In Her Garden....

I have had this girlie in my sketchbook for about a month. I finally collaged her onto wood today. She was drawn with graphite and colored pencils. I also used acrylics, water soluble crayons, oil pastels, crackle paste, rubons and beeswax. I am really happy with how she came out!

Have a great weekend!

Trying New Techniqes and the Worries of a Woman!

NEW TECHNIQUES...

I have been wanting to try a few different techniques for awhile and decided to combine them in this piece. The wonderfully talented and beautiful Jane DesRosier of GrittyArts has been doing a lot of abstract art lately that I have been really enjoying. She recently posted a YouTube video showing how to collage with beeswax, so I gave it a shot. I love the texture this process creates...yummy! Her focal element was a collaged woman, but I decided to draw one of my girlies on a vintage book page instead. Drawing on a book page is the other technique I have been wanting to try. It seems that several mixed media artists are trying this right now, but there is something unique and interesting about it that I really love.

A WOMAN AND HER THOUGHTS...

This piece has a lot of meaning for me. There is so much worry and guilt associated with being a woman and a mother for me. I am always beating myself up about not being the best wife, mother, step-mother, homemaker, artist (and the list goes on). So many thoughts are jumbled up in my head that sometimes it is hard for me to breathe. I am constantly comparing myself to other women and worrying that I am screwing up the lives around me. Am I alone, do you ever feel like no matter what you do, it just isn't good enough... Why do we put such pressure on ourselves? Maybe I will never know the answer...

xoxo

Shonna

Homework and Commission Piece

I added some more elements to the "Busy Bee" and finished it with hot beeswax. With "Stargazer" I added some gold leaf and will probably finish it with hot beeswax as well. The new piece is a watercolor sketch I posted earlier, but I painted it on 12X24 wood. A friend of mine wanted to know if I could paint her some mermaids, so I made them in the likeness of her two daughters. She wanted very pale pinks and blues, so I tried to keep it within that color scheme. I am almost finished with it unless my client wants me to add something else. All of the pieces will have holes drilled into them and a ribbon attached for hanging. I hope you enjoy looking at them.

DUTCHIE GIRL COMPLETED!!

Awhile back I posted a sketch of a Dutch Girl. Well I finally painted her. She is painted on a 12X12 canvas and finished off with hot beeswax. She took a long time for me to paint but I am very happy with her. I hope you like her as well...