Monday Morn

I look forward to my mixed media art classes on Mondays. We have two more classes and so I am having the ladies create a mixed media "girl". I asked them to think of a quote or something personal to them to put on their girl, which could be representative of themselves if they wanted. It's going to be inspiring to see this process.

Last week I created another mixed media angel. His time I used the card with the initial "w" which I wanted to stand for "wings". 

I wanted to find just the right quote for her to tie in dreams (the moon) and wings.

She is big... The board is 20" long. I used alphabet stamps and rub ons for the quotes. I put her with my other mixed media pieces at one of the galleries at the art crawl and one of my collectors took her home. 

The art gallery crawl was wonderful. We had so much activity on both sides of the river. Here are a few photos.

Some of my paintings at the Ouachita River Art Gallery, Wesr Monroe.

My roommate from long ago came out.

And I had a surprise visit from my cousin.

One of my students was showing her beautiful work a few doors down so I stopped by to take a peek. She worked on the tea cup piece during class and it is gorgeous.

I have a super busy week. I am working on two very special commission pieces. One of them has a critical deadline. What an honor to be a part of something so special. More on that later.

Thanks for stopping by today and have a happy Monday!

Art Gallery Crawl This Thursday June 5 2014

I am so excited about this Thursday night's art gallery crawl!!

First of all, I am the featured artist at The River Gallery on Trenton Street, West Monroe. My show is called "Enjoying the Journey". The gallery will be open until 9pm Thursday, June 5 during the gallery crawl!

Here is one of my newest pieces. I call it "Enchanted". It's 24" x 24" and has a coat of resin on the surface.

The shops on Trenton Street AKA Antique Alley, West Monroe, will also be open till 9pm AND will hosts area artists in the shops. And if that isn't enough, the other art galleries will be full of beautiful art and hosted by the wonderful artists! You can find out more on the Downtown Crawl Facebook Page!

And the best part - it's all free!! And the trolley, also free, will make stops all night at all the galleries. What a fun night!

The ladies in my mixed media art workshop are so amazing! We have two classes left and during those classes they are all going to be making a "girl" piece - something inspirational, personal and beautiful. I can't wait. Here is what they worked on last night.

How inspiring their pieces are!!

If you are a mixed media artist, or paper crafter - don't miss out on the new Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog!  Every month the design team will give a challenge, and the first one is up now. Just post a link on the blog with your challenge piece and you will be entered for a prize. This month's random winner will win a $25 gift certificate to Inspiration Emporium!  Who doesn't need more supplies to create beautiful things with!?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

New art and upcoming art crawl

It's the Friday before the Art Crawl and my house is exploding with art. My studio is a mess but soon it will be all cleared out.

I am the featured artist this month at The River Gallery on Trenton Street, West Monroe. I'll be hanging my show this weekend. The title of my show is "Enjoying the Journey" and the pieces are a variety of my latest work which is mostly floral. The June 5 art crawl is going to be HUGE! In addition to the usual galleries, the shops on Trenton Street / Antique Alley are going to be open till 9pm and have local artists in the shops. Don't miss this family friendly FREE event!

Here is one of my larger pieces, 24" x 24". It's more of a doodle that has come to life with color. I call it "Saturday in the Park"

After this photo was taken, I covered the piece in resin which gives it a glassy surface and intensifies the colors. 

My most recent piece was influenced by the hit TV show Mad Men. I just love all the art used in the show. Most of them are abstracts, but I was drawn to the Michael Weidmen print in Peggy's office.

So, me loving flowers, couldn't get it out of my head until I painted my own interpretation of the piece.

"Mad About Yellow", 20" x 20". Contact me for purchasing info on this or any other art.

Mixed media artists - have you seen this INCREDIBLE giveaway at the new Mixed Media Monthly Challenge?  What a great prize package. Be sure to hop over and enter!

Monday is another class with my mixed media students. They are incredibly talented and full of ideas. If you are taking the class, bring your surface, papers, paints and textures. If you have alphabet stickers.... One inch or larger, bring them. If not, then come and see the demo and if you like the look, you can try it at another class. Have some ideas sketched out and we'll have some fun.

Here is the canvas that I have had waiting for art to be put on it.

I hope to have it finished for class.

Check my blog TOMORROW for some exciting news!! :)

Have a great weekend!

Home Sweet Home Mixed Media

Just stopping by to share one more piece I made for the Art Crawl. It's going to be a busy night. My 20 year old son and my 11 year old daughter will both have art in two different galleries tonight. I'll be bringing 4 new mixed media pieces to the River Gallery in West Monroe. Here's one of my new pieces.

"Home Sweet Home" by Melanie Douthit. 5.5" x 5.5" mixed media on wood

I used various scrapbook supplies as well as Faber-Castell Big Brush Pens and Pitt Pens. These pieces are so much fun to create.

I hope to see some of you at the Art Crawl tonight! Thanks for stopping by.

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!
 

Art Reception and Scrapbook Clippings

My art reception was this past Saturday, and the weather was warm and bright and sunny. What a blessing for a weekend in January. I propped the doors open and we hung flower balloons on the sidewalk, which appropriately matched the flower shaped sugar cookies. Three of the new pieces I created for the show sold, along with the Mardi Gras dachshund painting that someone had put in the window display. Thank you to all my friends and family and collectors that came out. I even got to see one of my former art students from 10 years ago - all grown up! Here are a few pics from the event.

After reading the comments left in my guest book, I now describe my art style as:
"Happy art with a twist of funky"  

(just so you know)

I was pleasantly surprised that my hometown newspaper not only included the information about the show and reception in their paper, but they took up almost half a page for it - and in color! This page is definitely going in the scrapbook.

If you are out and about, please stop by the Ouachita River Art Gallery this month to see the show. One of the sold pieces is still there (the collector generously offered to let it hang for the next few weeks). The gallery is at 308 Trenton Street (Antique Alley), West Monroe, open Tues-Sat 10-5pm.

If you haven't already seen the artists' blog hop I recently participated in, scroll down to my previous blog entry for New Year's inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

Time for a new Calendar!

Wow - what a year! It was a couple of days after Christmas when I realized that I forgot to get a 2012 calendar. I went out to the mall to where for eons we had a calendar vendor set up every year, but they weren't there! Found a funky one at Hobby Lobby.

We celebrated the new year at our home with family and friends. I was digging up New Year traditions and found out that it has often been thought that the first visitors you see after ringing in the New Year would bring you good or bad luck, depending on who you keep as friends and enemies. That's why most people celebrating on New Year's Eve often do so with friends and family.. What a blessing it was to have spent this time in such good company. We spent the evening doing fireworks with the kids, eating too much, playing some games and just enjoying each others' company.

I'm still running pretty much full-blast here. In just a few days I'm having a little reception at the cooperative artists' gallery that I belong to. I'm the featured artist for January. There is no better way to start the year with another party, right?

This is the piece of art I used on the cover of my invitations. The theme I chose for my art pieces is "Secret Garden".



If you are local and would like to attend, the event will be held at the Ouachita River Art Gallery, 308 Trenton Street, West Monroe, Louisiana on Saturday, January 7, 2012 from 2-4pm.

I hope everyone has a wonderful new year. Thanks for stopping by!

I now have art in Ouachita River Art Gallery

With all the other activities going on this week, I haven't had time to mention that I've just joined a local co-op gallery in my city - The Ouachita River Art Gallery. The Ouachita River Art Gallery recently won the award for Best Gallery in the Delta. I'm so proud to be joining the other artists there. I'm not a stranger to this gallery. I was a member in 1996-1998. I mostly worked in watercolor then. It's nice to see many of the same familiar faces that are still a part of this group.

Here are a couple of the recent pieces I created recently and have hanging there. I've been working on a series called "Journey to Oz".


In my "Oz" painting, I have included Emerald City, poppies and more Oz flowers, a hint of the yellow brick road, a bird (well, you know - where bluebirds fly),the really big puddle amidst the poppies.. that's the melted witch, the twister, and amidst the twister you can see some trees that represent the forest. All in all, it was a fun journey to create.

"Oz", 30" x 24" , acrylic on canvas with gallery style moulding



I had so much fun with this painting. I used burlap to add unexpected texture to the poppies. My daughter walked in my studio after they were painted and said "Oh, mom, you added pizazz to your painting". Pizazz - I like that word.

"Poppies, Poppies.". 36" x 24", acrylic and mixed media on canvas with gallery style frame moulding

Thanks for stopping by!! I know I've had a lot of blog posts this week. Have a great day!