Enchanted

ENCHANTED     Mixed Media on Canvas

A new box of goodies from the magical land of  ColourArte.com   appeared on my porch yesterday.
I think my Fairy Paint Mother delivered it!

 Most of you are probably aware that I am one of the very first members of the ColourArte design team.  (And very proud of that!)  :-)

Yesterday was my first experience with powdered pigments that I mix myself to make my paints.  Once I started, it was so difficult to quit.  You can mix Primary Elements with any water soluable liquid to turn it into a liquid paint form.  I played with water for a bit to make watercolors.

 Just so happens that I had some Mod Podge on my studio desk when these arrived.   So I spent the rest of the day, into the night experiementing with Primary Elements, Mod Podge, and water.  This composition "magically" appeared over an old canvas that I did not like and painted under.  I think I will keep it now!

As I painted I kept thinking, I should take some photos as I go, but I could not break myself from its mystic spell long enough to do so.

Needless to say, Primary Elements will become one of my staples in the studio, and I haven't even touched the surface of what they can do.

Oh my goodness.....I LOVE these pigments...so shimmery, and I can control the intensity!

Feather Flames Watercolor for ColourArte

Here is my next project for  ColourArte.com/blog that will post on Monday, May 4, 2015.  It is called FEATHER FLAMES.  You will find a tutorial video there explaining how I drew and painted this watercolor.  I try to keep my tutorials short and to the point, so click on it and watch.  If you have any questions email me at studioabsee@yahoo.com

I had so much fun with Twinkling H2O's  from ColourArte.com that I immediately placed another order so I can have more of these lovely shimmering watercolors.  One thing I like about them is that they are activated with water about 5 minutes before you use them, thus they are travel friendly!  No spills in the car!  That is an incredible PLUS for me.  I like to have easy access to my materials whether I am going across country or to a sporting event. Twinkling H2O's (sometimes referred to as "Twinks") are easy to carry, and I can choose my color scheme before I leave home eliminating extra bulk of unnecessary supplies.  LOVE 'EM!

Peacock Feathers created with ColourArte Paints

I truly enjoy working with my new paints from ColourArte.com!!!

I used several Radiant Gel Dimensional Paints to create this composition.  The only thing I regret is that I cannot get the lighting correct to show the wonderful shimmer of the colors in the painting.  

Fancy Paper Feathers-A ColourArte project

If you would like to see a full tutorial and video on how I made these Fancy Paper Feathers go to Colourarte.com/blog 

For my third ColourArt project, I made Fancy Feathers!  I have made these for several years, but the project has grown from a simple hymnbook feather to very fanciful, fun decorations made from all kinds of discarded papers and found objects! 

Add shimmering colors with Radiant Gel Dimensional Paint and Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists and Daubers and these feathers become individual works of art!

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

The RUSTY TRIO OF 2014

One of my passions in art is to incorporate found objects. I confess that my affection for rust has found a huge space in my very overcrowded studio, but a select few have morphed into art works...

BUFFALO ROAMED

Ironically, this car hood  found on Rt. 66 is the ONLY found object that I have claimed and knew from the moment I saw it what I planned to do with it.  My immediate response to this hood cast aside on the road was how carelessly that people discard such items on our beautiful countryside. This is my statement that we should not find such debris, and that we would be better served to find our Oklahoma wildlife along these roadsides.

Here it is on my dinig table, where I spent five hours cleaning it.  

And here it is a few weeks later propped against the back of my pickup, ready to go to a Native American art show.

BEDTIME STORY

I found this child-sized bed headboard in a countryside creek bed.  A bed in a bed? Why do people dump their garbage in creeks...that has never made sense to me!

. 

Here it is finished with a snarling, salivating wolf.  A twofold purpose:  My wolf is angry about the litter and this is a reminder to be careful of the stories we tell our children when we tuck them into bed.  (Big bad wolf....now go to sleep, Junior.)

HORSE POWER

Perhaps some heavy roadway equipment ran over this item???  I found  this flattened rusty bucket on Highway 20  near Claremore, OK, the home of a very famous Oklahoman, Will Rogers.   It was clearly labeled "Butt Can" in white letters on both sides.  Such irony!...that this item was used to keep people from littering their cigarette butts, but later it became litter itself.  I'm sure if we could consult Will that he would have a humorous line about that!

I pondered and debateded about the rough surfaces on this found object and how I could incorporate them with wildlife...I thought about painting a spider its web,  a turtle, an eagle...

  Nothing seemed right until one of my fellow artists mentioned that this reminded him of an old feed bucket.  Frrom that moment on I couldn't see anything on this rusty can except a horse.  The rounded bottom of the can made a nice Native American shield which I painted with colors of  the Keetoowah Cherokee flag and embellished it with beadwork, jute, leather and feathers.  Feathers on the sheild came from an exotic animal rescue reserve.  My cousin provided the horsehair  from her three beautiful animals.  Thanks, Donna!

ZALLER ART SOCIETY

The three works above are currently displayed with ZALLER ART SOCIETY's fine art exhibit at the Student Union Gallery,  Tulsa Connunity College Southeast Campus,  through Jan.29, 2015, along with some of my other Native American influenced artwork.   My fellow artists are very talented...Great show...go see!

Jewelry, Jewelry everywhere!!!

4I have crowded much of my studio space with  findings, beads, stones, and other jewelry components. Time to use it or give it $...I could not possibly give it up so here goes.....all is for sale so contact me at studioabsee@yahoo.com if you see something you cannot live without. \.  Hope you are having a lovely June beginning.

Pin A   

Steam punk mixed media butterfly pin, made with door key

$20.00 plus shipping

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

   

Pin B

Steam punk mixed media butterfly pin, made with door key

$20.00 plus shipping

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

Pin C

Steam punk mixed media bird pin, made with key

$20.00 plus shipping

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

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e

Necklace & Earrings, (Sets A-E) made of a mix of turquoise, silver or black glass beads with reconstituted turquoise and high quality metal  beads.  

Each set is $49.00 plus shipping

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

<===Set A

Set B===>

              Set C                                      Set D

 

Set E

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Necklace F

White bead and coral necklace with silver and stone pendant

$30. 00

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

Necklace G

Black glass bead and coral necklace with cross pendant

$25.00 Plus shipping

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

Necklace H

Extra long black glass bead with Arizona and reconstituted turquoise.

$45.00 plus shipping

To purchase contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com 

I love Steam Punk!

Here is my attempt to create jewelry inspired by
Steam Punk .  Most of these pins can easily be
altered to pendants.  The bases are keys, with wings from
old metal wall art that I tore up to reuse.

Butterflies $20 each plus shipping

To purchase, contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com for price and details.

Dragonflies and Birds $20 each plus shipping

To purchase, contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com for price and details.

Flowers $20 each plus shipping

To purchase, contact Linda Ann at studioabsee@yahoo.com for price and details.

Experiment with Tulle

Title: Spring Dances.

 Media: ink, watercolor, pastels, graphite, and nylon mesh.

 This is an experiment to see what nylon mesh,  properly called tulle, looks like when added as a layer over other media. 

Contact Linda at studioabsee@yahoo.com for price and details.

I learned that to make it lie flat on the surface that I need to let the Mod Podge dry a little to become more adhesive and then smooth the net back down onto the page. I like the results and will most likely use more of this media, particularly in my abstract works.  It adds a very soft layer of color and a nice texture.

Where I Play

I gathered the driftwood for the primitive angels at Lake Michigan, but when I play on the internet, I have one very special internet site.

http://www.mixedmediaworkshops.com/profile/Linda

The link above is my profile at an online art site.