M is for...

I am starting to fall in love with mixed media. 

It's hard to do mixed media on such large pieces, which is what I'm used to working on, 

so I've had to scale it down and make it more manageable.

ACEO's are the perfect opportunity for that.

ACEO stands for artist cards, editions and originals. They are the size of a baseball trading card, 2.5 x 3.5 inches. They are a wonderful, affordable way to collect your favorite art 

(and for me to make them).

You can own this original to keep for yourself or give as a gift! You could place all your ACEO's in a small photo album, or in a frame for display on your wall. They look great grouped together!

Here is the latest edition to my ACEO collection for sale on my PaintedEasel ArtFire shop.

Love

I had an idea for a Christmas painting I never got around to. 

It was going to be red and green with trees and what-not. 

Well, this is it now. And very appropriate for the Creative Tuesday!

9x12" Mixed Media (mostly Acrylic)

I just love the color combo and the rich layers! 

It's such a bright fun piece...

and for sale on my ArtFire site.

Believe

2.5x3.5" mixed media

(paint, magazine, stamps & image transfers)

Busy as a Bee

Yep. That's me. Extremely busy.

But I managed to find time today to experiement with some image transfers.

I came up with this little beauty. 

It's in my altered book that is about 5x7".

I used Citrasolv to transfer the bee and then accented it with Sharpie.
The fingerprint things under the bee are transfered with matte medium.

(Use a laser print and put the matte medium on the image/ink.  Put the image face down and burnish with a spoon. Let it dry completely then put water on the back of the image and rub away the paper slowly.)

I prefered the look of the Citrasolv over the matte medium because it looked a little cloudy, but I used watercolor on top and I seemed to like it more.

I continued to doodle with Sharpie and called it a day.

I'm quite happy with my little mixed media piece!

Cranberry Cloud

I have made a very dear artist friend through the world of blogging. 

Her name is Laurel Martin and she owns Cranberry Cloud. 

I highly recommend checking out her ArtFire & Etsy site and purchasing a piece. You won't be disappointed!

I had asked for one of her mixed media pieces for Christmas and I was just thrilled today when it came in the mail!

It's even better in person and even the envelope is stinkin' adorable! 

(the names have been blurred to protect the innocent)

I am so excited to find a frame and hang it right above my desk where I sit and make art. 

Such wonderful inspiration and something beautiful to look at every day!

Thank you Laurel! I absolute love it!

(and thanks to my wonderful husband for the great gift too!)

Plastic Bottles

We've been working in class using colored pencils on toned paper to draw clear plastic bottles. 

Here are my examples. 

Can you guess what the bottle is on the left?

I didn't have time to finish it because the bell rang and the student wanted to take her drink. 

Really? Didn't she know I was in the middle of a masterpiece?!

The water bottle is complete though. They are on a 9x12 piece of brown paper.