Mixed Media Monday - Art

This week I chose "art" as the challenge on Mixed Media Monday. There are so many different artists that I love but Vincent Van Gogh would have to be very high on my list of favourites. I love his art, so decided to paint a little tribute to him this week. It is painted on to a stretched canvas 14x18 inches or 35 x 45 cms. Peeping through are three of his more famous paintings, and I also added some of the lyrics of the Don McLean song, Starry Starry Night, since the song kept playing in my head while I was painting (that seems to be happening to me a lot lately). It was basically created with acrylic paints, modelling paste for texture and stencils, rubber stamps etc. for some visual texture and depth as well.

Mixed Media Monday - Buttons

I chose buttons off the top of my head for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge. I decided I felt like continuing to play with polymer clay - so the idea of my little jack in the box (or should I say jacqueline in the box) was born. Her head and arms are made from polymer clay and her facial features are painted with acrylic paints. Her little dress is fabric and lightly stuffed. Apart from the obvious buttons on her dress, I used tiny buttons to attach the arms like a lot of vintage dolls and bears and also used a flower button and tiny button for the embellishment on the box.

I have been wanting to......

I chose "I have been wanting to...." as the theme for Mixed Media Monday this week to give people the little push they might need to try something they have been wanting to try for some time, but haven't. I have been wanting to try a steam punk pendant for ages, so this was my opportunity to actually do it. The pendant looks a lot bigger than it actually is, because the bust isn't all that big. It is made from gold, silver and copper metallic polymer clay, and is also dusted with some mica powders to give it a lovely metallic look. I used some watch parts and other bits and pieces to finish it off.

Mixed Media Monday - Warm It Up

I usually love working with warm colours, much more so than with cool colours. That's why I was happy to have "warm it up" as a challenge on Mixed Media Monday this week. But then my muse worked out the door and didn't return - probably in protest that my studio is still not set up and everything is in boxes. So left to my own devices I was struggling. The song "It's too darn hot", sung by Ella Fitzgerald of course, kept running through my mind - so maybe my muse was sending tiny hints from afar, but I needed more help than that! This piece was done on a canvas board using computer generated lyrics and image, oil pastels and acrylic paint, tissue for texture and some chipboard - oh and a paint pen for those dots.

Mixed Media Monday - Cool It Down

After I chose this challenge for Mixed Media Monday I wondered why. Cool colours are not something I work with easily - I tend to gravitate to warm colours much more in my art. Then I remembered this gorgeous blue bottle that my daughter commandeered from her boyfriend for me. I think it had chilli wine in it. So the idea for an art doll developed. I used a silvery blue fabric paper (I'm not sure what it is called), some laces, a pair of feathery wings, an old plastic doll's head and a few other bits and pieces to create her.

Mixed Media Monday - Seeing Red

It was great having the luxury of Beth hosting over at Mixed Media Monday this week - it took the pressure off me having to produce a sample piece :-) So I took advantage of the opportunity and did a journal page about becoming an empty nester this week. My three children are all depicted by the birds flying the nest - but I do actually know where they've gone, LOL! This was done in a water colour journal using mainly water colour paints and Pitt brush markers.

Mixed Media Monday - Embellish It

I have to admit to a little self indulgence when I chose the theme for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge. I wanted an opportunity to use some of the beautiful laces painted by my daughter Danni - they are just so beautiful. My piece is worked on a sweet little 15x15 cm or 6x6 in canvas with different fabrics and silks. The image is an image transfer onto fabric and it looks better in real life - it didn't photograph all that well. Then of course the gorgeous laces give it a rich, delicious finishing touch - well, actually, they are what makes the piece! The good news is that Danni has given me some of the dyes - so I'm going to have a go at dyeing some myself one day soon :-)

Mixed Media Monday - Memories

This week I chose "memories" for the challenge on Mixed Media Monday and I had the song from Cats in the back of my mind. When I googled the lyrics to use in my collage, I was suprised to see that the song is called "Memory", when I always thought it was "Memories"! Oops! Oh well. My collage consists of computer generated images of the moon and Grizabella as well as the lyrics and sheet music of the song. I used lots of tissue paper for texture and the colouring was done with water soluble crayons (without the use of water).

Mixed Media Monday - Past Loves

This week on Mixed Media Monday I have chosen the theme "past loves" to give everyone the chance to revisit something they have enjoyed doing in the past. I only use stamps in my art for backgrounds etc., these days, but I used to love to stamp, especially in an Oriental style. So that's what I did for this challenge. I really love the lush Yuzen papers and all the gorgeous embellishments, so I covered the box with the paper and added LOTS of embellishments. It was nice to revisit these - but I won't be staying long :-) Sorry my photos aren't very straight.

Mixed Media Monday - A few of my favourite things

I often joke that I'm an "art tart" because I love some many different mediums, techniques and styles, so it wasn't difficult to find a few favourite things for this week's challenge. I chose a stretched canvas, vintage papers, texture, tissue paper, a chipboard house and key and water soluble oil pastels as my favourites for this piece. The texture was achieved by spreading texture paste over the canvas, so that everything on top had some texture. I rubber stamped on the tissue paper so that it had a pattern but still let the texture shine through. The piece is 25x20 cm or 10x8 in.

Mixed Media Monday - Play Things

I've chosen "play things" as the challenge prompt on Mixed Media Monday this week. My play thing is the gorgeous little vintage bisque dollhouse doll from my stash that was dug up from a doll factory in Germany. She was made around the early 1900's. The piece is made from a cigar box, and the inserts were cut from balsa wood, which I painted. I also used different papers, lace and German scrap, a little shell, a minature bottle filled with beads, a minature wooden spool which I wound with gold metallic thread, and a rusty old vintage key.

Mixed Media Monday - Something Blue

Here we are at my fourth and final "wedding saying" themes on Mixed Media Monday - something blue. When I was thinking about what I could do for this challenge, two things kept coming into my mind - the blue bird of happiness and Neil Diamond's song - "Song Sung Blue". So I decided to use them both as my inspiration for this piece. The painting is done on a stretched canvas 20x25 cm or 8x10 in approximately. It is done in acrylics and some charcoal, and the words were printed from my computer and then glazed with acrylics.

Mixed Media Monday - Something Borrowed

It's "something borrowed" this week on Mixed Media Monday but I still wanted to play with my new Pan Pastels. I decided to "borrow" the quote from my favourite Quietfire rubber stamp, which I made bigger on the computer then printed it out and separated the words. The rest of the piece is done on pastel paper in my pan pastels and charcoal. The piece is mounted onto a stretched canvas, which was painted with acrylic paint and is approximately 20x25 cm or 8x10 in. I really LOVE working with the pan pastels!

Mixed Media Monday - Something New

On Mixed Media Monday this week I chose the theme "something new" to follow on from last week. My piece is done on a stretched canvas which is about 20x40 cm (8x16 ins). The new part for me is the pan pastels that I used to colour the face and hands, plus this is a very different style of collage for me. Apart from the pan pastels and pastel paper, I used tissue paper, acrylic paint, printed paper and plain, some ribbon and different pieces of German scrap and a some artificial flowers. This piece was inspired by a couple of pieces done by Deirdra Doan in the latest issue of Somerset Studios, and by the artist Gustav Klimt, who also inspired Deirdra's pieces - during his "gold" period he liked to use gold leaf.

Mixed Media Monday - Something Old

It's my turn to host a challenge again on Mixed Media Monday, and since it's my birthday today, I have chosen "something old" as the challenge :-) For this piece I used the back of a stretched canvas and glued some canvas around the sides to cover the staples etc., to make a neater surface to work on. After I painted the canvas with acrylic paint I added some gold star tissue paper with encaustic medium. I love how the wax made the tissue transparent - much more so than gel medium. I used a Victorian scrap butterfly for the wings and the stars and bird are chipboard painted with gold metallic paint. The something old is the adorable little bisque doll - she was dug up from the ruins of a doll factory in Germany, and is over 100 years old. I was amazed when I was going through my doll stash to find her - she looks just like my gorgeous little granddaughter, Lucy! So I think this piece will be going to hang on Lucy's wall.

Mixed Media Monday - Vintage Ads/Labels

Rosie is generously hosting yet another challenge on Mixed Media Monday. This time she has challenged us to use vintage ads or labels in our art. I'm hoping a label printed onto it's vintage tin will count :-) It was a golden opportunity to make another fun Dada style doll. My daughters tell me she's a little scary, but I still love her, grin! Apart from the vintage tin, I used parts from an old plastic doll, a gorgeous little light that my daughter grabbed for me when her boyfriend was fixing her car and silver charm hands. The "arms" were modelled out of a resin clay and painted to resemble the cherries on the tin. Just a bit of a fun play this week :-)

Mixed Media Monday - Floral Tributes

When I was pondering Rosie's challenge of "floral tributes" on Mixed Media Monday this week, my mind kept going to my mother and her love of yellow roses. When she passed away, it was not the season for roses so they weren't part of the wreaths arranged for the funeral. I really felt terrible that I wasn't able to give her yellow roses one last time. I found a florist who could rustle up a few and made a tiny arrangement with them. Although they were overshadowed by all the large wreaths, I was content to know they were there. This is a shrine I made from a nicho - the photo of my beautiful mother was taken on my wedding day. I have used lots of symbolism on this piece to represent happy memories. The book page represents how, when I wanted a biscuit, I would wait until my mother was reading, because she always said yes then, grin! Some sewing pattern paper because she was a wonderful seamstress, and of course the yellow roses. The charms represent, among other things, the pride I felt when she learned to drive in her 50's, the way she went in to bat for me with my father to allow me to have a kitten, and the camera reminds me of how much she hated to have her photo taken and the funny faces she pulled when she tried to look "natural". Thanks for the challenge, Rosie - and the happy time I had creating my very personal piece!

Mixed Media Monday - Personal Symbols and Myths

This week on Mixed Media Monday Beth is back as our guest host with another very imaginative challenge - personal myths and symbols. Wings appear in my art all the time, whether it's birds, butterflies or winged people! Like a lot of artists, for me wings symbolise freedom. That's my aim with my art, to try to loosen up, lighten up and be a lot "freer" with what I do. This pendant was made with a gold tone tray, into which I put a tiny collage, featuring a vintage child. The bird is a gorgeous little gold charm attached with some wire wrapping. Another fun challenge, thanks Beth!

Mixed Media Monday - Marie Antoinette

This week on Mixed Media Monday the wonderful Rosie is guest hosting again and has issued a lovely challenge - Marie Antoinette. I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go with this challenge, but as I looked at images of her, I decided I wanted to work in fabric. I had a gorgeous old cigar box that I wanted to alter, so this was my golden opportunity. I used some big wooden beads that I've had in my stash for more then 20 years (yes I never thrown anything out - and this is why) so I attached them to the box and then painted it all blue. I printed the image on fabric and layered it with fabric, silks and laces. The whole thing was finished off with some beaded fringing, braid and an antique style butterfly brooch!

Mixed Media Monday - Child's Play

This week on Mixed Media Monday Beth is back with a really fun challenge. She wants to take us back to our childhood and the joy and freedom we had while being creative. One of the things that I loved best was making dolls from dolly pegs and pipe cleaners, so that is the direction I decided to take. These days I have lots more art supplies to play with than back then, when I would have used a dolly peg, a pipe cleaner, some scrap fabric and some pencils for the face. Of course, I used a dolly peg - but these days you can get them with little stands so they stand unaided - and although I wouldn't usually use a pipe cleaner for the arms, I did this time for old times sake :-) I wanted to experiment with my resin clay to make the face and head and I dug out some dolls hair that I had left from another project. I used silver charms for the hands and finished her off with German scrap wings and crown. What fun this was - mixing the old (me as a child) with the new (what I love doing now).

Mother's Day

What a wonderful Mother's Day, yesterday. A lovely relaxing day with my daughters and in the afternoon a visit from my son and his wife and of course, my beautiful little Lucy. Look what she gave me - my first ever "Nanna" mother's day card! How special is that!

Mixed Media Monday - Wedded Bliss

The very talented Rosie is hosting Mixed Media Monday this week and has issued the challenge of "wedded bliss". This was the perfect opportunity for me to do the comical piece I'd had in the back of my mind for a long time. I wanted to use the ridiculous advice for housewives published in a magazine in 1955 - you can see it here if you are interested. I chose some of funnier pieces to use in my piece, which I printed out along with the image of the 1950's woman. The background is done with layers of acrylic paint. I was having a good old giggle about this advice and then I realised - this was my mother's life! Although to be honest, I'm not sure how closely she would have followed these rules, grin! Thank goodness things were a little more liberated by the time I was married - and it's even more so now for my daughters!

Mixed Media Monday - Mothers

Over at Mixed Media Monday this week Cindy has issued us with the challenge "mothers", which is well timed with Mother's Day next Sunday here in Oz and in lots of other parts of the world. I decided to make a box in honour of my daughter-in-law's first Mother's Day. You can see a pic of her and my absolutely gorgeous first grandchild, Lucy on the box. The box is covered with vintage papers of all sorts which were then further distressed with gesso and distress inks. I also used computer generated words and image, and "sunk" it all under a few coats of acrylic wax medium. A beautiful flower motif and some lace around the lid finished the box off. I don't know what it is with me and show tunes at the moment, but the words to the Stephen Sondheim song kept running through my head when I was thinking about this project, so they had to be a part of it. I hope my lovely daughter-in-law enjoys this small gift in honour of her first Mother's Day.

Mixed Media Monday - I Feel Pretty

After the success of "hello Dolly" on Mixed Media Monday I decided to choose another show tune this week - "I feel pretty". Then spent almost two weeks wondering why - I couldn't get inspired by the challenge in the least. I finally decided to make another piece of jewellery. I must say I enjoyed the process in the end. The pendant was difficult to photograph because of the silicone coating over the collage because it was really reflecting the light, but you get the idea. The silicone has a lovely crackle to it, that also doesn't show up too well in the photos.

Mixed Media Monday - Look What I Found

I chose "look what I found" as the theme on Mixed Media Monday this week because I thought it would be a fun and really open theme for people to participate in. Then I set to work using some of my favourite "found" items as an example piece. I have to admit that I didn't find the gorgeous aged tin I used - my daughter bought it for me in a little antiques shop, but it is just perfect. I used some papers and a chipboard bingo card for the backgrounds and worked out from there, adding a silver toned frame and key that I "aged". The embellishments are a vintage lace motif and buttons, some little flowers and a little "dream" button that I also aged. The bisque doll is another one from my collection of dolls from a bombed out factory in Germany - she is complete, if a little rusted :-) I have a bit of a crush on them at the moment! The tin is approximately 7 cm or 3 in square when closed.

Mixed Media Monday - Hello Dolly

I must admit I had fun doing this piece! My son gave me the book "Who's Your Dada?" by Linda and Opie O'Brien for Christmas. Since then I've been searching for interesting found objects to make some of the Dada style dolls. I finally decided I had enough in my stash to make my first piece, and this is it. The body of the doll is a beautifully aged and rusted vintage cigarette tin. Likewise one of her arms is a lovely aged vintage key, while the other one is a plastic arm attached with a screw. The legs are made from small wooden reels, which I aged, and I also aged the little wooden clogs which came from a doll. The head is from a vintage bisque doll, dug up from an old doll factory which was bombed out in Germany. The word on the "buckle" says "spirit". She stands about 20 cm or 8 in tall.

Mixed Media Monday - Eggs

After a terrible week - I'm finally back on the computer and hoping to get everything back to normal as quickly as possible. Our computer crashed on Monday morning when we went to switch it on.....grrrrr!!!! We ended up having to buy a new computer - not sure if we will be able to retrieve anything from the old one yet - and of course, I wasn't up to date with my backing up. Ah well......I only have myself to blame for all the stuff I've lost!

This week on Mixed Media Monday the theme was going to be "eggs". I've decided to put the challenge up now (five days late) and have it run next week as well - so everyone has a chance to catch up.

My piece is an art doll of sorts. It's body is a little stretched canvas (10 x 7cm or 4x2.75in approx.), which I covered with vintage papers. It's wings are made from feathery angel wings that I painted, the legs are twisted wire, and the head is computer generated. The whole piece stands approximately 18cms or just over 7 inches tall. The egg is a quail egg the my daughter gave me.

Mixed Media Monday = Vintage Children

This week over on Mixed Media Monday Cindy is guest hosting again. Her challenge theme is "vintage children". I chose one of my favourite vintage children images and worked from there. I used an old photo frame, removed the glass and filled out the inner sides a bit so it is more like a shallow shadow box. I covered the backing with some fabric and vintage laces etc. The flower in the corner of the image is one that I crocheted myself for this piece. The embellishments are some vintage buttons, a gorgeous old and rusted vintage key and a beautiful bisque doll that is around 100 years old, dug out from a bombed doll factory in Thuringia, Germany. (You'll probably see a few more of these appearing in my art once the lot I won on Ebay arrives, grin!) The piece measures around 20x15 cm or approx. 8x6 in.

Mixed Media Monday - Party Animals

Kris is guest hosting on Mixed Media Monday again - I so love having all of these wonderful guests to keep MMM so interesting and vibrant! Kris has chosen the challenge prompt of "party animals" - I can see this is going to be a fun week. My piece is done on a canvas board again, 12.7 x 17.8 cm or 5x7 in. The background is done with acrylic paints and the rest is basically computer generated images and letters, some brads for embellishment and some charcoal pencil to finish it off. I always love the opportunity for a little nonesense :-)

Mixed Media Monday - It's Not All Black and White

I always love the striking effects of simply black and white - and I also love it with a touch of colour. So that's what I chose as the challenge for Mixed Media Monday this week. My piece is done on a 12.7 x 17.8 cm or 5x7 in canvas board which was covered with vintage papers and sheet music which was then dry brushed with gesso to give it an even more aged appearance. The little cardboard frame was coated with modelling paste and texturised, then painted with off white and white paints. It was all finished off with a computer generated image (don't you love that bow?) some rubons, card stock and a group of ribbon roses. Once again, it's not photographed terribly straight - I need to try to get better at that!

Mixed Media Monday - Enchanted

This week at Mixed Media Monday we have yet another new guest host - Lori! All of the guests hosts help to make MMM such a fun place to play. Lori gave us the challenge prompt of "enchanted". Firstly, I must say I'm sorry my piece is so crooked in the pic - but you'll get the idea. It seems like ages since I've done a painting, so I anxious to do one this week. My piece is done on a stretched canvas 8x12 in or 20.3x25.4 cm and painted with Golden fluid acrylic paints with the addition of tissue paper, some computer generated images and some Victorian scrap butterflies. The dangling butterfly is made from some el cheapo jewellery that I purchased from Ebay. It was all silvery and glitzy, so I gave it an aged appearance with some paints.

Mixed Media Monday - Giggles/Laughter

This week on Mixed Media Monday Kristin has given us the challenge prompt of giggles/laughter. As soon as I saw this little girl in some junk mail I knew she would be perfect for the challenge! The piece is done on a canvas panel 12.7 x 17.8 cms or 5 x 7 ins. Basically it is lots of collage elements, gesso and oil pastels with a few embellishments to finish it off.

Mixed Media Monday - Mardi Gras

When I knew Cindy had chosen the theme "Mardi Gras" for this week's challenge on Mixed Media Monday I bought a Tibetan silver mask charm. Then I had the dilemna of what to do with it. I thought originally I'd make a piece of jewellery with it, but then went off the idea. Instead I decided to have a bit of fun with a peg doll - I used to spend hours as a child playing with my peg dolls. So she is simply made from a wooden dolly peg and one of the stands you can get for them now. Her legs and stand were painted with acrylic paint and her dress is made from muslin that I painted with acrylic paints and inks. I painted some butterfly lace motifs for her wings and added some feathers to her mask and voila - my mardi gras fairly. Haven't come up with name for her yet - any ideas?

Mixed Media Monday - Romance

This week on Mixed Media Monday Cindy is issuing a challenge of "romance" in honour of Valentine's Day. It just so happened that I was working on a little workshop I'm taking and my first piece was heart shaped with a lock and key (the key to my heart) - perfect. I followed fairly close to the piece made in the workshop for my first time - there will time to play and be experimental after I learn the basics. The heart is made from a resin clay - a new medium for me, and I really loved working with it. If you're interested in learning about the workshop, click here. I wanted to make some art jewellery this year, and this has been a fun way to begin.

Mixed Media Monday - What was she thinking?

I chose the theme "what was she/he thinking" for the challenge prompt on Mixed Media Monday this week to see what all the clever participants could come up with. My piece is done on a 5x7 inch or 12.7x17.8 cm canvas board. I used pieces of vintage papers, some computer generated images and a few other collage elements to make the collage, was then covered in wax. I love the way was mellows everything beneath it.

Mixed Media Monday - The Games People Play

We have had so many wonderful guest hosts over at Mixed Media Monday that I haven't had to host a challenge for ages. However, this week it's my turn again. I chose "the games people play" and then had no idea what I'd do for it, LOL. I also wanted to get all messy with paint and mediums, but in the end I ended up collaging more than anything. This is an 8x8 inch or 20x20cm (approx) size canvas that I turned over and used the back of, to get a nice little niche to work with. Then it was basically a matter of collaging lots of images of different games, adding gesso and paint, lots of real game pieces, a red heart overlaid with a gold toned metal heart and attached with a game spinner. The king and queen's crowns are actually gold too, but they dind't photograph very well because of the niche.

Mixed Media Monday - Wings

This week the theme on Mixed Media Monday is wings, chosen by our new gues host, Kelly! I decided that my mp3 player needed a little pouch, so this was the perfect opportunity to make one. The image is printed onto printer fabric and softly coloured with Prisma pencils. This is then mounted onto a piece of silk. The next layer was fun - it is a piece of "crash" fabric that I painted with acrylic paints and then "tortured" with my heat gun. All of this was sewn onto a little padded pouch that I made and then I added a lace fragment, a gorgeous lacy flower motif that my daughter gave me, and a butterfly motif.

Mixed Media Monday - Something New

This week Barbara is guest hosting on Mixed Media Monday, and chose "something new" to challenge us with. This could not have been more opportune for me, with the arrival of my first grandchild, Lucy, last Tuesday! (See the post below this one). So, of course, Lucy and being a grandmother is new for me. But the real "something new" is scrapbooking - that is something I always said I'd NEVER do, but I really wanted to do something to commemorate the arrival of Lucy - I hope her parents like it! It's made in a wooden book cut into the shape of wings.

I'm a Grandmother!!!!!!

I am so thrilled! I have my first grandchild, Lucy! This beautiful little girl came to join our family on 5th January, at 6.34 pm. She weighed 2.77 kgs or 6.17 pounds. She is a tiny little bundle of gorgeousness - perfect in every way. Both she and her mother Bridget are doing well. However I think it will take my son, Allan, a little while to come down from the clouds! Then again, I guess I'm up there with him, grin!

Mixed Media Monday - Leftovers

Beth is hosting on Mixed Media Monday yet again (thankyou) , and has come up with another inspired idea for a challenge - "leftovers". I had so much fun with this! The doll's body is made from an empty stubby beer bottle that I enjoyed on Christmas day :-) I covered the bottle with some deli paper sprayed with color mist sprays that I had left over from another project. The piece over that is cheese cloth dyed in coffee, also a left over. Her necklace is made from the bottle cap from the same bottle and the collage was made with left over elements, apart from the gorgeous little gold bird charm. Her wings were cut from a soft drink can and embossed, then painted gold. Her buckle was made from the ring pull from the can, and the ribbon arrived wrapped around something I purchased online. The doll's head is from a plastic doll - with all the hair removed and then painted to look similar to a porcelaine doll and her hat is made from the same cheese cloth as the over dress. I named the doll "Second Hand Rose", for obvious reasons.