"Fantasy Forest" 18 x 24 Intuitive Painting

"Fantasy Forest" Intuitive Painting by Tammy Dial Gray

This week I played with layers and layers and feelings that bubbled to the surface.  I thought about connectivity and abundance, history and ecology and thought deeply about how these ideas have been represented in animated forest scenes such as the movies Avatar and The Secret of Kells.  This painting is what developed from those reflections.

Here is a more detailed shot:

Close Up of "Fantasy Forest" an intuitive painting by Tammy Dial Gray

You can read more about this piece here

Quirky Birds Mini Book

"Quirky Birds" for Lifebook 2013. I used selected lyrics from Annie Lennox — Little Bird. This was so much fun! This is mixed media on watercolor paper. It folds like an accordion book.

The lyrics I picked start with the bird on the top left:
I look up to the little bird
That glides across the sky

But this little bird's fallen out of that nest now
I've got a feeling that it might have been blessed
So I've just got to put these wings to test

For I am just a troubled soul
Who's weighted...
Weighted to the ground
Give me the strength to carry on
Till I can lay this burden down

So I've just got to put these wings to test

Here are some close ups:

What? I thought they said it was spring!

I painted this bunny after seeing and adorable photo of a bunny eating a flower.  We have had tornadoes in our area so I wanted a wild Florida sky.  I used the Ripples Stencil and three colors of paint for the sky (Rich Cobalt Acrylic Glaze,  Stewart Gill Byzantia Aegean, heavy body white acrylic paint.  

For the grass and blue flowers I used Stewart Gill Byzantia Acanthus, heavy body white acrylic paint, and Fern Silks Acrylic Glaze with the blue colors listed above and the Cherry Blossom stencil.  

For the color of the orange flowers I mixed Sunburst Silks Acrylic Glaze with Spicy Tomato Silks Acrylic Glaze.

For the bunny, I did an under coat with colored pencils and then used a dry brush and white heavy body acrylic paint.  I used white and black pens to finish off the details.  

She's Got Style: Mixed Media Canvas

I have always liked fashion illustrations. So, when I looked at my Brain Coral Stencil and my Ripples Stencil and realized that the size and patterns of the designs would look great on an outfit for one of my girls,  I couldn't wait to get started on this project.  The first thing I did was sketch out my girl and her obvious companion, a stylish cat.  I used Bristol paper, and graphite pencils to do the sketch work.  I then used a black pen to trace the lines of the Ripples Stencil on the jacket of my girl.  I traced the Brain Coral Stencil on the dress.  I started the coloring process with Inktense and colored pencils.      I continued adding color to the design using Inktense.  I cut out my girl and her cat and used matte medium to adhere them to my prepared background. Some of the supplies I used in my background are as follows: Stencils: Amiens, Ocean Waves, Cherry Blossom, and Seven Jewels. Silks Acrylic Glazes, white pens, gesso, white heavy body acrylic, bleeding tissue paper, gold paint pen, water soluble markers, and workable fixative.  

Thank you for stopping by!

29 Faces 2.3.13

Summer Girl  She is a Work in Progress.  

I created her with Pan Pastels (the 20 piece portrait set), sketching pencils, Derwent Inktense Colored Pencils, Silks Acrylic Glazes, the Seven Jewels Stencil from Artistcellar, and the London Old World Map Stencil from Artistcellar.   

Compass, Too Mandala: The 2nd in my Compass Series

I created this while praying for my family to go in the right directions for our lives, our growth, our love and our faith.

Whirlwind of Dreams and Opportunities

Since the Design Team announcement for Artistcellar, I have been quietly working on my pieces for my weekly contributions to their site.  I will have posts up both on their site and on my blog every Wednesday starting the first week in February.  I am utilizing their amazing collection of exclusive stencils.  Similar to the way I have used them in the background of this piece and each of my posts includes a tutorial.

At the same time, I started teaching Intricate Doodles at The Doris an art gallery in my town.  For the Intricate Doodles class, I am working to create a greater variety of colored pieces to teach my students how to use color in their work.  Both of these projects take time.  An intricate doodle like this one takes me about 15 hours.

I thought that the opportunity to teach and to work for Artistcellar was exciting enough and then The Doris requested that I submit pieces for a gallery show they are doing this weekend and for the month of February at the Florida Community Design Center in the Chamber of Commerce Building.  So, for the first time in my adult life, I have three art pieces in a gallery show.

The show opens with Artwalk this Friday night.  I am in the amazing company of the Artists' in Residence at The Doris and some of the other art teachers like my beautiful friend and Mosaic Artist Limor Ben-Naim Herb.  

As I spoke with Turbado Marabou, one of the incredible Artists In Residence at The Doris, he expressed interest in the Artistcellar stencils.  It was a surreal moment as my online art world and my local art world came together.  I will be sharing with Turbado the amazing line of Artistcellar stencils and I hope to discover his methods for using them in his work.

To say that I am amazed that all of this is happening at once is an understatement.  I am also extremely grateful for each of these opportunities to express myself through my art.  So, while I might be more quiet than normal, I am in my studio working away and bursting with excitement that I am able to participate in the art world both locally and online.  I am immensely grateful for your generous support.