She Sells Sea Shells

Sometimes a piece is just plain fun to execute....and "She Sells Sea Shells" was like eating peanuts: I had a hard time stopping!  This is actually two pieces on seperate cradled wood panels...they are now attached with leather ties and hang nicely as one piece.  The two could hang individually but again, making them work together was part of the fun.  A lot of time went into surface prep and after several coats of gesso this mixed media piece received water color, acrylic and graphite.  While I had a vague idea for the overall look when I started it, working on it was like doing a crossword puzzle...one completed shell would impact the layout of the next one and suddenly a splash of color seemed better suited for something else than what I had originally planned.  So it evolved and unfolded and changed and morphed which made it anything but boring to work on.

This is the top panel immediately below.  Once I decided it was finished I had to seal the graphite with fixative and then begin the process of varnishing the entire piece to protect it.  I chose a satin finish as sometimes the shine on a piece makes it look a little unreal to me.

Below it is the second panel, a close up, altho in reality the two panels are not the same size.  Once again I am thrilled to give the credit for teaching me this technique to Fran Hardy....only my work does not do hers justice! 

I'm already preparing some panels for another collection....I have a great assortment of mushroom photos I took while hiking this month.  So I suppose that with apologies to Fran I will find a way to continue to "tweak" this process and make it a bit more "Michaud" than "Hardy."

Cindy Michaud

http://www.cindymichaud.com/

Mary's Cheesecake, 5x7

This is my version of Mary's cheesecake. This is one time that I had no problem stopping painting; the more I looked at it, the more I wanted to eat it, so I did. Yum. Mary is a Baker Extraordinaire. --Carmen

 

TO BUY

 

CheeseCake Paint Off!

OK, just to set the record straight, if the Pieces of 8 ever had a BAKE-Off, it would be a no-brainer: Mary (a home ec teacher in another life) would win hands down.  But a paint off?  All is fair...so when Mary brought a lucious, home baked, blueberry cheesecake to share for her birthday we all had to paint it.  Some of us did the piece, some did the entire cake, a few just indulged in sampling....but I painted (quickly!) and then ate....and soon wanted another piece!  Neither words nor pictures can do it justice but unless you get a real piece this painting will just have to do....We are spoiled rotten with all the goodies we have been using as "set ups."  Kind of hard to work up the same enthusiasm now for a still life of a pot or a bowl...sans edible treats!  Hopefully the others will reveal their efforts...but if you want to own this one go to http://www.cindymichaudart.etsy.com/ it will easily fit into a standard 5 x 7 frame and hang in your kitchen...or look for it at the "Sweetie Pie Bakery" opening soon in downtown Eau Gallie.

Cindy