Parts of Art

Here’s the rules of watercolor according to me:    Rule #1: Watercolor is colored water Paint with pure clear water first.  Then add color and let it flow. Literally let it flow. It’s colored water. See, it’s an official rule. And by that I mean, something I wrote on a page of my art journal. I am excited to announce a Watercolor class that will happen in early 2021. Check it out here.

    Yes it’s true. Fifty shades barely scratches the surface of gray.  Mix black and white paint and you get gray. Big deal, ho hum, boring. Here’s another thought: mix any two complementary colors to white and get gray, which makes the actual number of grays infinite. That, to me, is exciting. No, more than that. It’s inspiring!    My husband and I  thought we were being totally original when we decided to go with a gray and white palette for our guest room. Once we started on that project, however,  it seemed like everyone I met was going with gray and white in their home decor projects. News flash: it’s a trend!        The great thing we discovered about gray and white in a bedroom is that the overall effect is calming. I can go in that room any time of the day and feel peaceful, because the mood is softly undemanding. When on those rare occasions I luxuriate into an afternoon nap, the gray and white room is ...

    My current series of mixed media collages is “Of the Woods”. As you can see here, I am literally in the woods, and won’t be out for quite a while! Here is another page from my journal.  It is actually the view out my studio window. This little collage later inspired me to do a large version of it, which I will show you soon.       Here is the same view out the window, back in September. This one also led to a series of larger mixed media collages, which I plan to exhibit next year. 

      I am a lover of paint and the painted surface. What the painted surface is able to express is a silent language that speaks with a voice louder than words. When standing before a painting, one can perceive this language, can even participate in the silent dialogue. The viewing of a painting becomes a conversation of sorts.        This month My husband and I celebrated our 40th anniversary by going to Bavaria, Germany. During our stay we visited five museums and saw firsthand over 2000 years of history expressed in paint. With bated breath I stood before masterful oil paintings I had heretofore only studied in art history textbooks.       One such painting was done by Rembrandt Van Rijn in 1661, and is entitled “The Resurrected Christ”. In this painting the viewer is face to face with a life size Christ who has risen from the dead.  Christ is boldly and with an expression of love and understanding facing his audi...

     This neck piece was one I made several years ago, from a very thick and variegated section of an artist palette. The palette was not from the usual source (my husband) but was given to me by a friend who is a prolific painter. It must have  had 10 to 15 layers of dried acrylic paint on it! In fact, the top layer was so splattered and multicolored, I came to think of it as the Jackson Pollack palette.  Here are some of Pollack’s painting from his “drip” period:     Not that Pollack ever used a palette! He actually became best known for the large canvases tacked to the  floor of his barn studio,  on which he dripped paint straight out of the paint can.         But if he  DID  have  a palette, this is probably what it would have looked like! Here is the necklace in the design build phase at my work space:              I cut selecte...

  It was 2001 and I was participating in a juried art show in DelRay Beach, Florida. I had stepped away from my booth for a few minutes, and when I came back was surprised to see a woman in my booth. With her face about five inches from the displayed jewelry pieces,  she was closely inspecting them!  Undaunted, I greeted her and then started in on the usual explanation of my work. I peel the dried paint from the palette and transform it into jewelry. After a moment of listening, she said, “I can tell they’re made from paint, because I make paint.”             At first I wasn’t sure I had heard her correctly. Up to now, I had never met anyone who makes paint!  But then she introduced herself to me: she was Barbara Golden. Okay, Barbara Golden of Golden Paints?!?! OMG! I had a celebrity in my booth, at least a celebrity in my world! I mean, Golden Paints was only the biggest name in professional artist acrylics!  ...

                One day at an art show a man came rushing up to my booth. He had heard that I make jewelry pieces from the dried paint from artists palettes, and he just had to see it for himself.     "Oh my God, this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" He exclaimed, picking up one of the necklaces and inspecting it.  “Please tell me you have a patent on this?!”        Well no, I didn't have a patent on it, I explained. He gave me an incredulous look and said " Well that is the first thing you should do! I would hate for someone to steal your idea!” That’s when the dreaded internal dialogue began. You know the ones, those pesky inner voices that say  “What were you thinking, putting your idea out there for someone to steal? Are you that dumb? How can you be so naive? You better quit now before someone steals it from you.”       The next morning I was on the phone with a very ...

   Several years ago I was participating in an art show in Delray Beach Florida. What I sell is jewelry which I make from the dried acrylic paint from the artist palette.  During the show, a woman walked into my booth and was studying my jewelry pieces. I mean, really inspecting them more closely than the typical customer. I started to share with her my story, how I start with the palette and go from there.  She listened, then said “Yes, I can tell they’re made from paint. I make paint.” Well at first I wasn’t sure if I heard her correctly, not having ever met anyone who makes paint. Then she introduced herself. “I’m Barbara Golden.” To me this was akin to meeting a Hollywood star! I had a celebrity in my art booth! She went on to tell me about some of the more interesting and unusual applications artists have found for Golden Paints.  She later came back to my booth and we had a delightful conversation about ...

                                                                                    How do you make gray? Well the obvious answer is to mix black and white. But then how do you get a reddish gray, a bluish gray or a warm gray? I was once commissioned to make a detailed color chart for a color consultant. That was when I learned how to make gray.          For those of you not in my age range, let me explain. Back in the 80's, everyone was getting "their colors done". You were analyzed as being one of the four seasons, as far as the colors that look best on you. The palette was based on your skin tones and the color wheel.  The left side of the color wheel is the cool colors, or the winter palette, and the right side is t...

One of my customers at a show picked out a necklace but wanted a few changes done to it. The day she picked it and tried it on, I once again got to witness what I call the "perfect marriage", where the piece is perfect for the woman.

Twenty years ago when I started cutting paint off of old palettes there was no such thing as internet. Not too many people were even using computers. It baffles my brain to think how much has changed since then. And now...I am so proud to say I have an online store. And a blog spot. And I can even send an email! I am more computer savvy than I ever dreamed possible.

This is a good question and I am so glad you asked. We are in the business of art, my husband and I. He does sparkling Florida landscape paintings and murals of Italian countryside. When he is done with a painting, he gives me his palette. Sometimes I come to my work table and there is a freshly pulled film of paint sitting there waiting. Heart, be still. Here is an example of David's art. So that's one place the paint comes from.

Many years ago I had a little store, about the size of a large walk in closet. In this store I sold hand painted clothing and art. I hand painted the clothing using acrylic paint. This type of paint is wonderful, bright and colorfast, BUT it dries quickly and once it does, it cannot be mixed back into paint. Ever. So, it dries on the palette and starts to layer. Occasionally I would peel the dried paint off the pallette and start afresh. One day I had just cleaned off my palette and had this glorious mess of schlokked paint that just beckoned to be upcycled into something. Right then, in walked two dear friends of mine, my minister and his wife. I held up the paint and said, "This is too pretty to throw away, but I don't know what to do with it. He said (Note: HE) "Well, you could always cut it up and make it into jewelry!" Oh, we got a good laugh out of it that day. Imagine, making paint into jewelry! But later I thought, wow, that idea could've been f...