Rachel Murphree
Focusing on watercolor right now and sketching and journaling as a way of slowing down time, seizing the moment, relishing life... Earlier images of found papers and fibers into art with paint and wax...found fabrics into finery...
Hey there, and welcome to my art postings. I'm a mixed media artist from West Texas with two small daughters, and I'm having a blast trying new media, new techniques, altering found stuff, hounding garage sales to find hidden treasures, being the co-owner of the yahoo group Clothpaperstudio, and now getting back into sketching and watercolor. Life is way too fun!
I've recently changed the title of my blog to "Art Spirals" because sometimes it feels like I’m spiraling out of control, in a very fun way, because I get so excited about one art form, and love it, and then the excitement fades and I move on to other styles and media. But of course I still have most of the “stash” of supplies for the past media, in case I go back, which I’ve done with beeswax collage. Another reason for the name is that spirals are an important symbol to me, growth, vitality, the circle of life, etc. and I love the shape.
In the last couple of years I've discovered the joy of painting and collage, especially using beeswax as the medium for the work. There's a zen-like quality of being in the groove and creating art with snippets of paper, fabric, ribbons, oil pastels and wax. First I adhere lots of layers and colors, and then it's as though I'm an archaeologist: I carve out and melt away sections of the wax to reveal hidden secrets and motifs.
I get a thrill out of making art by taking something that's been used and loved, listening to it speak to me of its potential, and then following its cues. I'm fascinated by the interplay of texture and color, and combining unlike elements to create a coherent whole. I was a quilter before this phase of my artistic life, and a beader before that, and I come from a tradition of repairing and reusing. So for awhile I was combining my longtime fascination with beads and textiles into creating wearable art from found items.
I've taken some classes in watercolor which is fun and oh so hard, as well as focusing on sketching and journaling. So'I'm getting back into watercolor, studying it seriously and working to improve. I do the occasional fiber art also, and would love to get into handmade books some time this year.
I'll be putting up images of past work too, as well as posting to the blog at least once or twice a week of what new stuff I've been working on. Let me know your thoughts on my work...I'd love to hear from you!