6-5-16 ~ Sunday Sketches

Once again it is time for our most special "Sunday Sketches" over at Alexandra's.

 Please come and join us to selects of precious pictures.
Her "Ladybug" watercolor is just too precious for words.

This week I had to have my pal of 16 years, Little Jack the Schnauzer, put down because of kidney failure, incontinence, and advanced dementia. I never knew dogs could get dementia, but Jack was having a terrible time getting lost and just not responding. He laid in his little bed crate almost all day. It has broken my heart as I have never killed or had to have a doctor put down any animal in my life. (a ground stinging bee hive attacking me and flies so not count) I had no idea how it was going to effect me, but there has been some real depression. As always, I draw to try to get over the doldrums so here is my first beginning sketch. Jack is NOT a girl, but I love bows so put them on him. The lighting was terrible this morning so please excuse the dark gritty places.



As the week went on, I decided to try to come up with something happy that included him so created... The Kerrs Creek 2016 Beauty Contest with him as the Judge from up in Doggie Heaven. In case you cannot read the names of the contestants here they are...
Edgar Egret
Kelly Kitty
Brenda Bluebird
Matilda Mouse
Claudette Cow
Roscoe Rabbit
As you notice, they all have their little red hearts on them.
Just hunt and you will see them.



I also did this little picture of Eloise and me (she calls me Baga or Bags) swinging from the big old tree in our front yard on the creek. It started out as a bunch of little pen and ink doodles and ended up like this. I am here in Richmond with her now because my 51 year old son flew into DC on business from Seattle and drove over to see his brother and me. That's one reason for the crummy photos taken in the bedroom with little light and my iPhone...trying NOT to awaken my boys and Patti.


Over Memorial Day Eloise, Gene, and Patti came over to our place and brought Sage, Eloise's pal who is like a member of the family. I had just gotten a new journal so decided to let her create the cover. I had her using gesso, Tim Holtz distress paints and some of his stencils, his texture paste, watercolors and acrylics. I was amazed at what she did. She and Eloise are so talented and adore doing these things with Baga.

I hope all of your have a wonderful paint filled week.

We start tomorrow ripping up the floor in the kitchen of our 100+ year old house. 

It is bowing up in the middle so we need to see what is happening.

Oh, how i dread the mess. 

We are also going to recover the washroom and dining room floors, and Buddy is treating me to all new stainless steel appliances:  electric stove, fridge with the huge freezer at bottom, and a dishwasher that will wash SMALL cycles using only the top shelf. Those 24 month to pay without any interest Lowe's offers at Memorial saved our lives this time. 

Now, all we have left are the labor costs.....UGH! A frightening thought.

 BUT STILL, OH, HAPPY DAY!

5-12-16 ~ Flowers from Spots, Dots, and Splashes

Flowers 

The prompt this week for Try It on Tuesdays is:

Spots, Dots, and Splashes

For this art journal page, I glued two pages together so the ink and watercolors wouldn't bleed through. Then I took one of my flower cutters and cut a form from heavy card stock. I went around with it dabbing Tim Holtz's Antique Distress Ink Stains and then sprayed them with water. After they bled, I sprayed on some of his Distress Spray Stains and used some of the his little distress pads to add more color. When I finished I could see the beginnings of leaves and flowers all over the page. Some of the bleeds I used as stems, and others I drew in myself. After the page really dried, I outlined with a Micon pen turning the spots, dots, and splashes into flowers. Because of my quilting background, I decided to put dashes around all the flowers, stems, and leaves to give the feeling they had been sewn onto fabric. This is my first time ever trying something so free form in nature.

5-3-16 ~ Flash Card Art

A while ago I saw some cards on You Tube that had been turned into mixed media artwork. Well, I didn't have any playing cards, but I did have some old flash cards left over from my teaching days so decided to use them...free. So far I have done 10, and here are some of them. They are really fun to make.

 Dream ~ Laugh ~ Believe

 Bluebirds, Sunshine, and Flowers

 Always Believe in You

 Follow Your Dreams

I Am Queen

 My Crazy Quilt

Walking in the Land of the Fowers

(If you look closely, I am walking down at the bottom in the midddle.)

 A Woman's Work Is Never Done ~ Just Persevere
AMEN!!!!!!

I used a little bit of everything but the kitchen sink on these:

torn and cut paper 

Tim Holtz stenciling

Ranger texture paste

watercolors

TIm Holtz distress inks

pen and ink

acrylics

gesso

Modge Podge

5-1-16 ~ Sunday Sketches ~ Painting is Just Another Way of Keeping a Diary

I am having a wonderful time working through Alexandra's first two online classes. I created journals especially for her Hello Courage" class and her Watercolor 101 class, and today I finally finished making the cover. I saw a tutorial on You Tube and decided to follow it but put my own touch to it. The tutorial is "Art Journal ~ Being Creative" by Vicky Papaioannou. The quote is one I love from Picasso, the jar with the brushes is a stock photo from the internet, and the palette is mine. I came up with the idea of painting with acrylics and Gesso, and I used Ranger Texture paste and stencils. 

Art Journal Cover

 Inside Cover (In reality, the pink is a very light pink.)
Watercolor is of my granddaughter hiking with me.

 These are the swatch sheets for my two Artist's Loft watercolor sets.


First Assignment ~ Make Swatch/Color Charts

My little Koi and Windsow and Newton boxes had space in their lids 

for me to place color swatches in the order of the little trays. It is sososo helpful.

Part 1 - The Sketching Assignment 

Part 2 - Painting with Watercolors

I just finished the English Robin assignment. I was not happy with my first one, so I decided to do it over listening again and again to Alexandra's directions and pausing and staring at the computer screen as I was sketching. Boy, do I have a long way to go to learn her blending technique before I start on the flower wreath and the peacock. Our wifi out here in the boonies is so SLOW that it takes what seems like hours of buffering and then on for a bit to get thru one exercise...but it is well worth the wait :-)

I am joining in this week with Alexandra's Sunday Sketches.

3-26-16 ~ Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

"The best reason for having dreams is that in dreams no reasons are necessary."

~Ashleigh Brilliant

Beatles – Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Lyrics

Picture yourself in a boat on a river

With tangerine trees and marmalade skies

Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly

A girl with kaleidoscope eyes

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green

Towering over your head

Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes

And she's gone

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Ah

Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain

Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies

Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers

That grow so incredibly high

Newspaper taxis appear on the shore

Waiting to take you away

Climb in the back with your head in the clouds

And you're gone

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Ah

Picture yourself on a train in a station

With plasticine porters with looking glass ties

Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile

The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Ah

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Ah

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Songwriters: LENNON, JOHN / MCCARTNEY, PAUL

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

This post is linked with:

Dezinaworld15 Cheeky Challenge

3-18-16 ~ Learning to Paint on Gesso

Weezie, Genie and John as youngsters. 

On this picture, I used watercolors, Gesso, Galatos, and pen and ink.

My first attempt at using Gesso and painting over it.

February 5, 2016 ~ Love Special Delivery ~ Art Journal