folk art inspiration

I haven't done any kind of folk art/primitive painting since the mid 80's.  Back then, I did a lot of tole painting and created work in the "country" style.  recently, I took a class with Laurie Meseroll and learned how to create her Mudcakes style paintings. Using her techniques and my love for birds I created this little guy and titled it "unruffled". It contains vintage sheet music, scrapbook paper, fabric, acrylics and mica flakes on a 12"x16" gallery canvas.   

I'll be donating this to the local library fundraiser. thanks Laurie!


unruffled



detail of unruffled





poppies

another poppy painting.  this one is woodburned on 12"x24" birch plywood and then layered with lots of fun textural goodies...tissue paper, acrylics, printing, stamping, fluid acrylics, stencils, colored pencil and gold flakes and finally beads in the centers of the flowers.  this may be offered as a future class, for now...enjoy!



winter...it's a wonderland

i'm entering another show. the deadline is this week. this is the piece i made.  the theme is winter wonderland. as i sat thinking about what winter meant to me...the feeling, traditions, the magic and beauty...i kept going back to an earlier piece i did in a journal.  i made it a full size work.  i love my snow tree.  it incorporates the feeling of winter to me with graphics.  do you know the feeling of snow as it lays heavy on a tree?  When everything is covered in white. after a really big snow, when everything is still, silent and quiet?  i love that!  it isn't until the sun comes out that the world awakens from a large snowfall...

...this captures the very beginning of that moment!

the last moley entry

Over the past year, i have participated in 3 japanese moleskine exchanges over at atc's for all.  At times, it was challenging, trying to find time to work on my "little hobby".  At times, it was inspirational, fueling the fires to create works of art.  Mostly, though it was just plain fun to get something in the mail other than a bill! 

This is the last entry I had to create for the last moleskine exchange.  The theme for this one is WHITE.  It was made with napkins, acrylics, collaged papers, vintage sequins (that were my grandmother's) and stamps.  My "Snow Tree" is heading on its way home to its owner in California. 

I am looking forward to joining another moleskine exchange in the near future, for i have fallen in love with these little books and the wonderful collection of art i have acquired from them!

Apples of Carthage

The ancient Romans called pomegranates "apples of carthage".  My grandmother called them "Chinese apples".  We call them "superfruit".  The pomegranate has long symbolized fertility, Catherine of Aragon had one in her crest hoping to produce an heir to the throne.  I painted them for one reason: I LOVE THE COLOR OF DEEP RED!  enjoy.

woodburning, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, italian text, paper, acrylics, tissue paper



italian text gifted from loretta marvel...love it for leaves!



I AM THE SPOTLIGHT ARTIST FOR THE MONTH!

This is so exciting for me!  I am the featured artist of the month over at atc's for all!  It is an honor, for there are many more talented artists than me over there!  Here is the feature:

Artist Feature Spotlight on the Artists

this is the spread i did for Goatgoddess' japanese moleskine

Kathleen Nesi (known to us as Knesi07 here at AFA) finds art an opportunity to escape and relax. It has always been that way for her. Even as a child, she loved to draw and paint, and enjoyed copying Peanuts comics into a spiral notebook. These days, her favourite media is mixed and she loves nature inspired work as it's a reflection of time spent growing up in the country--something she misses now that she's in the suburbs of New York. She loves to have little books of art to treasure, so participates in chunky book and Japanese moleskine journal exchanges. As her own work grows and develops, she finds it has more of a "story" behind it, while staying very bright, bold, illustrative, and layered. Woodburning has also started showing up in her work.


Kathleen has enjoyed her time at AFA because of all the kind and inspiring artists she's met in the cyber-world. Their talent never disappoints, she says, and it motivates her to push herself in directions she might not have taken otherwise. She's a member of the New Rochelle Art Association and will have work in two upcoming shows. See more of her work at www.kathleen-nesi.blogspot.com.


Aside from her art pastimes, Kathleen enjoys photography, running, playing with her dogs, and hanging with her art friends. Her daily philosophy can be summed up in three words that she embraces: live life fully.

art auction piece

I just finished my piece for an art auction happening at the Art Is...East Coast Art Retreat in October.  The auction will benefit the Little Baby Face Foundation.   It is titled  Poppy Pods.  It is my signature style, woodburning, bold saturated color and layers upon layers of paint, tissue paper, prints, gold leaf, colored pencil and india ink. 

my BIG bird painting...finally finished

Literally, a BIG bird painting, it is 24"wx48"h.  I started this painting well over a year ago and somewhere along the way lost my muse.  Luckily, I found it again and completed this piece...Assimilation.  At first, this piece was titled "one of these things is not like the other".  After getting back to it, I felt it was more about fitting in, getting along, assimilating to be like everyone else, buckling to peer pressure.

once again, layer upon layer of color and texture.

i'm juiced!

I am hoping to participate in an art show this October, called "Juiced".  It is a theme based show...the color orange.  While orange is NOT one of my favorite colors, I took on the challenge and became inspired.  I made two pieces for consideration.

1. "stella maris a l'orange"

this is my typical style...woodburning, tissue paper, layers upon layers of paint and glazes and lots of texture!

2. "static kill"

this one is a little different for me.  it is more abstract.  in response to the BP oil spill....the fish and seaweed are deteriorating as the oil gook is all around.  made with tons of layers, the fish and seaweed were printed using hand carved stamps.  The oil gook is pouring medium which i mixed w/shades of orange and bronze.  it doesn't show in the photograph, but it actually shimmers a bit.

detail of deteriorating fish

see ralph swim!

finished another piece today.  i'm so infuriated with the whole BP oil spill, that i just can't help but think of all that wildlife in the vast blue (speckled w/blackish red oily gook) ocean.  i got to thinking of the saltwater tank we used to have (don't ask) and my clown triggerfish named ralph. ralph is another example of the beautiful black/white graphic pattern found in nature...i'm starting to detect a theme here.  once again i used tissue papers, woodburning, acrylics, mica flakes, colored pencils, stamps and stencils on this piece.

fini!

finished another piece today.  i've always been infatuated by pattern, particulary pattern found in nature.  i was speaking w/someone recently about my summers as a child in NH.  i remembered being out with my dad and on the lake was a loon.  he was so excited to show it to me.  i love the patterning on their feathers...so graphic...so black and white!  this memory inspired this piece:

trade magazine submission

so, i am finally  taking a leap.  i'm submitting to a trade magazine.  i was all kinds of inspired by one topic they put a call out for, so over the weekend and today, i finished up a piece.  the only problem is that i'm not allowed to share it.  so  i'll share a tease....

moley moley moley......

One of my moleskin groups is coming to an end.  My spread for Pippin's floral/flower wonders is below. 

I've been taking an online class w/Traci Bautista.  I think the influence is evident in this spread.

before color:

with color:

bold, saturated, color!

i just finished this background for a painting i'm making for an old friend of mine.  she told me it had to have red.....
well it has red, and yellow, and orange, and teal, and colbalt green and burnt sienna and magenta and cadmium red dark and titanium buff and on and on and on.....

for the record, i love making these backgrounds! :)

moley entry #2 for this week

This moley comes from Washington state and is part of the #7 moleskine exchange over at ATCs for All mail art group.  The theme is In The Garden.  Using a napkin background, I collaged a fairy and added some yummy good stuff!

another moley entry

For some reason, this theme was hard for me.  The subject: my favorite things.  why was it hard?  is it because i have so many favorites?  was i blocked because i didn't know how to execute it?  i don't know, here is the page:

my favorite things: my family and friends, odd numbers, stars and swirls, my camera, photography, nature, ocean, bright, bold color, textured layered backgrounds, New York and the New York Mets, books, grafitti, stamp carving, birds, and mashed potatoes...LOL!

What to do on a Sunday? - The Sketchbook Project

This past weekend finally came!  The weekend the the Art House Co-op's Sketchbook Project came to Brooklyn!  My friends Penny and Loretta accompanied me on my journey to see all the sketchbooks, including my own. 
It was just over the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn, in a neighborhood full of cool graffiti:

This is how it worked:
Each artist was given a sketchbook and a theme:

and when you were finished filling it with your art, you sent it to the Art House Coop to be part of a traveling library:

First stop: 303 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY

there were gorgeous sketchbooks from around the country

this beautiful timekeeper's diary from Sharon Tomlinson!  I couldn't believe I was holding it in my hands!  Such gorgeous, saturated color...the kind i like!

and one about the end of the world by Nancy Martini from the Miami area

there was an elephant in the room by Misty Mawn

as well as a beautiful book from the UK about the other side of the tracks by Elly Wright

and one from South Africa by Carina Claassens

These were artists whose work i've admired and to actually see it in person and to

TOUCH it

HOLD it

EXAMINE it! 

 How amazing!

here are some other pages i loved, but didn't get the artists' names...if you're out there, and see your work...let me know, i'm happy to give you credit!

remember the robot from lost in space?  danger danger will robinson!

The Sketchbook Project is continuing it's journey to Boston next, then onto Californina, Missouri and Illinois...if you get a chance...check it out.  There aren't enough hours in a day to see all the books, but even seeing a few is truly inspiring!

Flyer for the 2010 Sketchbook Project tour

Flyer for the 2010 Sketchbook Project tour, originally uploaded by arthousecoop.

come see my sketchbook!