Women History Month - Mixed Media Art

I come from a family where women abound. My mother had nine children, seven of which are women (the guys were outnumbered - sorry brothers)! Because of this, you will see women featured in my work.

In my journey as an artist, I’ve been inspired to make women the focus of my art. Most of these have been put together on my computer and cut from cardstock, then embellished with fabric and other ítems. I put a lot of thought in creating these images to represent women, especially women of color.

Here are some of my latest creations:

I Am Not My Hair

She Is Bold

Every Woman Is A Queen

A Black Queen's Beauty Shines from Within

When Motivated Women Get Together

Even though I focus on women doesn't mean that men are left out, so here is this solo player:

Blessed Is the Man Who Trusts in the Lord

Framed Art

One of my passions is card making. I love to make handcrafted cards. I also love working with graphics. As I was wondering how I could really combine these into one artistic form, I was inspired to use scripture in creating framed art I could give as gifts. I've blogged about this in the past (see post dated September 13, 2013).

Here is one of those inspirations:

How do these come together? I pick the digital stamp I want to work with from my collection. This digital stamp is from Robert Jackson. Once I've selected the stamp, I research the scripture I want to use.

Now this is where I get my inspiration. Most of the scriptures I use tend to fit the digital stamp I choose (see below). I sometimes print these on watercolor paper (if I'm using different mediums to color). In the case of the photo above, I printed the scripture on regular card stock (I created the file in MS Word) because all I did was use Copic Markers to color in the stamped image. I printed another copy and cut-out the blouse, then attached it to the Cheetah print cardstock from my stash (I did it this way as opposed to printing on the cardstock because of the glitter in the paper) then paper pierced that section and pasted it on the digi stamp.

To finish off embellishing the piece, I used Stickles glitter to add dimension and pop the necklace and earrings. I finished the piece by adding rhinestone ribbon, then attaching it to a mat for framing.

Here is another sample:

and others:

I have a few more surprises in store for you, so sit tight until my next post.

Ciao!

Inspired

Good morning, blog friends!

I hope you are enjoying this Monday morning. In my neck of the woods (Los Angeles) it promises to be a hot sunny day. This is typical for this time of year. Twenty-eight years ago today, I gave birth to my oldest daughter and it was HOT!

After my little vacay  (see previous post) I came back to chaos. I had to get rid of my mattress because I had a bed bug! Don't ask me how it came into my room (according to a pest control friend it could have come through the window - I live on the lower floor of my apartment unit) but it wreaked havoc with my body.  Prior to me leaving on vacation, I had been seeing these bites on different parts of my body (mostly arms and legs). What was different about these bites was, in addition to the extreme itching, my skin would inflame as if I'd been bitten by a bee (I'm allergic).  I brushed it all off thinking that it was some type of gnat bite.  While away, my youngest daughter came home for a spell (she's been living in China, where she works). She texted me to say she thought she was allergic to the food (after a year of eating vegetables and noodles she thought she couldn't eat regular food, lol) because she woke up with bites on her body. I replied back that there must be something in my room. So, she switched rooms and slept in my mother's bed.

When I got back home on July 9th, I immediately called my friend because he said that I might have bed bugs. He came over armed with a flashlight and proceeded to go over my bed frame. I have a queen size Queen Anne bed and it took a bit of looking for him to find the bug. Yep, there was only one (can you believe it) and that one insect caused me a pretty penny.  I had to get rid of my mattress and purchase a new one.

The one good thing that came from this was that I was inspired to change the look of my bedroom.  I decided to DIY my whole room by not only painting it (with the help of my youngest), but I also picked up the carpet and I'm working on putting down flooring.  Here's what the room looks like now without the bed and prior to putting down the floor.

As you can see, I painted the room Purple and Lavender (Lavender is my favorite scent, so it didn't take me long to figure out the colors I would use).  As of today, I'm still working on my flooring.  I should have it done in the next two weeks and will post photos of the finished space for you to see.

Because of the havoc that little insect caused, I was uninspired to make any cards for a while, but in August I had this burst of inspiration and started making, not only cards, but these framed pieces.  I will showcase just a few here for now.

Card
I purchased the image for this shoe from 123rf.com I printed and cut the shoe in MTC and used glue dots to make it 3D. I printed the Scripture in MS Word and cut it out and attached with glue dots. The background Damask paper is from mygrafico.com and the brown paper I printed from MS Word and embossed with Cuttlebug Anna Griffin  5x7 Pirouette embossing folder.

Framed Art

Card
Digi file purchased from Robert Jackson. He made this image file exclusive for me. I used Gimp to add a pattern to the dress and color in the skin, hair and purse. I then print and cut the image and attached it with glue dots. As with the previous card, I printed the sentiment in MS Word and cut and pasted it to the card. The background paper I used from a Kente file I had in my stash and which I created a background for in Word and printed in color to use for this card.

Framed Art