Finished Oil Painting of Magnolias and sugar bowl

Hi everyone! I'm joining in PPF again :) Glad you could make it here. Today I'm sharing my first oil painting that I think is finished. I think. I fixed it from the first time I posted it - at least as best as I can now. (See the first jacked up one here) I'm loving the oils so far.

Have you tried oils? Or do you work in them often? I'd love any tips and/or advice you can offer :) Make sure to visit all the Party Goers at Paint Party Friday. Woo Hoo!

Stay safe today all my peeps who are in the large area that is expecting strong storms today with tornadoes (which includes me - YIKES!) Unfortunately, some of my near by areas was hit by the Leap Day tornadoes where people's lives were lost. My prayers are with the people suffering through devastation right now. They are in the storms path again. Harrisburg, Illinois is just 54 miles from me and they were hit hard with a F4 tornado and Newburgh, Indiana which is about 37 miles away got hit with an F1. Thankfully no lives were lost there. I have many friends living there. Keep an eye on the sky.

Have a great weekend.

Roses for the Dead continued

Slowly but surely, I continue to work on my "Roses for the Dead" pastel painting. The work actually goes fast, but I've been doing busy work like painting frames and other things instead of working on this.


My local Blick Art Materials had some wing ding yesterday and was giving out pull tab cards with discounts on them. I pulled a 20% off which is good considering I didn't have a coupon to be begin with but the lady in front of me picked out a card that was a $100 gift card! Dang! Oh well, good for her.


I'm hooking up with Paint Party Friday Woo Hoo! Go and see all the inspiration and talent there if you get a chance.


For those of you that read my post from last Friday, I have an update on my mammogram that I had to have "further evaluation" on. I got great news yesterday. I had my mammogram redone yesterday and everything is fine. No cancer! I am so relieved. The doctor was pointing at these little lines that crossed over in my x-rays that he was showing me but it all looked the same to me. Good thing that's not my job! Anyway, thanks for all the nice things you all said and well wishes and prayers. I love our support group here in blogland.


Oh, also some of you may know about Google getting rid of friend connect (a way to follow blogs). I found through Inspiration Avenue an alternative by the same smart guy that brought us Mr. Linky. It's free, you should check it out and if you do it, I'd love it if you followed me through there, too! See my upper right hand corner for a link.


Have a great weekend friends :)

Pass the wine please

I'm working on a pastel painting at the moment, it's still of course a work in progress. "Roses for the Dead". You may remember seeing the drawing from some post from who knows when. I fall in love with pastels every time I use them. I don't know why I stop and go to other things. Paints for some reason just beckon me with their come hither texture and fabulous colors not to mention I find such delight in just admiring my palette. There's just something so romantic about holding a brush in your hand. Okay, I'm a little crazy.

But what  a fickle medium it is, I have these marvelous paintings in my mind and for some reason the end result gets hacked by either the paints, the brushes or technique. It can't possibly be me, right? haha Do you ever feel like you have no control over what you're doing?

Well I got the girls squished this week, Tuesday to be precise and then just yesterday I got the dreaded letter in the mail saying I have to go back in for "an ultra sound and further evaluation". Great. Just what I need, a week of worry and fret. I can't get back in until next Thursday. Pass the wine bottle please. I think I'll just stay drunk until then.

The chirpy girl on the other end of the phone was all "now this is all routine, it doesn't mean anything" Well if it doesn't mean anything then why the hell do I have to go back?!! I knew that technician was too good to be true. She didn't hurt me at all. She should've flattened those puppies out. At least now the pain would be gone and maybe now I would not be worried.

Ah so maybe I'm got a self portrait here...  just kidding. Other than that, I have tinnitus now in my left ear from probably coughing my head off and I just got back from having my eyes dilated. So I can't see a damn thing. If there's typo's I'm sorry but it's the doctors fault. I was sure I had macular degeneration. So far their just floaters, probably from coughing hard for so long. But I'm supposed to be looking for a black curtain, a sign of a  torn retina. Wonderful.

Let's see, is there anything else I can complain about? Not at this moment. Check back later though ;)

Happy Paint Party Friday! (I'm back!)

P.S. I've a quick question for everyone. Are the words too small and hard to read for you? It seems small to me, but I'd like your opinions.

UPDATE: I have an update on my mammogram that I had to have "further evaluation" on. I got great news yesterday (Thurs. 2/9/12). I had my mammogram redone yesterday and everything is fine. No cancer! I am so relieved. The doctor was pointing at these little lines that crossed over in my x-rays that he was showing me but it all looked the same to me. Good thing that's not my job! Anyway, thanks for all the nice things you all said and well wishes and prayers. I love our support group here in blogland.

New painting of baby barn owl

I haven't been in my studio much the last two weeks because of Christmas break, but I did manage to paint this baby barn owl right before Christmas. I thought it turned out wintery looking, probably the blue background. It is acrylics on wood (Luan).

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While I hate the word cute being used to describe art, this little guy is kinda cute, huh?

It's Paint Party Friday! Take time to visit the other artists and their work if you have a chance. Lots of talent!

Old Man Sun

Happy Friday! One week until Christmas Eve, can you believe it?!  Have you got all your shopping done? I'm pretty much done, a few little things here and there.

It's Paint Party Friday! Yay! So today I want to share a drawing that I've actually re-drawn and re-purposed. It was fun to do different things with this piece and I kinda had the feeling of reckless abandon since it was a print. I got the idea from my friend and artist Diane Salter of My Art Journal. If you've not visited her blog, you need to go if for nothing more than inspiration. I'm linking up with her tutorial page.

Here's my original

I drew this with Prisma Colors quite a while back and like it and plan to frame it, so I don't really want to sell it. I've had offers to buy it, but I can't let go. I'm bad about that. So I found this idea on Diane's blog and tried it with my Old Man Sun.

You scan or photograph your original. (I photographed b/c it was too big) Then print it out with some thick paper and do whatever you want on the print. Easy peasy, right? and fun! I wanted to bump up my colors on my print so I ended up drawing the entire piece over again only this time with these new (to me) crayons called Caran d'Ache Neocolor I Artist Crayons. Wow! What color and fun these are. They are water soluble so that just adds a whole new dimension to our projects. As I was getting the link for this post I just discovered they have metallic crayons too! Oh be still my heart. I'll be getting those for sure, cause I love me some metallic.

I ended up doing a few different ones including this one with my favorite metallic shimmery powders and made a treasure box that I'm happy with. I've got it in my Artfire and Etsy shop.

I also made this other one on a board and don't know what to call it, a plaque? or wall hanging? they both sound silly so I haven't listed it yet. Any suggestions?

Here it is, slightly different than the box and for a different use. I love the streaky look of the metallic. Pictures are hard to capture the shimmer, but shimmer they do!

So there you go, new uses for old art. Thanks to Diane :)  Now go visit the other Paint Party Players.

Toodles,

 

Pirate Ship Treasure Box

My last art show is over for the year and it was fun. I had a roomie in my booth, my friend Amelia and I shared a booth. That makes the day go by a lot more smooth and it's also more fun to have someone to laugh and gripe with. Sales were decent and I did more face painting which is such a kick. I even wore my own snowflake glitter tattoos. Fun :)


If you saw my last post, it was about a painting of a pirate ship I did. I put that painting on a box and many other illustrations with it. It was the very first piece to sell and here it is :)

I used prints of my original paintings and illustrations so I can recreate this box, although it wouldn't be identical which I don't want anyway.

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday =) Check out the talent!

Homemade Stamps!

Today I made my own stamps. I've wanted to do this for a while now and I have a new project in mind. But it would cost a small fortune to purchase so many plus I might not be able to find exactly what I needed. So what's a creative but not so rich artist to do? Why... make their own of course!  I was so pleased with the way they look. Totally grungy like I wanted.

Right now, I'm just using foam and a pencil and a plastic tool that is a flower pick. Check out what I've got so far. These are fun to make! You should try some of your own :)

I'm linking up with Paint Party Friday, although technically I'm not painting... but I've missed it so hey... sue me. Go check out the other players, ok?

Have a great Friday night!

Abstract Dinosaur for CMOE still a WIP

I'm coming along with my abstract dinosaur that I'm painting for an auction to benefit CMOE (Children's Museum of Evansville). I've got several hours in on it so far and I've got quite a few more I think. There was lots of intricate work that has got my neck muscles screaming and my eyes crossing! I've got more shading to do and I'm going to do something a little special to it that you're gonna have to wait to find out what it is ;)

All the paint except the black is metallic. The pictures aren't picking up on that much, but I really like the effect. I'm fairly happy with the way it's looking but you know how it is, things are always just a little different in your head. Well, my head at least.

I know I'm getting off subject here, but did anyone catch that new show on FX called "American Horror Story"? Wow. I'm liking what I've seen so far. It was made just like a movie and kept my eyes glued on the TV! Does anyone else think the gimp was the ghost guy that burned his family or possibly the creepy patient of Ben's? Freaky! I love it! They've picked a great cast, with Jessica Lange playing a great role (as usual) and eye candy Dylan McDermott with semi nude scenes (which doesn't offend me in the least!) since he basically looks like Michelangelo's David. It's not for kids at all, but if you love a good scare, I think this will fit the bill. It comes on every Wednesday evening.

Does anyone have any advice on going from a 2 column to a 3 column? Blogger has changed so much, that the info I've seen seems outdated now. I want to make my own header and possibly background. Any help or links would be appreciated =)

Happy Paint Party Friday gang! Visit all the artists as you can...

CMOE benefit project & PPF 29

I'm killing two birds with one stone here. It's Paint Party Friday and I want to tell you about a project I've got started. I've been asked to participate in a benefit for CMOE, a local children's museum. I am decorating a pre-made wooden "piggy bank" shaped like a dinosaur that you can insert a coin into its mouth and it swirls around and ends up in his belly. It will be auctioned off for their 5th Birthday Gala. I am honored to be asked to help and hope that my dinosaur will fetch a good price to help out the museum. I'm not going for a childlike theme, more of a serious piece with attitude... haha at least in my head!

It stands a couple feet high but as I paint on it, I've discovered there really isn't much surface area. So far, I've gesso'd it and ink'd it with india ink in my random pattern technique and now I've just started to add paint... metallic of course. I have more plans for this other than just painting but you'll have to tune in later to see what I've got up my sleeve ;)

gesso'd

 

ink'd

ink'd other side

adding the metallic paint

I've missed like 3 Paint Party Friday's and I'm just barely squeaking in for this one tonight! This week I've brought all my plants back into my greenhouse cause it's going to get pretty chilly tonight and it's time. Bringing all my plants in has turned out to be a big project (just like every year, how quick I forget!). I was hoping to be further along with my dinosaur by now, especially since the gala is this month... yikes! I'll make it, no worries.

Try to visit all the talent that is PPF! Til next time ;)
 

Paint Party Week 25

Paint Party Friday has arrived again. Today I have another work in progress called "Forest Floor" done with metallics and a couple pics of the now finished and framed "Water for Elephant".  See the post for Water for Elephant here.

Forest Floor stage 1

Forest Floor stage 2 work in progress

Forest Floor stage 2 close up work in progress

I was so inspired by one of the paint players last week that I had to go outside and pick up some leaves and create a painting with some natural stamps. I learned as I created and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I have lots more to do to this painting, it really started out as just playing but now I have more of a vision for the piece and will share it as soon as I finish it.

Water for Elephant - finished

Water for Elephant - finished and framed

Thanks for looking :) check out all the Paint Players for inspiration and fantastic eye candy!

Paint Party Week 24

Welcome to my entry for Paint Party week 24. I am later than normal and my painting isn't finished, but I've made it! I call this Water for Elephant and I've created it today as I've watched Hurricane Irene make her way up the east coast. It is in my new media craze... metallic acrylic paints and now Jacquard Pearl Ex.

I am watching Nightly News and have heard New York City is now under a hurricane warning. That is just crazy talk! This week has been a natural disaster week. The earthquake, which we felt here in Indiana and now the hurricane which looks like it will affect a lot of people, no doubt. I feel for those people, how will they all evacuate? I hope the devastation is minimal and pray for the people in it's path. Most destruction and lives lost is from flooding though, I've always heard. So as the coming hours bring fear, let's pray a miracle happens and Irene breaks away and heads east to the Atlantic. I have many blogging friends on the east coast and my prayers are with you all.

Water for elephant - India ink on gesso, work in progress

Water for elephant - adding metallic paint

close up

see the shimmer from the metallic paint?

This painting created itself pretty much. I started out thinking zetangle with my paint brush loaded up with india ink. But then it started to show me an elephant and then a waterfall and all the other hidden images. Maybe I was inspired a bit by my son's book of I Spy. Have you seen those books? I think I am addicted to them. :)

Of course the colors in the photo are not as brilliant as the original, too much sunlight on the painting when I took the picture. I am not sure about the red face in front. I've already bumped it up to a darker red and now I'm thinking it's taking the center of attention too much. It's not finished yet, so I'll post the finished piece later.

See all the fantastic work from Paint Party Friday. Have a great weekend!