I'm BACK!!

It's been a long time since I posted here. Let's just say my creativity was focused on something else for almost two years. So focused that the urge to do any other type of creative work was stifled and at the point of totally dying, when suddenly, a tiny spark was ignited.

Since that moment I have begun exploring many different types of art, crafts, etc and am back at it  full force again!

As for the other..well I still do that occasionally, but have decided that the stress levels it caused aren't worth it. I need to get covered in paint, glue, threads and whatever else I might be working with!! Creating art has always been what soothes my soul the most. Whether working on a pictorial quilt or gluing papers down for a collage. I NEED to create with my HANDS :-D

Now that I have that out of the way...you never know from one post to the next what you might find here, like I said, I am exploring many different creative outlets right now.

For works I've created since I began letting my heart and imagination rule my thoughts and hands, just click on the various pages.

For today, I will be sharing an art journal that I began a few days ago. Like all my recent work, this is a first for me. Hope you enjoy it!

To begin this project I started hunting around the house for a black and white composition book, we have a LOT of them with barely any writing in them so why buy a new one, right?

Being rather clueless about the whole process of making these, I began with a web search and decided to go with these directions by "Lil Blue Boo" which made it seem pretty easy...and it was!

I painted the cover with black, red, and white acrylics, sand papered a couple of photos of myself to distress them, used matte medium to glue down the photos, title words and some pieces of black and red lace and then covered the whole thing with a coat of the medium. Once it was dry, the real fun started!

Below is a before and after look at the cover



The first page is actually the second one I did, but I follow no rules with this...lol

From a pleasant day at the beach to a rather bleak and depressing piece..this journal will be filled with exactly what the cover says...
 

Well that's it for this post. If you liked it, feel free to click the Facebook "like" button below and I'd love to see comments!!

Keys in the Cogs of Life

I joined Illustration Friday quite some time ago and each week, look at the theme in my inbox and think,,"I should do something for this one!". Somehow I never have though, maybe because of "newbie nerves" LOL
So this week's theme arrived and it was EQUIPMENT
I had just finished this piece a couple of weeks ago and thought maybe I would use it. Equipment also means machinery so it seems to fit.
A little note about this piece, it is an abstract meant to loosely represent MY life, won't go into full details since I don't need to write a book here, but the 4 keys stand for my 3 children and grandson, who keep my cogs running!
I hope this fits in with the theme and that everyone enjoys it.
It is an 11x16 colored pencil piece.

a couple of new ACEOs

Felt like working small for awhile so made 2 new cards. They were both made on watercolor paper using colored pencils. The bottom one is *Sunset*...obviously huh? LOL
And the top one is *Sage*. I plan on doing a series of herb ones, specifically parsley, rosemary and thyme to go with sage :-)

sick again

Why is it that every time I have lots of things I want to get done I get sick?
Have been spending most days laying either in bed or on the couch, one good thing though, these inactive days have allowed my mind to wander and explore possibilities. One hit me the other day and I began looking online for things related.
So I shall soon be experimenting and posting results, probably next week, hopefully I will feel better by then.
A small hint, experiments will use my love of photography, colored pencils and fabric art.
Another good thing about not feeling well and doing a lot of sitting is it gives me the incentive to do more crocheting, because I HAVE to do SOMETHING you know? So I have been making up more squares for my afghan, and last night I started a small weaving project which will be finished tonight, if it turns out the way I hope that will be posted later on too.
Hmmm, maybe being sick isn't as bad as I thought!
Stay tuned for further developments :-)

"Brothers"

Here it is all done. Have been working on it since I got up this morning, with occasional breaks for bathroom, get Josh food, etc. Having lots of time to do what you love is a wonderful thing! Next up (already drawn and waiting) one of my brother Steve.



Working on this since last night, yep, was up until 3Am, finally quit cause I could barely see anymore..lol
These are my 2 boys, I think Tony (the blonde) was about 1 1/2 here and Josh was 7. I have always loved this photo of the 2 of them. Probably because it was taken way back when they actually showed how much they loved each other!

"Wayne"

Another 8x10 colored pencil portrait, I know my version isn't as dark as the original but I think I did a better job showing depth this time around. I am guessing that each one I do will be better than the last.
Hopefully..LOL
I have become lost in the colored pencil world and am loving it :-)

"A Dad"

Have just completed my first *customer* portrait. Below is both the portrait, an 8x10 done in colored pencils and the original photo.
Clicking on the portrait will make it bigger.

Cosmo: Portrait of a Dog

I just finished this. It's a 9x11 colored pencil portrait of a Shepard Collie mix we had when the kids were babies.

Cats + Quilt = Contentment

A 9 x 11" colored pencil work of my cats.

The Bananaquit

This is a 9x12" colored pencil painting on watercolor paper of the Bananaquit, (following info from Wikipedia) : "The Bananaquit is a very small bird attaining an average length of 11 cm. It has a slender, curved bill, adapted to taking nectar from flowers. It sometimes pierces flowers from the side, taking the nectar without pollinating the plant. It cannot hover like a hummingbird, and must always perch while feeding. It will also eat fruit and insects. It often visits gardens and may become very tame."
According to Wikipedia the entire belly should be yellow, but the photo I used as a reference had this coloration.