May Flowers

April showers brings May flowers. I can't wait to see all the beautiful flowers in this great state of Louisiana. My next door neighbor has a very young magnolia tree and I noticed yesterday that it has almost 30 new budding magnolia's on it. It's going to be beautiful!

 

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Design Team members have been creating some awesome floral creations for this month's mixed media challenge. The theme is "Butterflies and Blooms".


Our May Guest Designer & Sponsor is  Ken Oliver! Ken is offering our random winner a set of Caribbean Brights Color Burst and a Best Ever Craft Mat!!

Here's my painting. It's 20" x 20" on canvas. I used some vintage ledger papers (real ledger papers, not manufactured printed paper) from the basement of the Sugar Art Gallery which I co-run. The basement used to be a Wholesale Drug company and those old papers are great for collages. I also used modeling paste, crackle paint, scrapbook papers, stencils, paper doilies and acrylic paint.

"Lace and Paper Flowers"

This piece and several of my new paintings will be at "Blend of the Bayou" in North Monroe, Louisiana this afternoon.

I've been getting new art ready for this event as well as finish up some commissions. Then in the morning I'm going coastal with some old friends. Will post photos when I return as well as some new art. If you are on facebook - follow "Melanie Douthit Art Studio" for more current art photos.

Make sure you visit each designer's blog and leave some comment love for them... we LOVE hearing from you all!


SO - are you going to play in this month's challenge? Here are the rules:

Please follow these rules to be eligible for placements and prizes. Entries not following our rules will be deleted.

* You must use our challenge graphic in your challenge post.
* You must comment on at least 3 design team member's blogs. 
* Your post must link back to the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge post
* Add a link to your direct post, not your entire blog, a YouTube Video or a Pinterest Board
* You can combine with up to 4 other challenges. 
* No Backlinking allowed! Any back-linked entries will be deleted.
* You can enter up to 5 times, create whatever you want, and HAVE FUN!

You have until 11:55 pm EST on May 31st to enter!
Post your project on THIS POST

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Blend of the Bayou in Monroe

Every year, the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council has a fundraiser called "Blend of the Bayou". At this event, "men who mix and brew" come out and cook everything from bbq sandwiches to gumbo and fried catfish. Part of this event is a "Bayou Gallery" with 15-20 of the area's prominent artists with art items for sale. The event was this weekend and the weather was absolutely beautiful! I attended with four other artists from the coop gallery I'm with attended as well as other art friends from the area.

We sampled the food, mingled and talked to art collectors. I debuted one of my latest pieces, "Summertime Blues", which I'm happy to say found a new home that day.

 And for the first time every, the youth at the local theater were invited to perform a few of their songs from Guys and Dolls. As you know - our family has worked hard on this production the past few weeks.

Again - it was record low temperatures on this gorgeous Sunday in May (which in Louisiana terms - was perfect!). I look forward to more beautiful days like this day this month. Thanks for stopping by and if you want to stay updated, you can subscribe to this blog and/or follow me on Melanie Douthit Art Studio's Facebook Page. by selecting the "Like" button. Have a great day!

Blend of the Bayou and Artists

I had the opportunity to be a part of a wonderful event this past weekend. Every year the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council hosts a fundraiser called "Blend of the Bayou". Over 50 of the area's top chefs cook a sampling of various foods that include shrimp, gumbo, catfish, barbeque and anything in between. They also have a "Bayou Gallery" which includes some of the area's most prominent artists and crafts people offering their work for silent bidding. I was thrilled when I received my invitation to participate in this event.

 
Three of my fellow gallery colleagues also participated in this event. It was fun hanging out together visiting: Linda Ward Snider, Don Hudnell aka Dirt Dauber, Emily Brodnax and myself.

 It was held near the water in a beautiful home in the area, nestled under the shade of enormous oak trees.
 

It was nice to talk to people that stopped by my table. Some were collectors. I met some new people and heard such wonderful positive feedback. I love hearing feedback from people.

The countdown is on for my trip to the Fort Worth Art Crawl, and I have so much to do. It will be here before you know it. If any of you are in the Fort Worth Area, please look for me at Arts Goggle. See my previous post for details.

Thanks for stopping by and please feel free to leave your footprints in the comments section. Have a great week!