Taking a class for a different twist in my art...

Hello there and happy February.

January is over. Hooray. My least favorite month of the year. I hate cold weather, and since Christmas is over, there is no need for it anymore. At least February holds the hope of spring here in North Carolina. If we're lucky!

Before boring January ended, I decided that not only was I ready for a change in the weather, but I was also ready for a change in my art. I found my self yearning to return to my mixed media roots of having some paper fun. With some color. Of course my love for vintage photos, fabrics, laces, and buttons will never go away, so I wanted to find something new to work on that would enable me to use all of my little lovelies. Not to mention doing something with all of the gorgeous scrapbook papers that I have, but rarely use. Oh, and let's not forget those rubber stamps!

If you purchase Somerset Studio magazine, you may remember the May/June 2014 issue, where the Artist Portfolio featured Heather Murray, a wonderful Canadian collage artist. I was instantly drawn to her art, which is colorful and vintage at the same time.

Here is the cover of that issue...

...and a portion of the article...

...along with some of Heather's work...

So I purchased one of her on-line classes, and am glad that I did. The class that I took was "The Memory Portrait Painting Project", and in it she shares how she builds up her substrate, and then applies color to her vintage photos and ephemera. What fun!

You can find the class here at The Trodden Path. And you can see more of Heather's art on her blog, My Ephemeral Imagination.

The class is geared to someone who wants to use family photos in their mixed media art, but of course, you can use any photo that you like, which is what I did. It was so much fun to work with acrylics again. And I got over my initial fear of taking an online class. The videos are great and the artist works in real time. It is the best of both worlds, as it almost feels like you are in the same room as the artist, but without other class interruptions and trying to keep up, since you are able to stop and restart the video as needed. I even signed up for a second class with another artist. More about that in a future post.

This is my first piece,

which I have entitled

"The Echoless Shore".

It's all about using what you have,

with a little color from cheap acrylic paints...

I got to use one of my favorite old beach photos

(I concede that I need a little practice on

the faces!)...

...and another for the background...

Not to mention some vintage sheet music,

a starfish from Florida,

and some fibers and paper from 

Basic Grey...

As I said before, I can't wait for warm weather, 

and I guess this piece proves that!

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Have you tried anything new lately?