TORONTO WATERFRONT - completed painting

Well here it is, my completed pop art painting of the Toronto waterfront. I love the way it came out. I am having trouble however getting a good photograph so will have to keep at it, but for now, I wanted to show you the finished painting. The colors are deeper as in the first photograph. Overall, I am pleased with it and I am sure that true Torontorians will have no trouble picking out some of the buildings such as the CN Tower.Below is a picture of what it looks like on a wall. My apartment walls are the boring typical beige, not what you'd expect from a color junky like myself, but it gives you an idea. It measures 26wx22"h, a good size for a painting. I am going to continue on in this style and produce more paintings based on major cities in Canada and possibly the US.
In this last photograph you can see how I like to continue my painting around the edges so they can be hung as is with no need for framing.

Toronto Waterfront in full color (A work in progress)

I have been carrying around in my head an idea for a painting I have wanted to do for some time. I love the view of the Toronto waterfront and have wanted to capture it on cavas but not from a realistic perspective but in my own pop art fashion. Sticking with my love of bright yellow/blue combinations and the sky here is a picture of the predrawn work on canvas. Some paintings I do freehand but some I like to draw and block out in advance.
I'm not going to pretend that I have drawn it to scale or included every single building, now that wouldn't be pop art would it? However, if you are a true Torontonian I am sure you can recognize some of the buildings. I painted it on a 22 x 26" canvas which seems to be a good size. In the picture below I have begun to add the color.
I began wanting to do it in my usual bold primary colors but for some reason I decided to go with a different tone and created my own colors by mixing my paints. It is almost complete and I will post it here in the next day or so. Right now I am off to search for good pictures of Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and maybe some US coastal cities. I think I have the makings of a series here.

1960's RETRO POP ART GIRLS

I have to admit that I hate sitting still or being confined to once spot for long. Combine that with my need to either be painting or creating art and you have 'art on the go'. I started these paintings of 1960's girls because of my love of pop art and the hippie 60's era. They are loose pieces of artist canvas measuring 17"x17" and I can roll them up and bring them with me to work on whenever the mood hits. I will be making these into pillows or cushion covers to fit 16" x 16" cushion forms and offering them for sale at my ETSY store. I have almost 4 completed.They are so much fun to do and I love creating the outfits and earrings not to mention the bold retro background. It also kind of ties into my paper mache ladies heads I make. Actually, I am thinking of creating ladies heads with each of these retro girls. I think that would be a really neat addition to a funky 60's retro decor. You could have a 1960's outfit hanging on the ladies heads and a few of these retro cushions on your bed. Hmmmm....I can see it now. I think Austin Powers would approve...Yeah Baby!!!....:)

HAND PAINTED OUTFITS - FINALLY FINISHED!!!

Well I have finished 3 pieces of children's denim clothing that I must admit was a lot of fun to do. And...bonus...they held up great in the wash test. Cold water and hang dry is the way to go I discovered. Okay, some people might find that a little too fussy for children's clothing. However, when you consider they are wearing an orginal one of a kind, hand painted outfit by a professional artist... Well, let's just say your child will be the talk at the Mother's Day Brunch. Look how cute this little jumper turned out. Can't you just picture a little girl in a red turtleneck and tights?
This is the back which has an apple with a worm poking out of it. These are my own original designs. In keeping with my love of recycling this is a girls size 4T, gently worn OSH KOSH denim jumper in excellent shape.

Well, I am off to my store at ETSY to list these items for some lucky little girl.

MY FUNKY PAINTED SHOES

Continuing on in my love of trying all mediums I decided to jump on the bandwagon and create my own hand painted shoes. There seems to be a lot of interest in painted shoes lately. I had a boring pair of white canvas shoes that were just crying out for color and loving color as much as I do...well, you can figure out the rest.

It was a little awkward painting on a curved canvas but also very challenging and fun. When I wear them out I get a lot of surprised glances at my shoes but only a few brave souls that asked about them. I coated them with a flexible varathane and they seem to be holding up quite well. Think I may just have to attempt another pair.

AND YET ANOTHER GREAT RECYCLING ARTIST

I am constantly surfing the net admiring the work of artists that are able to create fantastic works of art from recyclables. To take something that would normally be discarded and turn it into a work of art is a talent that always amazes me.
Recently I came across an artist, Jeanette Jansen, that takes items such as hardware parts, discarded watches and turns them into assemblage dolls. Assemblage dolls are exactly that...dolls created by assembling various materials together. Here is one of my favourites.

This particular doll is made from a vintage furniture hardware part and her legs are from wire. A watch face is in her center and a tiny Gruen watch vial hangs from her wing. Her face is enclosed within a watch crystal. She is available for sale at Jeanette's ETSY shop.
This next item is one of her assemblage pins. It is made from recycled items including an ornate button, watch parts and an antique safety pin.
It too is available for sale at Jeanette's ETSY shop.

MY LATEST RECYCLED CLOTHING

This is the front of my latest hand painted child's denim outfit. It's a really cute little jumper that I have painted up into a school outfit. Notice the apple on the cuff of the sleeve.

Here is a view of the back where I have painted a bright school bus.

Below are closeups.


I made sure this time to add enough fabric medium to the paints so the paintings will hold up well. I can picture a little girl in red tights wearing this adorable jumper. In keeping with my love of recycling this is a previously gently worn dress. It was so much fun to do I'll have to go do another!!

FUNCTIONAL ART KEYHOLDER

I doubt you could guess what this started out as. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the back of it before I gave it to my son.


Here is my latest piece of functional art.
My son is an avid and very talented musician now in his second year of college. Yesterday was his 20th birthday and I went to visit him and this was one of his gifts.

The last time I visited him I noticed he had a terrible habit of losing his keys. Living in a basically one room apartment downtown, space and decorating is very limited. So I painted up this piece, added some hooks for his keys and he now has functionl piece of Mom's artwork.

This piece of wood shaped like a violin started out as a serving platter for cheeze and crackers. If you had seen it before I got my paint brush out you would have seen that on the reverse side is an indent to hold the crackers and there was a round ceramic tile for the cheeze. Naturally, when I first laid my eyes on it I immediately envisioned it full of paint and color. Goes to show you that just about anything can be transformed into a functional unique piece of art. Guaranteed no one else will have one like it!

RECYCLED TOTE BAGS

Do you ever get tired of the increasing plastic bags that come home with your groceries? A lot of people now use canvas for packing their groceries but sometimes the plastic ones are unavoidable. Every store has them. What to do with them besides lining your small wastebaskets? Well, CraftiKathi at ETSY has taken the plain plastic store bag and recycled them into very useful items.
Take a look at these all purpose functional bags.

Not only are they functional but they are also very strong and durable and definately save a lot of waste for the environment. Take a look at Kathi's store at CRAFTIKATHI. You might want to get a few of these eco friendly totes.