Well, I've finally found something interesting to do with all these rusty beer bottle caps I've been picking up off the ground! (Trash to treasure, one of my favorite things!) This project is still in the conceptual stage, as I search for the perfect rusty metal bars to mount it to, so it can be a free-standing object, hang from a wall, etc. I think I'll do many of them, all different, and call it the "Sinners & Saints" Series. I believe it's particularly effective when I leave the dirt inside the bottle caps that have been unearthed from the ground. Or, I tell myself that so I don't have to wash them. Ha!
Book Covers for Susan Hansen
This week I have been doing some graphic design (my first love) on a book cover (a series, actually) for a friend of mine, Susan Hansen. She is a life coach, a counselor, and a teacher among other things, and is writing a series of manuals for support groups of all kinds.
Our friend and artist, Vikki Reed's beautiful watercolor Mandalas will be featured on every cover.
These 1st two layouts are ready for press, so the front cover is on the right and the back cover is on the left.
...and two more that I'm still working on.
Red Square Mosaic Vase
Well, I certainly hope I get faster at this medium as I go along, since it seems this 5" square mosaic vase took me about a million years to finish. Did I say these mixed media projects were a cure for my perfectionism? Ha!
Anyway, I love this piece. Each side is different so I have to show you all of them. Please don't be disturbed by Jesus on the Cross, upside down on side B. He fit there perfectly and it just means that His Holy Spirit is intermingled with us through everything we do. :-)
This piece will be exhibited for sale ($275) at On the Edge Gallery in Scottsdale tomorrow. Or you can just call me. Use it for anything….the typical vase for flowers, a candle (it's made with broken glass, candlelight would illuminate it beautifully) or heck, just put it on your bathroom counter and fill it with hair scrunchies or cotton balls.
That's all for now, back to the birdhouse next week. A friend just gave me a whole duffle bag full of broken Mexican pottery!!! Be still, my beating heart!
Imagine...
OK, use your imagination, remember I'm using a lot of artistic license here, and see if you can make out the window and window ledge on my mosaic birdhouse. See the rusty window pane, the screen and the yellow curtain? My favorite parts are the flowers in pots, made with beads and broken china, sitting on the combination mesquite wood and teal ceramic ledge. Like I said, "Imagine…." hee hee.
Mosaic Birdhouses Continue!
Hello Friends!
I continue to spend my days scavenging for amazing pieces to add to my mosaic birdhouses. They are just so fun! Take a look at this week's progress!
A New Birdhouse
Well, since my first mosaic birdhouse sold last month, at On the Edge Gallery, I decided I should make another. I found this quite weathered, old wooden birdhouse at an artist's 'stash' sale and whitewashed it for starters. A red roof seemed appropriate so that's where I began. I've already got some pieces of broken glass picked out to make the flowers that will 'grow' up against the walls. What do you think about my concept for the birdbath? Stay tuned for the next episode of This Old House.
A Few More Small Paintings...
I've been working on a few more small canvases (5" x 5") for my 'Nothing But Flowers' series, which debuts this Thursday night in Fountain Hills at the Fountain Hills Artists Gallery.
I'm grateful to the Talking Heads for coming up with this title for me, as I am having so much fun doing nothing but flowers in this medium. I can keep exploring all these ways to create a flower without having to throw in a landscape or even a tree! These are all $45 each, which is quite a bargain for original artwork considering how long I spend creating one. (Not that they're perfect, but God knows I'm still tryin'!
Hope you enjoy viewing (or owning) them as much as I enjoy making them!
A Few More Studio Shots and Event Flyer
Here are a couple of studio shots of more mini flowers (5x5", 6x6") in my 'Nothing But Flowers' series. These will be exhibited on sale at the 'Spring Fling' Featured Artists Event at Fountain Hills Artist's Gallery in Fountain Hills, AZ. They'll be about $45 each, but I'll also have some special pricing going on the night of the show next week. Here's the flyer I designed to promote the show.
Share it with you friends. :-) Hope to see you there!
Nothing But Flowers - Triptych Complete!
I finally finished all 3 panels of my triptych "Nothing But Flowers". I am so obsessive, I can spend hours and hours on the tiniest details. I tried about 50 different pieces of broken glass and finally smashed some more, just to find the 'right' pieces for the middle of a flower. It's crazy, and I could go on and on, so I have to stop and call it done :-) Let me know what you think.
Remember, the only place to see these works of art exhibited is from 6-8pm on March 24th at the Fountain Hills Artists Gallery in Fountain Hills, AZ. Be there or …. contact me at jnassano@cox.net and you can see it in my studio.
Nothing But Flowers (Part 3)
I'm still working on my triptych "Nothing But Flowers", and having tons of fun doing it! Here are some details of the new flowers I'm creating using cut & torn paper, acrylic paint washes, sand, jewelry, beads and miscellaneous 'found' objects, many from an alley in my neighborhood! Hopefully I can show you all completed canvases next week.
