Every Search Begins with Beginner's luck....the Alchemist

 These are the first pages of my first art journal.    You have to go back to being a kid and forget everything you learned in art school to do this kind of journal.   This is not sophisticated.  This is play. 

I found some medical tape in my stock that was used for bandages.   That's the black and white strip cut up and painted with a felt tip marker.   It's fuzzy! 

And this sailboat and parasol were already printed on a roll of paper towels so I just appropriated them and used them in the collage.  

  In starting an journal,  just grab ideas wherever you can.    The point is to please yourself while learning as much about new technique as possible which means trying everything. 

 That spiral is carved out of a piece of linoleum.  The wave and cloud marks in magenta are made by dabbing acrylic with make-up sponges.  

I hope I am encouraging you to start your own journal.  You will not believe how much fun it is to re -visit childhood. 

The Dignity of a Man..... art journaling

THE DIGNITY OF A MAN LIES IN HIS ABILITY TO FACE REALITY IN ALL ITS MEANINGLESSNESS.  

MARTIN ESSLIN

On these journal pages you will find all kinds of marks made from found materials. 

 The random black lines are a rubber band wrapped around a roller and rollered through acrylic paint. 

 The star is a rubber stamp I made out of a school sized pencil eraser.  The foil square is Chinese joss paper found at the Asian market.  

 It pays to go to the dollar store too and see what you can find.  There is a brown print made from the bottom of a pair of flip flops I bought at the 2 euro store.  You can cut it to size.  The fun of it is in the repurposing of ordinary stuff. 

Chinese Joss Paper.  

Every Blade of Grass.......art journaling

PAGE three art journal by Mary M Payne

EVERY BLADE OF GRASS HAS ITS ANGEL THAT BENDS OVER IT AND WHISPERS, "GROW, GROW". 

THE TALMUD

This page from my first art journal before I got into lettering.  This one is stamping, stenciling and collage pieces that I found that I had done before and were in my "scrap" box.   

Series: Huitres

Alright, here is the truth.  

I did this mixed technique series for a class.  The idea was to take an object and draw a series from it, an idea that has stayed with me.  It was in a classroom where there were lots of props and I chose to draw a huge dead leaf that had curled around itself and the teacher had displayed there

. 

 It started as a leaf but I started to see an oyster so I eventually called the series "huitres".   At the end of the exercise we were asked to show our work to the class.   I got a few comments that I was being deliberately provocative and sexual..... comments to that effect.  

 I was actually caught off guard by these observations but thought "well, if that's what you see.....why not?" 

 Many of the series that I did afterwards including Fente, Y'grec, Noyau, Bourgeon, Cicatrice, and Fleurs started from this idea and formed a body of work called "intimacy".   The first exhibition I did in La Maison des Artistes in Cagnes-sur-Mer was called "Intimate Ties" or intimate links...."Liens Intimes".   I was invited by Laurence Calamand to participate and that expo launched my new "career" here in France. 

And here is a linocut I did later of the same subject. 

Series: STILL LIFE

Mixed media on 125 gr. paper, off white mat board,  20x28cm 

This was a featured series of "technique mixte"  shown in 2009 at the group exhibition at Tourette-sur-Loup.  Most of these remain framed with professional off-white mats and are now in simple, white wooden frames.    They are , like most all of my series, for sale.   Prices are flexible and reasonable. 

 My entry in the Collection Notes reads:   "Combinations formed by circles are infinite and can be seen to follow the steps of life.  Like fruit, the forms ripen and flourish before dying"

Mixed Media on paper,  50x65cm

series: Ecriture

I have always been attracted to the written word in fine art and in my journals.  In certain of my mixed media series you will see script or individual numbers or letters. 

 This group of drawings was inspired by the gesture of hand writing.   This collection was shown at Artemisia Gallery in Nice.

These pieces are done largely using oil pastels, pencil, and acrylics on 300 gr. watercolor paper.  Sizes vary from: 50x65 cm, 45x60 cm, 50x70 cm. 

Mixed media by Mary M Payne 

Series: Cicatrice

This is a series called Cicatrice ( scar) I put had up in a group exhibition held at the castle inTourette sur Loup. 

 I am still amused that a famous artist of the area hounded me for the secrets of my techniques for this series. 

 The secret (which I didn't reveal at the time) starts with using a heavy medium or paint so that the paper, (that is stretched on a board with tape),  tears the substrate and leaves a natural rip or "fente" in the paper.   

 That is the beginning step.  "Scar" is related to the theme of several other series I did during this period.    The pieces are now double framed in a passe-partout of 50x70 cm.

Cicatrice by Mary M Payne

Cicatrice by Mary M Payne

Cicatrice by Mary M Payne

Cicatrice by Mary M Payne

Cicatrice by Mary M Payne

Series: Fleurs

Art by Mary M Payne,  sold

I have been looking through my archives realizing that some of the pieces I have done in the past are framed behind glass or plasticine envelopes.  I did that before I took photos which was not a great idea for cataloging.   

 Here is a series I call " Fleur" done on watercolor paper with acrylics, ink, pastels, string and stamping.  There are nine images 10x23cm before double mat.  A few have gone out into the world.  Some are in frames, double matted with a white and then a taupe "Passpartout" (mat) behind glass. 

 Most any piece in each of my series are up for grabs if you see anything that takes your fancy.  

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne

Art by Mary M Payne