Where I am headed now…

I am at a point in my creative journey where I am rediscovering my artistic mojo. Every artist has their personal unique style of art that is as recognizable and individual to them as their personality.   But it takes many years of creating, exploring and experimenting with subject matter, themes, techniques and art materials (media) to define and discover a sense of originality with one’s art. Discovering my uniqueness as an artist has been my journey since elementary school. I don’t want to merely emulate the styles of other accomplished artists. I want my art to stand out as one of a kind. The creative process is a life-long process of learning and growing for all artists.

The method of creating that I keep gravitating back to, is working with mixed media. I love creating my imaginary creatures first in my sketchbook and then in a digital paint program called Corel Painter. Recently I have started using the Apple Pencil and ipad pro linked with my Macbook to paint my animals and creatures. After I print it out with my fine art quality printer and paper, I add soft pastels and acrylics. Combining digital art with traditional art materials is a more satisfying way to work for me.

In the most recent phase of my art journey I have been exploring how the soft pastels work together with my creatures. As I am still developing this very new technique for my art, I alway reflect on my process once I complete a piece, to see how I want to develop it further and to find what materials actually work best together.  For my newest piece in my “Dream Wall Series”, I will start using more acrylic paints and use the pastel just for softer accents to aid in the dreamy magical feel of my art. I think I enjoy the process of working with paint more than pastels and I always like to test out techniques on an experimental paper before applying them to my actual artwork.

My newest creature is what I have renamed Splorch rather than the cumbersome name Splorchrich. I want my animal names to be kooky, but also simple. My characters are inspired partially by the horse with their long hoofed legs and, in some cases, by unicorns.

I love shiny and glittery details to add to the magical feeling of my dreamy pieces. I’m still debating whether I want to add glitter to my future pieces, but I may just stick to shiny or metallic accents for the original mixed media pieces.

Follow me on Instagram and my Social Media Highlights posts to get updates on my progress with my most current pieces. I’m in the planning stages for a new phase in my Dream Wall series, so stay tuned for that as well.

Once I finish my current piece I will begin the process of setting up my online shop where I will be selling both prints and originals. I will be posting updates on Instagram and Facebook and here on my website. Stay tuned for my newsletter and when you can opt in to sign up for it on my website. I will use my newsletter to let you know when I’ve posted a new blog and when I add new pieces for sale. You will be able to read my posts directly from my newsletter. I am still in the planning stages for that, so stay tuned for future information about that.

I look forward to having you join me on my creative journey. Hope you and your children’s imaginations will also be inspired along the way.