Aspen In Collage

"Aspen in Collage" was a couple of days in the making. As I have said before it takes a bit more when working in mixed media, but I LIKE IT! This piece is 24x8" gallery wrapped canvas

11/2" wide. As you can see I worked around the edges. I put this one in my Eye Candy section of my website, but I suspect it won't be long before these different sorts will be my norm...the fun of it is we shall see! I used handmade papers and bought papers and laid in the leaves a bit at a time leaving a darker area at the bottom. The grass is paper and the background is a painted ground of blues, purples and browns. I left the background free of detail so as to make the trees pop against its background. I wanted several layers of papers for "leaves" so as to build up a bit of texture and give the feeling of a bit of depth within.

Trees, as many of you know, hold a special place in my heart. I was raised in these Colorado mountains. As long as I can remember I used to tromp about the woods and was never tired of looking, really looking at these wonderful living statues that I believe God gave us as a present! The tree is a lot like people to me. In that I mean they are all different, yet the same. Each one has different scars and surfaces, but they are all trees. The ones with the most scars are the strongest, they have lived through many storms and natural dissasters. Our scars don't always show like the trees, but the strongest of us continue to survive and grow. And, we are all beautiful and are all wonderful presents from God. I don't seem to be able to paint them all the same. I see a different sort of beauty in every media I use to honor these beautiful presents we have to look at and feel cool under!

So, this is my latest offering. You can find it on my website.

I want to welcome my newest followers. Tomorrow I will remind us all of our summer contest, so the newest of you still have a chance to enter.