Three Coloring Wreaths

I was tired last night after a day of lawn mowing yard work and computer work that I didn't have the energy to work on my big project in my Night Studio last night.  Instead, I put my feet up, watched a movie, and drew three wreath coloring pages.  Even though I probably spent more time doing this that if I had worked on my commission, it was more relaxing.  Here they are:

Moose Mandala - an adult coloring page

Well, I wasn't satisfied with a couple of the designs for my new coloring book of mandalas, so here is another one I created.  Stay tuned.  The book is nearly ready for printing.

The Final Four: floral mandalas for my new coloring book

Here they are:  the final designs for my new coloring book of floral mandalas.  Now I need to create a cover and format all designs to fit the book before sending off to the printer.
Stay tuned, my lovelies.

Fan Flower Mandala - an adult coloring page

I am on the home stretch now, finishing the designs for my new coloring book called "Floral Mandalas."  Stay tuned for more info on its launch.

Ragged Leaf Mandala - an adult coloring page

I am nearly finished with the designs for a new coloring book called "Floral Mandalas."  This is one of the designs that will be included.  Stay tuned for more.

An Anniversary Heart - kirigami papercut

This new papercut is a commission for a couple's first anniversary.  Home, flowers, and their beloved dogs.

Two Crosses Coloring Pages

SOmeone asked me if I would create Christian coloring pages, so these two mandalas are of Celtic crosses.  They will eventually be part of a new set.  Stay tuned.

Three New Mandala Coloring Pages

Frog Mandala - An Adult Coloring Page

This is the last mandala in my new coloring book.  Now it's a matter of laying out the front and back covers. Stay tuned.

Turtle Mandala - an Adult Coloring Page

One more design for my new coloring book, "Nature's Gifts."  Stay tuned for more.

Fruit Trees Mandala - an Adult Coloring Page

This is another mandala which will be included in my new coloring book of complex designs for adults called "Nature's Gifts."  Two more to come.  Stay tuned.

Insects - An Adult Coloring Mandala

Here's my newest mandala coloring page which will be part of my new book called "Nature's Gifts" (or something like that.)  I've pretty much finished all twenty designs which will be included.  More soon.

Tree of Life - Custom Kirigami Mandala

This is a custom kirigami cut as a gift for a teacher and her husband.
Motifs I have included:
Around the edge are flowers and hands holding hearts, hands with the "I Love You" sign, and scarlet ibis birds kissing over a stylized sunrise.
In the center is your nearly bald friend and her husband with glasses picking fruit from the Tree of Life and holding an "E" for their children. Behind them are palm trees.

Dogwood Coloring Page

Another "wreath" coloring page is finished.  Soon I will have enough for a new book.  Stay tuned.

Women Wreath - Complex Coloring Page for Adults

Yay!  Today I file my taxes, which means that I can get back to work on my new sites and coloring books now that the drudgery is over.  Here is the new "wreath" coloring page I recently finished.  These wreath designs are meant to be colored and then filled with your own words, photo, poetry, etc.  Back to the journal idea.  Stay tuned.  I will soon be gathering them together into a new book.

Vines Wreath- Coloring page

For a while now I've been creating some round coloring designs I call "wreaths."  They are like mandalas open in the center.  I will be doing a whole book of them.  Here is my latest.  This one has a smaller center than most.  Perfect for one word or a name.

Now that I'm out of the dungeon (been doing my taxes) I am ready to begin the big push for coloring pages.  My intention is to get them online as downloads as well as physical packages and books.  Stay tuned.

Blueflower Mandala Coloring Page

More to come...

Cornflower Mandala Coloring Page

I'm beginning a new series of floral mandalas.  Here is the first:

I was fooling around last night and here's what came of it.  One movie worth.

Fuchsia - Black Clayboard Engraving ( Scratchboard )

For this piece, I decided to wait until the scratchboard was finished to show you the whole process at once.  This is called "Fuchsia"  a 7x5 black clayboard engraving.  Below the final are my sessions- beginning to end.  Each session was about one to two movies long.  So many movies.

Session 1:  The initial sketch

Session 2:  The line drawing

Session 3:  I transfer the image using xylol

Session 4:  I begin etching

Session 5:  I begin the weeds, leaving the ribbon blank

Session 6:  More weeds

Session 7:  I begin the ribbon

Session 8:  I begin the fuchsia, my chop, and the bud

Session 9: More fuchsia etching

 Session 10:  Cleaning Up the Final

The Art of Cynthia Emerlye - a Library exhibit

The Norman Williams Library in Woodstock, Vermont has asked me to hang samples of my artwork in their gallery space/ lecture hall through the month of April.

I am delighted to have the opportunity for some more exposure.  The two small walls at the back of the space are just right for me, since this request is short notice and most of my work is fairly small.

Take a peek:

Preparing a Canvas for a Light Background

I've decided to prepare some canvases for some new work and I thought I would show you my process.  I want this to be a light, off-white background with some depth to it, rather like an old adobe wall.  There are eight layers of acrylic paint on this, the final result.

Here's how I did it:
First I painted a yellow ochre background and let it dry.  Over that I laid down burnt sienna with choppy strokes to let the yellow peek through.

Next, I mixed up more color to a flesh-like tone using yellow ocre, red carmine, and white.  I painted this mixture quickly over the entire canvas and then, before it dried, sprayed it with water and mopped it off with a wadded paper towel.  As you see, some of it came off, rather like an old wall.  This is still too blotchy to be a good background, so now I needed to lighten it up.

Next, I mixed up some white with a tiny hint of pink in it and painted this on quickly, sprayed it heavily with water and let it drip off the canvas (onto a waiting towel.)  When much of it had dripped off, I patted it with a clean paper towel and let it dry.

I repeated that step two or three times until the whole piece was a few shades lighter.

Finally, I needed to even out the color and lighten the darkest parts so that the blotchy areas would not distract from my subject matter.  I painted a soft white into the darkest areas and generally smoothed out the entire canvas with a layer of thinned white.  I mopped off any spots which seemed too white.  This gave me a white-ish canvas with real depth to the color.

Now these twin canvasses are ready for my next design to be painted on them.