Take a Word--Moon

Wasn't able to view the super blood moon last night--overcast and rainy here--but saw some spectacular photos on the internet this morning.  Then I saw the theme of Graphic Design for this week's Digitalmania challenge and received the free "City Bicycle" mini kit from Marisa Levin...it all came together very quickly after that.


I love it when art makes itself!

Painted pillows

Finally made a few pillows for my couch.  There are thousands of incredibly beautiful pillows for sale in the world, but having $0 dollars to spend on decorating at this point, I opted to try my hand at painting.  I found really inexpensive cotton canvas (cheaper than dropcloths, even) at Dharma Trading.  Wonderful natural fabrics, from linens cottons and hemp to silks and bamboo fabrics, as well as nylon and rayon.  They also sell dyes, markers, paints for dying as offer instruction on their site as well as books and DVDs.  It's a great site to visit for ideas, too.

Anyway, armed with cheap craft paint acrylics and fabric painting medium and a few stamps and stencils, off I went, and below are the results.

 Pillow #1, painted (before I got the fabric medium) and stenciled and stamped, on the front only.  It's a little stiff, but the paint was applied lightly.

Pillow # 2 same paints, mixed with medium, and applied more thickly. I also added a little water to the mix, to make it absorb into the fabric. Used a stencil or two here and made an unholy mess in the upper corner. So, thinking more paint would only make it stiffer, I decided to make a patch.

Cut and raveled a square, and began randomly stitching lines and circles--still getting comfortable with my old sewing machine,  Then I sprayed the patch with water to dampen it and dribbled acrylic inks on it and sprayed some more to move the ink around. Stitched it on with more lines and circles, and I quite like it.

The back of pillow #2, decorated with stamps and brushed on inks.

Sunday Postcard Art--Buddha

I have the honor of hosting SPA this week, and I have always been fascinated by the teachings and especially the many faces of the Buddha.

Playing with layers and blending modes--

La Vie en Rose

For Digital Mania

made up of eight layers, including the lovely Gladys Cooper (one of my all time favorite images) 

and texture and painted layers from Leslie Sowden, Hollywood, Rucola Designs and Itkuptilli.

such fun to stretch the Photoshop muscles

Three Muses--Apples

trying some digital painting using filters and blending modes.

SPA--Owls

Night Owl

First, it was not a strip bar, 

it was an erotic club. 

And second, what can I say? 

I'm a night owl.

~Marion Barry

Homage to Edward Hopper

Went to see an Edward Hopper exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh recently.  I love his work, and this exhibit included etchings, which I had never seen before. Fascinating, he was influenced by Davinci among others.
I found a photo by Evan Sanders in the local paper, and thought it resembled a Hopper style, so I played with it in Photoshop.  here is the original photo, and my rendition.

SPA--Sisters

We are family: Nicholas Nixon’s 40 years photographing the Brown sisters


The US photographer has taken a portrait of his wife BeBe and her three siblings every year since 1974, making us confront the passing of time, family ties and our own mortality.

you can read more here.

Digital Mania--Namaste

Take a Word--Back to School

SOSS--Farts

a valentine...

SPA--Pink and Yellow

In the neighborhoods where I live and wander in, it is Zinnia season!  The hot dry days of late summer bring forth their sunny, cheery blossoms in abundance.

I remember, growing up, my mom always had a vase of Zinnias on the table in late summer.

The background is made with Photoshop brushes, the seed packets are a freebie from the ever- generous Elizabeth Golden ans the stamp is googled.

SOSS--Image Only

Challenge--to create a card with no words

with thanks to Holliewood Designs and Beedeesigns

DIgitalMania--In the Style of Lynne Perrella

Everyone who is familiar with mixed media and stamping art is probably aware of  the gorgeous, richly colored and unique work of Lynne Perrella.  She is a paper artist, collagist, journaler, painter, stamper and more.  She is a teacher, an author and collaborator contributing to many books and magazines, and has her own line of beautifully unique rubber stamps.
Her work glows from within with rich and jewel-like color and projects an enigmatic serenity that is just compelling.
If you have not seen Lynne Perrella's work, I urge you to Google her and take a look.  You will not be disappointed.

Here are some of my attempts to capture her style.