Results tagged “mixed media” from Fernhill Art Studio

This was a fun little painting to do on a rainy Sunday.  I started out with a loose watercolour painting.  Before long I realized that it was getting too dark in value so I added the gestural marks with white pastel.

My biggest challenge in painting is going too dark. But the silver lining is that I am forced to think of ways to lighten the painting, which usually ends up making it more interesting in the end.

This sketch is not for sale, because I think there are problems with the composition.  But it will serve as a useful study for a new painting.

Goddess of Abundance
mixed media on board
11" x 7"
$50 sold

This is the first of my daily paintings. I used collage, acrylics, and oil pastel.  It was fun to make and I'm delighted with it!

The central image of the mature woman in all her glory comes from an IKEA print ad.  She looks so happy and comfortable with herself. There is something subversive about a naked older woman, and that appealed to me a great deal :)

I perched her on a throne of weathered stone to reflect her experience and "solidness".

The other main element is the gigantic corn stalk. I must admit that I wasn't thinking about the symbolic meaning of corn when I choose it.  I just liked the masculine, shall we say..."upthrusting" of it. 

Seriously now, the juxtaposition of the feminine and masculine in that weathered setting worked for me. 

Later, it occured to me that corn is probably symbolic of something.  I looked it up and found out that corn symbolizes plenty. According to PhoenixMasonry:

An ear of grain has been an emblem of plenty since the mists of antiquity which shroud the beginnings of mythology. Ceres, goddess of abundance, survives today in our cereals. The Greeks called her Demeter, a corruption of Gemeter, our mother earth. She wore a garland of grain and carried ears of grain in her hand...The Hebrew Shibboleth means both an ear of corn and a flood of water. Both are symbols of abundance, plenty, wealth.

I had my first studio built in 1997 as a 40th birthday present to myself.

I had always wanted a permanent studio designed exactly to my specifications, but thought that the expense was not justified.

However, as I approached my 40th birthday, I realized "if not now, when?" I took the plunge and called a builder, and never looked back.

The studio exterior of grey cedar siding, naturally faded cedar shakes, french doors, and big window boxes fit in with the garden setting. In spring, the window boxes sprout fuchsia tulips and pale yellow narcissus; while all summer a wildly coloured mix of petunias, lobelia, cherry tomatoes and other annuals trail almost to the ground.

Inside, the studio had lovely views into the garden on two sides, as well as four skylights on the north side. The absence of telephone and household demands made the studio a wonderful retreat, and I always had at least one of my cats for company.

In 2003 my husband and I sold the house where my first studio was located. People asked "how can you bear to leave your beautiful studio behind?"  My reply was that if I could lift it up by helicopter and plunk it down on the new site, I would!

But I did the next best thing:  I built a replica on my new property :)

Being 13
Mixed media on matboard
$200


This is one of my all-time favourite pieces.  It was the first piece I did using photos combined with transparencies.

The girl in the photo is my niece Karla.  She was thirteen at the time, hence the title Being 13.  I took the photo of Karla as part of an assignment for my photography class and liked it so much that I turned it into this painting.

I've had this in my "can't part with it drawer" for quite some time but have recently decided I have to start parting with more things!