Artist Renee Mak

Happy Paint Party Friday!  and  Sneak Peek Friday!!! I've been painting up a storm lately and discovered that the more I paint, the more I LOVE to paint! I pulled out three pieces of canvas I started last summer and tacked them up to the wall.  They're not stretched... just large pieces of canvas, measuring  about 15" x 48"! Originally they were going to be all blues and greens, but now they're well on their way to becoming  rainbow paintings! There is also sheet music and other elements collaged  onto each canvas... The collaged pieces may or may not show up in the end... but I  love knowing they're there! This post features just one of the three paintings I started last summer. I also began two more large un~stretched paintings, finished a small mixed media painting and am working on finishing two other acrylic mixed media paintings! This is what my busy little studio looked like this past week.  I just love painting... I hope you do to! T...

Happy first day of February... my birthday month! I promise to party all month long... I always do! But today, here is a peak inside my sketchbook  I finished for the Sketchbook Project! Inspiration doodles I chose the "Hope" category and so, of course, my sketchbook is all about hope and what it is to me. I also wanted to inspire people to have hope with color  and evoke a "light heartedness" with whimsical doodles! Getting started! I used some of my favorite original designs and some of  my favorite colors and just doodled my heart away! "What is Hope" page I love how the black doodle lines POP on the brightly colored pages! Hope grows! I will definitely be using some of these as doodle pages for  future projects! Hope village! I'll be sharing this sketchbook more in the future too! Cover art Have a hope filled day everyone! <3

I'm please to announce that one more of my paintings has found a new home!   Detail This mixed media acrylic painting  measures 48" x 48" and now belongs to fellow artist Angela Meijer . Here are "detail shots" of some of my favorite parts! Below is a patch of heavy bodied acrylic... the red drips are fluid acrylics. I love to use stencils in my work, like the one below! This mark looks like it has wings... and sometimes there are hidden words! I know this painting has found a great home where it will be admired for years to come... thanks Angela, for helping me spread my artist wings and fly! xoxo

Just because there is snow on the ground and more on the way doesn't mean the garden's not in full bloom!  I've been taking the month of January off, from my retail Art Boutique, and spending extra time playing catch up... and planning for the year to come. It's been really nice... especially because I've taken the time to learn new techniques and just play! This piece with colorful flowers is the product of just that!  It uses techniques I learned from Traci Bautista's Doodles Unleashed Workshop and includes acrylic paints and watercolor crayons... hand made stamps and stencils... ...bright colors and splatters and drips! It's only half way finished but will someday become art papers, cards,  prints, fabric and whatever else my creative mind thinks up! Thanks for reading my blog!  Please leave comments below... and have an amazing day!

It's time for another Blue Mondays post ... I've been spending so much time painting doodles and have,  quite frankly, gotten carried away!   The studio is a wonderful place for me to get lost... even if just for a moment. I let the brightly colored paint take me places far far away... where the sun is shining, flowers are blooming and the leaves are still on the trees! Finding and following colorful doodles is easy and extremely freeing... with no plan or expectations, I just let the paint flow! The brush and  paint carry my thoughts out onto the paper as if it's magic. Of course the color blue always appears... and is always a welcome addition to  my piece! And so... here's one more post dedicated to the fabulous color Blue... and all the wonderful places it's been showing up in my doodles this past weekend! Have a fabulously colorful Monday... and don't forget to be creative today! ~XO~

Doodles... Week Two! The second week of Traci Bautista 's Doodles Unleashed Workshop is called Spontaneous Watercolor Backgrounds ! I love this exercise! I got to randomly spread color around and then  "find the doodle" in the color! I made this simple foam stamp and added green to  my yellow and orange background. Next I used silk flowers as stencils and continued  to build up my layers. "Finding the doodle" is the most fun... Layer by layer... Color by color... And mark by mark! Now to add additional marks, letterforms and any final details until I think it's done! Stay tuned for the finished piece... and if you still haven't signed up for this FREE workshop... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! It's just soooo much fun I want to share. xoxo

Doodles Unleashed Workshop As many of you know, I'm taking part in a free  workshop via Strathmorestudios.com   called Doodles Unleashed . It's a four week class and each week I get to  learn a new technique from our fabulous instructor, Traci Bautista !  She leads me, and over 3000 other artists, on a step by step journey of fun, creative and  colorful mixed media doodling.  Here's a quick photo overview, start to finish, of one of my  pieces from week one. I started by laying objects onto mixed media paper. Then I sprayed color over them. {Keep your eyes on this fleur de lis and watch how it changes throughout this process!} Layer upon layer of bright colors were added until most of the  surface was covered. Removing the stenciled objects was the next step. And then I continued to add color and marks with oil pastels, watercolor paints and more acrylic paint. After everything dried...