I really love mixed-media art. I mean REALLY. I like the ability to use whatever tools and supplies make my paintings, sculptures and jewelry come to life and look how I imagine in my mind.
I decided I needed to work on a submission for the Allegany Arts Council holiday cards. They sent out a notice saying they will be choosing 6 pieces this year to make a set. Since I love a creative prompt to get my juices flowing, and I immediately knew what I wanted to draw, it was really easy to start and finish this piece. This is just a detail- the artwork has more to it, but I'm keeping the full thing off the web until after I submit :)
I live in Cumberland Maryland, in the mountains. There are lots of old houses here, on lots of hills. Winter is coming- the trees aren't bare yet, but they will be. I live around the corner from the animal shelter- and pets are really important here. I have a pretty kitty, and fond memories of my dog Kasha. I can't take Tigerlily out for a walk but I can remember how Kasha enjoyed the snow. I knew I would paint a woman walking with her dog, along cobblestone streets with gentle blue and purple sunset clouds on new fallen snow. There are gorgeous white-barked trees along a path I walk on frequently so they just had to be in the picture, with a row of cute houses atop a distant hill. My town, abstracted.
I used so many art supplies to make this. Started with a home-made large rubber stamp and some dye ink pads to create background texture, then spray dyes over stencils to block out the hills and trees. Ripped some paper to use to mask the hills further while I rubbed Pan Pastels on the edges to make them stand out. More Pan Pastels for the buildings, bushes, and path. Cute floral small round stamps for the "snowflakes" texturing the sky. I used the most AWESOME metallic Gelly Roll pens all over the place but most noticeably for the cobblestones. It was like drawing with fine glitter and I love how it looks. Then I cut up some very old 1920's sheet music to make the woman's dress and head, and rubbed dye inks and pan pastels onto the music for color (used mostly my fingers to control the color application.) Next I painted white gesso on the face area, hair, and to draw the dog. The cool thing about the spray inks is that they rewet with the gesso to create a kind of muddy/blue base color for the hair and dog. I then used a myriad of 2oz craft paint bottles along with floating medium (which is basically clear gel that thins the paint) to paint layers of fur on the dog and hair on the gal. Prismacolor pencils come next, to define edges, faces, and details. Then watercolors to detail the trees and stones in the path. Finally some last touches with the gelly roll pens and then my favorite part- opening up my second floor studio window- the one without the screen, to spray some PYMII on the paper to fix all the various pastels, pencils and dyes in place. Whew!
I like not having to say "I'm a watercolor artist" or "I paint in Acrylics." To me that is an incredibly limiting thing to have to say about yourself. And since finding Pan Pastels, I really honestly don't know what I did without them, lol.
