Owl Together

Been having so many owls pop up into my paintings lately...and I have just loved painting them.  I began to wonder why I am drawn to them.

I did a little research to see what meaning I could glean from their constant presence.  Owls were considered a symbol of status, wealth and intelligence in Greco-Roman culture.  They are nocturnal creatures and are thought to symbolize dreams, secret knowledge and foresight.  Because they are night animals they are thought to symbolize the ability to see through deceit and illusion.  The owl is also believed to be a guide to uncover your hidden potential and abilities.

Interesting little tidbits for my winged creatures!

I notice I like my owls a little plump and I try to paint their personalities in their eyes. Here are a few recent ones I have painted over the past few months:


Owl Together 30"x40" Acrylic on Canvas

Sweet Wisdom 10"x14" Acrylic on Wood

You are My Moon 16"x20"  Acrylic on Wood

Learn 6"x6" Acrylic on Canvas

Owl 18"x24" Acrylic on Wood

And these little 6"x6" guys who will be at my show this weekend!

Let's "owl" have a great week!

Hopping along with THE StencilGirl and her book!

Welcome to the blog hop celebrating THE one and only Stencil Girl ~ Mary Beth Shaw!

We are celebrating MaryBeth this week by demonstrating techniques published in her book Stencil Girl Mixed Media Techniques for making & Using Stencils available at StencilGirlProducts for only $24.95.  It is a great resource to have on your shelf when you are "stuck" and need some inspiration.  Hopefully, the design team can help inspire you this week while we show you how we tackled the techniques in the book!

I worked with the Magazine Magic technique on page 31 in the Stencil Girl book.

For the magazine rubbing, I used Mary C. Nasser's map stencil.  I placed the stencil under the magazine page and began rubbing lightly with fine grain sandpaper until I reached the desired effect.  I chose portions of the magazine that had interesting texture already because I am TEXTURE GEEK! :)

Ooooh....just love the texture this stencil gave the paper!

I tore the paper into layers ~ dark, lighter, and light.  I then laid them out to form a trio of collages.

After they were glued down, I added some more texture with molding paste and Maria McGuire's Tiny Medallion stencil.

I then tore book paper and stamped the words Live, Laugh and Love.  I edged the molding paste and paper in brown staz-on ink but for some reason when I sealed it, it turned greenish.  Weird.  Not sure why that happened but I think it looks kind of interesting!

Thank you for stopping by and watching me demonstrate Magazine Magic!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, be sure to check my other free tutorials on my blog page above or at

  Kirsten Reed Designs or just follow me on Bloglovin' and get them delivered to your inbox!

GIVEAWAY!!!

We are giving away one stencil per day with the comments left on all the blogs in the hop! There will be a Grand Prize of Stencil Girl Mixed Media Techniques book and a package of stencils chosen from ALL the comments left for the week. So be sure to leave a comment to increase your chances of winning!

Here is the rest of this week's line up:

Monday

StencilGirl Talk

MaryBeth Shaw

Mary Nasser

Tuesday

StencilGirl Talk

Janet Joehlin

Jennifer Priest

Michael Trent

Wednesday

StencilGirl Talk

Julia Kellogg

Kirsten Reed - you are here

Thursday

StencilGirl Talk

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Linda Kittmer

Friday

StencilGirl Talk

Carolyn Dube

Gwen Lafleur

Maria McGuire

Introducing a new series

I challenged myself recently to paint while staying in one color palette. One of my favorite color palettes is the teal, yellow, cream, and brown one.  I find it very soothing.  So I thought of soothing images to marry with this palette of colors I love ~ southern cotton, peonies and angels.

Here is a peek:

Southern Charm - 24x48" Acrylic on Canvas

High Cotton - 12"x24" Acrylic on Canvas

Angel - 4"x6" Acrylic on Canvas

White Peonies - 12"x24" Acrylic on Canvas

Angels - 4"x6" Acrylic on Canvas

 Angels in Our Midst - 36"x36" Acrylic on Canvas

For pricing information, please contact me through email at: kirstenreed@yahoo.com.
You can see these pieces in person at my first fall show at the Hayloft at Port Royal October 2-4!

Would love to hear what you think!

Food for Thought Friday

Hahaha! Happy Friday!

Girl Gone

This often happens to me.  I love a painting when I paint it, then I never finished said painting, then I decide I don't "feel" it any more.  

That is what happened with my girl I created in Jodi Ohl's class.  I loved her ~ I could see her turning in to a princess of fire and strength....but after I left her class (which I thoroughly enjoyed) at Art Is You, I just couldn't feel it any more.  I kept her on my floor staring at me, hoping inspiration would come, but nothing like my initial fire & ice princess thoughts ever came.  

So I decided she wasn't meant to be...

I began randomly laying paint on her with patterns, fingers, stencils and sprays. I added more texture and turned the canvas every so often.

I saw a flower and started painting it out.  Then a bird.

Instead of a princess of fire and ice, she became a garden of joy! :)

 Here are some close-ups:

You can see here I allowed parts of the original background to peek through.

Hope you enjoyed this photo progression!