An Artist's Life by Leada Wood

Workshop in progress

Artists come in all sizes, shapes and ages. We never get too old to learn! Here are a few dear friends of mine learning a new twist on collage at Studio Twenty.  I love doing collage! I feel like I am repurposing things most folks throw away, you could say it is a green art process. The thing is, you can combine collage with all mediums and mix up your process and come up with some wonderful paintings and techniques.  Or if they don't turn out so wonderful you can keep going until you do love your creation. Sometimes I take old paintings, watercolor or acrylic, on paper or canvas, that aren't up to my expectations and use it as an underpainting and start layering things on top.
It is a great way to recycle materials and turn those bowzers into wowzers! To see some of my collages click here: http://www.leadawood.com/
Thanks for stopping by!

"Rest not! Life is sweeping by, go dare before you die. Something mighty and sublime, leave behind to conquer time." -Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

An Artist's Life by Leada Wood

Still Life Set Up

Sometimes when artists get together and they can't seem to get going on their painting, they decide to play. I keep lots of inspirational things in my studio for times such as these.  We usually look around and start gathering objects and create still lifes. Then we take many photos, gotta love those digital cameras! This usually leads to many variations of the set up and then different set ups, so you usually spend the afternoon creating and photographing set ups. It is a wonderful way to create new ideas for paintings. I have so many paintings in my head that I know I will never get them all finished, so I have to choose the ones that inspire me the most.
Thanks for stopping by! Come back again and have another peek in my studio.

Creativity is the ability to produce a unique or uncommon idea that comes from within ourselves that is influenced by a lifetime of experience.     Carrie Burns Brown

An Artist's Life by Leada Wood

Leada Wood

This is where I do my mixed media and torn paper collages. I have different work stations for different techniques.  I try to organize my materials in each section where it makes it easier to find things. If you have ever done mixed media you know it takes lots of stuff and you seem to collect things. It is very important to have things organized and labeled to make your work easier. I enjoy creating mixed media and torn paper collages as it is very relaxing to me. I turn up my favorite tunes and let my creative child out to play! I am then in my zone and one with my painting. Thanks for stopping by, if you have any questions I will be glad to answer them if I can.
Stay tuned there is still more to come!

"I am a collector...of colors...vibrant, warm, potent, powerful colors. With an artful eye I look for color currents. Colors to comfort and warm. RED..threads of scarlet... Spice it up!"  ---Leada Wood

It's Tea Time

Cat's Tea Party by Leada Wood ©

I found a new site that looked like it would be fun... it's Inspiration Avenue. I think they have a weekly challenge and that will certainly keep me on my toes! This week's challenge is Tea Time. I love everything about tea time! I collect unusual teapots and enjoy setting up still lifes and painting them. I usually paint in watercolor but enjoy collage and mixed media as well. Cat's Tea Party is in watercolor  and is sold but prints are available. Contact me at www.leadawood.com  and I would love to have you follow my blog www.leadawood.com/blog .
To see the fun happenings at Inspiration Avenue click here:
http://www.inspiration-avenue-team.blogspot.com/

An Artist's Life by Leada Wood

Lovely Lola

This is lovely Lola, my studio muse. She is always in a good mood and is a very good listener! She keeps an eye on things for me at Studio Twenty. Studio Twenty is a consignment gallery and is where I create my art. I also host the local art club, West Texas Art Guild, which I co-founded with my friend Carolyn. Somethimes there are workshops and demos by  artists from  all over our great state.  Come along with me and I will take you on tour!

ARTifacts© Painting by Leada Wood Artist of Texas

Oneta Sanderson with her ARTifact© painting created for her by her daughter Leada Wood in honor of her 90th birthday.

ARTifact© painting by Leada Wood©

Yes, I did add a couple of more things to my mom's ARTifact painting. After looking at it for a while I decided I needed to add a photo of me and my brothers. I chose a heart format because she always kept us close to her heart and loved us unconditionally. I also added a photo of her brothers and sisters under my grandma and grandpa so the family circle was complete. She was very surprised and liked her painting! When I took her home after her party, she asked me to hang it on her wall and with great pleasure I did.
If you are new to my blog check the older posts to see the process of this painting.
Thanks for joining me in my journeys!

Giants Among Us by Leada Wood, Artist of Texas





How Much Is That Doggie In The Window by Leada Wood ©

How Much Is That Doggie In The Window by Leada Wood©

My neice Laura got the cutest Boston Terrier pup! His name is Sir Digby Chicken Caesar, although I haven't met him in person yet the photos inspired me to do a painting of him. I thought it would be a challenge to do him in  torn paper collage . Painting with paper is always a challenge, kind of like doing a puzzle, figuring out what paper would make the best texure to get the effect you are trying to acheive. I probably could paint two painting in the time it takes to do one collage but I enjoy the challeng of these!  I always loved the song "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" so I used different fonts and printed part of the song out and used that for the background. Since most of the painting was done with differnt values of black, greys, browns,blues, and whites, I decided a  red for the little fellow to rest on would be nice.  This little fellow is for sale and prints are available.  I would also like to do a custom portrait of your best friend for you!
Just email me at leada_w@hotmail.com

Summer is in full bloom at Dragonfly Farm



Summer is in full bloom

 Ahh  summer is in full bloom at Dragonfly farm! Even though there is a drought I am managing to keep things blooming, gotta have that beautiful color all around to inspire me and keep me happy! I saw the red dragonflies yesterday, they have returned. It was so dry I was afraid they might not make it this year. Our bird feeders have been hopping with Painted Buntings, Scarlet Tangiers, Cardnials, Sparrows, Dove and some I haven't figured out yet. The hummingbirds are flitting about as well. Life Is Good!

Cozy Kitty by Leada Wood© , Artist of Texas



Cozy Kitty by Leada Wood ©


This cute kitty lives down the road from Studio Twenty at Lattie's Mexican Imports. This chimenea sets on her counter with Tootles laying, waiting for Lattie to wiggle his feather toy at the top. Then he springs into action and it is Play Time! This painting has been in process for a while as I have been side tracked with torn paper collage paintings, but I finally got er done!

To purchase this painting or any on my blog or website just contact me and I will ship it to you. Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday America!

My girls and I have been having a good old time getting ready for the 4th of July. We made some Uncle Sam decorations for their home in art class. We decided to decorate their toe nails as well and painted one foot blue sparkles and the other foot red with white dots. Now that is patriotic! Happy 4th!