Papier-mache Pair! Bulldog & Hydrant

Haven't put a picture of any of my Papier-mache sculptures up here for a while, so I took this photo recently and thought I'd share it here.
I've named the dog, "General Ledger", and of course, that's a dog's best friend, a fire hydrant beside him.
One of the reasons I started creating my Papier-mache art was because of the fact that I could recycle a lot of things that would normally be taken to landfill. For instance, the dog is stuffed with plastic grocery bags, his legs are shaped with toilet paper rolls, and the hydrant is formed with a big flimsy plastic container that originally contained xmas balls for trimming the tree. I also used other things like styrofoam, which is one of the things that will linger around landfills for thousands of years, and probably should have never been invented. Oh well!
All of this stuff is covered with newspaper, and then painted with a water based acrylic paint.

By the way, the dog is lifting his leg, which was why I felt I needed to make the fire hydrant! : )

Club Chair & Watermelon ~ acrylic on canvas ~ 36" x 48"

This is one of my favourite pieces to date. Looking at it from, hopefully, an un-biased point of view, I think what I try to capture with this style of bold painting, is movement of an otherwise still life setting. Think Alice In Wonderland!
Available.

Jazz Influences

If you've been following my work, you've probably come to a quick conclusion that I love colour.
But another dimension would definately include music, or more specifically, Jazz.
When painting, I have the music cranked. Some of my favourites would include Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and of course, Steely Dan. This painting featured here is a direct result of listening to music whilst painting. I would love to hear from other artists how music, whatever the genre is you prefer, influences your style of painting. And if you haven't tried it, give it a whirl!
: )

Bachelor Pad ~ Retro Baby, Retro!

Well, I was born in the (late) 1960's, and I'm not one bit afraid to show it through my art!

"Bachelor Pad" - acrylic on canvas - by Karen Sloan - Sold

It's my vision of a single guy or girls, swinging digs in the retro times of the 1960's! Had a lot of fun painting this one!

All images and written content on this site are Copyright Karen Sloan - Thank you

Wordless Wednesday ~ Painting by Karen