Flip Cup - Dirty Pour Acrylic Pour Painting - DIY - Tutorial

I have been having so much fun doing these acrylic pours!!!











Thanks for stopping by, and remember - be peaceful, be kind it is important!!!

Art at the GPAC: Tish McDermott

I am so excited, SO EXCITED!!

Anatomy of a Painting - Tie Dye Garden

I wanted to do something bright, something floral and still abstract. I work alot with blues, and for once wanted to have a painting with no blue in it. 

I laid out the canvas for a tryptic style layout. I used ALOT of paint because I knew I was going to loose a lot of it in the process. Now think of a bug crawling thru a flower garden in full bloom. As you look around, what would all that glorious color look like? That is where we start.

We are a bug in a garden and have an up close and personal view of a bloom, now lets move forward shall we?

Water - tons of water, this is where I am loosing paint. I spray, spray, spray the canvas and then tilt it around slightly for all the colors to run. This gives is a tie dye effect - cause you know I can't leave the house without at least one piece of tie dye on :)

This is going to take a while to dry, so I am really looking into this piece, taking the vision further. It needs depth, it needs some shadows, it needs a darker color. 

Lets go for the blue :)

There is still a lot of water on the canvas, so the blue/green begins to 'melt' into the pattern, PERFECT! I don't tilt it around, I just let it do it's thing. 

As it dries, you can see how the blue started to crawl thru the painting, making it seem alive. 

Now that the painting is fully dry, there is still some need for depth, for definition. On the parts of the canvas that had little to no paint, I used a black color pencil to shade in areas.  That helps to bring the color forward. Then to help define the 'petals' of the flower, I used a sharpie and made random lines, tracing the 'petals'

Now you can see them side by side, finished, as I had envisioned them!

Items used, acrylic paint, color pencils, sharpies.

And as always, Be peaceful, Be kind. 

Remember to explore, create, dream, imagine and discover!

Flood the Streets with Art Part III - Acrylic Paintings

This Friday is the 3rd annual Flood the Streets with Art. Artists dropping their work all over the world, free for someone to pick up!!

These are two of the paintings I have made for my drop in the Raleigh, NC area. 

Working on pendants and earrings as well. 

Gonna flood the streets with goodness!!!!

My First Gallery Hanging - Litmus Gallery - Anything Goes 2013

I submitted three of my paintings to Litmus Gallery in Raleigh and then started to chew my nails. Submitting work is nerve wracking - it is the waiting. I am no stranger to submitting my work. I have submitted to several magazines with my jewelry, and have been published over 20 times - and the results are the same. I have no nails.

The acceptance date had come and gone with no word from the gallery and I removed it from my mind and continued on to other adventures. Then the email came. Two of my paintings were accepted! I will be honest, I teared up, squealed, and maybe even pee'd my pants a bit.

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

"Cosmic Chrysanthemums"11 1/2" x 14 1/2" acrylic on cherry wood cabinet door

"Meteoroid Showers on Sand" 11 1/2" x 14 1/2" acrylic on cherry wood panel

Tonite is the reception, and I couldn't be more proud and more nervous and more excited! I can't wait to see my work hanging in a gallery and to see all of the other submissions. I can barely focus on the day, I want to be at the gallery now :)

Layers of an Acrylic Painting "De-Stressing Distress"

I am in awe of how artists can create a painting in one sitting.

Mine take days and days of layers and layers. Sometimes the suspense is overwhelming, I can't wait to see what it will look like.

I never know where I am going to go with the color or the texture. It changes with each layer.

Here is how I started

It is a lot to take in, it screams at you. It makes me feel like I am driving on the interstate, hell bent on getting to work, so much traffic, my knuckles are white on the wheel. I hate that feeling. There is A lot of color, A LOT of paint. So thick took 5 days to dry. In the thickness of the paint I scrawled in words and shapes. Kept it positive. I NEED that positive. Kinda like my mantra I guess.

Now it is dry, lets add more color!

I mixed three colors to get this one. Slapped it on, and then with a damp towel and a wet paint brush, removed color in patches. Removed that screaming - I was nearly deaf!

Let it dry.

How bout some more color!!

This was a bit much. I really scared myself. Thought I had went to far. The screaming started again. Same process, used a damp towel, wet brush, and A LOT of water to remove this paint in areas of the work area, and to lighten the over all color.

Finally I did a coat of white - (forgot to take a picture) the coat of white was really watered down. I had to stop the screaming. I applied it with a wet washcloth. It had a white wash look to it, made the painting very opaque. Didn't have the look I wanted yet. So I kept rubbing, and wetting, and rubbing. Even rubbed the paint off in one spot, but I liked the look of it and kept going. Finally - with the white wash just right, and still wet, I went over it with a high gloss glaze.

PERFECT!!! 

The glaze reacted with the white washing and gave a great look to the final painting. I am in love.

I have named it "De-Stressing Distress".

It reminds me of an old pair of blue jeans. Soft, and torn. When you pull them on, they button just right and  you sigh with comfort. You can trace your finger around the stains on the thigh and remember the party where you danced and danced, and spilled your drink. How about the rip in the knee. The memory of bending down to pick up your child at the park, and they ripped, and smile. The hole in the pocket where all your change drops thru, and you silently cuss, because you keep meaning to mend it. Deep in the threads of these jeans hold the secrets of your happiness and when you pull them on nothing else matters.

Like the painting, if you look, the words and shapes can be seen, words like love and passion, words that are so important to us, and we tend to forget in our busy lives.

I want you to get lost in this painting, and feel the comfort it gives.

From Christmas to Sunflowers - Acrylic Paining

I love the process.

I love the unknown of where I am going, just following my paint brush blindly knowing I will arrive somewhere fantastic.

This is how it started. Reminded me of somewhat of a dark Christmas. Christmas Eve, the family is over, someone had a bit too much to drink, and maybe pulled some family ghosts out of the closet and hung them right over the top of the dinning room table. The evening started beautiful, and then suddenly got dark.

You know that Christmas?

Then 6 months later, summer is in full bloom, and that same family is together, and the sun is shining, and the day is full of laughter, food, hugs and love.

Adventures in Acrylic Paint

I suffer from the "I want to do it alls" and I dabble in many different forms of expressions. Painting has become a real passion as of late.

I paint in layers, so it takes several days to complete a painting. A real test in patience!

What I love about the layers, is as each one drys, that gives me time to really meditate on what I am doing, really get lost in the project, and express something from very deep inside.

Sometimes as in the project, I may never know when to stop. I keep going with the layers. This one actually started out as a patch of flowers on a grassy hillside by a rock overlooking the ocean. Well, it still is, but the image is not as obvious :)

Antomy of a Painting

It always happens in stages. Takes me about a week to do one painting. I start with something random. It is always very unassuming and boring to start. I always wonder, how can I turn this into something spectacular.

Then let it dry and add more color. I love to add color, then wipe it off. I take a wet paint brush, and remove color as well, working back down thru the layers

After the 3rd setting, I was happy with the layers and the colors

I call this "SoulFire"

Friday Off Topic - Acrylic Painting

Painting is a fun way for me to clear my head. I call it a creative cleansing. Most artists I know are not 'exclusive' to their medium, and love to dabble in other things, if only for this same reason. It gives you a different perspective.
This was my attempt at an abstract flower garden with a summer fireworks display. What do you see?

This one is one of my favorites, and James favorite.This is a rain storm at the beach. Do you see it?

This one I did while I was on the phone with my brother, my biggest painting inspiration. It was so much fun to be talking to him, and mindlessly dabbing on the canvass board. I think I pulled him thru to the creative process. I sent it to him as a thank you, and he framed it and LOVES IT!!!

I love challenging my creativity, pushing my brain into overdrive and working with my hands. Lord help me if I ever try pottery :)

Inexpensive Glamor

I got a mix bag of acrylic beads from Firemountain Gems a while back, and have had so much playing with them.
There is a great source of inspiration in this fun little mix.

This is my latest creation using those acrylic beads, and adding some chain, and black stone.

Simple, inexpensive and oh so glamorous!

Jerry Piper Art

What is JerryPiperArt.com?

It is a glorious collection of talent, vision, color, texture and inspiration.

Who is that handsome man on Jerry Piper Art Facebook Fanpage?
That is my brother!

My brother has been a pillar of inspiration, support, encouragement, love... and the list goes on. Some of my earliest memories are of him, bringing me sketch pads and pencils and sitting with me and drawing. He always praised me for my attempts, and found merit to my work. I have always been amazed at how he 'sees' the world. How everything has a potential for beauty or to stimulate imagination.

Award after award, honor after honor has been bestowed upon him for his work, and it is easy to see why.

His talent goes beyond, 'having a flare' - He is art.