I have a new website-- http://www.peggywickham.com/  I had heard that a different platform was easier to use, so I switched. It has not been easier, but I have decided to keep it anyway.

I have not posted in several YEARS on this blog because I've been active in the gallery where my work is shown, and also I've begun to display my work around town at other venues. I have had a fair amount of success with both.

That being said, my work is fairly different from the type of work I was doing when I last posted. I have taken several classes that have had a major impact on my work. Although the classes were in mixed media techniques and in abstract techniques, most of my work is still acrylic, but augmented by mixed media techniques. In the same way, it is not truly abstract, but has abstract qualities. In this way, it would be called "Abstracted" rather than "Abstract".

This piece, featured on the front page of the aforementioned new website, is an example. It actually started out as a long narrow painting of waves in the ocean. It kept reminding me of something, but I couldn't think of what. Finally, it dawned on me on morning as I woke up: it reminded me of a day in July, 1993. We were visiting Rocky Mountain National Park, It was a stunningly gorgeous day, although, since we were on some of the mountain tops in the park, it was SO cold- the kind of cold when you just can't get warm even in the car with the heater on (in July, mind you). No matter- I was so astounded at the feeling that was overwhelming that day, that I could almost touch the face of God in that blue, blue (COLD) sky. It still fills me with awe to remember it. So, that's the name of this painting: "Touching The Face Of God". It has an alternative name: "Touching The Sky".  It was done with acrylic paint, and hand printed archival papers made with acrylic paint, using a gelli plate.

Bold Expressions curated by walkinthewoodsllc on ArtFire.com

Gorgeous collection on ArtFire!  Check it out- amazing color, I think I have found a favorite and then I see the next one and that's my new favorite lol. 

Bold Expressions curated by walkinthewoodsllc on ArtFire.com

Finally- Paintings of England and Israel

Finally, I am starting to paint from the many MANY photos Joel and I took when we visited This month at Brush Strokes Gallery, I have two large paintings that I am showing. Please stop by and take a look, as the paintings themselves always look much better than the photographs of them.

This first painting is of Scarborough Lighthouse in Scarborough, England. It is near York. We stopped there to walk around and enjoy the beach, which was clearing of people so they could go home to supper.

In Israel, one of the places we visited was the amphitheater and the Roman aqueduct ruins at Caesarea Maritima. The "earth" shows up in the photo as more yellow than the painting itself.

New Work in the Gallery

A lot has happened in the last year or so. In March of lasts year, I became a member of Brush Strokes Gallery. Brush Strokes is a co-operative gallery. Members may show their a couple of their pieces each month.Here are some of the newer pieces I've shown:

 

For some months, the gallery will have a "theme". In February of this year, the theme was "Earth In Focus".  I created four works to go with this theme, all related to the history of Earth's development. The first, above, is called "Planetary Couple. It might be a planet and a moon, two planets.  There is  light glaze of metallic gold paint that does not show well in this photograph. In the photo it tends to look kind of like dirt- but it looks much nicer in person. 

This is the second in the series. It is "Earth Metamorphis"  I wanted to create a close up of the molten lava state of earth's development.

"Eternal Sea' represents that period when the Earth was covered with ocean. It is my favorite of the four pieces. The fourth piece I have not been able to photograph very well at all- will keep trying. It is of the very beginning of earth's ice age stage, and is titled "Ice Age Begins!". 

This painting began when I painted three paintings of birds.  I kept them for a long time, not sure if I should frame them separately or together, or what. I liked them all together, so eventually I found a frame that "fit" them, and then went about thinking about the rest of the presentation of this trio. I decided to mount them onto a fabric covered plywood board, A bit of the background is painted to carry the "sunrise" theme a bit further.

Slideshow of my paintings

I had fun tonight playing with making a slideshow from images of my paintings on photobucket.  These paintings were all from a couple of years ago. I have begun posting my newer ones above.

Here is the result of my efforts :-).... (no matter what I do, I cannot get the slideshow to center... :-(!!)

Art Knitting!!!!

I saw a link to this knitting page on Facebook and just have to share- how gorgeous are these knitted art items in this show!  If I had a whole lot more time than I have at the moment how I would LOVE to make some of those florals for my sunroom- those I couldn't kill off!

Normally when I link a page a picture is included but not in this case so you just have to click on either of the two links. 

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e551101c548834014e8b3be957970d

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2011/09/blooming-marvellous.html

Just had to share-- and I promise I am going to start sharing more of the awesome pages I come across!

June: new jewelry

June sort of was "jewelry month" -- I created a fair amount of pieces --  a lot more than I have lately anyway. Several of the jewelry pieces sold very quickly. I also was able to paint a fair amount- which made me very happy.   I will post the new paintings in the very near future. I was going to do that first tonight but decided that a few touch ups are necessary lol. (This is a never ending process for me. I am always looking at my paintings and other creations trying to think how I could improve them. At least with the jewelry, once the clasp is on, it's harder to "edit" lol.

But for now, the new jewelry pieces:

Crystal Cross:
 

Swarovski Crystal Cross pendant, white glass pearls, clear "e" beads, tiny pink rondelle beads, and light green saucer shaped beads with sterling clasp and findings.

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Druzy Pendant:
(Sold) Handmade silver cluster beads, silver textured coin beads, round jade beads, and oval glass "opal" beads.

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Desert Night:

Black Onyx chip beads accented by gorgeous red coral 10mm round beads and 8mm round turquoise beads. Silver seed beads separate each chip bead.

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Jade Jamboree: 
Sold: A carved Jade pendant accents this necklace of serpentine chips, light jade round beads and tiny gold seed beads between each chip bead.

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End Of Day:
Peach Mother of Pearl Square beads frame sparkling clear crystal 10mm beads. Accented by peach glass pearls, silver rondelle spacer beads, silver seed beads, and navy blue flower spacer beads. Finished with a pewter floral toggle clasp.

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Sunny Day: 
Sold: Yellow Jade chip beads are accented by silver seed beads and firepolished faceted amber glass beads. Black flower spacer beads add drama. Finished with a pretty  pewter toggle clasp.

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 Sunny Day2:

Amber firepolished faceted glass beads are accented by bright acrylic daisy beads, silver seed beads, antique gold rose beads and a mosaic pendant accented by a sunny yellow rhinestone.

This post has a lot of large files so I am going to break it in two. I will post the other half dozen or so pieces tomorrow night.