Blogging Again After so Many Months

I know it's been about a hundred years..no just one.... Almost....since I have blogged,  but here goes.

Trying to maintain a balanced life while growing an art business is quite a challenge. Without resources other than my imagination to invest, I find it necessary to keep my day job.  This means that almost all of my spare time goes to creating and preparing for the summer season when we are most likely to find venues to get our stuff in front of people who are looking for handmade items.

Unfortunately, this leaves little time left over for working my internet venues and social network.  Even though I may want to, these continually get pushed down on my growing list of priorities.  So...now that the summer is over it is time to get back to blogging, networking, and having some fun.  I hope to bring all of my patient and loyal followers up to date on the latest happenings of The Folk Art of Christina Colwell.

Here is a smattering of things that have been done over the past few months.

Paper Mache Creations

 I know it has been a while but thought I'd drop in a few photos of my latest creations. Have been playing around with paper mache' again. I was missing the messy fun of it.

These are my attempt to transform trash into art .

They are 1. Dusty the Duck:  newspaper, plastic, home made paper clay and paint.

2. Feathered Friends: snowman and friends made of plastic, newspaper, paper clay, moss, dowell, wire, paint.

3. Lucky: plastic, newspaper, chinese text fromm an old discarded book.

4.Two Weiner Dogs: toilet paper tubes, newspaper, wire, paint.

5.Black Bunny Rabbit: plastic bottle, plastic, newspaper, paper clay, glass eyes, paint.

6.Bug: toilet paper tube, plastic, wire, paper clay, paint

New stuff

Yes...I know...it's been forever. Russ and I have been so wrapped up in two Farmer's Markets a week and then preparing for a big show that we anticipated would help us truly launch our business......what a joke that was. the joke was on us though.  So now we are working out how to recover from that disaster.  Best not to dwell on it too much I guess. So instead I'll post some of the new paintings I've done over the past few months.

Here goes...

Shifting Gears

Well...I have been experimenting with a lot of styles and techniques and mediums and have come to some conclusions. I am now preparing to shift gears and move in a more focused direction with my art.

While there may still be a lot of experimentation, I have decided to concentrate my efforts to inlcude glass.  I will be changing the name of my store, blog, etc. to read the glass art of Christina Colwell.

This will help me and my husband to be more unified and hopefully make it simpler when applying for juried events where we both want to be in on the same venue.

I will still paint whimsical paintings and some contemporary but they will all include glass in some form.

The images here are an example of mixed media and glass.  This is my Paisley swirl and is currently available on etsy. More on these changes...later.  The floral painting is a reverse glass painting using transparent paint of my own recipe and fabrics and papers.

Latest paintings.

 I've started painting several paintings at once. This way I can continue painting while areas that need to dry are drying. Here are the finished results.

These were all painted on 6" x 8"canvases and are now listed in my etsy store.

The Singing Parrot Commission

I have just completed a commission for a co-worker. The poetry "The Singing Parrot" was written and copyrighted by Caroline Earl. My assignment was an illustration.  This is the photoshop version of the original which was too large to scan.

This post is a bit of a preview as Wally (the commissioner) hasn't seen it yet. But he will...if he's at work tomorrow.

Mixed Media Mosaic Kits Mermaid, Owl and more

Polynesian Mermaid with Mirror

One of these days I'll figure out how to get the photos to go where I want them to go in blogger. In the meantime they are where they are.

I have recently cut out some forms with jigsaw and 1/8" plywood. I have one owl and two mermaids. I have patterns for a seahorse, lamb, cow, fish, girl, boy, chicken, and can make about anything that doesn't have an intricate cut. (These would require a scroll saw, which I do not posess).

I finished the two mermaids with stained glass bits and 4" round mirror. The owl I will do with vintage papers collage and paint. I wanted to demonstrate some versatility with the forms in hopes of creating some kits for those who are somewhat artistically challenged but still love to create. I may put a kit together for a give away but am not sure what to start with.

Any input would be appreciated. I will put up the photo of the completed owl when it is finished. My favorite is the brown and teal mermaid. Isn't she pretty?

Vintage papers, paint, oil pastel on owl form

Mermaid Form Ready for embellishment

Owl Form ready for embellishment

Irish Lucky Mermaid
Green and Orange glass on form