sp2

8x10" mixed media on watercolor paper

s/p Stroke

My last post was 6/15/14.  The day after that, I had a stroke.  On 6/16/14 I went to bed and woke up almost a week later.  I had difficulty walking, talking and writing.  It has been a long month, alot of changes have happened in the past month.  Today I painted my first painting since the stroke.  It felt awesome to create again, I have thought about it for a month.  Strange thing is while I was having the stroke and after, mentally, I was painting.  I dont know if that makes sense to anyone but it does me. Your mind protects you, and my mind protected me by painting.   The painting above was fairly easy, considering the fact that I have been painting her for a month.

The journey

12x18" acrylic on watercolor paper

Value study

Value study in art journal - acrylic

I got this

Acrylic/mixed media on 8x12" watercolor paper

Jackson rework

Have been reworking some pieces lately including this one of my grandson, Jackson.  Reworked with acrylics and oils probably 5 or more times.  There are still some adjustments I will make but for the most part I am at a stopping point.  It will be a very long time before I attempt a beach scene again.

  

Red balloon

A rocking chair sat beside my fathers recliner.   That rocking chair was mine when I was a little girl.  Hour upon hour were spent in this chair rocking beside my father as he sat in his recliner.  Just my dad and I, enjoying our rocking chairs.  Just my dad and I, bonding.  For years I sat beside my father.  We read together, watched football together, watched Hee-Haw, Dolly Parton, Cher and Billy Graham together. 

This was a good time to ask Daddy any questions about life in general that I had on my mind. 

As I got older, I would sit in Daddys chair and rock.  When he got home from work,  I would politely and gladly move over to my little chair. 

When I was sick I would sit in his chair and rock and miraculously I was better.  This little chair may look like just a chair to some, but to me it was my undivided connection with Daddy growing up and will always have a special place in my heart because of what it represents.

This piece was painted for my Dad which died three years ago.  The little chair which holds such special memories for me and a red balloon for his birthday.

Happy Birthday Daddy.

22x30" acrylic/oils/mixed media on watercolor paper

The tutu

The revision is complete!! Yeah!! 

Acrylics on 22x30" watercolor paper

Inspiration for the tutu was Karen Milstein's beautiful little tutu.    Karen is having a sale in her Etsy shop right now, worth checking out!

Inspiration for the mother/ballerina's pose  was found on Pinterest by Katya Grindneva.  Here is a link to her awesome work.

WIP - a revision

A couple of days ago I posted "A Mothers Love".  After looking at it awhile I decided I wasnt too happy with it, actually I wasnt happy with most of it.  About the only thing I was happy with was the little girls face. So, today I have been working very hard to revise it.  This is what I have come up with......the only thing that stayed intact was the little girls face, everything else was reworked.  Now, the little girl is in her tutu that mom makes her wear, but she has not given up her red and white stripe tights or her converse shoes.  Mom is not exactly pleased at this very moment.  Hopefully tomorrow I will finish this, but I am intentionally leaving everything kinda rough and muted as to highlight the little girl.

Have a good one!

A Mothers Love

22x30" acrylic/mixed media on watercolor paper  

Angel

To see an angel, you must see another's soul.

To feel an angel, you must touch another's heart.

To hear an angel you must listen to both.

-Unknown

Journal

Acrylics

Bent

12 x 12" Mixed media on watercolor paper

Inspiration for this piece:

Sort

15 x 22" Mixed media on watercolor paper

Trust and Believe

Mixed media on 22"x 30" watercolor paper.  This piece was painted with acrylics, shading and dimension added with oil pastels.  The journaling to the right was blurred to keep private.

Jackson

Decided to change my color palette a bit this week using more muted tones. I took this pic of my grandchild a few years back at the beach.  Loved his little shorts almost falling off and have wanted to paint it for a while.   My daughters birthday seemed like the perfect occassion. 

12" x 18" oil on canvas

What does X look like

I have a milestone birthday coming up on Thursday....the kinda birthday that makes you stop and reflect.  Am I where I want to be in life?  What have I accomplished in life?  What would I change if I could?  What are my goals for the future?

12"x18" watercolor, graphite and ink on hotpressed watercolor paper

Joy and a Happy Muse

Wishing everyone Joy and a Happy Muse

in 2014

8x10 Mixed Media on Cotton Canvas, digital manipulation

The Journey

This piece is entitled "The Journey".  Sometimes the journey is a smooth ride.  Sometimes the journey is a bumpy road.  Sometimes the journey takes an unexpected turn.  Sometimes the journey slows to a stop....I consider this time a moment to regroup and reflect as has been my process lately. 

After not having enough time to paint for three months due to a hectic work schedule,  I was finally able to pick up my brushes again.  I have missed and longed to create in my art journal with acrylics, oils and inks.  As with many others, art is an outlet.  Art is my therapy.  Art allows me to express feelings and thoughts....good or bad.  I truly love to paint, put it through photoshop then run it through pixlr for different effects as is the case with the above piece. 

I created the above piece with acrylics, oils, inks and spray paint.  This piece took many different turns with many, many layers.  She ended up with wonky eyes which I am coming to embrace.  The tear was not intended, it came about when I used ink on the eyes then turned it up to get a look at the progress.  The tear just emerged.  

Today I am truly thankful to have the time to create again.

The Journey continues.

Is it Christmas yet??

A litlle Christmas photoshop for a friend, Lisa Burton.  This is her granddaughter, Presley

Naughty

The light

Light's all around

From dawn to dusk

From twilight to sunshine again

A ray of hope, A beam of life

Amusing every soul.

Eyes that dare to dream..

                                 - Sudarkodi Nagarethin

Once upon a time....

......there was a little girl.

Moments in time

Deviant Scrap Hotel Hell Collab

The shadows

Deviant Scrap Hotel Hell Collab

ill fated

No time to break out the paints, but seriously wanted to create tonight....so....turned to the next best thing....digital.   Deviant Scrap has some awesome Halloween kits/elements:
 Pinkloty
 ItKuPilli
 Hotel Hell

No trespassing

Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society.  If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.  P.J. O'Rourke

8x10" oil/mixed media

Ashley's Alice

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!!!!!

YouTube video of the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland

  The above was painted with love for my daughter Ashley which requested something from Alice in Wonderland.   I so love Alice in Wonderland so this piece was SOOOO much fun to paint!

  The piece is an acrylic/mixed media on a 14" x 22" cradled birch board.   My favorite part of the piece is the addition of Lumiere Metallic Acrylic Pearlescent White which was used to highlight all of the white.  When the light hits the white from a certain angle the piece looks so magical!!  I wish I could show this in the pic but there is no way to show without a huge flash on the piece.  

Anyway, I think my child is going to love this!

Inspiration:
http://klimtbalan.blogspot.com/2011/03/wayne-anderson.html
http://www.dominicmurphyart.com/index.htm
http://www.filmofilia.com/new-and-hi-res-%E2%80%9Calice-in-wonderland%E2%80%9D-images-9689/#oogleto:http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/aliceinwonderland_4.jpg

No poptarts today

No poptarts today.  
Acrylic/mixed media on three each 6"x6"x 1.5" stretched canvas.
Inspiration  Land of Lost Luggage  "Act Natural" online acrylic class.

"Act Natural" abstract

Anyone who follows my blog knows how I love to take online art courses.  This week I stumbled upon thelandoflostluggage with Julie Prichard.  The site was exactly what I had been looking for!

Just getting back into art recently there is so much that I want to explore/learn and have taken some awesome online courses.  This particular course  "Act Natural"  explores the art of making "grunge" which can be used for backgrounds or stand as contemporary abstracts on their own.  

Julie has a ton of courses that I wanted to take but this one for some reason just stood out.  I am sooooo impressed with her class!  Julie is very knowledgeable and very organized.....I love that.  From the time I paid for the class, to the time I clicked on the first video the whole process was completely spelled out.  Being very familiar with online courses I didnt need an intro but decided to watch the intro video anyway.  Anyone not familiar with taking online courses would easily be able to find their way around with this intro video.  Just the whole process was very impressive.  

Not only does Julie give you a fabulous class showing you in detail the techniques, paints and brushes she uses to get awesome effects, each lesson also has a printable PDF.  The PDF's  have instructions, paints, brushes and supplies with the dickblick reference number attached.  

Check out her site The Land of lost luggage for some awesome online courses. Julie also has courses with Chris Cozen which  look awesome!!!!  So many to choose from it will be a tough decision deciding which to take next, but I definately know....there will be a next.

The above pieces are my first lessons with Julie in my art journal.  Will probably go back and play with this piece more tonight but just had to post about this exciting class!!

Little Red Riding Hood

Finally I finished this piece.   Have been "piecing" it together for what seems like forever.  

I made Riding Hoods face out of paper clay after taking JoAnnA Pierotti's online tutorial  Creating faces.  Once I decided I wanted to make Little Red Riding Hood with her, I added more paper clay for the hair and the hood then painted with acrylics.  Background was created on 11"x12"x1 1/2" birch with stain, oils, acrylics and spraypaint.  I did make the Big Bad Wolf out of paper clay but he turned out looking more like Rudolph so he didnt make the cut....