Details, details, details

I love the slick photos of clean, white interiors or beautiful, simple, solid colored clothing but I'm just not that kind of girl! Though I admire the restraint of simplicity, I revel in the intricacies of details. Complex layers of color, texture and meaning delight the senses and pull the viewer in for a closer look. Above are detail shots from 2 of my recent collages. Each centers around a flower portrait done in pastel (protected under Dura-Lar) but the backgrounds and supporting cast of trims, stitching and faux postage make the piece complete for me.

Changing Seasons/Changing Color Schemes

Just noticed the dogwood leaves are starting to turn red...autumn is showing her colors! My garden is looking very golden and russet- quite a change from the soft yellow, pink and lavender of just a few weeks ago. I love to draw the flowers from my garden and the three examples above show how my color palette changes from the fresh vibrant pastels of spring to summer's fantastic pinks to the deeper reds of fall. These pastels were done on hand dyed fabric. I use Golden Acrylic Pastel Ground on the fabric to create a toothy surface for the pastels. I cover them with Dura-Lar film so they can be used in my mixed media work.