Lone Star

'Lone Star'
12 x 12 canvas

This is another Torn paper collage, with very little acrylic, mainly for a shadow.
This is also for the Austin Show, and I made sure Austin showed on the Texas map.
Not that it would matter, but somebody might like it on there! I tried to make it more
masculine, not so 'girl-ee.'

New Spurs Series

'Texas Spurs'
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'New Spurs 4'

'Floral'
'New Spurs 3'

There is a show in Austin so I thought I would do some boots for that. The work has to be 12 x 12. I normally don't paint for shows, but thought the boots would be fun to send, plus mixed media is accepted. These are also torn paper. There is very little paint on them. I just decided since I have done 3 ,I would just call them a series.

Rodeo Clown

'Rodeo Clown'
16x20
(canvas)

This is my 4th collage with torn paper. The 16x20 got very large before I could finish.
I was wondering why in the world i used it, but it was what I had on hand.
This is very creative, and I believe it might be intuitive too, because you sort of do what looks or feels right. I am still using acrylics here and there. It makes me feel better, and makes me feel like I am really painting. I am surprised at the rich colors you can get using this method.
I have a new one sketched off. Plus I have been working on some more 'New Spur' paintings.

Riding the Circuit 2

'Riding the Circuit 2'
12x16

This is another torn paper collage, done on canvas. The tearing, and finding the right texture is a challenge.And a mess! Little pieces of paper all over the floor.

There is black golden liquid acrylics and I also splattered some paint.
The outside edges have towns and map on it. These won't be framed.

New Spurs

"New Spurs"

This 'torn paper' collage is very addictive, and so much fun!
This is from a photo that I took in Clovis NM of some boots and spurs.
Searching through a magazine looking for the right texture and color is time consuming but I am getting faster at it. I call it my paper palette. Derek Gores, a collage artist, told me to just be free, let go and use some wild things in my work, so I did. I was skeptical about using a brooch for the spur but it worked! and added some fun to it. I am going to add what he wrote after seeing my Bronc Rider. You can look him up...and see his amazing work
www.Derekgores.com plus he is on Facebook.

Your piece looks great...! I work very quickly, so I like that the gloss dries fast... and the gloss makes the colors pop out more.
one thought for you on the next one. For things like the fringes, try finding a texture in the printing that mimics that slightly, rather than cutting out individual fringes. could be some stacked letters, or a picture of a fence, or windows in a building maybe. also, try finding pieces that satisfy more than one area at a time. for ex, maybe a piece that has some white and then some brown could be used for the edge of the horse and the background at the same time. and i suggest mixing it up more, rather than just making the whole background a map, be a little more free. anything whiteish could work back there. try an assortment where the pics are a mix of close and far away... for ex a map feels far away.. imagine overlapping that with something super close up... the white of an eye maybe? that near/far spatial play makes these things reallllly dynamic. try that approach throughout. people realllly like saying things like 'wow she used a strawberry and a corvette for part of the scarf!'
try things that are vastly different than the object they will create. don't just go for the right color, go for surprising textures.

enjoy!!
derek
and feel free to include my thoughts on your blog if u wish.

Riding the Circuit

'Riding the Circuit'

Well call me crazy! I saw some work by a collage artist, Derek Gores, and loved what he did (Look him up online) so I wanted to try it! It is somewhat addictive. I spent many days trying to get this like I wanted it. I probably could have painted two or three paintings in the time it took!
I don't know how many layers there are! I do know that under his red shirt is a white and black shirt!

It is done on an 8"x16" canvas, mainly because it was handy, so I cropped the back side off and just put the cowboy and the horse, and I think the message is there.

There is a Texas map behind him, and the rest is torn pages from magazines, using gloss medium. There is a little acrylic paint on it, i painted the paper for the scarf because I couldn't find any bright turquoise like I wanted. The horse color came from pictures from a cowboy magazine. Horse pictures just torn up and stuck on. There are be some boots here and there. There is a pair of boots on his nose. And of course if you are from Texas you know about the big belt buckles that they win at the rodeos. I already have another one in mind.

One of the draw backs to this kind of art is the mess you make finding the paper, cutting and tearing it up. I have it all in one small box! If and when I can get to another one, I need to gather some paper first, instead of hunting as I work. I will have to fix myself a 'paper palette'

Daily Supplies

'Daily Supplies'

I painted this for the show in Clovis NM last November. I love western art. That is what I wanted to do when I started painting, but it is so detailed and hard to do, it didn't take me long to venture onto something a little easier! I am hoping to go back to doing more. Maybe because my Granddad was a cowboy and always had a story for us. He remembered all the names of his horses he had his whole life so maybe the sentimental part of me loves western art. He taught our son to rope, and probably gave him tips on riding, and caring for his horse. This painting is similar to another one that I did. I left the rope white on this one. It probably should be called 'New Rope'. The sky is turquoise watercolor mixed with white gouache.