step-by-step art

i realized today that i keep uploading all of my art pieces, but i never really talk about them. so, i guess i'll share a bit about how this whole "painting" thing began. first a disclaimer: i have no art training (which my husband and anyone with any knowledge of fine art can tell by looking at just one of my pieces!) and i don't want to be an artist. i am not trying to sell my work or hang it in a gallery or even claim that it is "art."

but painting and working with mixed media makes me happy. i love starting with nothing and ending up with something all my own. i love getting messy. i love when i can take a piece that i HATE and fiddle with it and turn it into something that makes me smile. and i REALLY love when david or my dad (hard to impress) or a new friend (thanks alicia!) says they like something i've done. i would also like to note that i work FAST...most of the pieces you see on my photobucket show were done in about 1/2 an hour.

okay, now i feel that i can talk a little bit about how i work...

• almost everything you've seen has been created on an old album cover...i'm trying to reuse materials rather than buying new, and i was looking for something lightweight and compact since i was planning on making 52 pieces this year. (even with my own studio, storage is an issue) and at garage sales...they're CHEAP!
• i use acrylic paint
• i use a lot of vintage newspapers/letters/magazines/etc. from my favorite texas junk
• i use a lot of my own photographs, simply printed on my crappy printer on regular paper
• i have been a crafter for many years...always switching interests (scrapbooking, jewelry, mosaic tiles, painting/decoupage furniture, card making, and always photography)...so i have A LOT OF CRAP
• and now that i have my fabulous studio space that is FINALLY organized, i just hit iTunes on my laptop and get to work
• to upload, i take a picture with my digital, crop it and there you go

this week i've been trying to do an image over collage...

whaddyathink?