I love the softness of this piece it’s so peaceful. It didn’t start out like this.. in fact I had a completely different plan. I love it when you’re creating and a piece evolves into something better than the original idea!

Painting with neutrals and getting depth is harder than you think but the choices I made in my paints helped so much! Like chalky gesso… yes, please!

Gesso is one of my favorite things to use when stenciling.

Plus a bunch of new fall stencils that I used today was perfect! The ones I used today will be on sale this week.

The inspiration for this piece was the word gather. I love the word and all that it means. But my most favorite definition is “the bringing together of things that are scattered”

I share in the video how this time of year is always a slowing for me. Not that my schedule is slowing down, but that my thoughts and insides are slowing to a peaceful place. The summer and the movement of summer are coming to a close and I’m “gathering the scattered parts and bringing them together” for a more peaceful place. I share all about this in the video.

I hope you enjoy the projects!

This original is available HERE. The prints are available HERE

Supplies used:

12×12 mdf board, Deco art media matte medium, gesso, fluid acrylics (quinacridone gold, titan buff, carbon black, raw umber, Paynes gray) Americana premium acrylic slate grey, Deco art chalky gesso in white, Soho soft pastels, charcoal pencil, brayer

Stencils used:

Cotton stems, farmhouse pitcher, pumpkin tall, pumpkin round, pumpkin flat, fall leaves, fall words See all the new stencils here

NEW FALL STENCILS!! Now available in the shop!

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One week left for early bird registration for the new collage faces workshops!

Early bird sign up begins now! Only $45.00 …until September 16th after that, the price returns to $57.00

“I was always afraid of painting faces”… does this sound familiar?

Have you struggled with structure, size or shading a face? Or maybe you haven’t even attempted a face because is just seems too complicated or scary.

I feel your pain! You should see the faces I’ve done… yikes!

But after years of practice, I came up with a sure-fire way to get a great face every time! 

And I want to share that with you to save you all the trouble and frustration I went through.

Let me tell you a little more about the workshop and what you can expect.

I believe in practice because when we practice, we can approach the actual project with confidence. And you’ll be familiar with what we’re doing so you’ll be able to put your project together seamlessly.

~I go over the supplies and walk you through some practice of the items that might not be familiar to you…. but are so important to this workshop

~We practice my techniques to getting great faces every time.

~We practice getting the details right on the eyes, nose, lips and chin

~We practice our backgrounds

~We’ll talk about collage, the items you choose and the story you’re telling.

~We’ll play with Stabilo pencils, soft pastels, charcoal, acrylics, and stenciling

~We’ll create 3 projects with three different backgrounds techniques and three different styles of faces.

~Full HD videos with real-time, step by step instruction.

Get more details and sign up HERE …. I hope to see you in the classroom