Beginning a New Series!

I am so excited to share a new idea I have for a whole series of new paintings. I shared with you in my June newsletter, that I am taking an online sketchbook workshop with Karen Stamper from the UK, and shared a video of its pages in progress. Well, I have fallen so in love with the methods I am learning, that I decided that I wanted to explore the ideas further in actual paintings. I have made it my goal to produce 25-30 paintings in all sizes as part of this series. I have NEVER done a series of this depth and magnitude before, and I am super pumped by the idea. I thought that I would share some insights into the work with you here in my newsletter -if you are not an artist, you might be interested to see how these things come about, and if you are an artist, perhaps you can be inspired to create a series of your own! I knew I had as my starting parameters that I wanted to work with inks, dry media and collage as the under layers of the paintings. I decided that I would then take these beginnings into my encaustic studio to complete the work. Interestingly, I also decided to severely limit my palette for this series, based on the more neutral paintings I showed you in the last newsletter. (BTW, thanks so much to all who wrote to me to encourage me in this new direction!!)  So now I had the kernel of an idea! The following are the first 5 pieces as they looked at the end of the first stage of the process. I have used blue and black india ink, charcoal, water soluble crayons, brown Artgraf chalk, sepia calligraphy ink, graphite sticks and collage in all of these. The beautiful yellow green was made with black india ink plus some diluted yellow acrylic ink. For the collage, I hit up my HUGE stash of papers that I have hand made, or collected in the case of the text pieces, over the last 20 years. (Did I mention I LOVE making collage papers?)  These are very rough and full of possibility at this stage. I decided to stick with the colour scheme of blue and yellow-green (which I realized later are my branding colours -no wonder I was drawn to them!) and some burnt sienna, plus black and white. It was fun to search all over my 2 studios to find dry and wet media that conformed to these colours. As I decided that I would take these to encaustic, I needed to be careful NOT to select anything that had acrylic paint on it, as wax and acrylic do not mix! As an aside, before I got the idea for this series, I had decided to sell all of my encaustic supplies, as I have a small fortune invested and figured I was unlikely to use them again. So using the wax in this series was to be my final 'kick at the can' as they say. The reality is that I had forgotten how much I loved to work with hot wax! The smell of the melting beeswax, the quick working time and the ability to make changes rapidly by adding or taking away, make this medium so alluring.

This is what the paintings look like now, after several layers of wax, both pigmented and clear. The wax gives a beautiful dimension to the work as its translucency just makes the colours and elements glow.

The first piece is 12x12", the next 3 are 10x10" and the last one is 8x8". I love the challenge of working in a square format These pieces may change further from this point, but I am onto the next 6 pieces, which I will share with your in the next newsletter! I would love it if you would please hit reply and give me your impressions of my series idea and the work I have done so far. Do you find it intriguing? If you want to follow their progress, and see video of the process, tips and insights, I invite you to follow me on IG or FB (links are at the bottom of this page).

Exhibitions

I will be back in Rosebud, Alberta THIS SATURDAY for the Rosebud Artisan Market. I did this market last year and it was a lot of fun. Saturday is supposed to be one of the cooler days in the forecast, so it should be a great day for an outing. I hope you can come out and see the show, especially if you have not yet had the opportunity to see my tent show!!

This is my tent show from last August, just to give you an idea of what it looks like. I will have mostly new work that I have painted since that show on display!

Here is a short video of last year's market!

I will 'see' you in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, I wish you a  happily memorable summer.  Blessings Sharon

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Jane Davies Monoprint Collage Online Workshop Review

In November I signed up to take Jane Davies online workshop called "Monoprint Collage" with two of my students. We decided it would be fun to take the class together and have weekly joint painting sessions in order to spur each other on to greatness finishing well. I thought I would share some of the paintings I made over the 6 week class and some observations I made during the process.

The class began with 2 lessons on making collage papers with the Gelli Plate.  We learned all kinds of techniques to use with the Gelli plate including using stencils, rainbow rolls, manipulating paint, using resists such as string, and multiple layerings. Here are just a few of the papers I made, out of the nearly one hundred we made. You will have to click on the link to see the papers at a larger size. All papers were made on 80# Sulphite Drawing Paper.

In lesson 3 , we made paintings with our collage papers, cut into squares or rectangles. The challenge was to balance the positive and negative spaces, and to use the pattern in a way that would encourage the viewers eye to roam all over the page. Here is an example of 3 of my finished collages.

I was pleased to be able to make a successful composition with only 4 collage pieces!

In lesson 4 we used 'orb' shapes out of our collage papers and the challenge was to paint an interesting background behind them, and add elements (scribble or more collage) to make a finished piece. Here is my favourited of the bunch I made -all 8x8":

In lesson 5, we began by printing directly from the Gelli plate onto our substrate. either before or after adding collage, and playing with opaque and transparent paint layers. So it was print, mask, print, glaze with opaque or transparent paint and then do whatever it took to make a finished work.  These are 3 of the ones I did, all 8x10":

In the last lesson, we began by printing and then adding collage, stenciling, glazing and opaque layering as well as adding linear elements and whatever else we felt led to do. Here are process shots of 4 of the 7 paintings I made.

  

A goal I had at the start of the workshop was to get more minimalistic in my approach, which you can see I failed miserably at. This goes to support my mantra that my body of work is called "Products Of A Busy Mind"!! Jane did a wonderful job of presenting the class, with a PDF of instructions along with 1-2 videos per lesson. The class had a private blog page so that we could post our work, which multiplied the learning seeing what other people did. It was fun to comment and receive comments on each others work, as well as Jane commenting on each of our posts. I learnt so much in the class, and I now know my Gelli plate will not be relegated to making papers for collage only. If you have an opportunity to take an online (or live) class from Jane, I highly recommend it. You can view Jane's great website which contains her wonderful artwork, an amazing blog and tons of free tutorials on her methods.

Enjoy!
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New Encaustics by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Indigo & Rust", 24x24" mixed media encaustic on finished cradled panel
$1250

As you know I have been playing with wax for the last few years, so I wanted to share with you two of my more recent paintings. This one has a piece of collage paper in the bottom that I made. I rusted some metal objects and printed them onto japaneese paper, then I folded the paper into patterns and dipped it into a vat of indigo. The paper was then collaged onto the panel with wax and wax added on top. The middle band is roofing ashphalt, and the top part is wax and pigment stick using a technique I learned from master 'ruster' Pam Nichols. There is also some collage paper on the upper right side.

"Sienna & Rust", 24x24" mixed media encaustic on finished cradled panel
$1250

This is the second piece I made in this series. Another piece of rusted, indigo dyed piece of paper is used in the lower section (this time the rust was from a large old gear). The ashphalt was used on the edges and the upper part was done in the same way as the first piece, and another piece of rusted paper was collaged to the surface. Then I incised the circles and filled them with orange and blue encaustic paint and added metalic copper to the outside ring.
One of the problems of encaustic is trying to get a good photo which shows all the depth in the work, and I think it is impossible. You really need to see these in person to appreciate them!

I am off in the morning for a private 3 day encaustic workshop with a hero of mine, Dale Roberts, in Philadelphia. Dale has several wonderful videos on Youtube that are accessible from his website, so if you are interested in encaustic and how it's done, you should check them out.  After the workshop I am off to the Big Apple with my son Evan for 4 days of art museums and live theatre. I know, poor me!

Enjoy
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"A Firm Foundation" mixed media collage by Sharon Lynn Williams

"A Firm Foundation", collage (hand painted papers) and acrylic paint
15x15", $490 framed in gold frame with 2" white border
click here to purchase

This is my latest collage painting. I just love the colour scheme of blue-green and yellow-orange! I made all the papers at the recent collage workshop I taught. It is fun to find all sorts of patterns to play with, although many will need to be calmed down with paint glazing in opaques and semi-opaques.

Enjoy!

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"From Fall To Winter", mixed media collage by Sharon Lynn Williams

"From Fall To Winter", 12 x 12" collage and acrylic paint
$475 framed, click here to purchase (this painting is currently in the Leighton Art Centre's Annual Members show -check it out!)

I am so far behind in posting my paintings, so am just picking and choosing what to post from my winter's production. While I love to paint in oil on location in the warm weather months, that is a relatively short period of time here in Calgary. I don't really enjoy paintng from photos in oil -it seems too easy to get caught up in all the 'stuff' that is in the photo, and for me it is hard to really connect with the place just from the photo. Now sometimes I can do that if I have taken the photo recently or if it holds a special meaning for me, but usually it is just 'nice stuff'.

 From November to May I spend time in my studio just painting whatever inspires me at the moment, and that is when I unleash my creativity. Perhaps that is one reason I look forward to the length of winter here every year! My winter passions go more to the abstract, and I really enjoy mixed media collage, accrylics and now encaustic.

I was having a crisis this morning, thinking that I should probably just do ONE thing, as this is the path so many of my artist friends have taken. But my darling husband reminded me that I am not everyone else, so why should my path look like everyone elses'? Plus he knows me -he knows I would get very bored only doing one thing, and it would make me miserable. I am in the blessed and enviable position that I don't need to rely on income from painting sales to eat. Which is VERY good!! This allows me the freedom to follow my muse, exploring everything about art making. It also helps me be a good teacher as I know how to use most mediums in most styles. I guess I should be happy being a 'jack of all trades', even if it means I am not a master in any. Que up the song "Don't worry, be happy".

I would love to hear your thoughts on the issue of focusing on one thing versus exploring the whole. I promise to respond to each comment.

Enjoy!
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"Life's Events" mixed media collage demo by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Life's Events", 16 x 16" collage and acrylic
$475 -on gallery wrap canvas, no frame needed -click here to purchase

This is my latest collage painting, and I thought I would share the steps this one went through on its journey.

In the first step, I gathered together relatively neutral hand painted and altered papers, which had been coated on both sides with polymer medium. The illustration board that I used as my support also had several coats of gloss medium on it. Then I randomly arranged the papers, aiming for repetition of line throughout. Then I ironed them down with a tack iron set on high with a silicone sheet (from labels) between the work and the iron.

I continued to add more papers to get a colour theme going and to break up some of the larger shapes. I was going for composition at this stage -a way to guide the eye through out the painting.

I kept turning the painting around to see how it best worked. I then applied some titan buff fluid acrylic paint with a foam roller around the exterior of the painting to keep the interest in the centre, rubbing some of it back while wet.

Lots of time thinking, turning and painting was spent between the last 2 steps! In the end I decided to cut into the design with a solid yellow background, forcing the collage bits to become one unified shape against the background. I added some balck and white deli paper that I had painted through a stencil to get some bold contrast, and painted over a lot of the paer from the initial layer. Adding the stars (taken from some of the original papers) seemed to create a story for the painting. I began to think of life's events as stars, some big, some small, some that stand out and change the path of your life, while others are just small moments in the overall plan of a life. I just love it when the work speaks to me and guides me to the finish. The joy of pure creativity!

I will be teaching a Mixed Media Collage workshop at Swintons Art Supply in Calgary April 11-13. Please click here for the details and to register.

Enjoy!
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"Menagerie" Encaustic Mixed Media painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Dancing In Time", 6 x 6" encaustic mixed media on gallery wrap canvas
not for sale

I have been playing around with combining collage and encaustic painting lately. It is interesting to see how the encaustic reacts to the elements, and it is fun to be able to not have to wait for things to dry before progressing the painting.

Just a reminder that the 10% coupon for purchases on my website comes to a close on Monday, March 31st. Just enter 'celebrateslw' when checking out. You can chose between a digital download of my plein air painting book, 1 of 2 watercolour instruction dvd's, or even an original piece of art to hang in your home. If there is a painting you would like but it is not in the shop, please contact me to see if it still available.

Enjoy!
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"Products of A Busy Mind", abstract mixed media painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Products Of A Busy Mind", 12 x 12" collage and acrylic
$575 framed, click here to purchase

Finally, new work!! This painting began as an abstract collage in shades of grey, black and white, but I just cannot paint without colour, so I added some papers painted with my favorite colour Quinacridone Gold (I still have some of the original formulation). I varied the temperature of the black by using cool Paynes Grey for some and warmer Carbon black for others. All the papers in this are hand painted by moi. Somewhere along the line, I detected what could be a profile of a face, liked that direction and then it was smooth sailing from there. Once I have an idea of where a piece is going, it is much easier to make the decisions that are needed to bring it to a finish.

Once the faces made their way into the work, I decided to send the painting to the jury for the travelling ASA exhibit this year, and sadly, I just found out that it was rejected. That hurt, and for a few minutes I was really feeling bad about my art, and myself in general -you know how it is... It lasted for about half an hour and then got blasted away by my wonderful friends who cheered me up on Facebook. I'm afraid that I am not very objective about my own work, especially when it is newly birthed. All babies are beautiful -just ask any new mother!!

Onward and upward (I hope) -Enjoy!
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Mixed Media Collage #4 by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Composition #5", 7.5x7.5" mixed media collage

SOLD

FRAMED ARTWORK PRICED FOR EASY CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING!!

Enjoy!

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Mixed Media Collage #3 by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Composition #6", 7.25 x 7.25" mixed media collage

SOLD

FRAMED ARTWORK PRICED FOR EASY CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING!

Enjoy!
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Mixed Media Collage #2 by Sharon Lynn Williams

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"Composition #7", 7.25 x 7.25" mixed media co9llage

$150 FRAMED in solid oak frame with 1" white mat border, click here to purchase

PRICED FOR EASY CHRISTMAS GIFT GIVING!!

Enjoy!

Back to Abstraction!

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"Composition #8", 8x8" collage and acrylic paint
SOLD

So we have just had the 4th big snow storm of the season, and it looks like it will be a long winter. I always look forward to this time of year to explore some of my other artistic passions, now that the opportunity for plein air painting has been severely restricted. The winter is a time of "incubation" for me, taking all the input of the landscape from my plein air experiences, and figuring out new ways to reinvent them.

Every once and awhile I return to my love of abstraction, and my favorite medium for that is collage. I have been very inspired by the work of Laura Lein-Svencner over the past year, and that has really sparked my interest. She has some neat methods of painting paper that I have now added to my repertoire. I am also inspired by Jane Davies, Sherrill Kahn and Anne Bagby, as diverse as those artists are. It is good to refresh my personal sense of design, and for that, nothing beats collage.
I have done a series of 8 of these small paintings -4 are at Centre D'Arts Visuels in Edmonton and the other 4 are at Art & Soul Gallery in High River. They are specially priced for Christmas gift giving, so if you are interested, please pop me an email. I will be showing the remaining 7 here over the next week.

Enjoy!

"Autumn Blues" collage and acrylic painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Autumn Blues", 11x11" collage and acrylic painting on board
SOLD

I have loved playing around with tons of stuff this winter!! This began as a demo for a class I was teaching, and then put 'in the pile' for another time. I thought it was a good idea to hit that stack to see what I could come up with, rather than beginning a new painting. You can see the process shots during the workshop here (its the one on the left). If you look at that older post, and compare it with what you see above, can you figure out the changes I made?? Kind of like an artistic 'Where's Waldo' :-P

Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, commission your own painting or contact me to do a workshop in your area, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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"Remembering Arches National Park" mixed media painting by Sharon Lynn Williams

"Remembering Arches National Park", mixed media and collage, 12 x 16"
SOLD

In the winter time, I often will work from plein air oil paintings I have done to create colourful work in mixed media. This is one such painting. I was trying to capture the incredible reflected light that happens underneath the amazing natural arches in Arches National Park. Beginning with a random sprinkling of collage elements, allows unexpected things to appear and become part of the painting, something that I always enjoy, as it really allows me to be creative.


Enjoy!

To purchase this painting, or commission your own painting, please email me at williamsdotsharonatshawdotca (insert characters for the dot and at!)

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New Mixed Media/Collage Workshop!

"Floral Reflections" 12x16 image, mixed media

The exciting and dynamic workshop in Calgary with Sharon Lynn Williams on March 15-18, called Creative Mixed Media/Collage is for artists of all levels of experience.  Each student will be challenged at their own level.

You can register for this workshop through Leading Edge Art Workshops and the web

address is www.greatartworkshops.com. 

The focus of this workshop will be to create and use papers  and found papers in collage, to create texture, adding acrylic paint and other media as needed.  We will work in two ways:  from "chaos: - an unplanned painting; and also start other work beginning with good compositional designs.  The subject matter will be the student's choice and we can work in many expressions, from realism right through to non-objective work.  The emphasis will be on having fun, developing creativity, with plenty of time to paint and play.  Includes several demos, a slide show and lots of one-on-one assistance with Sharon.

"Here Comes The Sun" mixed media, 13 x 14" beautifully framed
DPW auction here, starting bid $150

  Sharon Lynn Williams, AFCA, ASA is a signature

   member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, and

   the Alberta Society of Artists.  An award-winning

   artist (including an Award of Excellence with the FCA)

   her work has been featured widely in printed

   publictions. 

   A multi-media artist, she has been happily

   exploring mixed media for over 15 years and

   her mantra is "What would happen if..."  The excit-

   ment of working from chaos to order is invigorating

   and she is known for her use of bold color, line and

   texture.

   To see more of Sharon's contemporary work see her

    website at www.sharonlynnwilliams.com.

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Collage Workshop and Bad News :(

 "Surf Side", 12 x 12", mixed media
I had the final day of my collage workshop on Nov 22nd, but unfortunately I have been having a family crisis -my Mother, and best friend, was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer on the 24th, and we have been living through some very tough times since. She is now feeling much better after an 8 day hospital stay, and is living with me for the time being. So needless to say, I won't be getting much time to paint any time soon. So I thought I should post these final photos from the workshop. (I do have some work that was done prior that I can post until I can get back to work, so you will be hearing from me!)

This is the first stage in the collage, just pasting on the various transparent papers I had made in the shape of a 'T'.

 This is the next stage. I have added some transitional papers around the edges to bridge the positive and negative shapes, and have added some decorated papers  to add interest.

More papers have been added to get a directional flow going, and the focal point is being developed. In the final (so far) version at the top, you can see how I decided to play with a focal point and its repeat. I painted the background with a pale peach colour to establish the orange as the dominant colour. I also incorporated some line work to move the eye around. My son Evan (the actor) who is home to visit Grandma decided that there was a sea feeling to the painting, and hence the title.

Here are some of my students in my lovely large workshop space.

And here we all are holding our masterpieces! It was a wonderful workshop and I think we all had fun and learned a lot.
Enjoy!

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