Art enables us to find ourselves and to lose ourselves at the same time.
— Thomas Merton

I’m not used to blowing my own horn, but I am good at having others blow it for me. Prior to coming back to NC, I sent The Pilot, our local newspaper my own press release. You can read it here. And yes, the title should be “Mixed Media Artist Returns to North Carolina.” (once a teacher, always a teacher—though I am sure my website has plenty of errors!

My life boomerangs…from here to there and back…

I took a watercolor class in NYC in 2007. In 2008, I entered my first watercolor I did all by myself in NC. It won an honorable mention. 
From 2008 I took classes in person, classes online, and more. I painted more than 35 hours a week.   I loved painting and it helped me in many ways. But I don't think I realized how much I needed to paint, until I moved to NYC. 
Some of the best parts of my life happened in NYC. I have been a widow twice, and lived with two wonderful people in Manhattan. With the exception of 2007 when I took a watercolor class, I never painted. Instead, I was a viewer of art. We went to museums, galleries and personal studios....more to come! 
I hope you all will join me on Facebook and Instagram and more, just look for @leap4artnyc. Do leave a comment, as you never know when I will send you a free notecard or two! 
 
Tommy B. McDonell, Ph.D.
 

Alcohol Inks, helped me to become my own artist. I no longer tried to be like others. I just worked on being myself.

Flowers Help

The process of art heals me.

With grim reports on November 8, I grab color, stencils, sponges, pens. I layer and layer over and over. I blast red ink.

A flower, leaves, make me try to forget the news. I cut details with a razor blade. A bouquet is born. Hope is restored.

Collage awarded 2nd Place at Judged Exhibit

At the Artist League for the Sandhills judged exhibition and sale June 2023.

The Healing Power of Color 2023

Selected Pieces in The Healing Power of ART & ARTISTS Online Exhibition



I moved to New York City on August 26th and I will leave on February 16, 2024. During that time, I worked on mixed media paintings, alcohol ink with mixed media, and collage and mixed media. I also took thousands of photos and began experimenting with digital images.

Here is some of that work.

Note: to be continued!!

Background. I worked on the layers of this background on and off for two weeks. It has 18 layers including shavings from colored pencils and shavings from pastel pencils. Below is the 'finished' painting. 

Found Painting. I laid stencils on top of the background painting . With some of the stencils I used old tea bags to create older “archaic” looking background.I took photos and layered them with a digital program. I then cut them apart again and kept taking photos.

I know this isn’t really digital art. It is instead my found painting.

Found? Painted? Digitized? or such…

This looks like a painting, doesn’t it. And yet, it isn’t. I came home one day and some stencils had fallen on the background above. I liked how it looked. And yet, I knew, that if I tried to make it into a painting—it just wouldn’t be the same. And so, I made it look like a painting.

Alas I can’t enter this type of painting into an online category. It doesn’t fit how most define as a digital work. And, yet, it isn’t AI either.

I layered stencils one by one and took pictures of them as I went. I digitized the background, and added shadows or darkened areas with an apple pencil and a digital pencil that I don’t have the name of.

Then I added another stencil and so on, As I worked, I took a couple of apps and blended the work together. I assure you I made tons of duplicates. And I can tell you that Swearing was involved.

I stopped at what you seen above.

My patience quota was finished!

Found Painting,