Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

I have finished my latest little fruit collage, and I'm particularly pleased with this one! It has my favourite turquoise background (although as usual, my camera won't pick up the exact colour), and I just love the orangey-pinky colours of the grapfruit sections. Available in my Etsy Shop , or by contactim me directly. Pink Sunshine 6 x 6 x 1.5" $45

I haven't decided on a title for this one yet. It might be because most of the time I start out with a title already in mind, but this painting kind of came about by accident! I had started a really cool painting with the background a collage of road maps with a very thin wash of gesso, and clear tar gel swirled over top.  I washed on some really nice blues and aquas. Over that I was going to collage some monarch butterflies, using my pre-painted papers.... Well, the background was great. The butterlies, not so much. I hate giving up on a painting, but I went for the gusto and took a big brush and gesso'd all over it. Not really knowing where I was going with this one, I took Mary Todd Beam's favourite colour trio of Golden Fluid Acrylics: Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Quinacridone Crimson, and Turquois (Phthalo), and did some random washes. The crimson kind of got left behind! The result reminded me of the sun and some twigs or branches. I had recently taken some phot...

Has it really been four months since I've posted anything? Time flies and life gets in the way of my creativity, but I've just completed my newest Mixed Media/Collage. I'm not sure why I seem to be attracted to Crows in my artwork, since lately they have been a real pest in our work parking lot. (Don't park under the tree!) Maybe it's because they seem to have real personalities and they just look kinda cool! Here is "Puzzled", 16" X 20" on canvas. This painting will eventually framed in a black "floater" frame.

We've all been waiting for signs of spring lately, and they have been few and far between. This was my mood when I created this piece starting in mid March and ending in early April. The only signs I had seen were the annual migration of the tundra swans, thousand of which flew over our house daily, creating a magnificent sight. On a smaller scale, a few hearty snowdrops popped up in a sunny spot beside our house. Welcome signs that warmer weather is on its way soon! 20"X 16" Mixed Media on gallery-wrapped canvas

Some years, in the field behind our house, the farmer plants wheat. We love to watch the wind blowing across the field creating rolling waves. If you get up close you can see the individual wheat heads dancing in the wind. This piece is 16" X 12" mixed media/collage on canvas. If you look closely, you will see that each little grain of wheat is a tiny hand painted piece of paper from pages of an old cookbook. I chose the section on bread making!

I was so pleased with my last "April Showers" painting, I decided to try another one. This one is based on the daffodils in my neighbours yard. Yellow flowers are definitely harder to do than pink! But I think they look nice together, so I may do a few more!

Well I ruined the last version of this painting when I tried brushing on varnish....so I've attempted another one, this time using spray varnish! I actually think I like this one better. I also bought some more canvases, so I'll be playing around some more with this type of painting.

I was disappointed with my last painting so I thought I'd try something really different. I found a little 8 X 10" canvas and covered it with gesso, then painted with watercolour paint. When it was done, I sprayed it with fixative and then varnished it. It was almost impossible to get dark values with this, but I kind of liked the washed-out effect.

I'm trying to do at least one painting a week, or at least use some kind of art material even if I don't complete anything. I just feel out of touch if I don't paint something! Today I finished this little acrylic still life. I'm still learning the ins and outs of acrylic painting, and since I started out with watercolours, I'm having a hard time not using them the same way! I have to keep reminding myself that I can paint light over dark! I'm sure I'll catch on eventually.

Here's a little something I painted this afternoon. I'm still experiment-ing with Fluid Acrylics, and trying to evolve from using them like watercolours to using them like acrylics! The subject will be cut up and eaten with my Cheerios tomorrow!