How can a piece of canvas, some acrylic paint, and paper turn into a smile? That is the magic I play with everyday! I collect things that turn up the corners of my mouth and my mixed media pieces are wishes for somebody’s smile!
I like putting together 10 x 10 gallery wrapped canvases because they go together very quickly. When I need inspiration, I empty the contents of a drawer that says “Paper Collage Elements”. That drawer is usually a rats nest (one of my favorite descriptions of unorganized chaos.) It is chock full of magazine images. A magazine isn’t safe around me, I rip out any page for alphabet letter font, animals, funny faces, flowers, anything that is pretty and colorful. I have had occasion to truly grieve at the doctor’s office that the magazine isn’t mine and I can’t rip out the perfect cute cat.
I have an addiction to Tiffany Blue paint and I am obsessive about black checkers on floors and borders. I don’t have to ponder what color or what border. I am in love with my rut! When sorting through my happy scraps of images, usually there is a sonic boom of realization in my brain. Yes, I need an elephant sitting on that ottoman. As I am cutting and attaching the pieces with my glue stick the saying just pops in my head, “Don’t mess with my chaos”.
I can’t find all the fabulous images I need in magazines! Etsy has a treasure trove of graphic art and I have my favorite shop: LisasAlteredArt . I got my ballerinas and French dancers from that fun shop, a good place to get a giggle for free. I love letting all my whimsical dreams come true… you bet I am going to put a tulle tutu on the elephant and hang rhinestone tear shaped beads from silvery thread for my raindrops.
Not everyone smiles when they see my pieces, when that happens I settle for a smirk!
