Jessica Flores Design

Yesterday, a painting

I used to be a painter.  When I lay awake at night, I would think about the next composition or which piece I would enter in an upcoming show. When I went shopping, I would pine for little tubes of squishy paint in Sepia or Prussian Blue and haul home huge, awkward sheets of mat board and full-size pieces of watercolor paper.  The work was urgent and terrifying and breathless, and just one stroke too many could ruin a piece.  But when you came through making all the right decisions, the end result was magical and satisfying.  

I'm starting to find my way back to that place after losing inspiration, experiencing some disappointments in my work, feeling disillusioned with the gallery world and selling my art for profit.  Stroke by stroke, I'm starting to find excitement again in the possibilities.  I'm hoping you'll see more paintings here in the next few weeks.  The palette sitting on my dining room table in the sunshine is a welcoming site.

 

 

Mary's Heart

Several artists in my church are working on individual pieces of art as part of a Christmas art celebration for the senses. The visual art will be displayed during the Christmas choir concert. All are based on the theme "On this Very Night." Each artist was invited to interpret the phrase in his/her own work. I chose the verse in Luke that reads "And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart." Before I show you my painting in progress, let me share a pic of my new old Coppes Hoosier cabinet, which I've turned into my craft center. Plenty of nifty nooks, shelves and drawers to keep all of the goodies tucked away in. I love the enamel counter top that pulls out and makes just enough room to work on a manageable project. Here is the preliminary sketch for my interpretation: and here is how it ended up in stage two: I chose to forego all of the fancy ornamentation on the box and the wrist and went for a more peaceful, simple treatment. I added the verse to the background with colored pencil. The next step will be to coat the entire painting in paraphin wax, wad the paper up to create cracks in the wax, and then pour a heavily tinted wash of color over the paper, so that the paint seeps into only the cracks. I'll share that step later. . . Stay tuned!

I painted something!

I cannot remember how long it's been since I painted something I didn't throw out.  Maybe I'm back in the groove.  I'm really liking this mixed media thing.  I painted this one at the request of my friend, Kiki.  It's posted on my Etsy site.  Click on the Etsy icon in the column to the right to get a closer look and see some other new items I've posted recently.

Long Lost Art

I re-discovered an online gallery of my work that I posted a few years ago. Check out some of my fine art at my gallery on ismudge!

Here's one of my favorite paintings in the collection

Gifts to Each Other

My most recent book as an illustrator is now available at the Barnes and Noble and Amazon websites! You can even look inside the book on Amazon. How exciting. Here's a peek at the cover