Annabel Lee: Edgar Allan Poe Series

 Last year, I brainstormed a bunch of ideas for the works of Edgar Allan Poe. I hashed through a few of them so I'd have a starting point if I got behind the 8-ball come October. Guess what? Behind the 8-ball!

Out of the three ideas I started, I chose the poem, "Annabel Lee". I felt that I would be able to work this into the "collection" with relative ease. I had been trying to keep my works within a certain color way and I had not yet done blue. The references in this poem to the sea inspired me that way.

While the year 2020 certainly lent itself to be the year of the "Red Death", I didn't have that one fleshed out enough to get it done for October. But I may work on it now that my Halloween projects are completed and I am not yet inspired for Christmas. 

Here's what I made:

If you recall, I do have a few parameters that I try to meet in each of these canvases in order to keep them somewhat cohesive. They all must display the title, they all must have a picture of Poe, they all must have a torn paper background (mostly). I try to keep it looking rather "vintage" but that's a loose rule.

The poem inspired certain elements; the tomb that opens into the sea, the moon, and the bride. 

I like how "the tomb" seems to be a doorway into a new realm and how the eye is drawn into it.

This canvas is complete enough for me to make a digital file of it. But I do intend to add more 3-D elements to it, specifically small seashells along the very bottom. Since those would not scan very well, I have left them off until I have a good digital rendering. 

This makes the 6th piece in the Poe collection. (I may be ready to do a set of notecards.) The others in this series can also be seen here on the blog in various October posts or search by label "Edgar Allan Poe". They are, in order of completion; The Raven, The Black Cat, The Tell-Tale Heart, Morella, The Haunted Palace, and now, Annabel Lee.

Have a very Happy Halloween and Stay Safe! Today of all days is the time to Wear a Mask!

-Wy

The Haunted Palace Canvas/Collage

Every year I make a new Edgar Allan Poe canvas.
This year is no different.

What is different is that this one reflects more on the present day. Take from it what you will.

 Poe's The Haunted Palace:  This year's selection is a poem that struck just the right chord in me. I kept to my collage, vintage look as well as bits of buttons and a bold title. The author makes a less predominant appearance but he's in there. Different in this one is that I actually added in a quote from Poe's work, the stanza where I drew most of my inspiration. I had my doubts about this canvas from the start but I am pleased with the results. For those who are unfamiliar with this title, I include Poe's work in the rest of this post.

In the greenest of our valleys

By good angels tenanted,

Once a fair and stately palace—

Radiant palace—reared its head.

In the monarch Thought’s dominion,

It stood there!

Never seraph spread a pinion

Over fabric half so fair! 

Banners yellow, glorious, golden,

On its roof did float and flow

(This—all this—was in the olden

Time long ago)

And every gentle air that dallied,

In that sweet day,

Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,

A wingèd odor went away.

Wanderers in that happy valley,

Through two luminous windows, saw

Spirits moving musically

To a lute’s well-tunèd law,

Round about a throne where, sitting,

Porphyrogene!

In state his glory well befitting,

The ruler of the realm was seen.

And all with pearl and ruby glowing

Was the fair palace door,

Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing

And sparkling evermore,

A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty

Was but to sing,

In voices of surpassing beauty,

The wit and wisdom of their king.

But evil things, in robes of sorrow,

Assailed the monarch’s high estate;

(Ah, let us mourn!—for never morrow

Shall dawn upon him, desolate!)

And round about his home the glory

That blushed and bloomed

Is but a dim-remembered story

Of the old time entombed.

And travellers, now, within that valley,

Through the red-litten windows see

Vast forms that move fantastically

To a discordant melody;

While, like a ghastly rapid river,

Through the pale door

A hideous throng rush out forever,

And laugh—but smile no more.

I will be adding this to my "Poe-st" cards at my Etsy Shop soon. I also have a few Halloween mixed-media canvases there for sale. Take a look if you're in the market for some new spooky décor.

Thanks!
-Wy

Portrait of a Witch

Wow, where did the month go? Tomorrow is Halloween! Unreal.

So today I should finally share my large canvas project for this month and a little story to go with it. Creative and artist types will understand completely.

But first, let's see what I made.

Portrait of a Witch:  This is a 16 x 24 stretched canvas and I knew what I wanted to do with it in my head. I wanted the head of a traditional, child-unfriendly, cook those little buggers in the oven type of gal. A portrait...like the ones by the classic masters. Like Mona Lisa or the Girl with the Pearl Earring.  So I knew what I wanted but I balked that my skills were not ready. You see, I also wanted it to be my own style. And Style is something I struggle with...what is my style?

I like mixed-media, multi-layered, messy backgrounds and torn paper focal elements. So I decided to start there. I took a note from a past canvas that had smaller canvases glued onto it for embellishment. But I still procrastinated and balked at beginning because I knew it was a face and faces were hard. At least, I figured they were.

There are very few faces that I've drawn that I like. I usually use a stencil to help me get a more realistic look or to make sure it's properly proportioned. But this was a larger canvas and my stencils weren't gonna help here. I worked on other projects. (Have you seen all my past Halloween posts? Yeah, I worked on those. Anything but this.) Finally, I broke down and began to rip out the paper pieces I'd need. A hat, the green head, the shirt. I painted the letters and worked on the small canvases. Then, I slowed down, again. There was the feeling that the face wouldn't look "right".

And what was the fuel for my dread? The eyes. I still feel very uncomfortable about making "real" eyes. Googly eyes, simple eyes...ok. But eyes that seemed to stare back at you...nope. Wasn't sure I could do it. So...I knew I wanted tentacles for hair. I worked on that. Then, I did the Morella canvas. I did eyes and they looked pretty good to me. I was happy with them. But they didn't work on that piece...they were too small. So I pulled them off but I saved them. They fit on my portrait rather well. And I was HAPPY with the way it looked. We creative types so often feel that our own work is not quite good enough when we look at it. But others never see the pieces...they see the whole picture. The whole picture is what its all about and that becomes perfection as everything balances out in the end.

I did the background in mostly acrylic but added some texture paste in the blue bubbles. I tried to get more green in the background but the acrylic spray was more transparent and didn't show up too well once it dried. But it wasn't too important because the witch would take up so much space. I finally finished her up around October 8. I could have finished it so much sooner, if I had just taken the plunge.

So I learned a lot from this canvas. I like it. As artists we will always see our own imperfections but we can't let that hold up our process. We can find our way to the end, to completion and we may actually like it. Now my Witch is no Mona Lisa but she is my style and she defines the moment for me.

Thanks for stopping by and for checking out my whole month of October posts.
Only one more to go and I think you'll like it.
Check out my Facebook page to stay updated on new posts here and new items in my Etsy store!

-Wy

A Few 4X4s

October is winding it's way down to Halloween: only a week and a day!
So here's a quick post with some 4 X 4 canvases I've done. You may have seen them for sale on my Etsy site. Check it out for more Halloween items!

Stone Owl:  This owl image is a rubber stamp from Stampers Anonymous and Tim Holtz. I just wanted a focal point for my scraps background. What is really cool about this little canvas is that the painted background is done with an Art Alchemy paint that is interference violet/green. Interference paints look one color at a certain angle then the other color at a different angle. It doesn't photograph well but when you tilt it, the color changes from that faint iridescent green to a shimmery purple. Love. I just painted it onto the white canvas but it works the same way if you paint it over another acrylic. Hmmm....yeah, I need to try that.

Scooby-Doo!:  I love Scooby-Doo...those old cartoons before they got Scrappy and all those guest stars. They were really quite scary for a kid with a vivid imagination. But they always unmasked the monster in the end and that made it OK. When I coated this canvas with leftover green paint, I had no idea what I'd do with it. I pulled out my sticker stash for Halloween projects to use them up on tags. I found these stickers of Scooby-Doo and the background green seemed an excellent match. This small canvas represents the opening theme of the show. The Haunted House, the flying screeching bats, and then the theme song begins with a montage of the Gang. This one's a keeper.

October Pumpkin Carving:  Here's the truth about pumpkin carving: I LOVE it. BUT I hate gutting the damn things. That slimy interior that is always cold just makes my skin crawl. I'm no fan of pumpkin seeds either, roasted, toasted, or otherwise flavored. But for the work that goes into carving a jack-o-lantern, the results are amazing. I can't do anything Halloween related without a tip of the hat to the traditional jack-o-lantern.

Carving Time:   I think it's pretty obvious this year that the Tim Holtz Paper Dolls ephemera pack was my favorite play thing. But this old photo of the four boys showing off their carved pumpkins has got to be my favorite. (the witches come in a close second!) The skeleton in the back matched too well and I was reminded of those photos people take in haunted places where the ghost shows up in a closer inspection of the photo. This one is also a keeper.

I hope you'll join me for my last few Halloween posts! Thursday, Sunday, Tuesday, and a special Halloween day post.

Thanks for looking! Please share with your like-minded friends, too!
-Wy

Flight of the Witch

Flight of the Witch:  This was an unfinished project from last year. I had the tree paper all torn out and the canvas was ready to be recycled. It was a landscape that just didn't work out. But time got away from me and I just couldn't think of what else to do with this tree silhouette.

I knew I wanted some kind of scene but wasn't sure what. So I started out with baby steps. I knew I needed to cover the canvas with paper. Then decided to tear out a moon and stamp a witch flying over to tie it into my theme this year.

I added the green hills in preparation for a graveyard near the tree and a haunted house up on the hill. But once I stamped a couple trees, I just liked the look of the forest with it's long shadows.

I wasn't sure how this would come out all the while I was doing it. I think it came out very well and it's certainly a piece that can be pulled out every Halloween.

Stay tuned this whole month for more Halloween projects here at the blog. New posts every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday!
-Wy

Witchie Poo

While I was searching for a good face to use in my art journal, I ran across this magazine cut-out. The delicate mask was both lovely and mysterious. It reminded me of a fairy but not in the traditional sense.

Witchie Poo:  She came together relatively quickly. It allowed me to use a canvas with dark green acrylic on it. I had been staring at it for a long time and decided to just lay down some stenciling and see what happened. I liked it so I put her smack in the middle of it.

The wings and body are stamps from the Dylusions line. I colored them in with watercolor markers.

This is an 8 X 10 stretched canvas. Just one of those crafty ones you can get in most big box stores.



Thanks for looking! Join me here every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday in October to celebrate Halloween! I've got all kinds of projects large and small.
-Wy

5 X 7 Halloween Canvases

In my decision to work small this year, I had a lot of flat canvases lying around. Here's a bunch of  5 X 7's that just had to be shared. 

The verdict is in on working small as well: I really like it. I like the pieces better and it takes less of a time commitment. I also like the fact that I can scan these in easily to turn into notecards. (You may find some that look familiar in my Etsy Store. Psst...and all the Halloween stuff is on sale this month!)

Boo Kitty: Where would a good witch be without her loyal black cat?

Pumpkin Party: I just went to town with leftover scraps from last year! I love making pumpkin people and these candy corn made great bodies!

Returned Wanderers: This group of trick or treaters found in the Halloween paper dolls collection by Tim Holtz just needed a good backdrop...and a chaperone. Madame Witch was a separate piece added in to make it appear like the little ones were being supervised. Though the background is acrylic the tree and owl is a stamp image (Rubbernecker?). It didn't stamp well onto the canvas but I just colored it in with a black PITT brush pen. 

Wonders of a Witch:  This little canvas came about as the need to preserve a napkin from a Witch Tea Party my sister hosted once upon a time. So the three witches are the napkin and I decopauged it over some dictionary paper. The steamy swirls are a colored texture paste pushed through a Tim Holtz stencil. It's framed up in a cheap thrift store frame but hey, it works.

If you like the look on any of these, check out the Etsy Store to see if I still have cards in stock. The first three are available as notecards (A2 size and blank inside so could also be used as a party invite), and the last is available as is; a framed 5 X 7 canvas. Check the shop for details and shipping info.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Stay tuned all this month for more Halloween projects. New posts and projects every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. Maybe a few small photo posts in between! If you want to stay abreast of the new blog posts, Like and Follow my Facebook Page. I update everyone there when a new post has gone live with a little sneak photo preview. (I also keep you up to date on new stuff in my Etsy Store and chocolate news will be coming soon!)

Thanks for your support!

-Wy

Morella Canvas

Welcome to the first day of my month of Halloween blog posts! If you've been following me, you know I love Halloween. Here on the blog there will be a new post every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, just like last year! This year I am trying to keep to a couple themes. I thought that would narrow down my project choices and make it easier to focus on getting projects done. If I have carte blanche, I tend to get too many ideas in my head and nothing ever gets finished.

So this year, my themes are Witches and Green. Be forewarned that I also have a healthy dose of the Pantone color of the year, Ultra Violet. I did give myself lots of flexibility on these themes and a couple projects don't fit in but they satisfy my need to use up scraps! But onward to the first project!

I like to start things off with a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe. My past efforts have paid homage to "The Raven", "The Black Cat", and "The Tell-Tale Heart". (Postcards of these three efforts can be found in my Etsy store. They are a nice flat version of the original artwork that you can send to your Poe-loving friends for Halloween. Or in my case, anytime.) The series is mostly the same size and feel. The first, The Raven, is a bit different than the rest but it was the first and I had not yet imagined it as a continuing series. But now that it is, I want to try to keep it cohesive.

There are plenty of stories and poems that I'm itching to work into a canvas but in keeping with my Witch theme, I felt the story, "Morella", was my best bet. Surely if Morella had lived in Salem with a less than loving husband, she would have been burned at the stake...or maybe she was in a past life. Anyway, here's my next piece in my Edgar Allan Poe series.

Morella:  My starting point was in what I wanted to keep consistent throughout the whole series. That became the background paper of torn dictionaries, the lettering of the title being big and bold, and a picture of the author. I want those three things to appear throughout the series, in some form or another. (I mean, I'm gonna run out of those little plastic alphabet letters sometime. So any large alphabet will have to be substituted eventually.) I rather like this method as it gives me a starting point, something that begins the forward motion.

So tearing up dictionary paper is always fun and then pulling out those letters to spell my title was relatively easy. Fortunately for me, I was able to spell the name using green and black letters. I didn't have to resort to re-coloring some others to make them match. (Like I did in the Tell-Tale Heart)

The picture of Poe had been sitting on my desk since last October. It was the last of a collage sheet and I knew it was going to be THE picture I used for my next canvas. Since the background was such a murky, creepy green, I made that color one of the themes as well. It also allowed me to go through my embellishments faster as I was only searching for green items. I've always thrown in basic black to reinforce the classic vibe.

After that, I became a little lost as to how to tie this thing together. My initial idea was to do what I had done before on a project...use a cauldron with steam to make a ghostly face. But in searching through my Halloween stamp collection, I found this laboratory set from Inkadinkado. If Morella was a modern day woman, she wouldn't be stirring a cauldron, she'd be working for a big pharmaceutical corporation in a lab. She's be a modern day necromancer seeking the cure for all ails. I kept with my eerie green color and threw in some yellow to brighten it even more. As many folks know, I can't have a laboratory beaker without an eyeball or two. Once these were stamped and cut out, I decided to work on her eyes. And whoa, it was a little challenging.

I want you to know that I did originally have a pair of eyes that I myself had drawn. And I felt good about them. I thought they turned out fairly well and I had them all glued on there and everything. But after setting the piece aside for a couple days, I came back to it and wondered if I could find something better. I was unhappy with the size. If this pair of eyes was going to look into your soul, they needed to be bigger and they needed to be more realistic. I rummaged through my magazine cut-outs even though I was pretty sure all my eyes had been used up. I was also pretty sure they would all be the same size as the ones I had drawn. But lo and behold, I came upon these eyes. I have no idea where they came from or what I even had in mind for them but these pretties fit the bill perfectly. So I ripped off my old eyes and replaced them with these.

So that's my newest canvas in the Poe series. It will join my "Poe-st cards" at some point in the Etsy shop.

Stay tuned all month long for more Halloween projects, some big, some small. If you love Halloween, you won't want to miss a post. Follow me here on Blogger, or like my Facebook page to keep updated on new posts, stop by my Etsy store anytime, and I certainly would appreciate you sharing anything you like with your friends.

Happy October 1st!
-Wy
"In this town we call home, everyone hail to the Pumpkin Song!"

Finishing Some More Little Things

"Size matters not. Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not."

Field of Poppies:  I've had the blue and green on this canvas for a long time. Decided to just finish it with red poppies. Or lollipops. Your choice.

Rainbow Bird:  I also had the green and most of the blue on this as well. I think I finally figured out that I don't have to reinvent the wheel. I just need to stick with stuff I like.

Have a great day!
-Wy