Caught Up In Collage

So, it's been a couple of months since I've posted artwork. I've been avoiding the paints for a while because of morning sickness, and I've never been able to find definitive information on what's safe to use for painting while pregnant and what's not...so I just did little projects here and there using wax pastels (didn't like 'em) and did finish one piece for the Art of the Avocado contest (using gloves, and keeping the chalk to a minimum). Now that the first trimester has passed, I'm feeling a little braver and have managed to get got caught up with some collage:
"Balloons Over Wine Country"
9 x 12 Mixed Media on Paper
Click here to view prints


It's no secret that everyone in my family is pretty excited about Disneyland, and one of my daughter's favorite rides is the Small World ride (I'm sorry, really sorry if you now have that song stuck in your head!)  Disneyland has an art gallery, and for the last year or so they've been featuring the art of Mary Blair, whose designs were used for the front of that ride.  I've always loved the look of Mary Blair's art, and while cutting up some paper and letting my daughter go crazy with the glue and crayons, I started cutting out hot air balloons.  One thing led to another, and soon I was gluing hearts (cut from tissue paper) on the balloons and covering them with oil pastel.
"Balloons Over Town"
9 x 12 Mixed Media on Paper
Click here to view prints

I spent the rest of the day cutting out shapes (from my surplus of Trader Joe's paper bags) and covering them with the tissue hearts and oil pastel, prepping Strathmore watercolor paper with gesso and watercolor background, and using matte medium to stick the balloons, hills, and buildings onto the dried paper.  Sand paper was especially helpful in blending some of those spots where the matte medium had dried, and a little chalk pastel brought the backgrounds and foregrounds together.

Having lived in Temecula for many years, it was easy to remember the pleasant scene of a bunch of hot air balloons bobbing through the sky over the vineyards in wine country.  My grandparents lived in town, so I did the second piece from the point of view at their house, since it was not that unusual to look out the back window and see balloons hovering over the backyards and rooftops of their neighbors. 

I had such an enjoyable day making these, I'm going to give this method another try.  I intended to give them as gifts, so these two won't be for sale except as prints.  My daughter did help with the pinkish balloon in the top piece, but her attention drifted to more important things like clay and I lost her.

In other news, I did have a great (if woozy) day at the Avocado Festival this year, and really enjoyed meeting some new people.  I won't be doing festivals again until after the new baby arrives, so I'll be adding more to my Etsy store and posting here on my blog when I finish projects. 

To see some of my works for sale, click here: Originals for Sale


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