Texture still floats my boat

Mosaic 22

16x16

Mosaic 23

16x16

I'm having fun with some more abstracts and textures. Dripping, glazing, sanding, gluing and glazing some more. It's so much fun building up layers of acrylic paint and tissue paper and sanding between the layers. Organic shapes and geometric shapes come together to create contrast.

Hope you're doing something creative and fun this weekend.

What's 24X24 And Purple?

What IS 24X24 and purple all over? A 24 by 24 gallery wrapped canvas with purple acrylic on it, of course! Actually it's really even more purple than the photo shows. It has mostly purple with some blue and this shows more blue.

What is it going to be? I'm not telling. You're going to have to watch this blog to find out.

Peace and Love to all,

Kelli

Yesterday's Progress

It was a good productive day in the studio yesterday. Remember the hubcap? Back to work on that. Amazing Hubby sandblasted it for me and then I gave it a primer coat. Next was a coat of gesso, a layer of crumpled tissue paper and a thin layer of acrylic paint. We'll see where it goes from here.

While layers of the hubcap were drying I worked on a new canvas - this one 48x48. It takes up quite a chunk of space in the studio! I had to work flat for the first layer of texture so I had it on the dining room table for a couple of days. The rest of the painting can be worked on the easel. At the top of the photo you can see where I'm putting in the lines for the geometric shapes.

Today I'm at Red Swan all day so I'll get back to the studio over the weekend. Hope you're having fun and TGIF!

BTW..... if you're interested in taking our workshop next month, send us an email and we'll get a registration form to you. hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com

Peace,

Carlynne

Next Stage

Here's the next stage in this piece, building layers gradually and adding some tissue paper. I don't really have a plan right now, just going with intuition so we'll see where it ends up.

Lunch time,

Carlynne

Update on the Landscape

Hi All,

Here is the latest version of the landscape. Muuuuuuuuch better but still not done. You opinion is always welcome here. Raining all day here in central Florida. Great day for painting.

Peace to all,
Kelli

A New Beginning

Hallelujah!! Finally, the beginning of a new painting that I do not hate. OK, I don't love it yet, but it still has potential. I have an idea in my head (I was going to say vision, but actually it's not that clear yet), for a series of landscapes that have intense color and texture (of course) and are recognizable as landscapes, but very, very loose. I am playing with technique; I used natural sponges, brushes and palette knives on this one. I am going to adjust the color and change the foreground. I will let you know what happens.

Peace and love,
Kelli

Textures R Us

You may be wondering what these photos are and why I am wasting time and valuable Internet space with them. Well, by way of introduction, let me say that I discovered something about myself last weekend. While at the Artist Within event on Saturday evening (refer to previous posts for more info), I found myself looking down at the floor in the lovely bathroom/locker room of the golf clubhouse. (We did not have Italian tile floors and carved wood lockers when I was in high school.) Knowing that I look down a lot at tile, the textures, the colors, the veins, the value nuances, I realized that if I were not an artist, I could sell tile. It would probably be more lucrative, too.

Anyway, I am finally admitting that, as an artist, I not only cannot get away from texture, but I am drawn to texture of all types in many different places. I have decided that I am just going to hand it over to my higher power and give in to the need for texture in most everything I do.

So about these photos. One of our students brought back some slate roof tiles from Canada all the way to Florida in her car. Did we not teach this woman well, what is important in life and car space???? Anyway, thanks to Lea, I have a lovely piece of slate to play with. I have no idea what I will do with it but I am looking forward to finding out, and I will definitely enjoy the process. I wanted you to see what it looks like before I start. I will update you as it proceeds, and suggestions are always welcome.

Oh yes, I know what you are thinking, roof tile!! What's next, painting on saws? Can Elvis on black velvet be far behind? Don't worry, not going to happen. Although velvet has a wonderful texture and I love the colors of rust on metal, hmmmmm.........

Peace and love,

Kelli

Spring Has Sprung, Fall Will Fall

Leaves 1

5X5

Kelli Money Huff

Hey All,

I am feeling good with the slight hint of crispness in the air here in Florida. Believe me, it is very slight. Today was predicted to be 94 degrees and I feel every degree. But I digress, this is all about art. I am missing the autumn leaves this time of year that I loved in Michigan where I grew up. I only miss snow on two days a year, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, I really miss the colors of fall throughout this entire season. I devour magazine photos of wilderness roads with their golds, oranges and wine colors. Recently an online photo of the Upper Peninsula nearly brought me to tears. And that is why I created some small pieces with brightly colored autumn leaves. Check out our new section on Etsy called Autumn.

I wish you Peace, Love and Color
Kelli

Validation

Hey all,

Last Saturday morning I awoke to the news that two of my 5 pieces on Etsy had sold after being listed only 2 1/2 days!! I was over the moon.

As artists we hear compliments all the time, "Oh that's beautiful," or "I just love that." And even sometimes a few of these, " Well you can decorate my house anytime," and "I would be happy to store that for you." (I have said some of these things myself.) But there is something really special about the feeling you get when you sell something. Sure it helps pay the bills and for an artist that is really important. But I am talking about how it feels.

OK, here's my confession: the two pieces were only $25 each, but it felt like a thousand each. I call it validation when someone plunks down their hard earned money to buy your artwork. It is the highest of all compliments and I will never be jaded enough to not be thrilled each and every time it happens. So, my thanks to Elisabeth, you made my day.

One of pieces that sold is pictured above. It is a 5X5 inch piece from the Beach series with acrylic texture sand medium, super heavy gesso and mica flakes.

Wishing you peace, love and creativity.

Kelli

Painting with a Point

This is a piece I did with watercolor pencil on paper. It was loads of fun to do. This particular technique is quick and it ends up looking very painterly. I dip the pencil point directly into water and then scrub the color on with the side of the wet pencil point. Doing it this way puts down a nice thick layer of color. I guess it's about as close to working with impasto strokes as you can get with a pencil point. As I'm sure you can tell this was done from a satellite image, can you tell where it is?

Carlynne