Artist Statement

My portfolio was done for a school project and I will be adding to it as I continue to draw and paint. I use to do art back in High School and have just started up again. I really loved doing these projects of art. I hope with time I can improve on certain art pieces and I will start working with oil also. To me art is a way of showing expression, imagination, sensitivity and doing what you love. I would not be going into this as a profession but will continue to make art as a fun thing to do. I like to sit and paint, but I do not have a lot of time to do this as I have a busy life with lots of other things going on.
My grandmother and Great Grandfather were both artists and I have pieces of their work. My Great Grandfather even painted on wood and made earrings with wood and then painted on them. They are beautiful and I even own a pair. My sister is also very good with art. I guess it is in my family and it was past down to my daughter who is a great artist as well. The art that I enjoyed working with was Conte and the theme Pop Art. I will try my hand at using Conte and working with oil paints again. I found that oil was great to work with it was just a pain for it to dry.
Art covers a broad spectrum of activities and is wide-ranging. Art is about painting in many mediums, there are also sculptures, photography, clay, graphic design, and the list goes on and on. There are many artists out there and their work is a pleasure to look at. Everyone has there own idea of good art, mine is whatever catches my eye or if it means something to me. An artist’s responsibility is to enjoy what he loves and to do it well. Art is beautiful and everyone finds at least one piece that they like or loves. So for all you artists out there keep up the great work. It takes a lot of time and ability to create these wonderful art works.

Chiaroscuro Portrait - Johnny Cash

This drawing is of Johnny Cash and is done with white Conte. It is on black paper and is 9.75x11.75. The first drawing is of my test trials that I did with Conte. The top one is of Johnny Cash and then the rest are just drawings. The next drawing with Conte is the final Johnny Cash. I loved this so much I tried my hand with white and black Conte on gry paper and it turned out amazing. It is not in this section as it was a gift to someone very special to me and will be posted later. We love Johnny Cash and have a room just for all the things we have on him. I really like using Conte and have continued using it in my art projects at home. I have experienced with black and white Conte and would like to use other colours as well.

Johnny Cash (February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003), born J. R. Cash, was an American singer-songwriter, actor, author, and Biblical scholar, who was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century. Although he is primarily remembered as a country music artist, his songs and sound spanned many other genres including rockabilly and rock and roll—especially early in his career—as well as blues, folk, and gospel. Late in his career, Cash covered songs by several rock artists, among them the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails.

Cash was known for his deep, distinctive bass-baritone voice; for the "boom-chicka-boom" freight train sound of his Tennessee Three backing band; for his demeanor; and for his dark clothing, which earned him the nickname, "The Man in Black". He traditionally started his concerts by saying, "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash."

Which one would you choose - Pop Art

This Pop Art piece is done with Acrylic paint and is on canvas paper, it is 16x20 and is called “ Which one would you choose?” I enjoyed this piece very much as I loved doing Pop Art. In this painting are a good angel and a bad angel sitting in the clouds. The clouds are starting to mix together with good and bad and you need to decide which one you would choose. I used Benday dots for the angels skin tone and also in the clouds. I also made the angels like a cartoon. Roy Lichtenstein was my inspiration for the Benday dots. I loved how he used them and it was hard to try to get them so small.

Good  /gʊd/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [good] Show IPA adjective, bet⋅ter, best, noun, interjection, adverb
–Adjective
1. Morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious: a good man.
2. Satisfactory in quality, quantity, or degree: a good teacher; good health.
3. Of high quality; excellent.
4. Right; proper; fit: It is good that you are here. His credentials are good.
5. Well-behaved:

Bad  /bæd/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [bad] Show IPA adjective, worse, worst; (Slang) bad⋅der, bad⋅dest for 36; noun; adverb
–Adjective

1. Not good in any manner or degree.
2. Having a wicked or evil character; morally reprehensible: There is no such thing as a bad boy.

Angel - Oil Painting.

My oil painting is painted on Canvas Board and is a 12x16. I finished this painting in January 2010. It is of an Angel in amongst Wisteria Vines. I chose to paint this for my business. I am opening a business called Heavenly Flowers N’ Angels. It is for people who have lost a loved one and need to find comfort in dealing with there lose. I make tombstone decorations, saddles, crosses, wreaths etc. My store will also carry books, figurines, angel statues, bookmarks, and anything to do with death and coping with it. The story will also help with people loosing a pet as well as a friend, family member or just someone you knew.

Margie - Self Portrait

This drawing is of myself a few years ago. It is done in pencil and is on sketchbook paper. It is 8.5x12. It was completed in September 2009. I had to look at a photograph of myself and draw it onto paper and then use pencil for the shading. I don’t like pictures of myself to begin with so I was very critical of this piece of artwork. The first one is the trial drawing and then the second is the final drawing of myself.

Perspective Drawing. Paisley Hall

This piece of artwork is called “ Paisley Hall.” I drew this picture with pencil on drawing paper. It is 18x24 and was drawn in Walkerton District Secondary School in the Paisley Hall in October 2009. I chose this hall because of the shading and how it looked. As I was told later it was the hardest hall to do. I had to draw in one point perspective for this and then use shading to define depth and colour.

Pear. Still-life drawing.

This is my still life drawing of a pear. It is done on drawing paper with pencil and is 9x18. I took a pear and placed it on a table so I could draw it. I then was able to eat the pear to draw how it looked with one bite out of it and then what it looked like eaten all the way around the pear. This was just a fun drawing that I did.

How to eat a pear

First choose a pear that is ripe but firm.
Cradle it - wait -
for just a moment
before you sink your teeth into its tender flesh.
Savour the sweetness slipping over your tongue
satiating your desire.
Let its juice dribble down your chin and onto your fingers.

Eating a pear is best done alone. It is not
for group consumption
unless at a polite dinner party
where you use a knife and
feign indifference.
By, Liz.

Linocut - Printmaking Identity Theft & Fraud.

The first two photos of artwork are of my linoleum block. We had to use this for our stamp and we had to carve out our stamp as we made our print. As you can see that the linoleum block gets destroyed as you cut out the layers. In the end the block is thrown away.
The next two are of my printmaking art project. It is on print paper and is an 11x14 done with Acrylic Ink. This art piece was completed in January 2010. I chose Identity Theft & Fraud as my subject because I experienced this in February 2009. It happens more than we know to thousands of people. My visa was stolen out of the department and from there she was able to access all my personal information. This included my address, SIN number, driver’s license and more. First she purchased a Home Depot card and a Future Shop card witch she maxed out to the limit. Then she was able to walk into a bank and try to access my accounts, thankfully the cashier was smart and realized the height and weight on the card did not match the person and refused her access. From there she went and filed a false Income Tax Return and so on. With this printmaking you have to carve out a stamp one piece at a time. You start with the first colour and roll the acrylic ink onto the stamp, apply your stamp onto the paper and then go back to your stamp and carve out the next section. You then apply your second colour and apply it to the paper. This procedure goes on until you have finished your carving your stamp and the print is finished. I carved the white out first and then painted yellow, next was carving out the yellow and painting on the skin colour. I carved out the skin colour and then used red, carved out the red and then used brown, carved out the brown and then used black and it was finished. The hard part was trying to get the stamp in the exact place as the first time.

Budweiser- Pop Art

This painting is a Pop Art painting. It is my interpretation of what I would do for Pop Art. It was painted with acrylic paint on canvas paper and is 16x20. I painted this for the games room, as we are Budweiser fans and our Nascar driver is sponsored by Budweiser.
The Budweiser bottle is painted like Andy Warhol use to do in every day objects. Andy Warhol was a wonderful Pop Art artist. I enjoyed studying his work and he inspired me to paint. I enjoy the different ways Pop Art was done.

Photorealism Painting

This painting is where you take a photograph and paint the rest of the scene around it. I painted this in December 2009. It is on canvas paper, painted with Acrylic paint and is 16 x 20. I chose this photograph because it is of the Owen Sound Harbor and it was a very cool photograph. I loved how the driftwood looks like it is from the prehistoric times and that is why I painted in prehistoric animals. I wanted to make it different than a regular setting and this just adds to the painting.

Johnny Cash - Pop Art

With this piece of artwork I used Acrylic Paint and was inspired by Roy Lichenstein who was a famous Pop Art artist. It is a 16 x 20 painting done on canvas board. This painting was done in 2009. Johnny Cash’s song Folsom Prison Blues inspired me to paint a cartoon character of him and add the first part of Johnny Cash’s song.

I hear the train a comin'
It's rolling round the bend
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,
I'm stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin' on
But that train keeps a rollin' on down to San Antone..
When I was just a baby my mama told me. Son,
Always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns.
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry..

I bet there's rich folks eating in a fancy dining car
They're probably drinkin' coffee and smoking big cigars.
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can't be free
But those people keep a movin'
And that's what tortures me...

Well if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine
I bet I'd move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that's where I want to stay
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.....