Eclectic Studio - Tammy Morrison-Koenig

Working over a messy mixed media background for this painting.  I quickly drew in an image of a house on the cliff. Then proceeded to carve the image out and add a little brighter color to draw the eye in. This background was just muted enough as to not compete with the focal point instead it plays right into the weathered facade of the house. Perfect. I love it when a plan works out. Hope you enjoy.

Well, I finally broke down and bought a permanent 6 * 6 inch permanent Gelli printing plate. I have been using the DIY gelatin plate I made a few years ago a lot in my work but it has a limited shelf life. What started out as a 10 * 10 inch, after time, shrinkage and remelting it is now a 3 * 5, which works well for tags or small note cards but I felt the investment in a permanent plate was worth it. This is one of my most favorite journal pages to date and I think I am going to convert it to an art card for an upcoming show. I would love to hear what you think.

I try and pull my sketchbook out every chance I get. Whether it is to create a background for later use or to create a study or painting from the pages that are "in waiting".  Using my sketchbooks regularly gives me the opportunity to intuitively paint. I grab whatever I have at hand and just let myself go. Because I work in a lot of portraits I find that these images just appear, others may find that this happens when they work with animals or landscapes or even abstract arts. This painting started with a background of stamps, dictionary paper cuts, stencils and wound up with very little if anything of that background showing through after adding some hard and soft pastels to finish it off. I guess it is what it is.