My entry into the July 2012 Nibblefest Art Contest is a 9.5 by 11.5 mixed media piece, entitled 'Winged Strings'.  The following is my auction description:

This mixed media painting, of a woman compelled to confront her own creative muse, elusive and fragile as a mothly fairy, is, at 9.5 x 11.5, one of the largest pieces I have entered into the Nibblefest Art Contest.  Re-purposing an old, second-hand frame, this original painting has been built up using multiple layers of paper and paint.  The brown-painted, rounded sides of the wooden frame are complemented by the addition of a border created using small, torn bits of sheet music, to continue the musical theme.  The overall effect is really quite lovely, with much depth, richness and dimension.

I have recently begun painting almost exclusively on supports I create myself utilizing the old, salvaged picture frames and pieces of scrap wood that cross my path from time to time (usually for free). I feel good about giving these unwanted homeless items a second life, not only because trees were cut down at some point to produce them, but also because by the time I get my hands on them they are usually destined for the landfill. The process of recycling vintage frames into painting supports/canvases is a lengthy one, typically involving stabilizing the frames (which can be quite rickety), cutting thick paperboard to fit, securing it all and pasting and building up a painting surface with layers of overlapping scraps of paper. The end effect is a highly textured surface that contributes dimension and depth to my paintings, complete with a built-in frame, into one cohesive, ready-to-hang whole....