I am working on a collection of mixed media and collage paintings called Colorful Arrangements. These paintings are abstract realism flowers and plants.

I have been enjoying the process of creating multicolored artwork with lots of texture. I repurposed old paintings on paper into collage elements. It adds dimension and interest to the paintings.

Each piece has some amount of gold accent. The gold symbolizes the happiness I have when seeing flowers in my surroundings.

As of today, each painting is on canvas or canvas panel. The sizes range from 5×7 inches up to 18×24 inches.

They have a slight to heavy surface texture due to my process and the collage elements. The edges are painted with gold acrylic paint and will be sealed with a gloss varnish.

I can’t wait to share more of my artwork and process with you. Cheers!

I created a new abstract still life mixed media collection called Wild Fruits. They’re part of the In the Garden series.

They are colorful and expressive paintings with a textured surface. Each piece is on 9×12 inch mixed media paper.

I chose to paint blueberries and pomegranates. They remind me of my grandma’s garden. I also chose strawberries because I couldn’t resist painting those beautiful berries with sweet flowers!

THE PROCESS

I used charcoal, graphite for the first layers and values. Then, I added soft pastel, acrylic ink and acrylic paint.

Next, I etched into the first layers with pencils or other tools. Watercolor, grease markers, and colored pencils were applied to the final layers.

CURRENT LISTINGS

Two paintings have been gifted to relatives. The other seven will be listed in the shop for sale on Friday.

I only have originals of these paintings. They will not be available on my print shop.

I will be making similar artwork especially for the print shop.

PRODUCT VIDEO

I’ve been creating simple product videos about my work. I hope they help with showing the colors and textures of the paintings. I’m still new at making videos.

Click below to see the Wild Fruits mixed media paintings.

HOW TO STAY UP TO DATE

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Thank you so much for being part of my art journey!

Until next time,

Yolanda

I don’t always create paintings that are spiritual or religious. But, lately some of my work has been reflecting my personal beliefs. I’m not sure how often or when I will paint from a spiritual perspective. I am thankful to do this work freely. I’ll see where this takes me on my art journey.

For this collection, I was inspired to create small pieces of art about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the the Spirit are found in the fifth chapter of the book of Galatians. It states:

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22, 23 ESV

Why I Chose Flowers

I chose flowers as focal points for this collection instead of fruit because many fruit bearing trees bloom with flowers.

Some flowering fruit trees are:

• apples
• apricots
• cherries
• peaches
• pears

These beautiful trees are some of my favorites. In my neighborhood we have cherry trees and not far from here are farms that grow apples and peaches. Yum! One of the most exciting times of the year is when I get to pick my own fruits. I love visiting the local orchards or farm stands.

So rather than painting literal fruits I decided to paint abstract flowers and buds.

The Gold Lettering

I wanted to add text for the fruits on the front of each painting. While I was planning for the paintings, I remembered something from the scriptures about words with apples and gold. Or something like that. I couldn’t remember the whole text, but I thought gold would be awesome.

If you’re curious about the verse, it reads:

11A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.

Proverbs 25:11 ESV

Everything seemed to be coming together perfectly and I was so glad. Until…

Back To The Drawing Board

I had everything set. Canvases were prepped, color schemes were chosen, paints were ready to go.

As I started working so much went wrong! I couldn’t believe it. The color scheme tanked and the design was not right. The painting “ugly stage” had set up shop and it was not great. Ugh. So I took some time off from this collection to focus on other things.

Faithfulness

The only painting that worked out at the first stage was “faithfulness”.

I’m totally serious. I was close to giving up. I thought maybe things weren’t going to work out. I considered giving up and working on other projects that I had to finish.

The “faithfulness” painting sat on my bookshelf for a while. Then one day I set out the canvases and got back to work. The paintings weren’t perfect, but the longer I worked the more aligned things became.

Collection Completed

I’m so happy that I persisted through that tough phase. I learned so much creating these tiny works of art. I wanted to add them to the garden series and I did! It seems like a small accomplishment. For me, it was important to continue and achieve this personal goal I had set ahead of myself.

Each time I work on my paintings it’s almost as if I’m remembering life lessons. I realize that nothing is perfect. When things are difficult, will I keep going or quit? By moving ahead, I gain knowledge and experience to do better next me. Quitting means never knowing what I could have accomplished.

Like I stated in the beginning of this post, I don’t always create paintings that are spiritual or religious. But somehow, I’m going through a new process with my art, work, and life. Not all of my art is based on some learning experience. Most of the time I’m learning by having fun. But creating work like this changes the scene of my art journey.

Video Clip

I created a product video to show the paintings from different angles and lighting.

Thank you so much for your time and support! I hope you have a great day.