"Midnight Dreams", Mixed Media, Abstract Collage by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

I am honored to be a part of the LHUAC's invitational 20th year celebration. The show opens Friday in Lubbock in conjunction with the First Friday Art Trail and will run thru February. This piece is 12x12 with hand painted papers, found papers and a small clay sculpture and is available through the Art Center.

I hope the weather holds! Winter has arrived in Texas!



"Midnight Dreams" by Leada Wood©2016

Azure Angel by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Azure Angel by Leada Wood, Copyright 2013
www.leadawood.com or www.leadawood.com/blog

This is another in my cruciform series, so much left to explore! This one really took a twist as I kept seeing a blue angel or figure in it so that is where I let the painting take me. This is what I like about painting abstractly...you begin and the process starts... you never know where you will end up until you get there!

I never thought from this beginning that it would turn into a figurative painting. I put lots of texture and collage and threw in some graphic lines. Nothing in mind except to do another cruciform painting...exploration. Again a horizontal beginning turned into a vertical format.

This is where I started seeing a figure. I changed directions and made it into the painting at the top...my Azure Angel. I hope you enjoy seeing a little of the process and reading about the journey. I'm glad you stopped by!

Southwest Cross by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

 

SOUTHWEST CROSS BY LEADA WOOD COPYRIGHT 2013
www.leadawood.com  or www.leadawood.com/blog

I have been working in a series exploring the cruciform. This is one of my finished explorations and it is 11x15 on illustration board. I started by laying in some collage papers with them extending off all four edges as show below. I then added lots of texture and glazes of paint.

As you can see it came through different stages before the final stage. I thought at first it would be a horizontal format but kept going until I liked the vertical format better, as shown below. I tried to bring it together using the blue and other colors but it just didn't come together until I changed directions entirely. I used a different color palette and started knocking it back until I came to the finished piece, as shown at the top.

That is the wonderful thing about abstracts  you never know where they will take you...it is about the process...the journey...the exploration.

Thanks for dropping by!

DREAMING by LEADA WOOD, TEXAS ARTIST

DREAMING BY LEADA WOOD©
DO NOT COPY!

 I chose Matisse  because I too enjoy experimenting with a variety of styles and employing new techniques to create my own pictorial language.

Henri Matisse was one of the most influential artists of the Twentieth century whose stylistic innovations altered the course of Modern Art and spanned 6.5 decades.

 Matisse used lots of designs and an abstract quality and was not a slave to photo realism. I use lots of patterns, textures and work abstractly to portray my version of realism. We both enjoy pure colour!

 Late in life while recovering from surgery Henri began his scissor art and it became his favored medium until the end of his life and was the dominant medium of his expression.

I love to make collage art and it is my favorite medium...I only hope I do Henri justice! I think Henri and I had a lot in common both in art and the way we look at life. We both want to paint what is serene, soothing, and a calming influence on the mind. No depressing or troubling subject matter for us. We both love texture, pattern, pure color, and to work expressively.

 Here are two of my favorite Matisse quotes:

"He who loves flies, runs, and rejoices; he is free and nothing holds him back."

 "There are always flowers for those who want to see them."

I hope you enjoy my interpretations of Henri Matisse. It was very inspirational looking at all the wonderful art he created during his long career and learning about his life. What a pleasure it was to visualize two very different works and bring them into being for this exhibition.

This painting was created for the Messin' With The Masters Show at the Heritage Museum. It is 16x20 collage with handpainted paper on canvas.

Thanks for stopping by!

ALL THINGS CONNECTED by Leada Wood, Contemporary Texas Artist

This was an interesting mixed media abstract to bring to completion. Each part is 12x12 and can stand on its own yet really looks nice as a part of the whole...kind of like a puzzle. I think that is what intrigues me so about mixed media, I always liked puzzles and they are similar in that you have to solve problems in order to make a painting. There is no subject matter to refer back to when you need to like a still life or a landscape. It all comes from within. This painting is on display through the month of April at the Heritage Museum at my solo show Visions. Hope you can drop by!
 This painting is available!

Exaggerated Verticals by Leada Wood, Artist Of Texas

 

Aah, It was so nice to go to the studio today and create! After all the hustle and bustle of the holidays... the family fun and the gathering of the clan.  It was sublime to slow down and get back into the right side of my brain and lose myself in Leada land!

 

 

I decided I wanted to try some exaggerated verticals. I kind of liked the colors and movement in this painting and decided I wanted to explore it further so I used it as my inspiration and starting point. I cut up a half sheet of watercolor paper in 5 x22 inches and began.

This is my beginning...I used some old paintings and cut up pieces and collaged them onto the paper. I also used some transparencies I had created with my stamps. I applied them in a grid format and painted the bottom with various blues to give a nice contrast to the warm colors of the collage. Its hard to see the variation of the blues because of the low resolution of the photo.

I decided it wasn't quiet busy enough to my liking so I added more transparencies to give them rhythm and movement. I wanted your eye to travel from one piece to the next and yet I wanted each painting to stand alone.

 

 

This is the final version of the one on the left. I think I reached my goal of it being interesting on its own and it has a nice lively rhythm to it.

This is the middle painting. I think they almost have an Asian feel to them. Maybe it is the color combo I chose.

This is the right painting. I may mount these on black matt board to really make them pop. I am not sure yet...really enjoy the long, narrow format so may just frame them that way.

This is the final version side by side...dirty table and all! I think they could be hung in any direction and be cohesive...or alone...but I really like them more as a grouping don't you? That is the nice thing about a triptych and abstract art they are very versatile and you can change them up.

This painting is available!

Happiness Symbols by Leada Wood, Artist Of Texas

Happiness Symbols by Leada Wood ©

This is a new little Jewel, only 5X7 with a powerful punch and message.  There are various symbols for happiness incorporated into this painting as well as the Japanese Kanji symbol for hapiness. This symbol can also be translated as blessed, welfare, well-being or fortunate.
I used the symbol of a man and woman, as I believe that one completes the other thus bringing happiness to each other. I used the coins for good fortune and prosperity.
The spiral is associated with the cycles of time, the seasons, cycle of birth, growth, death and then rebirth. Some also consider the spiral a symbol of a spiritual journey. Life doesn't progess in a straight line, it resembles a spiral. We seem to pass the same points over and over again with a different perspective each time.
The circle is an unbroken line which has no beginning, and no end which represents completeness.
The color orange is a power color! It stimulates creativity and enthusiasm. People who like orange are usually sincere and thoughtful. Lady Luck's color is orange.
The color turquoise is a friendly and happy color. It controls and heals the emotions creating stability and balance.
Can you believe one little Jewel has so much symbolism?




 

Cosmic Energy by Leada Wood, Artist Of Texas



Cosmic Energy by Leada Wood ©

Speaking of Cosmic Energy....my new laptop is somewhere in the cosmos! I have been trying to post for over two weeks  and the compose dashboard has disappeared and the screen where you see the post was about two inches high! Uggggh!
don't know what is going on with it. So I get a brainstorm to try my trusty old laptop which the keys are falling off of and it hiccups along but by golly I am posting!  Sometimes I just want to forget all this technology! But nooooo, can't do without it now! Who would have thought 20 years ago we would always have a phone on our person and be in a constant state of communication via satellite. Gotta love it though! It is really hard to be unconnected...I feel so alone if my internet is not working...don't you?

This painting is a mixed media on paper created with hand painted papers, layered to give depth. There are select embellishments to give it an Asian feel.
Contact me at leada_w@hotmail.com