own "David (Inspired by Michelangelo)," he made the gold spray-painted fiberglass sculpture twice the size of Michelangelo's work.  Ozkaya's statue collapsed before days before it was to be shown at the opening of the 9th International Istanbul Biennial in 2005, and had to be restored. In 2011, 21c Museum ,  commissioned the 30-foot-tall sculpture’s journey from Istanbul to Louisville.  After being rebuilt in Turkey, 21c Museum arranged its transfer to Louisville.”  It is now located on the corner of 7th & Main, outside 21c Museum Hotel. 

* * * * * 

And speaking of 21c Museum Hotel, it is an amazing hotel/art gallery combination!  In years past it was a 19th-century warehouse, but now its rooms are filled with suites, a restaurant, a spa and exciting art. Their limosine is RED!!!

  

The modes of transportation in Louisville?  Everything from bicycles and cars to Cinderella-like horse-drawn carriages, and red glass pebble-covered museum/hotel limosines!

Close-up of 21c Museum Hotel's red glass-pebble covered limosine.

This mixed-media tornado sculpture above is made of a variety of found objects drops from an upper story of 21c Museum Hotel to the ground floor. 

Other works of art in 21c Museum Hotel . . .

Plastic Red Penguins were all over the museum, inside and out, and the ones indoors mysteriously moved from one location to another approximately each hour! :-)

I paused to think about this: Once the bird has flown away, what will we do with the cage? 

Pulled myself away from this wonderful art and walked further down the street:

Found some interesting jewelry in nearby museum shops.
   

  

                                                               
    And this neat wire horse sculpture.

And back outside.... still more....



Horses, horses, horses, in Louisville.  Lots of horse memorbelia, sculptures, jewelry, art, horseshoes, etc...

Can you say, "Kentucky Derby?"




Moving on...

This Louisville Slugger Museum was a fun stop!  Actually saw Louisville Sluggers being made inside.  And I found some neat little baseball bat earrings here to wear to my next Driller's game back in Tulsa!

Almost time for dinner...at Eddie Merlot's.  This place will spoil you!  Environment, service, food! Yup! REALLY fabulous food! And Chef Chris is awesome!

Someone is hiding behind this tree!!!

Do you know what kind of tree has this gorgeous bark? I LOVE IT!!! If you happen to know I would appreciate an email at studioabsee@yahoo.com

Like everyone else that passes by, I had to stop to catch my reflection in the big disc outside Louisville Science Center.

Steampunk Tick Tock

Linda Ann Smith, ColourArte Design Team Member

  

 Steampunk Tick Tock hat made from the hat below.

See how I made this hat from a New Year's party discarded hat.   CLICK HERE!

Hello again.   Does anyone else resist Daylight Saving Time changes? I have a new hat to see me through all of my moans and groans when I change my clocks in the future.  My color scheme was chosen from ColourArte products:

Radian Gel Dimensional Paint:

Indian Copper

Guatemalan Green

 Emperor's Gold

Thank you for your "time!"

Twinkling at Studio A B See

I am a member of 

and I LOVE their products!

This eagle drawing was a black and white India ink drawing  in my sketchbook a few days ago.  I  decided to enhance my eagle with some brilliant, bold  colors using my new set of Twinkling H2O's from ColourArte.com.  Always ready to experiment, I activated my new hardpan watercolors by spraying water directly into their container. Then I painted on top of the permanent inks.  If you don't want the ink to bleed, be sure it is permanent!  Love the way the ink lines show through these vibrant colors.

Twinkling H2O's  jars may look small, but the colors go a lonnnnng way.  When I am finished with a creation, I allow the product to dry and then replace the lids.  They can be reactivated later by spraying them with water again.   I love carrying the dry paints when I travel for obvious reasons...no messy spills in the car!  And dry watercolors aren't as bulky or heavy as liquid paints.  

I've fallen in love with all of the ColourArte products! Brilliant, iridescent paints fill my life these days!  And what a pleasant way to spend my time!Click HERE  to view daily tutorials on the blog and to access the store and workshop offers. 

Any questions?  Email me at studioabsee@yahoo.com

Altered Book Cover

I made artwork above  from  the discarded book below using 

Radiant Gel Dimensional Paint,(Click here to see all the gorgeous colors.) 

and 

Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists. (Click here to see mists AND dauber colors.) 

I can't wait to work on the back cover!

I'm excited about being part of the design team for ColourArte!  Posted my first project today on their blog.  And wow!  Have I ever learned some new software and computer skills!  Never made a video before.  I promise to keep learning so they will improve with each post.  Want to see the step by step tutorial on how I did this?  Just click here and scroll down!  I would love to have your feedback.  

Any questions?  You can email me at studioabsee@yahoo.com

Here are some details of the book cover:

See the complete tutorial at

Looking for our Collage and Composition workshop?  Click here