Category Archives: spring

Nurture

June 26, 2009 By in art, bird, eggs, etsy, mixed media, nature, pam carriker, portrait, spring 8 Comments


I was so excited a couple of days ago to find this sweet little gift of nature in a flower pot on my deck. Two precious little eggs in a nest so close to my back door. But I have come to realize these eggs have been abandoned, the mama bird nowhere to be seen.


They inspired this painting which I have titled simply ‘Nurture’. Seeing the eggs so lovingly tucked into the nest stirs the mother’s instinct inside my heart. Sometimes despite our best intentions and efforts, we are unable to ‘mother’ for various reasons. Sometimes our children are simply too independant and we must sit on the sidelines while they find their way. They will one day realize that even when they did not want our help, we were there all the time waiting and watching.

available in my etsy art shop

About Letting Go

February 25, 2009 By in art, flowers, metsy, mixed media, portrait, spring, zne 21 Comments
That is the title of this piece that I finished today. As part of a group of artists/friends, who meet daily to exchange tidbits about our lives, share tips and techniques, and enjoy each others company, we cheer each other on and share in the victories, and we also give comfort when life is not so perfect. Hearing of the losses experienced by a couple of these ladies, reminded me so much of the loss of my own grandparents and beloved pets through the years. These losses touch most of us because we have experienced similar times in our lives. On so many levels life is about learning to let go. Letting go of loved ones, letting go of our children as they grow, letting go of things that frustrate or irritate us. Things beyond our control. There is beauty in letting go. It may be hard to see, but it is there. That is what I hoped to convey in this piece. The beauty. Remember to look for the beauty.
Available in my etsy shop.

More Spring Inspired Goodies

March 21, 2008 By in birds, collage, easter, eggs, nests, spring 4 Comments

Here are a few more spring inspired collages I just posted on etsy. I just loved this little sparrow image, and had to use him a few more times. Each piece in this series of three, has one image and one transfer of this sweet little bird. I love eggs, nests, and nature inspired art. I have hung these in an arrangement on my wall to photograph them and they look so pretty. How come I don’t have hardly any of my art hanging in my own home???? I need to work on this. It seems like I am so busy working on things to sell, or send in for publishing, or gifts for people, that I don’t just make things for our home. Oh well, for now I will enjoy them for a bit! Happy Easter Everyone!

I Love the Smell of Beeswax In the Spring!

March 10, 2008 By in beeswax, birds, egg, nest, spring 2 Comments

I love springtime! It makes me think about gardens, birds, and spring cleaning. Ok, not ALL things about spring are great, but most of them are! I created these beeswax collages with spring on the brain. A lot of people ask me about beeswax so I thought I’d share some of it’s secrets to help de-mystify it. I use a little melting pot to heat the wax in. Usually to about 185 degrees. You can use a candy thermometer to check on the temp if you don’t have a temperature controlled heating device. The smell of melted beeswax is heavenly! I keep a designated brush in the pot and just store the wax in there. Mine has a lid to keep out impurities. When you brush the wax on you are only applying it to the surface. The finished look/smoothness is achieved with a quilting iron and or heat gun.
You can melt crayons into your work to add color. And my favorite thing to do is to add stamped images by stamping onto dressmakers tissue with Staz On ink. The tissue becomes transparent and the stamped image is very sharp. Spending time on the background gives wonderful results. The depth is amazing and the scans don’t do it justice! I made prints from these also and they turned out great, I am very pleased. I have never taken a class in this method, it was all learned by trial and error, and what information I could glean from the net. I figured it had to be easier than waxing your legs-LOL!