Torn Paper Exploration

Comply-cation, Torn Paper and Watercolor

This work not only was a therapeutic exploration of tearing paper and manipulating it into imagery...but it was a chance to imagine and work out the story line for a young adult fiction book that I've been writing.  I love to illustrate ideas from my stories, and sometimes integrate my own experiences into the work.  In this illustration, I made a visual representation about complying with obligations which do not serve one's creative process well.  The characters in the top right are where my heart wants to focus...my bright creative window of escape.

I throughoughly enjoyed playing around with this painting after recieving a University of North Carolina notepad for Christmas.  I separated the colors in the notepad and went to town gluing and folding the papers to paint this profile.

One of my favorite places, full of childhood and family memories, is Wintersmith Park in Ada.  It was a place where our large family spent time picnicking, playing games, and a peaceful place where I would go to study during my college years.  The grass and limbs reminded me of torn paper.

The geese were beautiful and made a special impression on me, as I imagined their magic making this a blessed place to be - a golden place.

Rock Goddess, Torn Paper, Mixed Media

I am a huge fan of women in Rock-n-Roll.  This painting is a work in progress - I just can't stop working on it.  Not only did I experiment with torn paper in creating this piece, but I broke old Chritmas ornaments for a mosaic effect, and cut up foam for 3D elements.  So fun!

I used a couple of my favorite female artists as inspiration...Debbie Harry and Nancy Wilson.  Their stage presence is inspirational. I exaggerated the height of this female rock star to show my opinion of their grandiose personas.

Often times in my career as an art teacher I would begin a piece for demonstration of a lesson and I just could not stop working on it.  This was one of those pieces.  To show my students how artists can work on any background support, I began sketching with a white colored pencil on a background of brown cardboard. 

 This demo piece was actually started during Covid.  During that time period I felt like I was drowning in overwhelming teaching conditions (we were virtual at the time).  I was working in a bubble, trying to breathe.  I used a rich blue torn paper to give contrast to this piece.  The paper had been given to me years before by a neighbor who was moving.  I'm still using the beautiful rich papers he gave me to this day.  They have helped spark my passion for manipulating different kinds of paper.

In My Bubble, Torn Paper, Mixed Media

Another tribute to my love of Rock-n-Roll.  I have been experimenting in painting with wool and I love how it combines nicely with torn paper.  Both mediums give my works depth and 3-dimensional qualities.  I love painting and drawing, but traditional media can sometimes be boring.  I've found excitement in putting these two mediums together.

Fool's Gold, Torn Paper, Mixed Media

Close UP:  It seemed like as I made this piece, materials seemed to appear just when I needed them.

This piece was, again, started as an example for my art students.  We were working big and using mixed media.  I took my piece home and began adding rich colorful paper - and it seemed as if every fabric, pile of junk...every piece in my surroundings just happened to fit into my vision for this piece.

Rich has a double meaning here.  Rich colors help to create the feel of a royal figure.  Her beauty is accented by these rich colors, but she is also rich in money (as represented by the cache in her hands).  We all know that being rich in money does not always bring happiness.