Coloring Book Mania

YES, we have jumped aboard the 'adult coloring book' phenom at Quiet Woods Studio!  I've just designed my first coloring book and I'm in the process of creating a workshop for 2016 on how to design your own coloring pages for sharing or gifting.  So much fun!

There is a reason so many adults have returned to this seemingly juvenile pursuit.  The world is complicated these days and coloring is a little creative vacation from all that.  It returns us to a simpler time and reconnects us with the creativity that I believe inhabits everyone.  It creates an oasis of fun and relaxation with no rules, no expectations, comparisons or competition.

Some of my most treasured childhood memories involve a pile of Crayons, coloring books and a small red table and chairs where my little sister and I spent many hours perfecting our coloring techniques.  But really that was just what our HANDS were doing.  Our minds were busily engaged in free form little girl talk.  When we were engaged in our coloring, the world was far away….and it was a good and perfect world without worries or troubles.  Though we can't escape the realities of adult life, we can give ourselves a little creative break now and then and I believe the world will be better for it.

In our classes at Quiet Woods Studio, we take our art very seriously.  We study things such as value, aerial perspective, color theory, design basics, proportion and balance.   It's my hope and prayer that a little play and a little laughing together will help make this corner of the world  a happier and safer place.  

SO COLOR ON, AND HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A BLESSED NEW YEAR!

Here we go!

MEMORIES OF TULIP TIME


This is the first in a series of figurative mixed media paintings I'm  attempting.  It was a BLAST! to paint.  I've always avoided painting people because I've never taken a life class and hesitate to expose my lack of training to the world.  HOWEVER…..when you reach A CERTAIN AGE, it's time to let those fears go and charge ahead, full steam…so here goes!

Because I always have (and always will) love painting florals, I'm going to incorporate my floral images with the figures.  Flowers have always spoken to me of God's extravagance in creation and they're rife with metaphor and meaning for me.  They're involved with so many of the memories of my childhood.  My mother was a gardener and I have wonderful memories of playing with my little sister in the sandbox while Mom was on her knees weeding away and feeling that all was right with the world.  I even remember being completely knocked out by the brilliant blue beauty of the cornflowers in our back yard.   Don't even ask me about my Grandpa's red tulips or my Auntie's red Blaze roses or her zinnias that made me sneeze.  I could go on all day.

I used mixed media for this painting, beginning with watercolor.  I then collaged rice paper on top of that before layering with pastels, spray inks (over various stencils), watercolor crayons and acrylic.

Wish me luck!