Beginnings

I've been playing with some of the images I've captured lately. Here was a moth that landed on my (dirty) window. No, the window wasn't THIS dirty. ;0) I've transposed him onto a digital background from my files. I love this image and will probably use him in other pieces as well.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Slowing Down

Everything that slows us down and forces patience,

everything that sets us back into the slow cycles of nature,

is a help.

~ May Sarton

I've been spending a lot of time at our local nature preserve. It's a marsh, a wetlands ... started out decades ago as a celery bog. It's so peaceful and there are many forms of wildlife to be found. Lately I've been trying to get there earlier and earlier; partly for the light (for photography) and also because I'm the only one in that vast space at least for awhile.

I captured some nice photos of this beautiful creature during my last visit. The rest are posted on my other blog here. Taking time to refresh, observe my surroundings and soak it all in. Loving the silence!

My Mind Is...

My Mind Is

my mind is

a big hunk of irrevocable nothing which touch and

taste and smell and hearing and sight keep hitting and

chipping with sharp fatal tools

in an agony of sensual chisels i perform squirms of

chrome and execute strides of cobalt

nevertheless i

feel that i cleverly am being altered that i slightly am

becoming something a little different, in fact

myself

Hereupon helpless i utter lilac shrieks and scarlet

bellowings.

~ ee cummings

Soar

Hubby and I visited a nature preserve this weekend. I took over a hundred photos and am still going through them. I LOVED seeing all the wildlife. I'll have the rest of the photos on my other blog, In the Stillness, as I process them. Have a great weekend everybody!

Wandering Muse

"I have a promiscuous Muse.

My Muse wants to own every color,

work in many media, and in

numerous genre."

-- Mary Klotz

This is so true! *sigh* My current obsessions (just off the top of my head): art journaling, photography, doll making, abstract painting... 

I'm taking a year long photography course from Kim Klassen called Be Still 52. It's a wonderful, gorgeous course. It has definitely motivated me to explore my camera a lot more. The class started January 1 but I have plenty of time to catch up. There is one class a week. I have created another blog just for the photos I take for this course. It can be found here.

I do NOT consider myself a photographer by any stretch of the imagination. But I am learning and enjoying the process. The class is designed to get you to stop, breathe and enjoy the still moments. Here are a few photos I've taken from the course:

And speaking of new blogs, I ALSO started another blog just for my art journal pages. That can be found here. The image at the top of this post is my newest journal card. See? I TOLD you my Muse was promiscuous!

These various places to post also help me keep this blog mainly for my artwork. Each blog has an option to subscribe by email if desired. I don't post to any of these blogs every day but it helps keep me motivated to CREATE!

Rainy Day

April Rain Song

by Langston Hughes

Let the rain kiss you

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops

Let the rain sing you a lullaby

The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk

The rain makes running pools in the gutter

The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night

And I love the rain.

I love quiet rainy afternoons like today. Great atmosphere for sketching, coffee, and being still. Happy Monday, everybody!

Magic Moments

"And every magic moment brought

her closer to her dreams."

--Robert M. Drake

My hummingbirds are back! Yay! They make me so happy. They truly are magical little creatures. I love to sit and watch them flitter in and out of the feeders. So far they are behaving but every year there will be one who wants to claim all the feeders for itself and the fighting begins. *sigh*

I thought this scene could use a little creature so I added one in digitally:

I'm also excited about this new book of poetry I picked up the other day. I confess, the cover is what got me. But the verses inside are truly beautiful and inspirational. There will be many journal pages and paintings inspired by these verses. 

Isn't that a cool cover? :) I will be entering this in Paint Party Friday when the link opens. Have a great weekend everybody. 

Fragments

"Sometimes only a bridge

through the clouds

Sometimes to be silent."

-- Matthew Zapruder

from "What I Need"

I am linking this to Paint Party Friday. Have a great weekend everybody! 

New Studio Assistants

This is Pip. She loves to live in her own little fantasy world and she insisted I photograph her with all her favorite books. ;)  I'm not sure why there is a green tint at the bottom of the photo. It should be all white... :/

I am taking a wonderful "dolls for big girls" class from Judy Wise. We are having a blast creating these little people. As someone who absolutely LOVED playing with dolls when I was a little girl, I am definitely re-discovering my inner child.


And one more to add to the comic relief today:

This is Trixie. She loves to play in her art journal. I had to make a little one for her, complete with paintbrush.

These two have front row seats at my art table and both offer suggestions while I try to make my own art. I'm not sure how much help they'll be but I'll allow them to stay if they can get along. Stay tuned...

End of Winter

8" x 8", Mixed Media

"On winter's margin, see the small birds now

With half-forged memories come flocking home..."

--Mary Oliver

from her poem, "On Winter's Margin"

This is a small painting I started a few weeks ago while playing with my oil paints. I'm really attracted to working with the oils again. I finished it using oil pastels. It makes me happy. 

I will link this to Paint Party Friday when it goes live. Have a great weekend everybody!

Sister Love, Missing Mom

"Paula", 12 x 12, oil

This is another project from the class I am taking with Misty Mawn. It's an oil painting of my sister. The oil was still wet when I photographed it. I am hoping this will dry by the time her birthday rolls around in June. I LOVE oil paints but that is the drawback. They take forever to dry. 

This is a flat style of painting (something Misty taught us). I love the effects and will do more with it. 

Also, I want to acknowledge that today is my Mom's birthday. She's been gone 11 years now and I miss her so much. I still think about her every single day. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Haven't Got Time For The Pain

5" x 7", Graphite and Charcoal

This is another exercise from class: drawing emotion. It's also how I feel whenever I get my migraine headaches. Ugh! They have been more frequent lately. Mine are due to pressure changes in the weather. It's crazy weather here this week. I hope you all have a better weekend! 

Reflection

7" x 5", Oil

"In the stillness of remembering what you had

And what you lost...

And what you had...

And what you lost..."

from "Dreams", by Fleetwood Mac

Haiku for Mom

Another year gone

My tears bring forth a garden

Your spirit lives on

                        -- Pam Tucker

This is another exercise from Misty's class.

Studying Schiele

Self Portrait        9" x 12",       Mixed Media

Hello! This is my first self-portrait. LOL! It's also an exercise from Misty Mawn's new class. It is the first week and I am over the moon about how awesome this class is. 

Without revealing too much of the content, we were to study an artist whose work has influenced us. I chose Egon Schiele. We were to replicate one work of theirs to the best of our ability and then do a self-portrait in that artist's style.

Self Portrait by Egon Schiele

Here was my attempt at this. SO incredibly hard to draw those hands!!

I loved really studying his work and trying to capture every line. So much learned from just this one exercise. 

I am probably going to make a change in my blog header soon...  ;)

Linking this to Paint Party Friday  and Art Journal Journey. Have a great weekend everybody!

I am also working on a new wolf painting and tons of other things. Stay tuned...

Sketching Amy

I practice sketching faces every night while watching TV with hubby. I have a book of portraits that I use as inspiration for my practice. This is supposed to be Amy Winehouse. The portrait in the book really caught my eye and I wanted to try and replicate it. It was much better of course. Practice, practice...  :)

Spring Flowers

4" x 6", Alcohol Ink

4" x 6", Alcohol Ink

Since I can't see any Spring flowers right now (expected low temp. of -7 degrees tonight), I decided to paint some. These are actually small paintings that I made to go onto cards I'm sending. Just enough color and texture to make me happy today. Happy Sunday everybody! 

The Hunter

The Hunter                                  22" x 30", Mixed Media

This is the second painting in a series I'm doing on wolves. It is taken from this reference image we used in class:

Again, I used metallic accents to stylize the wolf a little. I really like this one. On to the next! 

Free Spirit

6" x 6", Mixed Media

"I have fallen in love with the imagination.

And if you fall in love with the 

imagination, you understand

that it is a free spirit. 

It will go anywhere, and 

it can do anything."

        -- Alice Walker

This is another one of my paint skin people. I really like this one. The "face" was lifted off the palette just as it is. I love when that happens... 

I am linking this to Paint Party Friday. Have a great weekend everybody!

Dancing with Wolves

16" x 22", Mixed Media

I just finished taking a class on painting animals in nature. I am so excited about everything I learned! The first project was a wolf. I'm working on the one from class now. I thought I would try a "practice" wolf first. I have a book about wolves so I picked this photo as a reference:

The painting is a stylized version loosely based on this photo. The main thing I learned was how to paint the fur texture and how to jazz it up once you are finished. NOW I am painting the wolf from class. He has a more menacing presence and I hope the painting will result in a more dramatic scene. 

This is the first in a series of wolf paintings I will be doing. I love everything about the wolf. We have a wolf park very near here and I LOVE to go and watch them interact with each other. So be prepared for more wolves in the coming weeks... 

Have a great weekend everybody!

Color Pencil Play

I've been re-discovering my art supplies through Jane Davenport's Supplies Me workshop. She has given all alumni lifetime access to her workshops. Woohoo! I've taken three so far.

Anyway, colored pencils! I have tons of them. So instead of having the supplies lay around unused we are to dig them out and play! I am trying to perfect the burnishing technique (blend, blend, blend that face). So this little lady emerged. Then of course I scanned her into Photoshop and played with some backgrounds.

I'm working on a big project I hope to show soon. It's very exciting and something totally new for me. Stay tuned...

Holy Cow!

Approx. 6" x 10", Alcohol Ink on Yupo

Yes, I painted a cow! Hubby teaches in the College of Agriculture and I painted this for his office. There is a really cool website called PaintMyPhoto.ning. It allows photographers and artists to work together. You find a photo you want to paint, give the photographer credit and you can use it as a reference. This is from a photo by Nicola McLean:

It is painted with alcohol inks on Yupo paper. I'm still working with that medium. I'm learning to manipulate the inks better. 

I will link to Paint Party Friday when the link goes live. And thank you, Eva, for pointing out that Nic McLean is also a member of Paint Party Friday! Ha! Small world.  ;)  Have a great weekend everybody! 

Surrender

5" x 7', Alcohol Ink on Yupo

"To the mind that is still

the whole universe surrenders"

-- Lao Tzu

Looking at Grief: A Journal Page

"That time

I thought I could not

go any closer to grief 

without dying

I went closer,

and I did not die..."

-- Mary Oliver

This journal page materialized on its own. I added the two figures and bumped up the color with markers and Photoshop. 

I often use CitraSolv painted onto National Geographic magazine pages in my art and my journals. You can see more about the process here. When I was tearing out the solvent-soaked pages from the magazine this one emerged. 

Usually I'll have a page spread of pretty colors all melted together. Then I'll tear them up and use them in my art. This one, I LOVED just as it is. I scanned it into Photoshop so I'll always have a copy to play with. The original is framed. 

I've started another blog where I post just my art journal pages. It's here if you want to check it out. Have a great week everybody! 

Among the Flowers

5" x 7",  Alcohol Ink on Yupo

"There are always flowers
for those who want to see them."
-- Henri Matisse

I had to paint another hummingbird so I would have two paintings to hang together. ;) I'm working on a few special projects that I'll share soon. Have a great weekend everybody!

Hummingbird in Flowers

5 x 7, Alcohol Inks on Yupo

I've been experimenting with alcohol inks on Yupo paper. There are a lot of paintings in progress. This one makes me happy!  More to come...

Happy New Year everybody!