http://www.amazondesigns.info/saveme/index.php

All of the money raised from the sale of these t-shirts doesn’t go in Brian May’s pocket – he donates every pence to the wildlife organization I volunteer with, Harper Asprey and the business part of the site is run by my friend Christine.

It’s funny, because when I am busy the thing that I enjoy the most – creating – gets put on the backburner. Why do I do this? Maybe because creating pieces of artwork feels so good and I don’t consider it to be “work” that I push it aside to take care of more “responsible” duties.

I must stop this.

I need to create more, I need to share more of what I create with people and I need to post more of my creations on this board.

I have so many things in my head that I want to make – drawings, paintings, books, etc. Either I do this or I don’t and believe me, I want to.

So, I sat down and drew and coloured something for the first time in a few days. This owl was inspired by a friend’s love of the UK’s Little Owl.

Hand drawn on cardstock with Copic Markers, Gel Pens and iridescent acrylic paints. I love doing drawings in a whimsical style and this owl was no exception.

Today I will introduce Remedios Varo, December 16 1908 – October 8, 1963 .

I don’t like all surrealist art (and some I adore, but that’s for another post), but I love the work of this female Spanish artist Varo.

Like many artists she was influenced by the surrealist movement when she moved to Paris after fleeing the Spanish Civil War. She then had to move to Mexico after fleeing the Nazis in France! Unfortunately, she died too young of a heart attack in Mexico in 1963.

What do I like about Varo’s style? When you look at a Varo painting you are instantly transported into lands that are so fantastical that you can’t stop thinking about them. They are whimsical without being cute; they are intriguing and so very weird. Unlike Frida Kahlo (whose work I also like), Varo’s paintings are much less harrowing to look at because they are coming from such different places in their lives. The themes of Varo’s paintings are alchemical, spiritual (Catholic and metaphysical) fantastic, extremely detailed and sometimes even based  in science. The faces of her subjects are pixie  or faery-like.

The painting below, Creation of the Birds, is one of my favourites:

Creation of the Birds

The owl woman, creating birds, is so moving and beautiful. Unfortunately, you cannot see as much detail as I would like you to see here, but the symbolism is stunning.

This painting, called Embroidering Earth’s Mantle shows six women “sewing” the earth. Gorgeous.

Embrodering Earth's Mantle

I can’t stop looking at her paintings and when I look at them I instantly feel like I am falling into the scenes that she creates. I am constantly seeing something new. Once again, looking at these paintings on a computer screen does not do them justice, although there are a couple of very nice books with prints of her works available.

As always, it’s best to see an artist’s work in a gallery or museum, if  possible.

If you are in the UK and you want to see Varo’s work in person, this should be a great exhibit to take in!

Surreal Friends:
Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Kati Horna
19 June-12 September 2010
Three exhibitions of work by Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo and Kati Horna. Surrealist women artists, Carrington and Varo and photographer Kati Horna escaped the Nazis in France in 1939 to live and work in Mexico.

The website about the exhibit can be found here.

If you add whimsy to that – spirals, colours not associated with trees, hearts, etc. really helps give the trees personality.

In these drawings I added elements of whimsy as well as exaggerated some of the features of the trees.

With this tree drawing I wanted to accentuate the roots of the oak going into the ground, thus stabilizing it.  Its branches reach up to the sky creating a heart shape in the middle of the tree. I made the trunk, roots and branches more important than the leaves. I wanted to show the mighty centre of the oak.

Heart of Oak

This tree is full of vitality as it is the height of summer. Spirals represent leaves on the trees and everything is bright and colourful.

Spiral Spirit Tree

In this drawing I combined two of my favourite themes – hearts and trees. The dark inner wood of the tree that is resistant to decay is called “heartwood” by the way. I think of trees as old wise plants that do a lot for humanity.

Heart Tree 04

Some benefits tree provide:

• Give us shade
• They give us food in fruit and nuts
• Filter noise from roads and cities
• They are natural air filters trapping carbon monoxide and dust
• They shelter us
• The provide us with products like paper and without paper I couldn’t create much of my artwork
• They are a home to wildlife

These are just some of the reasons why I honour trees in my artwork.  Trees are one of those subjects I cannot get enough of.

Women of Yesteryear Page 1

The photos of the two women were taken from a paper collection (and mounted on burgundy cardstock) as was the London Bridge paper. Flowery background paper was bought at some scrapbook store several years ago in the US. I added ribbon, a heart doo-dad (for lack of a better word! LOL!) and some faux gems.

Women of Yesteryear Page 2

The photo of the woman on this page was taken from an Edwardian postcard I bought at a flea market. I enlarged it and printed it on cardstock. I cut it out and adhered it to another background paper I bought in the US several years ago. Stamps, peel-offs and a faux flower were added for interest.

Soon I will be posting some ATCs I have hand drawn.

Later success! She came back to cache food & I tapped on a window of the conservatory & she looked at me & didn’t run. I went outside in my stocking feet & she stayed in the garden with me for a few mins before slowly skulking away. I used the same calls that I use with Ilene. Generally foxes run within 10 seconds of sensing me. I wonder if she isn’t one of this year’s kits? She might “know” me. She has a thin sweet face.

The fact that she isn’t running far away bodes well for her mange treatment as I need to make sure she is the one who is eating it. Her mange is on about 25 percent of her flanks and she has chewed part of her front leg raw. It hasn’t spread to the tail yet.

I am going to name her Sweet Face. I generally wouldn’t bother naming wild animals (none of the birds have names except for things like “that really fat robin”!) but it helps Kevin (my husband) and I to determine who is in the garden at any one time. And…she came back twice more and brought a friend who is lovely – all gorgeous fur and big fluffy tail.

You know what? I am most happy when I am dealing with animals. Maybe it’s because they ask for nothing from me. Nothing at all – and the grace me with their beauty.

Gypsy Journal

As you can see from the photo, the book is filled to the brim with fibres and beads and embellishments.

I covered one page with pattered paper and cut to fit the page. I stamped a Crafty Individuals stamp in Versamark brown ink on patterned cardstock. I cut the image out and mounted it on a glittered cardstock and added jewels to her crown. I placed this on top of the bottom layer of pattered paper. I printed out the phrase “Queen of the Gypsies” on paper and distressed with ink. I cut out horseshoe images from a die cut collection and adhered that to the card. A moon and dome sticker were added for interest.

Gypsy Journal Page 1

The second page I covered with tarot paper I got from a shop in Florence Italy (I am addicted to papers and I was in heaven in Florence!). On another piece of paper I stamped a Lilac and Lemon Designs Art Nouveau woman stamp based on an Alphonse Mucha design. I coloured it with Copic Markers and highlighted it with glitter gel pens and glitter glue. I mounted it on iridescent paper.

Gypsy Journal Page 2

I am working on several other journals so I will eventuallypost photos of those as soon as I have the time.

My artwork has not exhausted the theme – yet. My latest sun and mood drawing shows the sun and moon entwined.

In some mythologies, the sun and moon are brother and sister (in Norse mythology the sun is a goddess, Sunna. The moon is her brother Mani.) In other mythologies, like Greek, the sun is masculine (and called Helios) and the moon is feminine (and named Seléne).

In my artwork, the sun and moon are mostly androgynous. Not always, but mostly. I like bright colours so the sun is shown in bright oranges and yellows with a hint of red. The moon is shown in cooler blues and silvers.

Anyway, this is a sketch I have come up with for the sun and moon. It’s done on lightweight cardstock and with Copic Markers, white gel pen and metallic pens.

In this blog I plan to write about arts and crafts and how doing artwork impacts my life (and how life impacts my art), where I get inspiration to draw and paint, a bit about my personal life, and of course foxes!  I may even try to throw in a video tutorial or two when I have the time.

I’ve always enjoyed writing, although I don’t consider myself to be a writer. I have no interest in being published and I run hard and fast with grammar rules. However, I do like communicating with other people, and thus this blog. I’ve been communicating and sharing ideas with people since the 1970s and I had my first pen pal when I was 12 years old. Blogging is just an extension of that.

I also enjoy trading art with other artists – this is why I enjoy trading Artist’s Trading Cards and Art Journals with other artists. Sure, selling art rocks, but also sharing ideas and techniques helps me learn new techniques and see what other people are doing.

The aim of this blog is to have a dialogue with other people and other artists. I hope I can accomplish this and make this journal a friendly place for other people to feel comfortable.

I am always available for questions, so if I have a certain technique on this journal that you want to have more information on, just contact me.

Now, on with the show!