Cute Girl

I have been a bit under the weather lately. This is about all I could do today although it was very fun drawing and painting the cute girl and writing CalligraFUN letters . She is in one of my favorite journals--the composition notebook!

Perplexing Pot--again

Well, I had another perplexing pot painting episode similar to this one. I couldn't really decide what to do with it since I had it off balanced to the right a bit. I tried all sorts of things and wiped it off. Then I remembered this fabulous stamp that my friend, Rynda had made for me and it worked perfectly along with some white script to balance it off. Her calligraphy stamps says, "We have this treasure in jars of clay."
(2 Cor. 4:7)

I also opened up my Distress Rock Candy crackle paint and loved the effect that had around the edges. This is a 11 x 11 hunk of wood. I am getting through my hunks of wood!

Back to Pears

I have been feeling some ups and downs about painting lately. I guess it's just part of the art journey. I felt confident that if I could just fine something I wanted to paint then I could paint it but just finding it was a big block for me. I am not good at setting up still lifes or taking great pictures that I can paint. But I decided that I would take Jeff Manoney's advice (he's a fabulous painter)

and go back to basics---paint a pair. When things seems to be falling apart paint a pair.

Good advice.

Drawing legs

I am so enjoying Jane's class. We are drawing legs and bodies and she has a great technique as to how to do that. She used to be a fashion designer so she knows how to draw them. That is one thing I have ALWAYS wanted to be able to do---draw like a fashion designer. It's fun practicing.

Drawing a face with Jane

I just received my new Pantone colored pencils in from Dick Blick and I had to draw a girl with them. I love drawing faces. It really is very relaxing just as Jane says. This was the back of some paper I had painted on and the texture on the paper is more than I would have wanted because it wouldn't really blend. Next time I will choose some smooth paper so I can blend the pencils. Love my Pantones---but I love the Lyra as well as the Prismacolors also. I am becoming more of a fan of colored pencils I think! I will probably put her in my new journal I made yesterday. Maybe I will blog it so you can see it. I need to sew it up.

Watercolor week with Jane

This is a homework page from Watercolor Week in Jane Davenport's class. I really like the way she draws her darling faces and also gives great tips for drawing backsides! It's fun.

Working on the Saint Remy

 

Chauncey is going on 4 hours putting together the very unsaintly Saint Remy Easel. The directions are completely worthless but when it's put together it will be fabulous. I keep telling myself that. He is trying hard  to figure out what goes where by basically looking at the picture. He thought he had it together only to find out it was wrong. He is a patient man. He will gain great reward in heaven... that is for sure!  I am just trying to provide moral support but I am of no use at all.  Bucky is trying his best also. We are both pretty useless.

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Ok, so now after about 5 hours, (we stopped to eat and watch coach Eric Taylor win an Emmy for our favorite cancelled show, Friday Night Lights!)

He finished! And yes, it is fabulous and it rolls around and turns into a table and I am excited! Even Bucky feels better too.

Here's something cute for Baby Morgan

I am actually up in Greenville with my daughter, Macaulay, and her friends are having her a little shower today for baby girl, Morgan, due October 15th. It's getting close! Here are some onesies that I painted with Tulip Puffy Paint! I about jumped out of my chair with delight when I saw it puffing up like it was lace. I got the idea from Alisa Burke because she is due just about the same time as Macaulay. This is just so cute I thought it would be a great shower gift for her and I can't wait to see baby Morgan in them.

Follow Your Bliss in the big journal

I am really enjoying Jane Davenport's "Supplies Me" online class. I even pulled out my 9x12 journal again so I could use my colored pencils. I have never really enjoyed using colored pencils because I never thought it poped enough for me but I am learning that paired with copic markers that are great. I colored the face with copic markers but then used the colored pencils to shade and enhance. I love the way Jane teaches to draw the face and the body! The body--you know I have always wanted to learn tips and tricks to do that!

I am heading up to Greenville today to spend the weekend with Baby Marc (oh yeah, with his mama and dad too!) and Macaulay's friends are giving her a little Sprinkle they call it. It's like a baby shower but since it's a second baby and it's a girl they called it a sprinkle. So I am going for the sprinkle.

Framed and ready

Here is the other frame Chauncey made for this heavy chunk of 24x24 wood. It is very heavy and the frame makes it even heavier. I think I like the black frame on it. It needs something because it would be like a big board up on a wall.

And I really couldn't stand this one and painted over it back down to the lonely pot. Oh, what to do with the lonely pot? Perhaps just let it sit and get lonelier. For some reason this one is apparently the art thorn in my side right now.  Who knows what I will do with it. Perhaps nothing.

Here's my new baby Royal

Well, actually she is not a baby, she is very old, 1937 in fact. She is clean as a whistle and with a new ribbon and ready to type up quotes and Scriptures for my art and journal pages. I have always loved a typewriter and why I got ride of my mother's old one I will never know. I wasn't thinking clearly at that point!

But Miss Royal was a great price and she types like a dream and I just love her.

And here is Mr. Bill whose shop is like a wonderful museum and who keeps these vintage beauties in tip top shape. Enjoyed meeting him. I had a good history lesson on typewriters and I loved every minute of it.

Mc David Typewriter Services 

4304 Plymouth Street, Jacksonville, FL 32205-7114(904) 384-3461

Finished and with a new framer!

I never know how it will turn out and why this great paper at the bottom didn't end up in the painting I don't know. It just didn't work I guess.

Ok, all finished with the painting. I used Antique Linen Crackle paste on the pot.  So check out my new framer! I bought a Rockwell Bladerunner with the intention of making the frames myself but I wasn't very good at cutting and actually it is very loud and scary but Chauncey handles it like a pro and you know how men love power tools! Also, he has some really good help there too.

All done! It's just strips of wood from Lowes. This was a canvas so he really had a time getting it plum. And it 'ain't' really plum but we made it work with some help from Wood Paste.  He did a fabulous job. The problem is that the canves is not plum. 

Anyway we are learning.

Now here it is all finished and painted dark brown. Now, do I really love the color of the frame around it? There was something nice about the natural wood around it but maybe I should have just stained it rather than painted it.  Hummm... what do you think? Does the frame close it in? I took the picture late in the day so it's really not quite that dark around the sides. It's very shadowy. When I varnish it I also think that it will look better. We made another one too for this painting and I painted it black. I think I like the black frame on that one. 

Tomorrow I will show you the "sursy" I bought myself.

sursy\sir-see\noun:

A term commonly used in the South to denote an unexpected gift given to close friends or family for no special occasion, particularly to show affection or thanks.

My note: This term originated in South Carolina somewhere from the Columbia area east and even down as far a Beaufort.  I love South Carolina...Georgia too.

Just a start..

This is a paint-over of an ugly painting I painted several years ago. It has two layers so far. White gesso and cheapo brown paint for a base over that. I am trying to use all of my cheaper acrylics for the under painting layer. I am not sure what this will be. I just did a little scratching for some texture. It was fun putting on the brown paint. I did it with one of those things that handymen use for smoothing something. Tomorrow---or whenever I will finish this one. I am sure not of the brown will show but it's a good warm up anyway.

 Here's the third practice 10x10 from the messy table.  I think I am out of the pre-cut 10 x 10 gessoed watercolor paper now. I either need to cut more or go bigger with one of these that I like. i will have to decide which one to do.
Below is a failed one that I painted and hated it until I painted the flowers white over the ugly colors  I has used for the flowers. I like it better now.I used a palette knife.

White ones...

And here are some white ones from the interesting-looking vase. I think it's time for a big one after I paint the other 10x10 on the messy table.

As you see below I painted it back red but now I think the blue was better. I am wish-washy on this one. I might paint is back blue because today I'm bored with the red.

Practicing on the 10x10s

Ok, well, this how the practice looks.  Messy messy--yes, painting makes a mess. I actually don't mind the mess because I always start clean then quickly move toward the mess. These are three that I am just practicing on to see if anything inspired me for a big one. I have to get up my courage for the big ones. But sometimes these smaller ones can turn into a big one.
So here is the first one I finished. (It's the one on the right above)

 I don't know why I have these days where it feels like I am forcing everything and nothing seems to work right but today was one of those days. I think this painting should be called, "Feeling Blue and Out of Place".  Tomorrow when I have fresh eyes I will probably paint it back red but I was feeling rebellious and bored. I hate it when I spend so much time on these little 10 x 10 practice pieces but sometimes it turns out that way. Next I will practice on the middle one which I think already has an interesting vase. And the mess is getting to me now so I need to stop and clean up. Maybe my problem was that I didn't start clean today. It was a mess when I started painting.  I am learning that everyday is not necessarily an easy painting day. Just part of the journey. Somedays the art road is bumpy.
Oh and also I bought myself a present last night. It's this!  Now for sure I will be a better painter, right??? The thing goes horizontal! Woo-hoo!

Some Yellow ones...

At some point I will paint another vase but I want to get the hang of glass vases. Some are better than others. This is a 12 x 12. I am bound and determined to start using up some of these canvases I have stashed in my studio. If i painted all of them I would have enough for a gallery show. Oh my, a gallery show. Now that would be a dream come true for sure!

Sometimes they look better from a distance. See my little buddy on the bottom right?

Red ones...

I am back in the studio and I have a couple of new paintings to show you. This one is a 10 x 10. I will show you the other 12 x 12 tomorrow because I might need to do something else to it. The good thing about acrylic is that if one layer is completely dry and you add another layer and if you don't like it you can just wipe it off with a Wet One. Boy do I ever go through the Wet Ones! (get the pop up at Publix-plain no antibacterial)

I hope you all don't get tired of all these flowers. I am going to paint them until I am tired of them but I'm not tired of them yet. That is unusual for me because usually I paint something and just move on. But I am trying to teach myself to loosen up and I know that to be a "painter" I need to have miles and miles of canvases behind me. With every painting I learn something new, especially about myself. Sometimes I feel like I got it and other times I don't. It's all part of this exciting art journey. The agony and the ecstasy!  No pain no gain.:))

At the Isle of Palms

We had such a good time at the Isle of Palms this past week. It's so fun to be with baby Marc and his sweet mama and daddy. And around October 14th little baby girl, Morgan, will join us! We are excited about that! We are curious as to how big brother, Marc, will take to her. He is a sweet boy so we are sure all will be just fine. 

We were waiting to eat the best fried shrimp we have ever eaten. Yum! Marc called them fingers. He thought they were chicken fingers and we didn't tell him any different.

I love being on vacation but I can't go too long before my art addiction kicks in. I had to paint as soon as I got settled in back home. 

See y'all tomorrow.