8-25-16 ~ 365 Days of Spirit Art Journaling ~ Day 7 ~ Mindfulness

8-12-16 ~ My Week in Art ~ Day 1 and Day 2 ~ Genie Robinson

My Etegami This Week

My Stippling This Week

First I sketched from a photo I had taken a picture of North Mountain popping up its head threw a bobbed wire stretched fencing and power lines. I do not like in general the way it turns out, but I love my fencing.That top piece was really curved and way up above the rest. Maybe a larger animal stretched it trying to jump to freedom.

 Just for Fun

Oh, how i miss my quilting, but my sitting with my back does not allow it.

Last week I saw where one of our bloggers (I cannot remember who...I'betting old) but it immediately reminded me of just how addicted I am to Hershey bars...DAY and NIGHT ( I always eat one before I go to bed) ...and MIDDLE OF NIGHT. I know they are bad for me especially at night considering the sugar on my teeth,  my digestion cycle , and sleep, but I still wake up and head for the fridge (they get soft here from the hot weather) tiptoeing TRYING to be quiet so Buddy does not hear me...hehehe.  That is so silly. He always hears me and knows what I am up to :=-)

 Doodling

One night I was thinking about my quilt and the beautiful vintage silk one my DIL gave to me, I decided to try creating a Doodle Quilt. This was so much fun.

 While walking I saw many, many Passion Flowers on the trail. They are very prolific at this time of year. I had never seen them before so I took some pictures and then came home and had a bit of doodling fun with it. The most fun was adding color though the petals on Passion Flowers here is usually blue or lavender.

Last but not least, I have joined a group called 365 Days of Spirit Art sponsored by Nancy Baumiller.
This group is not for experienced artists in all sorts of medium, a beginner is welcomed. You can join in at any time. Nancy has created a Face Book page for all of our contributions:
Art2Hearts. I have only made Pages 1and 2, but it is a start.

The Beginning

 Page 1  - My Truths

Page 2 - Be Brave

This post is linked with:
Color Me Positive
Paint Party Friday
Sunday Sketches from England #3

8-1-16 ~ Summer Fun

Oh, how I would love to be floating in the water at the beach with this poison ivy. It would feel SOSOSO good. I am smiling thinking about it. Thank goodness it's better. I can actually go out in public ,and I am no longer itching. Am even sleeping at night. I still have a red color to much of my skin, but no rash. I can live with that as long as it is not itching. People.....if you are as ignorant as I am about this stuff...please go to the internet and print out pictures of Poison Ivy and Poison Oak especially if you love being out in the woods or digging in the garden. I am in an intensive self imposed course of teaching myself how to identify it during all 4 seasons because the colors do change. I do NOT ever plan to get this grim, miserable stuff ever, ever, ever, again.I sound like Terry Bradshaw on TV and that infomercial telling us all to get a shingles shot if we have ever had chicken pox. I do that!

Visit Try It on Tuesdays to see more pictures that make you SMILE.

7-31-16 ~Show Your Face ~ 25 Face Quick Draw

Show Your Face over at Kim Dellow's blog.

The prompt for July was Draw Quick Faces 

Last night after by chance seeing Kim's blog in a friend's bloglist, 

I paid it a visit and found something I need to do...learn to draw faces.

They are the hardest things along with perspective that face me.

She posted the cutest page of faces she had drawn and here is the link:

http://www.kimdellow.co.uk/search/label/Show%20Your%20Face

There are also some beautiful faces that other people have drawn.

Instead of posting a single picture of a face, she drew a page of little faces. After looking at hers, I got the idea to try to do something similar so I divided the left hand page in one of my art journals into 25 sections practicing my stippling to create the lines. Then I started drawing. Here is mine.

Now the prompt for August is a REAL toughie...

"Change Hands"

Use your non-dominant hand to draw faces. 

That would be my left.

I am going to use the right side page to see how I do as a comparison.

Wish me luck. Heaven only knows what they are going to look like.

6-17-16 ~ It's Sunday Again

It is time once again for Alexandra's Sunday Sketches at Blue Chair Diary.

Congratulations to you, Denise, being chosen the winner of Alexandra's contest for a new Sunday Sketches logo with a British theme.  Your watercolor is just out of this world. I LOVE it! Kudos to you for creating such a precious painting.

I am also linking up with Paint Party Friday.

I need to tell myself this each morning when I get out of bed...."I Can and I Will".

I found a Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook (80lb paper-50sheets) at Michael's, and I just had to have it. This is what I did on the first page.

I used a Micron pen and a red gel pen.

Do any of you know what kind of a bird this is? The picture was on the front of an old nature magazine of Buddy's which he had finished reading. I tore off the picture and then threw out the magazine so could not look up what it is.  I asked Bud if mine looked like the one in the picture, and he said the beak was wrong and there were other things that needed work. Oh, well, I tried. At least he was willing to give me constructive criticism. I am going to try again this week to see if I can paint it better. 

As always, my best friend, Weezie, and I are the two girls having tea up on the roof deck.

I bought the book Seeing Flowers this week, and I painted this Beardstongue from one of the gorgeous photographs in that book. There is another book, Seeing Trees, that my granddaughter has, and it is every bit as beautiful. So, I went to Amazon to get the tree book, and it was there that I discovered this one on flowers. Here in the info on it and links to both books.

Seeing Flowers 

Discover the Hidden Life of Flowers

Photography by Robert Llewellyn

Written by Teri Dunn Chace

 https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Flowers-Discover-Hidden-Life/dp/160469422X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468778086&sr=8-1&keywords=Seeing+FLowers

The Amazon link to Seeing Trees is:
https://www.amazon.com/Seeing-Trees-Discover-Extraordinary-Everyday/dp/1604692197/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1468778156&sr=8-4&keywords=Seeing+FLowers

Yes, we live way way out in the country so I LOVE barns.

The hat on the left belongs to the little girl and the one on the right to the little boy.

Since Alexandra is leaving for England, I was thinking about the old pictures I had of the precious British children in their traditional bonnets. I just couldn't resist trying to paint them.

Sunday Sketches ~ 6-12-16

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

 Please come and join us.

My first attempt at painting on very old barn wood.
I used gesso and acrylics.

 Ain't I Cute

Flower Doodles
Working on petals and shapes of flowers, leaves, and flower pots.

I Love My Family

5-8-16 ~ Sunday Sketches and A Mother’s Day Memory

Alexandra's Sunday Sketches

This week the weather has been miserable so have had to spend a lot of time in bed with my back. There is something about the humidity and the fluid around the discs that can cause a bad situation even worse. With my little Koi, Van Gogh, and Windsor and Newton folding travel paint trays and my water brushes,  I am able to sketch and paint propped in bed. As you can see, I am having lots of trouble mastering the concept of "the wash", but maybe I will get it in time. I've just gotta persevere and try, try again and again.

Ever since I can remember I have been a lover and follower of Mary Engelbriet and her precious and child oriented paintings. I think I have every book she has written, and have collected her calendars for years along with picture frames, pocket books, pins, pot holders, fabric, wall hangings, note cards....you name it and I have it. One day this week I was looking at one of her pictures and loved the little house, her sun, and her apple tree. I added them to this, but they certainly do not look like hers. And to think that she started when she was only 10 years old. Amazing! Her life story is so inspiring.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The "Follow Your Dreams" and "The Sky's the Limit" are two of my mantras for young and old alike. Unfortunately, I keep messing up my Micron pens and my special "waterproof" highlighter pen. Am thinking I may be pressing too hard, or maybe I have gotten paint into them. I am waiting until each painting is totally dry before going over my sketch lines with the inking, but I am still having problems. Wish I knew :-(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Memory of My Mother on Mother’s Day 2016

4-9-16 ~ Mice, Cheese, and Teacups

I am in love with Dea Lenihan's blog. Here is the link to her site: http://dea-lenihan.blogspot.com .
She is a wonderful illustrator, teacher, and so graciously shares much of her things with all of us. This was a piece she posted for anyone to download and color. It was so cute I could not resist. I use pen and ink filling in every little bit on the page, and watercolors. The basic drawing is hers and the coloration is mine. It makes me smile. So many little mice and so much yummy cheese. It is mice heaven.

This was SO much fun to colorize. 

Print it out and go for it. You won't be disappointed.

4-4-16 ~ Umbrellas and Best Friends

Years ago ...around 1970...Weezie took her four children and my two to Palm Beach to my parent's home in her big red station wagon. While there went to the beach every day. The children were always with us, but there were too many of them to put in this little picture. There were two prompts this week for my artwork so this is my contribution.

Here are the two old Poloroid photos I still have. They are in bad shape, but at least they give you an idea of the real scene I was thinking about.

 My daughter is on the right and Weezie's daughter on the right. 

They are now 52.

The two boys are Weezie's sons. 

...And here we are...Weezie and me in all of our youthful glory...hehehe.

I think I am 30 and Weezie 32, but that's a guess. Boy, have we changed!

I used watercolors, Copic markers, and some pen and ink. 

This post is linked with:

I Play Along with Inspirational  and The Three Muses.

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

3-25-16 ~ Just Some Doodling

"We used to play a lot outdoors, not in leagues,

but just in our spare time.

~Steve Yzerman

...Now, at 77,  I take pictures, doodle, and draw in my art journal.

Easter on My Mind 

Art Journal ~ Colored Pencil and Pen and Ink

Playing with Children and Faces, a Dog, and a Cat

Art Journal ~ Watercolors and Pen and Ink

3-23-16 ~ Two by Two's ~ Noah's Ark

"Our future experiences will be colored by the choices we make in the present."

~Noah Levine

This is a continuation of my art journal.

I used Gelatos, pen and ink, and watercolor pencils.

This post is linked with

Dezinaworld15 ~ Cheeky Challenge

The prompt was Twins-2 faces-Anything with 2's

3-20-16 ~ Bright Coneflowers on a Sunny Day

This is the process I followed with this art journal page:

Painted Gesso on an old book page

Sketched in my coneflowers and grass

Painted with acrylics and Galatos

Outlined with pen and ink

Added embellishments

Tammy at My Flower Journal back in 2013 posted a tutorial on her splatter art and how to turn it into flowers. She actually did this with lavender coneflowers on top of Gesso, and I tried it. This is my version of what she did, and I want to give her credit for her wonderful tutorial. Many Thanks, Tammy.

I wish I could photograph a journal page so that things like the ric-rac and the ribbons at the top do not look like they are going crooked and the green button does not appear to be running off the page. UGH! It seems like a hopeless case for me. Also, how in the world do you erase your lightly sketched outlines. I have been using the pen and ink to cover them up. Any suggestions? This is only the second time I have worked with Gesso. I am finding it a fascinating medium.

I am sharing this with the ABC Mixed Media Challenge ~ Crazy for Color 

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.