Mr. Blue eyes Siamese kitten

I took photographs of this 8 week old kitten. I love the blue eyes. These photos are available as an art card or 5x7 at my etsy store or my art fire studio.

Another Titanic art journal

I seem to be fascinated with the Titanic anniversary this year. It has been 100 years since that ship sank. Now with the Costa Concordia it seems we have not learned the lessons of the past.

This mixed media collage for the cover has feathers, vintage photos from the ship, vintage buttons, Swarovski crystals. The back cover has some photos of some of the people who died in the tragedy.

Almost the end of the year Time flies

I do not know about you but time seems to fly faster and faster as I age. Perhaps it becomes more precious to me as I realize that there is less time in my life left. I find myself being selfish about what I spend my time on. I want to spend it creating art and being with people I love. Here is an art card that I made that reflects how I feel

What are metallic photographs and why are they better?

I process most of my photographs that I sell as metallic photographs. This requires me to order each photograph from a custom lab that is equipped to make this special type of print. I often get asked why not just make the photos at home with a high quality photo printers like most people do? There is a big difference between metallic photos and regular photographs from a home printer or even a photo lab.
Here is a description of Metallic Prints…
Special Paper type: Kodak Endura Professional Metallic paper. Special chemical processing can only be done at a custom lab.
Description: Rich, distinctive metallic look with a huge WOW! factor. The glossy finish and metallic-looking appearance of this paper create images with exceptional visual interest and depth. Its professional emulsion set provides extreme sharpness, brightness, and color saturation with an intense black density. Photographers have described the look as “chrome on paper.”

Metallic photos are guaranteed to be color fast even in the light for 100 years. This means you do not have to put a piece of glass on top of your photograph to protect it from light damage. I personally like my work to be available to the viewer without an interfering piece of glass.

Once you see a metallic photograph you will see the difference.

celebrating the 4th of July is fun

Here are some photographs that I took on the 4th.

African Antelopes sharing secrets

This is another animal photo that I really love. If you are interested in this look in my etsy or artfire stores.

Here is how that recycled transparency ended up as a cover for this journal

Here is how I finished with those alcohol inks.

How to recycle clear bags to make stunning transparencies for your art

I love to recycle items that I normally throw away. Here is an idea of how you can recycle those clear bags that scrapbook and other supplies come in. I used alcohol inks ( Jim Holtz Adirondack alcohol inks) that I dropped on the clear transparency and used a bottle of air to spread the ink in different ways. This made a very interesting design that I attached to an art trading card and made into

this card that I call " The Perfect Storm".

Now instead of buying so many transparencies for use in my art (mixed media) I can make unusual backgrounds and recycle at the same time. lol

how to make aceo art trading cards

Making aceos trading cards
Making aceos ( art trading cards that you sell) is easy and fun. The only rule is that the finished sized needs to be 2.5 x 3.5 inches. You can make your card with any type of art. Aceos can be made into collages, watercolors, clay creations, photographs, fabrics and quilting. People collect these small pieces of art from artists all over the world. It is an inexpensive way to collect all types of art. They can be displayed on easels, in photo books, in baskets and on the walls of your office space. Some people collect themes like Christmas, Halloween, valentine's day, St. Patricks day or any holidays and then display them in a small group setting.

They are easy to make just get a piece of card stock that measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Make your art on it and then let it dry. You can spray your work with Krylon Triple-Thick Clear Glaze to protect it. You can put a certificate of authenticity on the back that says the name of the piece, the number of the edition, the artist's signature and your web site. Look at the photos that I have added to this blog message.

Then you can either sell your card or trade it with other artists. I have a collection of over 200 cards from artists all over the world. I keep them in a wooden box on my livingroom table for my visitors to look at. I also put up a small display in my office that features a theme like a holiday , a type of art ( like collage) or a story line ( like Alice in Wonderland, or Goddesses). People always love them and they ask about the story behind the art and the artist. But the best part is coming home from work and getting a lovely new piece of art in the mail from an interesting artist from far away.