This document provides details and reflections from an artist on various art projects and creative explorations they undertook. It describes finding inspiration from past artworks, searching through collections of supplies, and experimenting with different materials and techniques. Specific projects discussed include small collages using cross-stitch floss, drawings using both hands, assemblages made from found objects, and abstract interpretations of the beach using textures. The artist reflects on the influences of family members on their identity and love of color, experimenting with different styles and materials, and continually searching for new creative sparks.

1. 1. Parameters
Found material

2. While searching for materials to create this project I found it difficult at
first. After much searching what I found was actually my youth.
During our lectures I became fascinated with Guerra de la Paz and
his sculpture Indradhanush, 2008. His use of color took my breath
away. My husband who is also an artist is like a small child when he
sees collections of Sharpie pens or colored pencils so I went on a
hunt. What could I find to create the spectacular colors I saw in
Paz’s work.
Just when I thought all was lost I found my stash of cross stitching floss
arranged in all the beautiful colors. Along with the floss in my
cupboard of art supplies and other assorted items that I just cannot
throw away knowing someday a project just like this will be there
waiting, there they were, puffy self stick letters in colors to match my
floss. Then the idea came to me – Woodstock – fringe – rainbows –
I had found my youth.
You see in 1970 my best friend and I were 13. Woodstock the movie
had just come out and Yolanda and I were on our way. She and I
were well ahead of our ages in body and were able to get in to see
the movie even though it was rated R (new system of rating movies
that was hardly enforced). She and I saw the movie, bought the
soundtrack and the memories began.

3. 2. Self Exploration
Map of my life

4. Mapping out my life was somewhat of an undertaking. These feet have
done some traveling and not the exotic type. You see I moved nine
times before I reached the 9th grade. My parents divorced when I
was three and I traveled from one family to another starting with my
grandparents. Then it was on to my godparents until they wanted to
adopt me. This was just about the time my mother married for the
second time. Did I mention she was a serious alcoholic? Well she
was. In fact, at the very young age of 62 she died of complications
from her addiction. Oddly, as much drama as there was in my
young life, now that she is gone I find myself missing her often. She
was an extremely talented artist. She could create the most
amazing things from dolls to cross stitching to Christmas ornaments.
These things were not crafty – they were amazing works of art.
Detroit is where my story began. When Mom remarried we moved as a
family to Cleveland and then Akron with our last days together in
Mansfield. Two children, three marriages, a stint in the U.S. Air
Force, a business of my own and my discovery of God and I find
myself here in Tallahassee. Here I plan to stay. It has been 12
years since my daughter and I came to the rolling hills of Leon
County. She has since graduated from college, married and has a
family of her own now.
It was difficulty to put these tracks on one piece of art.

5. A closer look…

6. 3. Notion of Home
Broken dreams

7. I always had this dream of one day experiencing a
Normal Rockwell like family with everyone
gathered around the Thanksgiving dinner table
enjoying each other ‘s company. Instead we
had tension each and every holiday while we
waited to see when Carol (my mother) would
have just enough to drink that she would make a
scene. She was not a nice drunk. Once she
started Mom would set off her brother, Uncle
Ron. He has since found God when his son was
killed in a motorcycle accident several years ago
and is somewhat nice to be around.
Unfortunately Mom is gone now, my children are
spread across the country in California and
Chicago making holidays like the ones in my
dreams just that – a dream.

8. 4. Where do we come from where
do we land?
All eyes are on us…..

9. As a woman I have found it hard to live up to the images
both men and our society expect of us. I am not a small
woman. Dieting was never something I felt I needed to
do but I want to know why men don’t look into our eyes?
Instead they stare at all the other parts of our bodies
first. Magazines portray us as sex objects in men’s
magazines and thin, perfect skinned women in those
geared toward women.
The art world has always been a breath of fresh air when it
comes to the woman’s body. Artist paint what they see
often. In the days of Rembrandt and Michelangelo
women were portrayed with robust figures. When we left
the canvas behind and took up the advertising world
women lost weight and suddenly were expected to be
perfect.

10. 5. Art and Life
Designing with sand.

11. My art and my life intertwine everyday. My
friends and family tell me my art lies in my
sense of style and decorating. This is a
secret passion of mine, one which I thrive
on. Many have said I am most happy
when I am picking out a new color to paint
the wall or shopping for a piece of new
furniture.
Blue is my favorite color. The color of the
seashore makes me feel alive. I try to
surround myself with it and everything
beach (not kitschy beach – real beach).

13. 3 X 3” Collages

14. These very small projects were more fun than I anticipated. Before I
began these I had found that I really like BIG. I am much better
when I have a large scale area to work with, even larger than the
12x12 pages in my artist book are. So when I tackled these tiny 3x3
inch pieces I was not sure but alas I was able to create these
without too much difficulty.
Waves was once again inspired by the idea of how much I love color
especially blue. I had a stack of color squares left from a previous
art class so I used them to layer in the waves and gills and was very
pleased with the results.
gee gee actually came about in two ways. First, this is my nickname
given to me by my grandson. He has many grandparents so I
wanted to be a little different. It just so happens to be our first initial
of our last name so I have a few things around with the initial “g” on
it. Tah dah.
Bubbles was a bit more interesting. I first thought of this idea of using
bubble wrap as a base and then different colors of tissue paper
layered in using a watered down glue. When I was done with that
step something was missing. Once again I went on a hunt in my
treasure trove of stuff and found the three little blue bubbles!

15. 6. Waves

16. 7. gee gee

17. 8. Bubbles

18. 9. Two hand drawing

19. At first I was terrified to take on this project – not being much of a person
who can actually draw. Then I stopped and thought about the fact that I
have always been good at using both of my hands. Story has it I was
originally left handed but my mother or my grandmother (not sure) decided it
was not good to be left handed. Unfortunately this was a misguided notion
back in the 50’s. My mother stressed and pressed until I was used to
always using my right hand. Because of all this most of my life I was able to
not only perform many tasks with my left hand but also write although not
really always legible.
I found a fish I made in one of my first art classes carved out of wood and
decided that was a good piece to try to capture with both hands and a pencil
at the same time. Fortunately it came out recognizable but somewhat
boring. This is when I decided to add some color. At first I had thoughts of a
swash of color here and there but ended up filling in the entire piece. Now
that it is done I wish I had stayed with the single stroke of color here and
there.

20. 10. Found Materials

21. Here I go again, digging and shifting through my closet of stuff! I found two
peel n stick floor tiles (one white and one black) and several tiles of stick up
cork that I used to have on my office wall. The floor tiles were a thought I
had for my previous home’s kitchen floor. I also discovered a card my
husband once slipped in my luggage while I was not looking before I left on
a business trip. The photo was of a performer in the original Woodstock
festival.
All these things I put together for the cover of my artist book. I stuck the tiles
to the opposite side of the cork for the front and back, added the card and
photo and then tied it all together with some dashes of paint. Once all this
was done I drilled a hole in the side to tie all the pages together.

22. 11. Perceptual Cramp

23. How do I resolve a perceptual cramp – I GO SHOPPING!!! Whether it is a
project for my home, a jewelry project or an art project I take myself to the
store. I wander the isles looking at inspirations of color, texture and items I
could possibly use. Sometimes it is a store like Home Depot and their paint
isle other times it is Michael’s and the bead section. One of my favorite
haunts is Marshall’s or T.J.Maxx and their home furnishings.
I will also scour beading or home improvement magazines to get ideas for
possible projects or just inspiration. My husband and I are big fans of
HGTV which is where a good deal of my home decorating ideas come from.
The end results – our newest project – a complete kitchen redo.
Before
After

24. Or jewelry for my daughter’s wedding………

25. 12. Collecting

26. Whether it is my Christmas collections of snowmen, Santa's or trees (yes
trees) or if it is my many other collections of antiques, pottery, artwork, shells
and all things beach, I love collecting. My mother was the mentor for this
addiction. She saved everything and anything displaying most of it in such a
beautiful and fashionable way.
Collecting is important to my life. I love to have things around me that
remind me of trips I have taken, friends and their art, my children and their
lives. Collections make a home or even an office feel more personal, more
welcoming.

27. 13. Self Portrait

28. A self portrait of me is represented by my family and the things we love to do
together. As I have mentioned several times, we love the beach. When I go
to the beach I come alive again. My husband says it rejuvenates me and it
does. I always come home with a fresh look at my life. Having grown up in
a northern state I appreciate what we have here in Florida.
A great deal of me is also our life at FSU. We tailgate at every football game
along with our daughter who has just recently had one of the joys in my life,
our 1st grandchild - Graham.
My artwork is another large part of me. My art is shown not only in my
personal self portrait but in my home decorating, my jewelry creations but
also in my family. I like to think I have been a good mother and am very
proud of my children. My daughter received her business degree from
FSU, found a wonderful husband and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.
My son has a career in the U.S. Air Force and has been awarded several
commendations for his service.

29. As kids
14. Graffiti growing up
in the 60’s
the Vietnam
War was a
major part
of our
everyday
lives. We
saw the
peace
symbol
everywhere
we went.
Of course,
the bubble
letter graffiti
was
something
we doodled
absolutely
everywhere.

30. 15. Identity

31. What in my life has helped shape my identity…….both my mother and my
Nana. Unfortunately both have passed now but I am left with such a
richness that I can only hope I am passing on to my children.
Yes I know I spoke about my mother as if she was the worst thing that
happened in my life but this is not true. Was she a force to be reckoned with
– yes. Was she one of the most creative people I have ever known –
absolutely yes. Because of her constant creative influence in my life I truly
believe I either inherited or was taught a small portion of her genius.
My Nana who just recently passed in March was consistently a major
influence in my life. She was there when I was born, there when my mother
went off on her binges, there when I myself went through difficulty times.
She taught me to sew, how to bake and how to care and love a family.
Through the years art teachers and other artists have all given me
inspiration and guidance. There is no single moment but when I think of
who I am and what brought me here I think of all the times I watched both
my mother and my Nana creating things of beauty many of which are still in
my home today.

32. 16. My interpretation of the
beach……..
While I was digging around I found my bag of
materials I used during a recent painting/color
class. In this bag were some really wonderful
textural things. Suddenly I had this idea to
create my interpretation of the beach in
abstract!
I used large bubble wrap for the sky, carpet pad
for the water and shelf paper for the sandy
beach.

34. 17. Continuing on with the
beach idea……..
This was simply a mixture of
gouache with a piece of
bubble wrap to apply the sun
and a dog brush to add the
textural overlay of blue on
blue.

35. 18. Never throw anything away!

36. As I said before – during this project I was rummaging
through all my things and came across all the found items
I had saved to make texture and collages in another
project. When I really looked at the doily soaked in rich
purple and the pieces of rug padding, shelf liner , bubble
wrap and starfish all coated in different colors of paint I
had a sudden brain storm. I put them all together and
glued them down to create this very textural and colorful
piece.

37. 19. Experimentation
This was a complete
experiment in Chinese
alphabet which I have
never before
attempted. If you are
not familiar or even if
you are you may need
a clue. The larger is a
G (last name) and the
one on the left is a J
(my husband’s first
initial) and the one on
the right is a C for me!

38. 20. More experimentation
Using a piece of jute rope soaked in a glue/water solution I was
able to give a simple color on color piece some much needed
texture.

39. 21. Mixing it up
A closer look……

40. 22. Favorite color combos

41. 23. No two are alike…

42. Given my love for seashells and all things beach it only
made sense that when I needed to create a few more
pieces I turned to my collection of shells. Out in the
garage I have several boxes of shells, driftwood and sea
glass that I have been collecting for years. Every time
my husband and I go to the beach we look for and try to
recover unique things. Some of our favorite things are
pieces of driftwood. Eventually I hope to have enough to
create a wreath for our front porch.
This piece was created using some white shells I
happened upon during a trip to the beach after a storm.
Oddly there were hundreds of scallop shells and many of
them were white. When I laid them all out I noticed like
humans, no two are alike!

43. 24. Around the house

44. I went all around the house looking again for something to use to make a
piece of art. I started to work with anything circle or somewhat round. I
found things like the top to the cat food can, a roll of packing tape, a spoon,
a pair of scissors and a wrought iron letter opener. Each one made their
own distinct shape when traced onto a piece of tracing paper. I found the
letter opener especially interesting. The shape of it compared to the shape
it made was remarkably different.
Once the project was nearing the end I felt it needed some juxtaposition. It
needed a rectangle, a rectangle of color.

45. 25. Blue, blue, blue

46. My favorite color is BLUE – any color of blue. Cobalt blue makes my heart
race. Beautiful shades of sea blue give me a sense of calmness. Sky blue
has a felling of freshness especially when it is combined with the softness of
huge white clouds.
Mixing any of them with their respective colors on opposite sides of the color
wheel gives us the favorites we are used to seeing everyday.
Blue does a lot of things for me but the one thing it does not do is make me
feel BLUE!