Splashing Through Life - Art by Patricia Henderson

  I 'm an Orange Polka-Dot Teapot! A bright little chubby teapot to bring colour and warmth on these freezing January days! Check out the details in my Etsy shop. Edit: SOLD!

I've been working on a mixed media collage of this handsome fox, nicknamed "Mulder". He turned out to be a little more tricky than I had imagined, but I'm pretty pleased with the way he turned out.  Here is the finished painting, and underneath are a few of the steps I took along the way. The Watcher 24" X 18" X 1.5" Step One: The Drawing Step Two: Creating the Background, layering papers Step Three: After dripping and drizzling Clear Tar gel medium, starting to apply acrylic paint over the background Step Four: Transferring the drawing to the canvas. Step Five: Starting to collage painted paper scraps to Mulder. Step Six: Continuing the collage process. Step Seven: More of the fox is appearing. Step Eight: Almost done! Adding grass at the bottom. Step Nine: Finished!

This colourful little fellow is feeling just ducky today! The colours in this small collage are even richer in person. During these dull days it is hard to get the camera to pick up the colours accurately. I will be popping him into my Etsy shop shortly, or if you'd like this little fellow to brighten up your house, feel free to contact me directly!  Now on to my next project, I wonder what that will be? "Just Ducky" 8" X 10" X 1.5" Paper Collage on Canvas Reference photo by Shawn Parker  @ Artist Reference Photos

The whole time I was creating this collage, I couldn't get the song "My Darling Clementine" out of my head! Now I've probably put it in yours....sorry 'bout that! This collage started out with a much different composition and I wasn't happy with it. The nice thing about collage is that you just have to "collage" over the parts you don't like! You'd never know there had been a third ugly clementine, and a much higher "horizon". I think I'm finished now, if only to get the song to stop! My Darling Clementines 6" X 6" X 1.5" Paper Collage on Canvas $45 Check this out in my Etsy Shop!

Okay, I've been slack with Watercolour Wednesdays, so slack that it's Thursday and I'm posting one. Hallowe'en is coming soon, so here is a little Scaredy Cat. Really little, it's only 2.5 X 3.5 inches! Not my very best work, but those eyes are less than 2 mm wide! Photo reference courtesy PaintMyPhoto

I've been working on a collage, but  I've been going back to the Clear Tar Gel when I need a break. These are great because you can do a lot of the Tar Gel designs ahead of time and then bring them out when you feel like playing! This is one I've been working on a little bit at a time, and I don't think I'm finished yet. I like where it is going so far. The camera has emphasized the darker purple parts a bit, but I kind of like the look so I may darken some more of those passages. I'll post again when it's finished and I have a better photo. Abstract Orange Floral 20" X 15" on Illustration Board

I had taken a break from Watercolour Wednesday for a few weeks...(okay, I was lazy!), but it's back!! I was missing my little green tree frog that was sold the other day, so I decided to tackle a couple others. These guys are really colourful and fancy, and probably poisonous...but I thought they were cute! They are mostly watercolour, with a bit of ink and crayon. And both are available in my Etsy Store . Feeling Blue! ACEO 2.5 X 3.5" Fancy Frog ACEO 2.5 X 3.5" (Reference Photos courtesy of Morguefile)

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'm finally done my Big Tulips! I think they are very bright and cheerful, and kinda funky! Now I just have to varnish it and get it ready to hang. May Flowers 24" X 24" Mixed Media Collage on Canvas

These darling Clementine's are so sweet and juicy, I just had to sketch them before I eat them up! I was happy with the whole one, but had fits painting the partially peeled one. So, not so happy with that one, but it's just a sketch for me. And I had fun doing it and that's all that matters! Darling Clementines In my Moleskine Sketchbook 3.5 " X 5" (The photo is a bit dark, but you get the idea!)

I had originally decided to call this "Which Came First?", but from the look on this girl's face, I'm thinking I should call it "Where Did THAT Come From?!" or "Did I Do That??" This turned out very bright and busy, but I like it. It's a fun one for sure! Which Came First? 14 X 11 X 1.5" $250

It's the dead of winter and I'm daydreaming about summer days and dragonflies. I know that it is Watercolour Wednesday, but today I've painted in a mix of Water media.  What is watermedia you ask? Well in art circles it is basically any media that is soluble in water. So it includes watercolour paint, acrylic paint, inks, dyes, etc. This tiny painting was  started with watercolours and ink and finished with a washy mix of acrylic paint. You can't see it here, but the wings were covered in a pearly iridescent paint. Dragonfly Daydream 2.5 X 3.5"

Okay, it's not Valentine's day yet, but here is a little Valentine doodle I did today.   It's watercolour pencil, regular watercolor and ink. Teeny tiny 2.5 X 3.5" art card. Heart Doodle

I was lazily "collaging" away this morning, when all of a sudden I realized it was Wednesday! "OMG! I'd better get watercolouring!", I said to myself. Last week, I got a lot of comments on the little tree frog ACEO I did a while back. They are funny little critters, and always look a little suprised, just like me this morning when I realized what day it was. Here is another one that I did real quick. "Party Animal" (or "Do My Eyes Look Red to You?") 2.5" X 3.5"

Last week I was challenged to post three paintings a day for five days on Facebook, and nominate someone else each day to do the same. What a fun and interesting experience that was! Not only have there been tons of great artwork posted everyday, it also got me searching my archives for paintings that hadn't been viewed for a while. One of them was a tiny ladybug, one of the first paintings I sold. I remembered how much fun she was to paint, so I thought that I'd do another for Watercolour Wednesday. Well, I enjoyed the first one so much, I did another one! They are both in ACEO format (2.5" X 3.5"). VERY affordable and collectable art. Ladybugs 2.5" X 3.5"  $8.75 each plus S&H

Phew! I've been working on this one for over a week. It's been a while since I've done a larger full collage, and I forgot how much work goes into it. But I enjoyed every minute. It's quite meditative. Since I don't have ducks and geese walking around my back yard, I've based this on a couple of fun reference photos, from Paint My Photo and Wetcanvas. This is:                                               Duck, Duck, Goose!                                                                    12" X 24"                                                           ...

I just realized it's Wednesday and I have to do a watercolour! I had no ideas in mind so I sketched the first thing my eyes landed on. So here are some acrylics done in watercolour, hence the title. Mixed Media 3" X 5"

I'm continuing on with my "Fruit Salad" series, with a little lime. These little torn paper collage paintings are all 6 x 6" on gallery wrapped canvas. (Which means the sides of the canvas are quite deep - 1.5") They look really fun and bright all hung together. Three have already sold, but there are still two available in my Etsy shop. Lime Time Click here to see Etsy listing Here are the others in the series: Click here to see Etsy listing for Pucker Up!

Now that I'm retired, I have a lot more time to spend in the studio! I've been loving doing my mixed media collages, but I want to keep in touch with my watercolour roots. I've decided that every Wednesday I will do some kind of watercolour, just to practice and also because I do really enjoy it. Today I didn't have a lot of time to do something fancy, so I did this little 2.5 X 3.5" ACEO. ACEO stands for "ART CARDS, EDITIONS AND ORIGINALS".  They are also known as Artist Trading Cards. I've had some luck selling these on Etsy , which is where this little guy is hanging out. This little Baltimore Oriole is smart and doesn't hang around here when it's cold, but painting him brought a bit of warmth to my morning.

Here in Southwestern Ontario, we seem to have plunged directly into Autumn without any transition! Brrr! Looking out into my garden, it's starting to look pretty sad, compared to its glory days in July. Recently, I completed a garden collage painting commissioned by one of my favourite clients. (Thanks, Jennifer!) She wanted something to remind her of her cottage garden in the depths of February.  If you would like your own personalized collage painting, just contact me and I can work with you to create something fun and beautiful and "just yours"! The completed painting:  A portion of the garden: A quick concept sketch: Some closeups: