Eclectic Studio - Tammy Morrison-Koenig

How quickly an idea can change. I have an art journal full of unused Gelli prints and some basic supplies that have been calling my name, so when I get 5 minutes to unwind I use what's in front of me to do something wild and crazy. Today I grabbed some cheap chalk pastels and just started to play. As I get to the hair you will see that the pastels are a little weak in value and saturation so I sprayed with a fixative added some sewing tissue and paper to cover the red pastel and turned her hair green. I added some contrast in the background and pumped up the color with little touches of acrylic and oil pencil. Don't be afraid to layer and think outside the box. Use crazy colors, don't be a perfectionist, use items that are completely out of your comfort zone. Grow. This painting is one of those ideas that went off the rails and turned out pretty good. It has all the characteristics I personally look for in my art. Value, Composition, Contrast, and Interest. Hope this ins

This painting is an example of recovering from a major disaster. Everything was going along wonderfully and I was using my black paint pen to add some details when it exploded - see the viewers left eye - and when I was sopping it up I touched the paper towel on the shoulder area. Ugh. As I had originally intended, this is a little demo on how I achieved the final painting even through adversity.   This art journal is nothing fancy, a plain lined paper notebook, it's about 5*8, with a tough vinyl cover, that I picked up from the dollar store. Some of the pages I have gessoed, some have been decoupaged, and some papers are Gelli print one-offs - like this one. The only reason I like to use this one is that I like the size of it.  I didn't have any idea when I started on what I was going to do with this sheet. I try and use the most patterned part of the paper as the focal point. So I took my blue watercolor pencil and sketched out a basic cat shape. Even when I am just w

We have seen these deer head pillows everywhere, so I though while we are recovering from the flu, sitting around watching the CFL football semi finals, I thought I would try my hand at this project. I used micro suede and flannel scraps for this project, which makes it very cuddly as well. Yes "Multi tasker" is my middle name LOL There are alot of patterns on the web for deer head printables, this is the one I chose.  Copy your pattern to the wrong side of your applique fabric and iron down according to the instructions, then cut out the shape. Remove the paper backing and position the pattern on your cover piece of fabric and iron down. Select a narrow, close set, zig zag stitch and slowly work your way around the pattern. Remember always leave needle down when turning around a corner.  Pin and sew on the back panels, with a straight stitch and then zig zag for stability. Clip your corners, flip right side out and poke out your corner. Insert your pillow f