HANDPAINTED ICE SKATES

Finally I'm able to get on the computer and post my latest work. I've had a few hectic and busy weeks and haven't been able to keep up my blog, but I am back now and have lots to share.
I have just completed painting a pair of old figure skates. I love to paint on any surface, especially something I haven't tried before so when I saw these pair of skates being tossed aside...well...I saw a blank canvas. Out came my paints and my imagination and before I knew it, I had created these great decoration/conversation pieces. One I painted in a Christmas scene with the words 'Season's Greetings' on one side of the blade and 'Happy Holidays' on the other. One side is a snowy scene with a Snowman family and the other side features my little folk art houses. I removed the old laces and threaded lacy ribbon adorned with cinnamon sticks through them.


The second skate was painted in a non Christmas winter scene so it could be displayed all winter. One side shows Children enjoying outdoor skating and the other side shows more children enjoying winter past times such as building a snowman and sledding. These are similar to my Northern Ontario folk art children scenes.



They would look wonderful hanging on a front door to greet visitors or simply for display. They would also make unique gift packages for Christmas filled with treats...the possibilities are endless.
They will be offered for sale at my shop on ETSY and through my website.

ANOTHER CREATIVE RECYCLING ARTIST

I have come across another recyling artist in my search on the internet. I can never get enough of viewing recylced art. It takes such imagination and creativity to create as they do. To take some everyday ordinary item and view and use it in a totally different direction creating a unique piece of art is an artform of it's own.

Lane (the only name he seems to go by) creates whimsical original sculptures from recycled castaways. They seem to have a character of their own as in the piece shown below. Who would think to use a wall socket for a body? I haven't seen that done yet. Another type of 'functional artwork' he produces are his lamps. The lampshades appear to be made from recycled license plates.Lane recycles plain metal parts into his sculptures and lamps. His work can be seen at Gallery Zipp, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, at Adelante, in Scottsdale, Arizona, and at Ghost Town Trading Company, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Okay, I'm going to go google some more and find other amazing artists out there. I cannot get enough of recycling!!!!

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!!!....:)

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!

MY IDEA OF THE PERFECT FIRE PIT

The Great Bowl O’ Fire is an unique work of art hand-cut by artist John T Unger. Made of 100% recycled material it not only acts as a warm inviting fire pit to gather around with friends but also a unique piece of art.


John Unger has been making art professionally for a little over a decade, and has made a full-time living as an artist for the past six years or so. John believes in working primarily with recycled or re-used materials thus minimizing the impact on natural resources, climate and the environment. He also feels that successful recycled art and design encourages creativity in others. It's alchemical, magical, subversive, and transformative by nature which could only be a good thing.

I agree with him. Seeing all this creativity oline by so many talented recylcing artists just makes me see everyday objects in a truly different light. I've always been one for not throwing anything out or trying to find a useful purpose for it so to see this type of creativity and art that incorporates recycling...well, as Martha would say..."It's a good thing."

Thanks John for letting me show your wonderful unique 'functional art'. To view more of John's work go to his WEBSITE or visit his ETSY store.

NEWEST PAINTED STOOL

Okay I am back at it. Here is the latest little stool in what I am now calling my "Serpeant" collection. I have decided to continue to paint more pieces of functional art in my own original pop art style. I can't help loving the bold bright colors and the way they seem to pop off the black background. The first big stool shown below in my last post was snapped up pretty quickly by a woman in Pennsylvania and I am now about to list this one in my ETSY shop and on my WEBSITE for sale. I hope it becomes a collectable series like my "Life in Northen Ontario" folk art paintings. Stay tuned as I am off to paint the second larger stool and I think I may also paint a ladies denim jacket and add it to this series.
UPDATE: SOLD!!!

RECYCLING AT IT'S BEST

Always on the look out for creative recycling I love to surf the net and see what people have come up with. I found this really great company at the Viva Terra site that creates all kind of things from recycled objects. This item below was made from discarded flip flops!! What a neat idea.

Look around their site and you'll see all kinds of terrific things they have created. This picture below shows how they used truck tires to make an ottoman/table and stools. I just love it. Considering all the talk of what to do with old tires this idea is a great one!

Definately a site worth checking out!

HAND PAINTED CLOTHING - FINISHED....I THINK...

Well at top is the back of the finished pants and below that is the front. Wow, this was almost as much work as a painting. I love how they turned out and the color of course is bolder in person. (Still not too good with a camera.)
I mixed the acrylic paint with a fabric medium as per instructions and painstakingly applied it to the denim praying that it would hold up. However, I want to let them sit for a bit (I always do that with my artwork to let it cure and because I am always going back to touch up something I missed.) Then I will "heat set" it and then...the big test....the laundering. For the most part all the researching I did online suggests washing inside out in cold water and not putting in dryer, at least the majority of the articles did.
So stay tuned and in a few days I will let you know how they hold up. Now, how am I going to keep myself from painting all the rest of the clothes until after the final test. Hmmmm....wish me luck.
You know you're an artist when you can't find a nice outfit to wear because everything has paint smears on it.

WORK IN PROGRESS

I decided to start with a little pair of pants first. What you are seeing is the initial design. I don't use stencils and it definately isn't done by air brushing so it won't be perfect but will definately be an original one of a kind piece of art. I pre-sketched a few insects such as a dragonfly, bee, ladybug til I liked what I drew than picked up my paintbrush and began to paint freehand...so have to see now how well they come out....stay tuned!

You know you are an artist when ou butter your toast with your fingers, just to feel its texture.

MY NEW CANVASES

These adorable children's denim outfits are just crying out for an original painting by me. I can hear them saying..."we are so boring....paint us!" Only too happy to oblige I am off to gather up my paint supplies and create some magic on them. This time I won't mess up!!! Stay tuned for the results.