The Painted Cottage

4 Invitational Artists

Seems like I have been waiting forever for this show to arrive. I was actually juried into this show a year and a half ago...long time. But it is finally here and the artwork is finished and delivered. My friend and photographer extraordinarie, Christine Goldbeck http://www.christinegoldbeck.com/  photographed the entire show for me...since I am not the world's best photographer. She was exceptionally patient in photographing some pieces more than once after I would make changes and more changes...grin.

The opening reception for the show is this Friday, December 4, 5-8pm at the Art Association of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. More details about the show can be seen at the AAH website: http://www.artassocofhbg.com/

My mixed media collages will be shown with three other extraordinary artist: Bevery Spitzer of Camp Hill, PA; Amy Richardson of LeRoy, IL; and Ruth Terrill of LaHonda, CA. I have met Beverly at previous events and she is a very lovely person, as well as a very talented artist. I am anxious to see the work displayed by the other two artists as well.

Here is a sampling of some art that I will be showing:

These four pieces are each 12" x 12" on gallery wrap canvas. They will be hung as a set at the show but will be sold separately. Each piece has a reproduction of large vintage floral images that are in my collection. Someone long ago decided to cut them off covers of seed catalogs and save them in a scrap book. They are actual size in the artwork. The artwork also includes vintage scraps of lace and crochet, buttons, vintage newspaper from the late 1800's, hand tinted and printed papers, rubber stamp images, and acrylic paint. I found the the lovely calligraphic font on http://www.noupe.com/fonts/45-outstanding-free-vintage-fonts.html.

 

Exhibit at Whitaker Center

I am feeling like a proud Mama!!! Students from my Collage Class at the Art Association of Harrisburg are participating in an exhibit at the Whitaker Center in downtown Harrisburg. For some of these students, this is the very first time they have exhibited art work anywhere!!! They have all done so well in class and their pieces look so professional hanging on the walls of the Whitaker. They can be proud of themselves for this accomplishment...I know I am very proud of all of them!!!

Also participating in the exhibit are Linda Benton McCloskey's Mixed Media Class and they are showing some very nice work as well. The exhibit is called Mixed Media Melange and is a once a year opportunity for members of the Art Association to display art at the Whitaker.

Art

I just saw this on Facebook...and I thought it was so cute and inspiring...so I had to post it to my blog. This is my first blog post in a long long time. This video is perfect to get me back into the swing.

 

 

Kitty

Just for fun, here is a photo I took of Kitty today. He is just recently one year old. Kathleen brought him home from one of her friends. He likes to follow me around the house, but when it comes to sitting and cuddling, he will only sit on my husband's lap. His favorite toy is a stuffed Barbaro horse that he carries from room to room. He also likes to play with rubber bands. He is all boy and doesn't want you to fuss over him. I still talk baby talk to him and I think he secretly likes it, but he would probably never admit it in mixed company.

Invitation to Join MMCA Marketplace

You've been hearing all the buzz lately about the up & coming MMCA Marketplace, and now we'd like to extend an invitation for you to join in on this exciting online marketing venue.  If you are an artist who is committed to producing quality, original art, we welcome you to apply for membership now while we're doing an open enrollment.   

 

Applicants are judged on quality, style and value to ensure that our Marketplace can effectively represent you, and so that we can offer "something for everyone" who comes to the Marketplace to shop.  We strive to represent those artists who are devoted to their work and are constantly refining their skills.   Artists accepted into the Marketplace will be coming together with the current members , adding to the already widely varied background of styles, mediums, and pricing, making it possible to offer our clients quality art in the medium of their choice.   

 

While our standards are high, our membership costs are not.  Benefits of belonging to the MMCA Marketplace include:

• Your own shop page including your branding logo and short bio
• Local, Regional and National Press Campaign
• Website, blog and contact links listed on shop page
• 20 images with short product descriptions with Buy Now buttons
• Featured Artist rotation on Marketplace Blog

Some of our more recent promotions are:

• We made headlines in local, regional and national publications
• Our artists participated in a gallery exhibit in Central Pennsylvania
• We advertised in a nationally published magazine

To accommodate various budgets, we have three membership options. If you believe you belong with us, please consider submitting an application at http://www.mmcamarketplace.com/application.html. 

Linda Benton McCloskey Interview on MMCA

MMCA Marketplace is thrilled to introduce to you Linda McCloskey. Linda enjoys discovering creative ways of expression and totally keeps traditional rules of painting out of the picture. Since she loves to vary her palette of colors and new approaches, Linda's most recent works are experimental water media (abstract), mixed media, and encaustic (beeswax) with lots of texture and exciting color. Diversity with all its fascinating choices, intrigues her and is evident in her work. Since Linda begins a new work without a preconceived outcome in mind, she simply begins painting and then intuition, love, desire, and experience take over. As she begins to see images, she develops them further. No matter what the results, the works take Linda to a new destination.
http://mmcamarketplace.typepad.com/

Couture and the Alphabet Angel

I just recently finished two new encaustic art pieces. The first one is a piece that I have been struggling with for some time. The "Alphabet Angel" was started last year in a workshop that I took through the Art Association of Harrisburg http://www.artassocofhbg.com

 

The second piece, "Couture" just slid right out and I enjoyed the process of creating this one. It amazes me how easy some art comes out and how difficult other pieces are to complete.

 

Embracing Encaustics by Linda Womack

If you have always wanted to try Encaustic Painting, or if you already have tried it and are wondering if you are doing it right....This is the perfect book for you!!!

Embracing Encaustics by Linda Womack

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0981677428/1n9867a-20

It is a wonderfully simplistic book that guides you through the beginning steps of working with encaustics. Linda describes so clearly with words and plenty of photos the RIGHT way to use beeswax in your artwork.

I met Linda back in June in Beverly MA at the 2nd National Encaustic Conference at Monserat Collage. http://www.montserratencausticconference.blogspot.com/ 

Linda taught one of the workshops that I took following the conference and she is just a delightful person.

You will love her book!!!

Makes Me Happy

It always gives me a great sense of satisfactions when I look at my web site stats and see that someone is posting my art on their blogs and forums to use as an example for others to view. It means they are looking and appreciating. I always try to post back to thank them if I can, just to let them know how much I do appreciate them viewing my art. Hits to my web site are always a bonus to me and I am thrilled to find people who are seeking out my style of art.

Here is one that was posted yesterday: http://styl.eti.me/collage-art-works/

   

(this collage is one of my favorites from the list done by craftmonkey http://craftmonkeys.typepad.com/photos/collage/collage2.html )

This is a wonderful collection of paper collages and I am so honored to be among this group of talented artists. I looked at every artist's site on this list (and bookmarked quite a few of them)and have gained so much inspiration from each one. This list was indeed a task to put together and it demonstrates the love of collage of the person who took the time to assemble it. A special thanks to that person!!!

Have a look and enjoy the collages!

Jim Thorpe PA

We had a wonderful weekend in Jim Thorpe PA. We stayed at The Inn, a beautifully decorated Victorian Inn on the main street. We sat out on the balcony on Friday night and enjoyed a bottle of wine while the rains from hurricane Ike poured down on the street.

 

Saturday was hot and humid as we walked in and out of the many shops on Broadway. We lucked out that evening with tickets for the Roger McGuinn concert at the Mauch Chunk Opera House. It was a great concert. For more information: http://www.jimthorpe.org

 

We also discovered a new gallery in Jim Thorpe. The Stabin Morykin Gallery is at the top of Broadway next to Flow, an excellent restaurant that we hope to visit next time we are in town. Have a look at the gallery http://www.thecccp.org