Collage Overlay by Leada Wood, Artist of Texas

A little collage overlay

 

Letting the paint go where it will and dripping and splattering

Sometimes it is fun just to drip paint and see where it takes you.  The journey of discovery is what creativity is all about.  I started fooling around with two of my favorite Golden liquid acrylics and splashed and splattered them around until I enjoyed the results. Then I started playing with my stamps while that was drying, stamping about until the paint was dry. I then started tearing those apart and collaged them on top of the painted canvas board, layering them on top of each other. I'm not sure I have finished or not...at least for now it is. I may add something else later, if I do I will keep you posted.

"Prickly Pears" by Leada Wood, Conterporary Texas Artist

Beginning

After the wax

This is another Faux Batik, they are exciting to create...and could become addictive, at least for a little while.  The fun thing about painting is the creative process and where it takes you...you never know where a painting will end up...if it turns out at all!

 I love to paint prickly pear cactus, in the spring they have beautiful flowers, I call them Texas roses. The flowers come in a variety of colors, yellow, orange and fuchsia. When they are through flowering they develop this little red fruit, which makes wonderful jelly, just beware of the thorns!

"Cosmos" by Leada Wood, Contemporary Texas Artist

Beginnings

It's All In The Crumple!



The Happy Ending! "Cosomos" by Leada Wood©

Faux Batik is fun in watercolor...but in Acrylic it is indescribable! The paper I use is a Japanese paper, a little heavier than tissue paper but still transparent with pieces of fiber running through it and delicate. When you are finished with the painting you apply a special mixture of waxes all over the painting and then crumple it up...then you apply a color of paint over the wax and it goes into the crevices...hopefully. When that is all finished you iron the wax out of your painting and what is left is a beautiful faux batik effect.

Carol Nelson Workshop by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Carol and Leada



JoMama, Carol, Leada, Eole

Leada and Nancy

We had such a wonderful time in Granbury at the Carol Nelson Mixed Media Workshop.  It is always fun to get to paint with your artist friends and make new ones. This was a great group of ladies...everyone painting till the cows came home! Carol demoed her little heart out and shared some exciting new techniques with us. Nancy said this was her third workshop with Carol and it was always something new and exciting to learn...I believe her as Nancy is a workshop Diva and travels all over taking classes.  I waited two years trying to get into one of Carol's Texas workshops, this was my lucky year!  I highly recommend this energetic and innovative workshop to anyone interested in taking their art to a new level. Thanks Carol!

"Blue" by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

"Blue" by Leada Wood©

What would we do without our friends??? Life certainly would not be as sweet! My dear friend Penny knows me so well....she sensed that I might be down Mother's Day as it was the first one without my mom. Penny drops the most beautiful blue hydrangea by my house as a surprise the day before mother's day. WOW!!! What a wonderful thing to do...it sure lifted my spirits and helped me get through a difficult time.  I guess Penny knew what I was feeling as she had also recently lost her mom as well. Mom's are very hard to lose, especially when you are very close. So take care of your moms my friends, visit them often and cherish your times together...and also treasure your friends.

 I painted this hydrangea for Penny as she loves blue hydrangeas but her gorgeous bush, because of our alkaline soil, will only produce pink blooms! Me I love pink as well, so I enjoy driving by her house and seeing her beautiful pink hydrangeas...maybe I will paint a pink one too.

"Landscape" Contemporary Abstract by Texas Artist Leada Wood

"Landscape" Contemporary Abstract by Texas Artist Leada Wood ©

I don't usually do landscapes , but I did enjoy this challenge in Douglas Walton's Walton's Workshop as it was anything but ordinary. We had to think outside the box as we chose five colors and laid them down randomly. We had to let it happen not make it happen and be willing to let insight come.  We then had to decide what was needed and add the unexpected.
Douglas Walton's classes are all about design and creativity and not the ordinary. Such fun!

Visions And Voices by Leada Wood

 ©Leada Wood Visions And Voices 22x28 Latex

Do you ever wonder where an artist gets their ideas? I don't know about others but I know I get ideas from everywhere! Dreams, nature, music...life is full of mysteries just waiting for us to explore. We just have to be open and slow down enough and be aware enough to let them unfold. The hard part sometimes is getting it out of your head and onto your drawing paper just the way you imagined it. That is the beauty of abstracts...you can let your imagination run wild and attempt to capture it in your painting.

"Honey Does This Dress Make My Butt Look Big?" by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

"Honey Does This Dress Make My Butt Look Big?"
by Leada Wood©

This little lady was such fun to do! I started her with an altered background and used hand painted collage papers for her dress. I used transparent watercolors for this piece and she is 15X28 on Arches paper. You can see her in person at the Buddy Holly Museum in Lubbock, Texas, if you are in the area. She is on exhibit along with all the other wonderful works of the West Texas Watercolor Society.

"ColorScapes" Contemporary Abstract by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

"ColorScapes" by Leada Wood©

This Contemporary Abstract is acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas and is 24x24 inches.  I used texture to begin the painting and when dry started laying in vibrant, clean colors. I used a handmade stamp to give a little pattern and then wove the colors into that to incorporate it into the painting. This is another experimental painting completed in the Granbury workshop.

Lake Granbury Art Association has the nicest facility in the Shangley House close to the heart of Granbury. They have many master painters from all over the country come there to teach workshops. I was so impressed with the nice group of people, I became a member! I already signed up for the next workshop which is Carol Nelson from Colorado. I can't wait! I have waited nearly two years to get into one of her Texas classes.

Thank you Diana Littlejohn for all your hard work getting such high quality workshops.     

"Quiet Journey" Contemporary Abstract by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

"Quiet Journey" by Leada Wood ©

This contemporary abstract is 24X24 painted with acrylics on gallery wrapped canvas. I layered texture and used a stencil that I had cut out Mylar,adding more texture in various ways. I decided I wanted to go for a tonal painting...using black and white with a splash of red for interest. I guess you could say this was a study in values and textures. I created this one in the Carolyn Riegelman workshop in Granbury.