When Painting Ideas Go Astray!

I was mocking up a few photo composites as reference for some new oil paintings I was planning, using old family photos.  Having learned the hard way that some people are sensitive about memories associated with certain images, I thought to ask permission.  Permission was denied!  One alternative suggested, by my entomology specialized sister, was to replace human heads with insect heads, as I had been doing with bird heads.   I tried a few versions, but they all looked quite unattractive.  The best was this photo composite with a few pen & ink insects drawings covering the faces.  I kind of like it for what it is, but it will not be the basis for any future oil paintings.  

An Eclectic Collection of Recent Art Influenced by These Strange Times

Top to Bottom:

1.  Pencil Drawing "Doomsday Clock" influenced by Laurie Lipton's much more fabulous pencil drawings.  Done in an art Zoom session with 11 year old grandson. 9"H x 12"W
2.  Paper collage in my on going series of "Strange Journey" works 11"x14"
3.  Small ink and watercolor "Apple Nose."  Not sure what to draw, I picked an apple from the backyard and the rest just happened.  6"w x 9"H
4.  Cradled paper collage on board:  "Big and Little Fish" "9"H x 12" w x 1 1/2"
5.  Small cradled paper collage on Stretched canvas "Little Fish" "4"H x 5"w x 1 1/2"

More New Collage Art, Using Die Cuts and Cut Outs, Among Other Things

An eclectic mix of new Mixed Media entertainment.

Another original repainted to become a new original

Influenced by Piet Mondrian

Strange Journey: Trip to Chicago

Working on a new series of Strange Journey mixed media collages.  Life is a strange journey, and now with the benefit of age, I've seen, experienced and enjoyed most of it.

In this collage, I'm remembering a trip taken to Chicago, Illinois and Rochester, Indiana with my then 93 year old father E.A. Autrey.  Two of his many self portraits are in the car.  Another metaphor for the ups and downs of life, for me, is the mobile and/or balance, made famous by Alexander Calder and, to come extent, Paul Klee.  In my mobile, one can find the cows jumping over a blue moon, a star ball, some random insects, flowers and stars.  There are also some hearts and a photo of me by E.A. Autrey, which I later doctored up.  I'm experimenting with paper die cuts, combined with a variety of other papers which is a lot of fun.    Who knows where this journey will take me next!

Paper Collage on High Quality 13 x 19 Photo Prints

Top to Bottom:
Red-tailed Hawk flying over San Anselmo
Pelican and a Boat with Galapagos Heron in Inverness
Blue Heron in Briones
Flower Man at the Estero in Pt. Reyes

When in Doubt Cut it UP

I didn't like my collage much after looking at it for a few months (bottom image).  So I cut it up and embroidered it onto another painting I didn't like that much (top image).  Now I like it better!

Playing Around with old photos and art and Alien Skin textures in Photoshop CC

Take an old 2015 rose photo, add some Alien Skin lizard skin, then add a 2012 twenty minute sketch of an art class model named Wanda and mix them all up!

Garden Gnome

At play on a rainy night!

Red Bird in Plaid Landscape

New mixed media piece 14"w x 11 1/4"h.  Paper collage with photo of drought dry California soil and wild grass cut up into a plaid pattern and glued on watercolor paper.  Paper, digital photograph print, watercolor, gouache, acrylic. 

Flower Art for MOS

Another eclectic ensemble from top to bottom:
1.  Three Flowers in a Beach Bucket Vase mixed media on cradled board 9x12
2.  Two Flowers in Yellow Vase mixed media on cradled board 9x12
3.  Sunflowers in Vase:  Paper collage on paper 15x18.5
4.  Vase of Flamingo Flowers:  Paper collage on paper 11.5x15
5.  Six each 8 1/2 x 11 prints of digital photo collage with scanned objects
6.  Space Flower:  Cold wax/oil on cradled board 16x12
7.  Space Flowers:  Cold wax/oil on cradled board 12.5x8.75
8.  Fall into Winter Leaves quilted wall hanging 36.25 x 36.25
9.  Magnolia From bud to Bloom quilted wall hanging 41.5 x 45.5
10.  Garden of Delight quilt 50x67.5
11.  Winter Crow - quilted wall hanging with four photos and an applique crow

Bird Art for MOS (Part 3 of 3)

Mixed Media (collage, woodcut, gum arabic transfer).  Top to Bottom:
1.  Woman with a Bird on her Head:  collage with cut up photographs, papers and original art on paper.
2.  Crow Olympic Rings:  One of a series of digitally enhanced woodcut prints with various painted backgrounds.
3.  Crow's Nest:  Gum Arabic transfer on paper on board with R&F oil sticks and graphite.
All these and more at my Marin Open Studio the first two weekends in May:  https://marinopenstudios.org/artist/631/

Some New Fabric and Paper Art

Top to Bottom:
Paper Art Collage:
"Flamingos and Yellow Roses" Paper Collage 22" w x 19 1/2" h

Fabric Art Quilts:  (photos could show the final work better)
Wild Animal Baby Quilt 49" w x 49 1/2" h
Wild Animal Baby Quilt back with various Minky fabric patches
"Under the Sea" 48 1/2" w x 71 1/2" h (includes batik fabrics bought in India, photos and various other applique art)
"Robin Walking Away From Chaos" 47" w x 68" h.  Tons of hand embroidery and a wool punch bird!

Sunflowers in Vase

Continuing on with my variations on a theme spree is my newest version of Sunflowers in a Vase. Top:  Photo and paper collage on Arches watercolor paper, including a pattern of local sunflower photos printed on Kozo paper which make up the vase.   18 1/2" x 15".
Bottom:  My 28 x 22 oil on stretched canvas painting done in 2012.

Lotus Pond Mixed Media Photo Collage

Like the previous post, this mixed media collage of cut up photographs, a variety of papers, and pen & ink, glued onto Arches watercolor paper (11x15), includes images from a photo of orange and yellow flowers, shot at the Botanical Gardens in Mendocino in 2015 (below).  Also included here are some cut-outs from a print of a digital composite, comprised of an underwater photo shot in the Galapagos together with a field of Calla Lilies in Mendocino - both shot this year.  The inspiration for the piece is a photo of a Lotus Pond in the beautiful "Extreme Horticulture" book by John Pfahl with an introduction by Rebecca Solnit.

Evolution of an Bird Inspired Idea

I seem to flit from media to media, as evidenced by the evolution of the above bird art.
From the bottom to the top:
1.  A 100% digital painting done in 2005, with an old painter software program.
2.  An oil painting done in 2006, recreating (kind of) the digital painting but adding a Vincent van Gogh sky.
3.  Another oil painting, this time in 2006, with a different bird and a pink cloud in the sky.  Sold to a friend.
4.  Fabric applique of a crow drawing in 2016, on a T shirt.
5.  The same applique crow, under a pink cloud and starry night sky, now done by cutting up photos and adding various bits of ripped Mulberry papers, all glued onto 100% arches cotton watercolor paper - just finished yesterday.