Sonata The process: I taped off a piece of music paper into grids with painters tape, and solved the “facing the blank page” issue by doodling with a china marker. Then with watercolor made broad, full page stokes with a flat brush. After removing the tape, I cut the page into 4 individual 4x4” grids. I love that reveal moment when what was once a large chaotic piece now becomes 4 separate pieces, each with its own charm and personality. Collage fodder rounded out the process.  I had to do a little research into music terminology. This portion of the sonata is to be played at a walking pace and with passion and motion. Hence, the title. 

 ANYTHING Can Be A Texture Tool In my career as a middle school English teacher, one of my greatest joys was leading class discussions. Using a “talking stick” was always a good choice, but why not make it fun! When a student wished to speak, I would sometimes use a plushie toucan. I used to say, “Who can talk? You can. If you have the toucan.” Once a student had spoken, the toucan would be tossed to the next speaker. This little cutie has been cuddled by many hands over many years. He probably misses that.  Prior to the toucan, I used a koosh ball, which eventually had to be retired, due to the temptation to lob it too enthusiastically across the room. Thankfully, I still have that toucan and koosh ball. After all the fun I had printing with balloons and baggies, it occurred to me that a koosh ball would create a similar effect. So . . . a new use for my old koosh ball. Expect to see a lot more “koosh” papers in my work. 

When The Wheels Come Off In real life, having your wheels come off is a disaster with life threatening consequences. In art, however, it is a playtime treat.  As a child I spent hours zooming my toy cars around the vinyl kitchen floor, delighting in the sound of the spinning wheels. That zealous play eventually ended in cars limping along, wheel-less. Fast forward 60 decades (OMG, am I really that old?), those beloved cars parked in an attic parking lot (aka - an old box) finally left the lot and became play toys once again.  The year: 1963 The cars: Buick, Ford Galaxie, and Pontiac Bonneville  My maternal grandfather and uncle both worked for General Motors. As a child, my mother lived a fascinating life overseas as her father accepted dealership positions in South America and Spain. That history came home to play in my childhood home in Cleveland, Ohio. Is it surprising that cars were in my toy box? Not really.  So . . . about those wheels  You guessed it...

 Losing My Marbles ( Just discovered that there are a million font choices available here. Oh, baby!) So . . . What is it like to regress to childhood for a full day? Just play. Zero adulting. Forgetting to eat, drink, and never once leaving my loft studio? Glorious!  Today I played with marbles, acrylic paint, a variety of sub strates, and a litter pan from Dollar Tree (an obsessed artist’s best friend). Papers covered every possible surface in the room, and eventually I ended up with the pan in my lap and very clear signals (repeated accidents) that it was time to stop after 8 hours of play. Now I have 57 papers waiting to be ripped, positioned artfully with peers, and glued into wil d collages. Yahoo!  Put some paint (with a bit of water) in a cup with marbles, swirl around to mix paint and coat marbles, put paper in pan, add marbles, and tilt the pan. Rolling marbles flying everywhere. Escapees fleeing the pan and hiding somewhere in the room. (You’d think they’d leav...

  Drawer of Pens Late night. Dark and foggy. Introspective 🎶. A grid collage lacking something; my least favorite journal entry. A drawer of like-colored Posca markers. Time lost in space.  What once looked like this . . .  Turned into this . . .    Do I know when to stop doodling? Clearly, the answer is no. But, hey, I’m leaving be those last 4 squares and going to bed. 

  Dendritic Collage Papers Another collage paper experiment. I swear, these are so very addicting to create. Talk about cool effects! I think it is the unpredictable nature of the medium and the grand reveal when finally pulling off the paper from the plate. In this case, the “plate” is a sheet of acrylic. The recommended plate is plexiglass, but I didn’t have any. I did, however, have many sheets of acrylic leftover from my father’s foray into his “stained glass” windowlites that he gifted everyone we know for Christmas for many, many years. I have fond memories of making these with my dad and was excited to see him with such a continuing passion for art even into his later years. Thanks, Dad. Now it is my turn to have the art addiction bug bite me in MY later years.  First experiment: heavy body acrylics, both laid down in just dots and then brushed on in a layer: Second experiment: metallic gold fluid acrylic Third experiment: acrylic inks Results: heavy body acrylics work ...

Can’t Sleep Collage On those nights when I’m overwhelmed with pain from this postponed hip replacement surgery and can’t sleep, art is my constant friend. Just laying in bed tossing and turning, trying to find relief is a fruitless endeavor. Doing art, however, is a grand distraction. I get so involved in the creation process, I am thankfully distracted from the pain. This is one of those “can’t sleep” collages. Choosing just a few collage papers to use in varied ways in these 2” square grid patterns is entertaining. I try to keep in mind important design principals of varied size, tone, value, shape, pattern, and substrate, but honestly, it all just happens in a relaxed, organic, and joyful way.