Art with the Grandgirls and Watercolor Landscape

We had a very full day here yesterday. Miss P and Miss M stayed overnight on Sunday and we spent a couple of hours at the kitchen table with gesso, gel medium, paper napkins, magazines, scissors, wax crayons and acrylic paints. We had a blast.



These are Miss Morgan's pages. She is four and loves to color. The bunny is a paper napkin and the girl at the mailbox is an image transfer.

These are Miss Payton's pages. She is nine and is definitely an artist in her own right. The wrapped up money is an image transfer and the butterflies are a part of a paper napkin.

And I got some work done in my altered book as well. I added to the first two below that I showed in progress before. And began the bottom two.

And I turned in my homework for the Going Green class. I am not altogether happy with the landscape, but there are parts of it that I like. I can't wait to try another one. I added a digital mat to set it off.

I took the girls to the library for a comedian/magician show and they had a blast. Afterward, we met their Mom at her house and we all went to Kohl's shopping. Boy is Miss P a good shopper. She and her Mom helped me pick out several shirts and pants and were the best judges/critics. I hate shopping and typically end up with an armload of clothes in the dressing room and then after an hour I am hot and irritated and don't find anything I like. I actually came home with a nice selection of nice casual summery clothes. I find since I retired I mostly own kick about clothes, most of which have either paint or gesso on them.

Nancy and I are going into Mason this morning to play with our iPads at the booksellers/coffee shop and I will actually have something besides my khaki capris and pink print shirt to wear. Don't get me wrong, I love that outfit, but it was about the only thing I had to wear except jeans and t-shirts and it is way too hot for jeans.

What do you have planned for the day? Are you sweltering in this heat? Or are you too cold on the other side of the world? Whatever your situation, I surely hope you can find the time to do something for yourself - maybe something creative you can share....

xoxo

A Rose, A Mixed Media Canvas and A Face

I hope you aren't tired of seeing my roses. We only have one bush, but it gives me such pleasure. The colors have such a range from light yellow to golden peach. I never know what I am going to see as each new bud opens. Here is today's photo:

I would really like to get set up outside with a long lens and a tripod and spend some time capturing the birds, but in less than a minute the mosquitoes would carry me off - me, hell, they would carry off my camera and tripod. Have you encountered any of those mutants this summer. They are huge and are everywhere. Needless to say many of my pix are taken through windows and/or screens. Unfortunately, the quality suffers, but I can't help myself, I love to take pictures. Maybe if the weather becomes a bit drier the mosquitoes will take a hiatus and I can get outdoors and really do some shooting!

Meanwhile, I've been spending lots of time in my art room working playing. I have been working on my ongoing mixed media canvas. I have added to it, but it is not done yet. I made myself a stamp from a trio of leaves I cut out of some wallpaper in a sample book I have and used Stazon ink to stamp the canvas. I am thinking I will sponge a mix of greens and yellow greens over the leaves to give more of a treed effect and maybe put a bit of brown on the cheesecloth to simulate a farmer's field. I am trying to think how to make a transition from the ground to the sky. I love the colors in the upper part of the piece, but need to put in some greens and maybe some tiny bits of wildflower color to make the land part of the piece. Then I may add a small barn to complete this project that I've come to think of as "A Birds' Eye View". Do you have any thoughts about this?

The other project I am working on is for Sharon Tomlinson's Faces in Watercolor Class. I have the first face finished - at least I think it is finished. There are some spots on it where the brush strokes are visible and the edges aren't smoothly blended. I may get brave and work on those transition areas and I am thinking I may add something to the right of the canvas. What do you think?

It is another gray day, but here is what my weather forecast has to say for today:

Forecast for Early This Morning
Showers likely and isolated thunderstorms overnight. West winds around 10 mph with gusts to around 20 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.
Forecast for Today
Mostly sunny. Highs in the upper 70s. Northwest winds 5 to 15 mph.

Right now the weather conditions say the humidity is at 88% and I can tell.

I must thank you, dear readers, for the time you take to read and comment on my blathering and your input into my art attempts. I truly appreciate each and every one of you, even you lurkers. I'd really like to get more input; I can take criticism and would hope you would be able to give it in a constructive way.

By the way, I still haven't cleaned the bathrooms. Today, for sure!!!

xoxo

Paint, ArtRage, and Goodies in the Mail

I have finally painted a picture in ArtRage that I like. No, it is nowhere near as good as the ones I see at Ambient Design, but for me, it is a great improvement. I used the print I won from Ottworks as my model. I didn't import it into the program; it was sitting on my computer desk next to the monitor.

What do you think?

And speaking of Ottworks, I was cleaning up my art room prior to starting a new "hands on" project, when I happened upon the envelope my print came in and wanted to show it to you. I think it is really great!

I really did get my sketchbook out yesterday. I didn't do anything spectacular nor did I do anything outside the realm of what I have been doing all along. You know I love drawing birds, but I have a long way to go to get them "right". So I practiced again yesterday and here is what I have to show for it:

I also spent a little time getting my hands in the paint supplies. I started with a piece of pressed board that I got from the hubster's workshop. I put a layer of PPA on it first and pressed a piece of tissue paper onto it to add some texture. I then put a layer of white gesso over that. When that was dry I attached small pieces of paper randomly to add more texture. I splattered gold and purple paint over it all. Then I made a small mask from a figure I cut out of a magazine and put that onto the board and painted around it. I didn't do a very good job as some of the paint got underneath it, but it is what it is.

I really don't know where this is going just yet, but I will share it as it develops.

And to really make my day, I got a package in the mail. While it was not nearly as exciting as unexpected goodies, it was still a wonderful treasure to behold. I ordered a cigar box full of goodies from Stan and Russell at Twisted Papers. It was such fun to open it and go through it to see just what wonderful "stuff" I'd bought. I put off going through it until after I picked up the first grader so that she could enjoy it with me. She was ecstatic and oohed and aahed over it all. Take a look:

I think that is all I have to share from yesterday. I was expecting to have the girls again today, but when my daughter got home last evening she told me I was off for today. YAY!!!

It is cold and dreary; it is pouring rain. I need coffee filters and orange juice. I can live without the orange juice, but not the coffee filters, so I trip to the store is necessary. I also signed up for 5 more addresses from Postcrossing awhile ago and have the postcards, but haven't sent them yet, so I need to go to the post office as well. Other than that, my day is my own. Who knows what may transpire???

Don't you just love free time!

See you tomorrow.....

Current Art

I am currently working on several projects on canvas and am working on several ATC swaps. I find that I work best in large blocks of time. I generally forget to eat or do any of life's "necessities" when I am working.

These two are my first two canvases from my online class with Paulette Insall. The focus is on making organic backgrounds - layer, layer, layer. I am loving the class. If you are thinking about taking a class, this woman is really good at what she does. The class was very reasonably priced and has good quality videos weekly. There is also a chat once a week. The people in the class are friendly and supportive. I have found it to be a wonderful experience.

My "studio" is in serious need of cleaning and rearranging in order that I can find things easily and be more productive. It never stays ordered for long. By its very nature mixed media art is messy and the more you have at hand the more creative you can become. My pet peeve is thinking of just the perfect thing to use at a given moment when working on a project and not being able to put my hands on it quickly.


I am trying to keep an art journal, too. I find it difficult to keep up with it because I am so involved in my daily "written" journal that I started on the first of January. I have not missed a day yet and am determined to get through December 31. I think next year, I will incorporate art into my daily journal so that it is a log and an artistic journey.