Saturday, February 4, 2012

29 Faces

I've gotten a late start, but faces are my favorite thing to paint,
so I really wanted to participate in 29 Faces!
For this first post I am putting in days 1, 2, 3, and 4...
but will try to do one at a time (or at most two) from now on.


Day Four
Acrylic on wood.


Day Three
Acrylic on a chunky canvas.


Day Two
Acrylic, colored pencil, graphite and collaged bits on bristol board.


Day One
Colored pencil and acrylic paint, plus decorative paper.
A moleskine journal cover.
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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Happy Groundhog Day!
Darn that Phil, though...
How does he always see his shadow??
Must be all those TV lights!

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Sketchbook Project is GONE as of Tuesday! YAY!
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Friday, January 27, 2012

Paint Party Friday


More SBP Pages...
 A couple of posts ago, I was lamenting not having a title for my 
Sketchbook Project journal. I couldn't see how my random drawings
fit any kind of theme. The theme given to me by the SBP people 
was "Encyclopedia of..." 

Readers left so many wonderful suggestions,
my mind was dancing! But one idea really spoke to me
and it was from Tracey Fletcher King (her blog is here).
She suggested "encyclopedia of memories or dreams".
I loved the idea of dreams...
all of my pages so far seemed like something I may have dreamed. 
This is the inside cover spread. I haven't actually done the cover yet.


Here it is flipped so you don't have to turn your computer around lol...
Hopefully it will be less of a problem with the book in one's hands :)

Still working crazily to get finished by the end of the month,
but it's proving to be lots of fun.

Someone commented that I probably work better under pressure.
After giving it some thought, I've decided perhaps it's more accurate to say
I ONLY work under pressure. I get very little done unless
there is a deadline looming. Just ask my husband :)
Taking a back seat to all this is balancing the checkbook, organizing taxes
for the accountant, housework of course....and many other chores that
theoretically I have more time to do so they are my chores.
My son has inherited this tendency to procrastinate
and I'm not sure I approve. But it gives his father, who is early 
for the most minor event, quite a few anxious and irritated moments.

So, anyway, I've gotten off the track...

Other than this spread, I don't know if I've completed anything else
since my last post. Some pages are partly done.

I guess that means I'd better get busy.
Just having the title off my mind is a HUGE relief!
Thank you Tracey!

I'm posting this for Paint Party Friday.
I hope you'll head over to see the awesome artwork that has been posted.
So many talented artists...I never do get to everyone's blog
but I can just try to do better each week.

Have a wonderful weekend!
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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Butterflies at Inspiration Avenue

The Butterfly Garland
Butterflies under the sea?
But of course! Where did you think butterflies come from?
Besides from caterpillars, that is. 
It's like the old chicken and the egg puzzle. 
Which came first, the caterpillar or the butterfly?

Well, mermaids are in charge of gathering the lost butterflies
and making sure they return to land to lay the eggs,
that will become the caterpillars, 
that will become . . . now you understand.
Without the mermaids' help, there would be many less butterflies.
Of course the mermaids can't accomplish this without a little assistance.
They enlist their sea creature friends to pitch in from time to time :)

Be sure to head over to Inspiration Avenue on Sunday
to see the Gallery of Butterflies.
I believe we have a record number of entries this week.
"Butterflies" is a subject that speaks to the creative soul!
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Friday, January 20, 2012

Deadline fast approaching...panic


The Sketchbook Project

I'm frantically trying to get my sketchbook completed 
by the deadline of January 31.
Okay, not "frantically" or I would be finished by now. lol.


The one thing that does not make much of an appearance
in my sketchbook is sketching. I've always hated my sketches...
maybe I should take a drawing class.

The theme given to me by the Sketchbook People
(okay that's a lie, I did choose it myself)
is "Encyclopedia of..."
and for the life of me I can't figure out what my book is an encyclopedia of.
There seem to be a lot of trees, clothing, and some elves and fairies.
How on earth are these related? 
I would like to do the cover in something clever
relating to my theme but . . . maybe the word is "hodgepodge".
A word I don't like at all.

So, enough of my problems. If anyone has a suggestion
about how these things are related, I would be grateful to know!

In the meantime, I am posting this for Paint Party Friday.
I hope you will visit the wonderful entries that are posted there!

Have a happy weekend!

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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

It's a dreary winter day...

I haven't even thought about art in the past 3 days...
Guess I will get busy and/or inspired tomorrow :)

But.
There is a 20% off sale in my Etsy shop!


And.
A treasury I made honoring Edgar Allan Poe.
January 19 is his birthday!


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Sunday, January 15, 2012

Weekly Art Challenge


Paper Dolls
Yesterday I was thinking I wouldn't have an entry 
for this week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue.

I adored the theme of paper dolls and thought it would be a fun challenge.
The execution proved more problematic than the idea!
I started 2 different entries. Not happy with either.
It was harder than I thought it would be! Just not my thing, I thought.
I was expecting to have the best time doing this.
Instead I was stressing over it...

So, today I made myself complete both.
I don't hate either one as much as I thought I did,
and I'm glad they are finished!

The first one...
 Her name is Apolline, a high wire artist at the circus.
When she's not high above the crowd in the big top, she
loves shopping for everything pink! Occasionally
she will include something light green or another pale color.
She loves walking her puppy, Amaroo,
and is searching for the perfect pet bird
for the lovely vintage cage she found today.


For the second one, I fell back on some digital creations
that I mostly had already done, but added some new dresses and colors:
I was inspired by the yummy sixties fashions in Mad Men.
I confess I have never watched Mad Men, but I looked at the pictures!
It's on my to-do list to watch an episode.

Pop over to Inspiration Avenue Sunday afternoon 
(if you are in the US eastern time zone,
or adjust accordingly for your location!)
The entries will be displayed in the Gallery of Paper Dolls :)

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