Persian artwork/rug journal spread

This is my take on another artist's request for a Persian Artwork with a rug design.  It's done in watercolors and looks a bit faded on the screen, but is really a lot more vibrant.  It was fun playing with this design, and the learning to draw a camel. My, they do have long eyelashes!

Valentine Day Canvas

I made this for my husband of nearly 25 years!  I was going to make a card, but decided I needed bigger.  So I did a 16 x 20 canvas.  I guess I definitely went bigger.  My husband and two boys cleared all the stuff out of my hobby room a week ago and all of a sudden my creativity has come back in spades.  I can't believe how much stuff I've accumulated over the 10 years I've been in this room and lately I had to move too much stuff to get to my table.  So, having a clear and now very large space again to create, here's what I made for him.  Don't ask me where the boys moved my junk to, all I know is I don't want it back!

A Tea Party

I was recently invited to join a Moley swap.  This would be my first swap of this kind. The moley we are using in this swap is an according style Moleskin journal and are 3.5 x 5.5.  My group has eight participating artists including myself.  Each one of us picked their own personal theme and each of the eight artist will add a layout featuring that theme.  The interpretation of that theme is left up to the artist with some guidance from the owner of the Moley.  My theme is Tea Party.  I picked this theme because I love my tea.  But more importantly, during the recent Hurricane Irene, we lost all power and because of that all our appliances including the stove.  My husband knowing how much I love tea stood outside on the porch and made me my cup of tea on the grill.  Just loved that! My guidelines were hopefully simple in that I didn't care who was having the tea party including aliens or animals, just that it not be an inanimate object like dolls and bears.  I've seen so many of those, that I just didn't want them included in my journal.  Before my journal went on its journey, I decorated the cover, the inside cover and the first three pages of the according pages.  Here's to the start of my moley's journey!

Thanh's Destash Challenge

Thanh is doing a great monthly challenge.  She's destashing her craft room and every month she'll be sending out a kit to four people. I received this kit from her which was in pinks, greens and browns.  When I first saw this kit, the flowers on the brown background paper reminded of dragonfly wings and the big brown circles on the green paper reminded me of the centers of sunflowers.  I created these two cards during Hurricane Irene in a power outage with the light of a lantern.  It was a surreal kind of night with the thunder and the crashing of the trees, and the wind blowing.  My cards definitely reflect my out of this world kind of mood!  For the floral card, I cut sections out of the striped paper and used it as grass.  It was such a fun looking grass that I added pink prima flowers and punched out the brown circles to use for the center.  For the leaves, I used the green ribbon, but the reverse of the printed side.  The texture was perfect for the leaves.  I punched out the little flowers from the argyle print.  The print shows up more like line patterns on the flowers.  The butterfly is from the striped paper and the big flower is from the pink polka dot paper.  I really thought it came out pretty fun, but the dragonfly is my favorite.  I cut the petals off the flowers and used them as wings.  Punched circles from the brown part of the paper and used it for its body. The background paper is the one with the large brown circles, but it looked bare to me.  So I added orange flowers on each dot and added the green ribbon.  I used all the stuff, except for the pink ribbon.  Thanh thanks for a really fun challenge.  Hope you like what I created.

 

Helping Hands for Japan

I know it's been a long time posting.  It took me a while to get myself together and create after the oldest left.  I think I was a bit depressed.  But then the holidays showed up and all was well.  However, on January 1st, I messed up my knee and between the meds, the doctor visits and therapy, it has been a bit draining.  I have been creating some though and I'll update my blog here very soon.

One of the artworks I did do was this hand.  Robbygirl on Atcsforall has organized a silent auction to help the people of Japan.  She asked for donations of "helping hands".  We used our own hand as a template and then decorated the front and back.  The front of the hand I did has an Indian woman's image and the words on the fingers say
Little Finger: Faith
Ring Finger: Love
Middle Finger: Strength
Index Finger: Peace
Thumb:  Happiness
Wrist:  Om (the sound of the universe)

The back of the hand is done in a traditional henna design.

The hands will go up for auction on May 6th from 5-7 Pacific time.  All proceeds will then be donated.  I'm so thrilled and honored to be able to use my art in such a fantastic way.  Here's a link to all the hands.  Mine is #76 on page 5.

First Day of College

My first born went away to college today.  Something we've planned for since he was in kindergarten.  He's studied hard and got fantastic grades; passed his SAT's with way above marks, just so he could join the ranks of incoming freshman this year.  I'm so proud of all he's accomplished and I so look forward to all he'll achieve.  We packed him up early, got to college earlier than his check-in time and had him moved into his room, helped him unpack a couple of items (he didn't want it all unpacked just yet), had lunch with him and said our goodbyes, in no time at all.  That's what it felt like today.  No time at all.  Where did the time go.  Just yesterday, ok, maybe the day before yesterday, I held this newborn in my arms, who became my whole world.  And now, he's gone.  I know he'll be back on some weekends, and holidays and summers, at least my head knows it all.  My heart doesn't seem to understand and my eyes seem to have sprung a leak.   How long before my eyes dry up, I wonder.  In the meantime,  I miss my boy.  I just simply miss my boy.

4 x 4 Canvas - Sailboats

It's been a while since I posted, but I have been doing a bunch of art.  I was fortunate enough to be able to go an art retreat in Rochester, NY this year and was busy preparing for that and then recouping from that when I came back!  We traded a lot of ATCs and Journal Pages there and I'll post some of those pics soon.  In the meantime, I had a swap to catch up on for a 4x4 canvas at Stamp-Shack in the theme of an Ocean.  A few steps to follow, but still leaving it free flowing.  Loved that!  First step was to add color with no thinking involved, so I did a shade of blue and mixed it with white.  I added a bit of yellow for some contrast and pretty soon it looked like an ocean with a horizon.  I really wasn't aiming there, but I guess the subconciousness knows what it wants.  Then the next step was to add texture, so I added some paste which made it look like waves.  Next step was to add more texture and found objects.  So, I added this jute netting that someone had given me, some fish I'd cut out of the magazines, and some bird punches I had in my stash.  Next step was to add a stamped, color it and collage it onto the background.  I realized that I'm woefully lacking in ocean themed

stamped images, so I asked the hostess if I could just draw and paint them.  She was fine with that, so I then did the sailboats freehanded.  Next step was to add some writing and the last was to add doodling.  I added the saying across the horizon line and doddled some leaves at the corner.  Taa Daa, my 4x4 canvas masterpiece! lol.  Hope the ladies like it.