Polyphonic, new mixed media large painting

The top one is the new version. Had it on the dining room wall and after reworking it in my head night after night, I decided I wanted to do what Matisse did in his painting. My favorite part of his piece is the black with the fern fronds pattern. I ended up changing my background by using black and adding a lot more collage throughout. I found that the papers gave it a crispness in areas that I was craving and couldn't get with just paint. The collage looks integrated in the photo, but if you click to enlarge the photo you can see more bits and pieces of paper in the paint.

Three Peaches original mixed media still life painting

8" acrylic and paper on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

Plums in a Catherinholm Bowl original painting

8" acrylic and mixed media on gessoed masonite panel. SOLD

My color scheme came from a rug pattern I saw in a magazine. I've done this Catherinholm's bowl twice before, here and here.

Little Deer original mixed media painting

A little weird, I know, but it's fun to do something different. It is much harder to paint a tiny plastic deer than I would have guessed. Did another collage I like better and plan to post it tomorrow. 6" square on canvas.

Teacup Party original contemporary still life painting

5" by 7" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas SOLD

I had fully intended to paint a soap dispenser that I have by my sink. I'd made a resolution to paint only things that looked contemporary for a while. Well, after moving that soap dispenser around forever, trying to get a good set up, I noticed my little teacup with this pink umbrella sitting in it over on the still life prop shelf and changed course. Believe it or not this dainty painting was done with Led Zeppelin blasting away. Kenny was in charge of the playlist while we both painted. We've each been having an art crisis but are recovering.

Sunflower and Pitchers progress mixed media painting

16" by 2o" original mixed media painting

Still working on this one. It's not quite finished. I'm trying to work with the idea of refractions that are carried out in the glass and also with the use of collaged papers. I have loved painting pictures of glass for so long and it's fun to try new ways of doing this. Found a wonderful blog called Paper Paintings by Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson who has beautifully integrated collage and images and paint.

Work in Progress mixed media painting

I'm trying to remember to photograph at different points this 16" by 20" mixed media piece in progress. These are some sunflowers that came up on their own in the backyard.

Zinnia Going to Seed original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

6" square original mixed media painting on canvas SOLD.

Here's a small one that I had a wonderful time being self indulgent with. I used very thick paint with bits of collage embedded. I don't know why the idea of "going to seed" has such a bad rap...it's a beautiful process when you think about it!

Earlier this month, I went home for a great visit with my parents and since then I've been doing yard work and helping my daughter get ready for a mission trip. I've also been working on a large mixed media that I feel somewhat vulnerable about sharing. I'm hoping to get in a lot of studio time the rest of the month.

Night Shell original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

5" by 7" acrylic and mixed media collage on canvas, SOLD.

Please excuse the glare, I had a hard time photographing this one. When Kenny (the husband) went wild over this one I finally realized how much it resembled the approach in a lot of his work, light lines on a black background.

Two Zinnia Paintings

A while back I had the best special request ever for a painting of an orange zinnia in a small star design glass... subject matter that had special meaning for this dear requester. I've been waiting for my zinnias to grow, and a few of them have, but not bloomed yet. I'm not even sure what color they will be when they bloom. Well, a couple of days ago I found the perfect little orange zinnia plant in the garden center. The first one was such fun that I've done a second one so she'll have more choices. You can see in the top painting, done second, that I loosened up a bit and have more paint going on.

8" square acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

original mixed media painting Keeping Count of Treasures

8" square mixed media acrylic on masonite SOLD

The name "Keeping Count of Treasures" was the title to a graph from an old book I have used for part of the collage. After looking at it on the computer, I think I need to go back in and paint out some more areas to off set the layered parts. There' a picture of Gandhi in here courtesy of a Little Golden Encyclopedia Gg-Hh. Can you find him? Is this a bit like "Where's Waldo?"

Etsy front page! Free shipping today.

View an Etsy Front Page Treasury List - The Vault on Craft Cult

I had a painting on Etsy's front page yesterday. I thought the colors were so pretty together. Also I will be having free shipping for Memorial Day on all paintings in my etsy shop. Just let me know if you are interested in an artwork and I will reserve you a listing with free shipping.

Hope you all have a great time with your family today! I am so thankful for all of the families who have sacrificed by serving our country.

Sweet William original painting by Polly Jones

11" by 14" acrylic and mixed media collage on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

I've used some tissue paper as a collage element in the upper top background. I repainted the pattern on top of the paper. I have this flower known as Sweet William (also dianthus and also pinks) growing in pots outside. They are so hardy that they can survive the harsh winter around here. I have known a couple of Williams but they were definitely not what you would call sweet.

Jalopeno and a Half original painting by Polly Jones

5" by 7" acrylic on canvas.  SOLD

Very Truly Yours original mixed media painting by Polly Jones

8" acrylic and mixed media collage painting on gessoed masonite. SOLD

Wild garlic and a magnolia blossoms are the sources for my drawing. It's all mixed in with vintage papers from a childrens encyclopedia and a page from an old typing manual.

Clementines in Blue Willow original painting

8 inches square on canvas, on SOLD

You're probably thinking, "Really, that bowl again?" I had a terrible craving to see orange and blue together and ended up getting out my blue willow bowl.

Strawberries on Dots original still life painting

8" square on gallery wrapped canvas. SOLD

I love how strawberries come in so many funky shapes...some rather elegant and some kind of stumpy, yet they are all wonderful, except for the old mushy ones. Okay, I think I'll stop thinking about it.

Happy Mother's Day

Here is my beautiful mother and sister. I just wanted to share this on Mother's Day and say thank you to both my wonderful mom and mother-in-law. I've been having a great day being spoiled by my daughter.

The last post I made was a mistake, sorry about that. I accidentally published while fiddling around with my blog by trying to add tabs at the top.

Strawberries original still life painting

6" square acrylic still life painting SOLD

Did this yesterday. I just love Sunday afternoons.

Dan McGregor art exhibit

I have been meaning to post about this fabulous show by our friend Dan McGregor at The ACU Cockerell Gallery in Abilene. It opened earlier this month and is up until May 10th. It was a total immersion experience...a story complete with interactive, beautiful sculptures and wall pieces. The resurrection machines were my favorites; they were devices to help you reach heaven. Another fun aspect was that my husband was a model for some of the prints. I wish I had taken photographs to share. If at all possible, you should try to see it!

time correction

Sorry about this, just realized I posted the wrong date for the demo. It is tomorrow, April 24th at 11:00 until 1:00.

Michaels painting demo tomorrow

24" by 36" acrylic and mixed media painting on canvas. This is a painting that I have been working fast and furious on all week. I kept falling in and out of love with it until we had a serious breakup right before I dropped it off at The Center for Contemporary Arts for a show that will open May 1.

Tomorrow (April 24th) from 11:00 to 1:00 I will be doing a painting demo at Michaels in Abilene. Come by and see me if you can! I have a couple more dates for floral painting workshops coming up: April 29th 6:30 to 8:30 and another on May 13th 6:30 to 8:30.

two red bowl mixed media paintings

The top mixed media piece is 11" by 14" SOLD and the bottom one , "Paradox" is 8" square (SOLD)

I keep up with some art marketing blogs and they all say to find your "brand." Sometimes when I'm posting my work, I feel a little self-conscious about that and wonder if my work looks like it was done by the same person. I have actually had people comment about that on my Flickr account and I can see why. I've even made personal manifestos to do a certain kind of work. But...it has felt artificial to impose a single approach. I guess I will keep on bouncing around in this area I have staked out for my creative endeavors. There is a certain vocabulary of symbols, colors, dishes, papers, books, and images that all keep me excited about doing these diverse pieces.

Sorry for the bombardment with posts here. I just realized that my previous post made it sound like the workshop included both dates listed when actually they are separate, stand alone workshops. I'm doing the same class twice. Sorry :)