Dollar Store Find...A ColourArte Project

I used Primary Elements Artist Pigments, Primary Elements Clear Gloss Medium, and Radiant Gels Dimensional Paint from ColourArte products to paint feathers on electronic device covers, officially called "Tablet Sleeves."  

Click here to view the this free tutorial (and others) on the ColourArte Blog.

Click here for the YouTube Tutorial Video

 The covers are foam lined and I purchased them for $1.00 each at my local dollar store. Obviously they are intended for an Ipad or other tablet, but can be used for much more.  

Think: Photos, sketchpads, pencils, watercolors, books, travel receipts, etc.

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Meet Oklahoma Artist, Amanda Bradway

Began July 2015's First Friday Art Crawl at Zarrow in Tulsa, Oklahoma with an Oklahoma Impressionism Show, food, wine,  live music, and festivities.

Linda Ann Smith and Amanda Bradway at First Friday Art Crawl, July, 2015

Then down the street a couple of doors at 108Contemporary met Oklahoma City artist, Amanda Bradway.  LOVE LOVE LOVE what she does! 

Detail-Rites of Passage

Detail-Rites of Passage

Detail-Rites of Passage

Detail-Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage is one of Bradway's very impressive mixed media worksl

It was First Friday Art Crawl in Tulsa again last night and what a wonderful treat!  Checked in first at Zarrow to see an Oklahoma Impressionism show complete with food, wine, festivities, and music.

Into the Storm by Amanda Bradway

Angela Bradway discussing art with an interested patron.

Jewelry by Angela Bradway

Even had fashions to remember her works

Miami Tribe Powwow

I had a great time at the outdoor art show at the Miami Tribe Powwow in Miami, Oklahoma this weekend.  And for those of you who are not from Oklahoma...it is not pronounced like the city in Florida.  Here both the city and the tribe, Miami, is pronounced: my-yam-muh.

 I meant to take pictures but was very busy most of the time and I only managed to get the one above.  I sold this turtle drawing to a happy customer!  

I met folks from several tribes, states, and countries who came to Miami just for this event!  Everyone seemed so happy and it lifted my spirits that were a little low at the beginning of the event!!!

I'm thrilled to report that the children I met at the show were amazing.  They were well-behaved, appreciative of the art, slow to touch, and delightful conversationalists. 

Tabby, who had the sweetest spirit, and Cheyenne, the Miami princess, helped me unload my art from the car. Later Tabby braided my hair and shared some family history...Did you know that in the Miami tribe there are no cousins?  They consider each other sisters.

David was the grandson of one of the vendors,   Sorry to say that I did not make it over to her booth to tell her what a wonderful impression he made.  He was about 13 and shows promise for becoming an artist some day.   This handsome boy was kind, considerate, and smart! He even offered to find supplies for me along the riverbank! 

  One particular six year old,  Joslyn, watched me beading the wire end of my Fancy Feathers.  She was very patient and quiet...and then softly said, "I would like to make one of those."  There was such tenderness in that little voice.  I let her bead one of my paper feather creations, and her great grandmother decided to buy it for her.  It was not my intention to make a sale by showing the child how to place beads on a wire, but that act brought the sale of two more older children in the family who wanted to bead their own paper Fancy Feathers....all sweet beautiful kids.  

And I am not sure, but I think the lady who came up and bought 5 Fancy Feathers from my table was also a relative.  It pays to be nice to children!  

But be nice to them because they are our future, not for a sale!

NATIVE SKULL

This is a skull that I painted for a Keetoowah Cherokee Native American veteran.  The gentleman is one of several who serves as an honor guard for the Keetoowah Nation.  

I used mostly the colors from the Keetoowah flag. And I misted it with Radiant Gel Shimmering Mists from ColourArte.com.  Really added a nice little kick to the painting, though that never photographs well.  Wish you could see how much spark the Radiant Gel Pearl Mist  gave this skull.

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

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

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