Feeling Grounded...with art

I wondered last week if I could ever salvage my "mixed media gone poorly."  Making several more passes at it, I think I have decided to call this one done.  The photo does not show the small ties of raffia on the sticks because I have to make the picture before I spray a finish on the canvas or I get a huge glare. And the ties, alas, had to be done after the finish.

Nature's Floor

24 x 12, gallery wrapped canvas, mixed media

Have you ever slowed down long enough to just sit and study the ground?  I am always amazed at how much can be found in such a small space of earth if I take the time to closely look.  Sometimes, when I am pondering deep and wide, I find myself picking up a stick and drawing patterns in the dirt or mixing up all the contents I've discovered.  And, left to my own devises, I often will begin arranging and re-arranging the sticks and stones into little no-nonsense patterns.  My wish is that you have some time to do likewise this weekend.  Enjoy.

Doodling in Color,

Cindy

STICKS and STONES and...MIXED MEDIA??

(it ain't as easy as it looks...)

The term "Mixed Media" is all the rage right now.  Technically, it is appropriate to use the term when more than one media (i.e. oil, acrylic, collage, pastel) are used in one piece.  Popularly, it has come to also include lots of non-traditional art materials such as nuts, bolts, wires and scraps of wood.  When someone gathers up lots of "found" materials and creates something intriguing, it is appropriately referred to as "assemblage" (easily enough, they assembled the piece not painted it).  

This is just to put us all, painters and non-painters, on equal footing.  In case you haven't noticed, there is a lot of crappy mixed media out there.  The phrase "my grandchild could do that" comes to mind.  Just because it is fun to make and frees one's inner spirit does not mean that everyone else will consider it art.  Whether something is photo-realistic, abstract, or mixed media it should still adhere to the time proven ingredients of decent art: composition, color, eye direction, range of value etc etc.

So are all those wonderful, carefree and intriguing pieces easy to replicate? Well, just try it!!  I needed a change of pace this week so decided it would be "mixed media."

Here are two beginnings: 

both are on stretched canvas

12" x 24"

begun in similar styles with two differing color palettes

I wanted go "organic" and I wanted to do two at a time with different color palettes and yet with the similarity of starting with a canvas divided up into equal squares.  The beginning stages are kind of fun...just let the ideas flow because ultimately you are going to cover up most of the early layers anyway.

Above you see acrylic, spray ink, and papers on a gessoed canvas.

As pieces and parts come together it gets slightly more complicated.  In other words, suddenly you have a compositional dilemma to contend with...if the eye does not flow, if there is no center of interest....uh oh.  I am not satisfied (therefore not finished) with this one.  It has no real depth or direction.  Admittedly, the parts that I am attaching (sticks and rocks) are only glued right now, I want to draw attention to them with more interesting ways of adhering.

This detail shows wire wraps on the stones and I think raffia will tie the sticks.  Still, nothing really pops out of the piece or holds your attention.  Definitely needs more editing.  But the nice thing about mixed media is that corrections are part of the visual intrigue, so a few more layers is not a bad thing:  I'm not giving up yet!

My second piece got ignored for a while as I concentrated on the other. It will be a challenge to stay organic in this color palette but I did find some feathers I had from a parrot in these exact colors.  As you can see, it is still a hodge-podge of interesting parts all waiting to be brought together into some cohesive layout.  

I don't know if mixed media is my "gig" because I tend to fall in love with little parts that I  can't bear to cover up for the sake of harmony.  I prefer the method of working out a composition first and laying down only whats needed to achieve it.  But now and again it is nice to change things up and start with a bunch of "pretty" editing to achieve a composition.  Not easy!

So don't be fooled: like any other field of art there is great, good and baaaad (and debatable) mixed media.  Above are some examples of "bad" headed towards "good."  I'll let you know when they get there.

MIXing it UP,

Cindy

Craft Show Debut

Happy July 4th!  With it legally being next Wednesday it looks like we might

be celebrating the holiday for at least a week.  good!  the more fireworks the

better in my book.

This year I decided to celebrate with a "soft debut" into the craft show world.

I like to say I am an artist which implies 2d work.  But I have to confess to a

lifelong love of crafts of all kinds.  And sometimes my joy in making them

exceeds the number of folks I have to give christmas gifts to and they seem to pile up

and take on a life of their own....

Enter the world of craft shows and sales....

Please join us in the Town of Seven Devils for our annual BBQ and Craft Fair

to benefit our hardworking police and fire departments.

June 30 - Saturday - 10 am until 3 pm

I'll have my (current obsession) glass garden flowers available:

for only $20.00 apiece!

as well as my river rock jewelry :

(so inexpensive it's embarrassing to print the prices)

and some crazy, fun earrings (et al) made from colorful clay:

very affordable gifts and stocking stuffers!

Besides, since I've never done a show/fair/sale before I could use some friendly

faces of encouragement dropping by.

For my friends out of range from 7D let me know what you want...I can ship; haven't had time to put any of this on etsy yet!

Have a safe fourth!

Stones to Speak in Melbourne Area!

You and Yours

are cordially invited to join us on First Friday,

Nov. 4 between 6 and 8 pm for

"The Stones Speak"

a poetry and art collaboration by

Fay Picardi & Cindy Michaud

poetry reading at 6:30 pm

allaprima Styling Group

1540 Highland Avenue

Eau Gallie Arts District

This unique presentation opened in September in Linville, NC at the

Avery County Arts Council and now

makes it way to Melbourne.

A book containing the poetry as well as full color art work has

been produced in time for gift-giving season and

will be sold that evening for

$12.00.

Hope to see you there.



Just a Suit?

I truely thought I was finished with stones, for a while at least.  But this idea was in my head and just begged to be executed.  So I finally gave in:

Back in my office days I kept a couple of geodes on my desk.  Not only did I love geodes but they were a visual "mantra" for me.  You see, I worked with the "public" and more often than not the angry taxpayer was either on my phone or across from my desk.  No, I never threatened to throw the stones at them!  But once when I had to give a talk on "handling" the public I took the geodes as a visual prop.  Can you figure this out now?  Send me your thoughts and I will share them as well as mine in a future post.

Oh, and about the piece: it is 12" x 9" done in graphite (pencil) on a prepared board with a 1/2" cradle, no frame or glass needed.  I have not decided whether to sell it.  And here is a closeup of the geode, in reality this detail measures about 2.5 inches square.  I love the interior crystals.

And p.s.: thanks for missing me....I heeded the call of beach time with the family: wonderful & refreshing!

Crossing Into Safety

Crossing Into Safety

24 x 18 acrylic on cradled board

A part of our 'Stones Speak' project, Crossing Into Safety

is also

one of my favorite books (by Wallace Stegner),

a path at one of my favorite picnic areas,

a reminder of the day I watched several handicapped and terrified adults manuver the stones,

and

my mantra for seeing this "out-of-my-comfort zone" project to the very end.

What does "crossing into safety"

symbolize for you?

Cindy