Wearing clothes covered in Corona Virus designed fabric?

 Happy to find an unknown guest has purchased my Corona Virus fabric design from Spoonflower Lucy Autrey Wilson Art Fabric, Wallpaper and Home Decor | Spoonflower.  Maybe I should design more virus and bacteria designs!  They are certainly interesting.

Cartoon Stories Act II: The Talking Heads

Act II of a planned 10 act series of short circus animations featuring characters from a 2022 oil painting.  

Art Access - new Video

Trying for a new way to showcase some of my latest oil painting.

Clever Idea on Display in Downtown San Anselmo

I was taking photos around town and encountered this very innovative display.  Luckily a woman was nearby and, when queried about the artist, she said she and her son had created the artwork.  Using Lego bricks, they made a very unique Little Library sculpture around the free library box in front of their house.  Love this!

Evolution of a Dodo Painting - In Process

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1.  Somehow the abstract painting I was thinking of painting (#5) has turned into a Dodo bird painting.  Maybe this is because I'm in the process of painting another Dodo painting (more on that later,) or just because birds seem to appear in many of my paintings of their own volition.

2.  In 2012, I began a large 36x36 oil painting of The Big Wave, based on a series of nightmares I had over many years.

3.  The Big Wave painting included a childhood image of myself looking out of the canvas, oblivious to the danger.  Then I added a bunch of other people who were looking at the wave.  The execution of the final painting didn't work out (no photo documentation exists of the failed painting).

4.  In 2015, I over painted The Big Wave with a white textured background and put the painting in the garage (to join an increasing number of other paintings.)  Now that I'm re-enamored of oil painting, I'm resurrecting old works and painting over them.  

5.  In 2021, I created a digital composite of a blueprint to over paint the over painted Big Wave painting with a colorful abstract background.  Part way through the process, a bird head appeared.  Now, in 2022, the painting (#1) has turned into a Dodo bird painting.  But my childhood self, in the yellow two- piece bathing suit, is still there.  I'm tentatively calling this new painting the "Dodo Tamer."     It's nearly done, I think, at least for now.

Rocket To Another World

The latest video!  

Latest Creative Efforts

 Top:  36 x 36 oil on stretched canvas.  "Gull Wading at Stinson Beach"

Bottom:  55 x 70 Suburbia Quilt.  Cotton with wool Batting.  

Yellow Duckie Makes His Escape

Short animation of a yellow duckie escaping an oil on stretched linen 5x7 painting to swim off into a digital sea.  YouTube version includes an original soundtrack.  Copyright Lucy Autrey Wilson, 2021

Collaborative Painting

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1.  Finished still life "Brayer with a Jar of Paintbrushes" oil on stretched canvas 16" x 20" x 3/4"

2.  Sketch of Cole Taylor June of 2016 which Wilson painted

3.  Sketch of Wilson Taylor June of 2016 which Wilson painted

4.  Sketch of wall with outlet and window July 2016 which Wilson scribbled on

5.  Sketch of Cole and Wilson July of 2014 where Wilson added the bodies and did the coloring

The bottom four pictures were the inspiration for the top oil painting.  I loved doing art with my grandsons where I would get to a point and they would take over.  Often the results made the pictures much better!  So, without the benefit of having my grandsons around, I pretended my Brayer had a life of its own, and it got into the action after I finished my still life painting, by smearing blue paint on the finished canvas.  

All Together Now - Six Monoprints - Three with Newly Added Embellishments

Three Original Monoprints (Top left, Top right and Bottom left)

Three Monoprints (two ghost prints and one offset print), with mixed media added (ink, watercolor, gouache, pastel).  Bottom run part of an on going Strange Journey series

Strange Journey: Trip to Chicago

Working on a new series of Strange Journey mixed media collages.  Life is a strange journey, and now with the benefit of age, I've seen, experienced and enjoyed most of it.

In this collage, I'm remembering a trip taken to Chicago, Illinois and Rochester, Indiana with my then 93 year old father E.A. Autrey.  Two of his many self portraits are in the car.  Another metaphor for the ups and downs of life, for me, is the mobile and/or balance, made famous by Alexander Calder and, to come extent, Paul Klee.  In my mobile, one can find the cows jumping over a blue moon, a star ball, some random insects, flowers and stars.  There are also some hearts and a photo of me by E.A. Autrey, which I later doctored up.  I'm experimenting with paper die cuts, combined with a variety of other papers which is a lot of fun.    Who knows where this journey will take me next!

Lucy's MOCA Class for families with kids starting this November

I've been spending a lot of time trying to come up with a fun project to do with families with kids that will result in a finished art piece in about 30 minutes.  This is for my paper collage art theory class at MOCA (link here: https://www.marinmoca.org/) this coming November.  I'm using nice washi paper and some recycled paper from an old telephone book.

For now, after some trial and error (see prior post,) I've decided on a paper collage portrait in the style of Yayoi Kusama.  This Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/230809549637151790/?lp=true includes Yayoi Kusama's 2016 self portrait  in yellow and purple.  It's simple, it uses complementary colors, and it's contemporary.   The image above is my self portrait done in somewhat of a Kusama style.

There are several great projects on-line for kids to create collage portraits in the style of Picasso, or Paul Klee or Matisse.  I thought it would be fun to do something in the style of a living, contemporary artist instead.  I have thrown in a few words of things I love to fill out the negative space.  Drawing the words out, inking them and painting them in, however, made the project take longer than desired, so the negative space surrounding the main object may have to stay empty!

Catching UP - Greek art

Since returning from Greece this past June, it's been a flurry of medical issues, doctor appointments, surgeries, etc.   Things are finally looking up enough for some catch up.  Here's the one and only 10x7 travel pen & ink and watercolor painting done in Paros, looking at the view of the Piso Logaras hills from our apartment balcony.

Flower Art for MOS

Another eclectic ensemble from top to bottom:
1.  Three Flowers in a Beach Bucket Vase mixed media on cradled board 9x12
2.  Two Flowers in Yellow Vase mixed media on cradled board 9x12
3.  Sunflowers in Vase:  Paper collage on paper 15x18.5
4.  Vase of Flamingo Flowers:  Paper collage on paper 11.5x15
5.  Six each 8 1/2 x 11 prints of digital photo collage with scanned objects
6.  Space Flower:  Cold wax/oil on cradled board 16x12
7.  Space Flowers:  Cold wax/oil on cradled board 12.5x8.75
8.  Fall into Winter Leaves quilted wall hanging 36.25 x 36.25
9.  Magnolia From bud to Bloom quilted wall hanging 41.5 x 45.5
10.  Garden of Delight quilt 50x67.5
11.  Winter Crow - quilted wall hanging with four photos and an applique crow

Bugs, Birds and Flowers - Marin Open Studios

As I am gathering artworks together for my Marin Open Studio, the first two weekends in May, a nature theme is coming together:  Bugs, birds and flowers.  The Bug Art is highlighted in this post, to be followed by birds and flowers in subsequent blog posts.   There are also some interesting people portrait collages to come.

I love painting Insects.  They come in all sizes and colors so make great models.  They are also essential to make the natural world function.  Here is a preview of some of my insect art which will be on display in May.

Digital Prints

Insects A to Z pen & ink & marker drawn insects, digitized with original insect font done in 2006.  One of my bestselling alphabets for many years on Art.com.  Available as a 13x19 print

Bugs in Bottle on Table digital composite of mixed media ‘Bottle of Bugs’ art done in 2015, with line art from a series of pen & ink and watercolors done in La Jolla in 2002, bird silhouettes from drawings done after a trip to India in 2015, and polka dot fabric designed in 2014.  Available as an 8 ½ x 11 print.

Spiders and Spider Webs Photographs shot in the Galapagos in 2017.  Available as 11x8.5  and 19x13 prints.

Art Quilts

Space Garden 45.5” w x 63” h with silk, cotton, digital fractal insect designs printed on silk organza and applique.  Done in 2014.  No longer available

Bee World 30” w x 47” h, including silk and cotton with fabrics of my own design.  Done in 2014.  Available

Mixed Media

Bottle of Bugs 9” w x 12” h paper on board with 1 ½” cradle.  R&F oil sticks, cold wax, digital print and Gum Arabic transfer on paper backed panel.

Cicada Mixed Media 6” x 6” paper on board with 1 ½” cradle.  R&F oil sticks, oil and ink on Arches watercolor paper.

Digger Wasp 6” x 6” paper on board with 1 ½” cradle.  R&F oil sticks, oil and ink on Arches watercolor paper

Oil Paintings

Dragonfly 5” w x 4” h stretched canvas block with 1 3/8” cradle.  Oil painting, black and gold ink.

Some New Winter Seattle Art

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1.   Pen & Ink and Watercolor portrait of sulky grandson Cole Taylor.  His nose is too long in the painting, as can be seen from the photo below it.  That might have been because we were reading the book Pinocchio!  Cole was not as willing to pose as his twin brother so this is the only time I had to paint him.
2.  Watercolor painting of Wilson, which doesn't do him justice, as can be seen from the photo of him above the artwork.
3.  Pen & Ink and watercolor and pastel pencil portrait of Wilson in his sport shirt.  He looks a bit like a Nazi youth in this picture, which Wilson said was "creepy."  It does not look much like the photo of Wilson above the art, holding up the world with his dyed red Mohawk hairdo. 
4.  An Abstract, inspired by going to Discovery Park in Seattle, one of my favorite places to hike
5.  A Memory Abstract of my week in Seattle ends the tableau.

Albion Art

Four disparate new 7x10 pen & ink and watercolor paintings done in Albion, CA.  I was inspired to name the two "flowers in vases" paintings after socializing with friends.  The Snow Leopard painting was an attempt to incorporate text with a picture of a vanishing snow leopard, which had been featured on the cover of a magazine found in the house.  I did wonder who had worn the kid's antique cowboy boots when they were new, years ago.

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1.  Three Old Friends (rose hips in vases)
2.  Dinner Party (flowers in vase)
3.  Snow Leopard FOCUS
4.  Kid's Cowboy Boots