More stuff before we leave to babysit!

We are driving up to Greenville today to keep baby Marc while his mama and daddy go on a business trip for a week! I am really very very excited to keep him and I am glad Papa Chaunce is taking a week off so he can be there with me because I know it will be tiring.... but oh, in a good way! We love being at their house because you can see the mountains and it's like being on vacation. Baby Marc is growing so much and toddling everywhere and starting to say a few words. All that being said, I seriously doubt that I can get any art done even during his nap time so.... farewell, my bonnie blogger buddies, I will see you after the 27th. But I might start having blogger withdrawal and have to post a photo or something. Y'all have a wonderful and creative week. I will surely be checking in to see what you are doing. I've GOT to do that!!!!

BYE!

Hope, Family and an Anemone

Still making a journal spread in the little Lori Journal. It's small enough to really be able to do it quickly. Below is a watercolor on my Twinrocker 6 x 8 paper with the fabulous deckled edges which you can't see in this picture. I decided that... what the heck...if I mess it up I can Gesso over it and made a mixed media background out of it and do something completely different. Have a happy Wednesday!!!!

Drop in some color--on the paper!!

Have you ever had a day where you are just out of sorts...clumsy, feeling fat...and just kinda mad for no real reason? So, to make myself feel better I just wanted to drop in a little color into something and maybe write something in calligraphy so I sat down and dropped some india ink and Dr. Martins concentrated watercolor into these little flowers. My hand hit the little bottle of the magenta india ink and it "dropped in" all over my pants and sprayed my new Talbots shirt. Why do I paint with nice clothes on?! ARGGG!!! (#$##@%#--aka gosh dang it--and that's southern for... oh shoot!) Oh well, I felt fat in the pants anyway but the shirt had pink flowers on it and it splashed into the pink flowers and ...well on the bright side... it didn't even show! That was a miracle--really! So the moral of the story is...among any tragedy there is always a little miracle. The pants are a goner though.

I think they might be Daisies...

This started off a watercolor with Hydrus watercolor but it needed something more so there is some acrylic on it also. Just trying to stay true to my mixed media artist status. It started off really ugly and bad. I don't think the Hydrus disperses quite as well as the tube watercolor. I outlined it with India ink then smudged it with a Stabilo. I also used Caran d'ache for the stem, some stamps with while acrylic and a little digi-magic. And of course my motto is, "When all else fails... PUNCHANELLA!"

I will be in Greenville seeing little Baby Marc until Monday so I will leave you with a video of the Remains of the Day Journal tomorrow.

More Calligraphy

I am still working on this new chunky book and I am still coming across some snippets of watercolor that just needed some lettering. This one is about 5 x 7 and written with Dr. Martin's Bleedproof and outlines with a tiny micron to make it pop. Of all the art that I do which I feature in Art du Jour, this is really who I am, a calligrapher who is still learning and admiring all the wonderful artists in Blogland who are some of the best calligraphers in the land. Lisa is one such calligrapher as well as Renee. And, Oh, Lisa, thank you for the oh so sweet Sunshine Award. THANK YOU my dear!!! And one more, although she does not mention it much but Lori is one of the best too!

OH and PS... Jane Farr is incredible too!

My Color Obsession

Do I need medication for my obsession? Yep, I'm pretty sure more color might do it!

I do love color...all colors although I am not that crazy about lavender. Not sure why actually..I think because when I wear it is makes me look washed out and pale but I love it on flowers! I am working in this journal I love the way watercolor has a mind of it's own and spreads and disperses and blends and is yum yum yummy. As you see, I am trying to work in my journals to see if I can make some headway in filling some of them up. That will take two lifetimes I am afraid but I am working on it!

Poppy Paper Quilt Two

This original watercolor Poppy paper quilt is actually pretty large and would be 10 x 20 framed--if I framed it. I am getting so many paper quilts now that I need to decide what will be framed for the show. What I probably should do is print these three squares on inkjet white cotton, punch up the color if needed, find some material for the background and make a wall hanging quilt. I was a little afraid to do some thread painting on the original but I can try is when I print it on cotton.

Little bagette

Well, this is surely a first for me. I painted the flower and printed it on cotton fabric for ink jet by Jacquard. It works really well and only fades out a bit. But I decided to punch up the colors on the printed fabric with very concentrated liquid watercolors. Then I stitched around the flower and stitched it onto the upholstery fabric. I think I could have actually at this point sewed it onto the bag ( bought from Hobby Lobby) but I glued it. I couldn't quite figure out how to do that and I liked the frayed edges so I guess the sewing would only be functional rather than decorative.  Anyway, it was fun and new for me. Oh also, I used a script stamp in the original watercolor background and I found out that if you use a chalk ink pad it makes a more dreamy-like image and not so sharp as with the pigment or dye ink pads. I never have liked those chalk ink pads until now! Thanks goodness because I have quite a few of them.

From the drawing class...

I went back into my sketchbook from our Friday drawing class and pulled out some still life sketches from the class so I could scan and paint some of them. Since the shadows were already drawn in with the pen this was actually very easy and quick to paint.  I have scanned a few more so maybe I will blog some of the painted ones along the way. These are fun---the sketching is what is hard---at least for me it is. But drawing is an exercise that strengthens your art muscles and therefore---necessary.

Paper Scrap Flower

I had some paper on my table that kept catching my eye but it was just a practice scrap that I had experimented on to see if I could write some calligraphy with a pointed nib over watercolor after clear gesso was applied. (yes, I am glad to say this works!) The experimental paper was colorful and interesting but didn't have much of a purpose so I decided it needed to be a flower. Bernie and I had fun! This one is 6x10.

Well, the Art du Jour really went in a different direction today.  I love to read my zines and I was reading in the current of Cloth paper Scissors issue that is a great article called Photo, Paint, Stitch by Kelli Nina Perkins. I love this process of taking a still life picture and sketching the outline and adding your own paint colors. Love that book she made too.  So Mattie Lou muse and I decided to try it so I took a picture of a still life I threw together then used Photoshop to turn it into a line drawing then painted it in watercolor---twice. It was fun.  Really fun. Surprisingly...fun! But I just realized by looking at the pic again that one pear was green--oh well, artistic license as Kelli says to do in the article.

If any one is interested in how to do turn photos into a line drawing in Photoshop let me know and I will post it.

New Knobby Poppy Art

My Etsy shop had been on vacation for several days but I have just listed these three new Knobbies.  I went to our local bead shop around the corner and bought some cool knobby feet. These are really fun to make when it comes together. If I plan to make a bunch of Knobbies it just doesn't come together but yesterday the knobby muse helped me. The are all original watercolors of Poppies.

 And---guess what???   My Bernina came in and I am going to get it today. I am so excited I am about to bust!!  WEEEee!!

Special Journal

This is the special journal that I bought from my good friend, Lori Vliegen at Elvie Studio. This is a wonderful little blank journal that is 6x6 on Strathmore 140 lb. watercolor paper. She has done a wonderful job on this little journal and I want to get more of them. But Lori is in the process of moving into her new house and studio so she only has one available now. I love this one too. 

If you want one you can email her or convo her and she will make you one soon. 

My inspirations in this little journal as well as my present art journey are : Sharon Tomlinson, DJ Pettitt, Julie Prichard, Carol Sloan, Connie Furgason.

I like to give credit where credit is due.  It might take a few seconds for the video to appear---hang on...it's coming...and if you double click it will take you to the YouTube site and it displays better. It is cropped a bit in Blogger---why, I don't know.