Artsy Kira

Calosoma Auropunctatum

2010-03-04T10:41:00.002-05:00

Yup, there he is. This guy goes by several names: as seen above, calosoma auropunctatum; spitting ground beetle; and in Africa - oogpister, which roughly translates to "spits in your eye."

When these beetles feel threatened (which apparently they do quite easily), the turn around, lift up their back end and spray a noxious and painful chemical at you. Lovely, no?

But, what is lovely is this bug's exterior. He is gorgeous. Those spots on his back are actually pits coated in the most impressive copper/gold. Those pits sparkle and shine like nothing else. And depending on the direction of the light, they seem to change color - from a deep copper to a shiny green. Really incredible.

This painting is the result of The Artful Insect, which I took during RISD/CE's winter session with instructor and Natural Science Illustration Advisor, Amy Bartlett Wright. Amy is an amazing instructor and I loved every second of this class.

Amy brought in her own collection of over 500 insects (!) and let us each pick the one we wanted to draw. The second I saw this oogpister, I knew he was the one. It was love at first sight. We used binocular stereoscopic zoom microscopes and fiber optic lighting and over the course of 3 Saturdays (21 hours) drew and painted our new friends.

I learned so much and am very grateful that Amy let me borrow the bug so that when my new microscope arrives in a couple of days (!) I can add the finishing touches to my painting, like the tiny hairs on his legs.

Here's the technical stuff: 140lb Arches hot-pressed paper, and mostly Winsor Newton watercolor paints. I wish I could remember the mix I used for the warm brownish first wash, but I was just experimenting till I found the right shade. The black, however is the standard Alazarin Crimson mixed with Pthalo Green. For me, squeezing the paints into the well, mixing them together while all creamy and then adding enough water to make thin it out a bit works best.

The spots/pits were first painted with Twinkling H2o's (mustard green) because they have such a nice sparkle. But it was too dark, so Amy suggested creating highlights and adding depth by putting a swipe of white acrylic along the bottom of each pit, then when that dried, adding a bright yellow acrylic over the white. I couldn't believe what a huge effect that little bit of paint had.

His actual size is 10"x6".

I hope you like him.

Random Acts of Creativity - Found Art

2010-01-21T15:05:00.006-05:00

This winter I found a wonderful tutorial on A Little Hut for making bowls out of magazine pages.

It takes some time to fold all those pages up, but I really enjoy the process. I can listen to NPR while I'm doing it, which is nice.

I made some as Christmas gifts, but still wanted to make more. I have so many magazines around the house and I hate to just throw them away. I tend to rip out recipes and craft ideas, so they wouldn't be good to pass on to anyone.

So, I decided to keep making them, whenever I get a hankering, and I'm going to leave them around RI for people to find. I designed a little card so people will understand what I'm doing. It says, "You are the recipient of a Random Act of Creativity. Please take this item home and enjoy it, pass it on to a friend, or leave it here to brighten someone else's day.

I made my first drop last week at the Starbucks in Barrington. It was a small green/yellow one. I had so much fun leaving it on the napkin/spoon counter-thing. I felt like I was doing something bad, slipping it out of my bag and surreptitiously leaving it there, hoping no one was noticing me.

Today I dropped these two off at the Barrington Library. One in the teen room and another on a window sill. I love daydreaming about people finding them. I hope it makes them smile.

When I get tired of making these bowls (is that possible??), I'll move onto something else, hopefully another re-use type item.

I tried to find that foundart.org site, which I haven't visited in some time, but it appears to be gone. What a shame. I did find this fun site, though, by artist Rosa Murillo. She does Found Art Tuesdays. I have to do mine on Thursdays because it's my only day without the kids. I think it's fun that she sometimes hangs out to see who finds her art. She also has her name on her art, which I haven't done so far. I like remaining anonymous.

I need to think of more places to leave my bowls. Any ideas?

Matchbox Cars & Paintbrushes

2010-01-21T13:39:00.002-05:00

Wow, I haven't posted in a really long time.

Being a full-time mom means having limited time for art, and I'm afraid that means having almost zero time for blogging.

But I'm grateful for what time I do get to create. I'm also grateful to my father for funding my return to school. I am enrolled in the Natural Science Illustration Certificate Program through RISD's Continuing Education Dept.

This past summer I took a class called, "Making Pictures Tell Stories." This self portrait was an assignment from that class. Can you guess what story I'm trying to tell? That of a mom desperate to be the artist she is, but feeling overrun by her children and her children's toys? This was done in acrylic paints on vellum.

Next up is "The Artful Insect: Entomological Illustration." I'm very excited to work in RISD's Nature Lab and draw some bugs!

Painting for Sale!

2009-05-08T20:12:00.003-05:00

I've been looking at this little monkey for months. He needs a home other than my tiny little studio. You can bid on him here.

I will be donating 10% of the purchase price to a Portland, ME organization called A Company of Girls, whose mission is to strengthen and empower youth and the community through the arts.

More on "Save Handmade!"

2009-01-18T13:43:00.004-05:00

I just received this encouraging email below, but we still need to spread the word on this. As of February 10, if I decided to sell my needle-felted creatures, I couldn't do it because they could possibly be given to someone under 12. And I can no longer sell my colorful animal paintings, like the monkey above, which are intended to brighten up children's rooms.

Here's the email:

Thank you for your support on change.org! Because of your votes, 'Save Small Business from the CPSIA' is now one of the top ten ideas for change in America on change.org. These ideas were presented to President-elect Obama's change.gov/transition team at a press event in Washington DC this past Friday, January 16th.

With 12,280 votes from supporters, our issue is now part of a campaign to increase national awareness of the lack of provisions for small business in HR4040, the CPSIA, and bring about positive changes to the law. In the upcoming week, we will be working with the chang.org team to engage an appropriate non profit group to help us further our cause.

A forum has been opened for discussion on how to most effectively turn our idea into a successful national campaign, and the Handmade Toy Alliance would love your suggestions on how to bring about this Idea for Change. You can join the conversation here:

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

We still have a lot of work ahead of us to make it possible for the thousands of American craftspeople and small businesses to stay in business, and to keep unique, beautiful hand-made children's products available to consumers. But this was an important milestone in our journey, and we are grateful to you for helping us to reach it.

www.handmadetoyalliance.org

Domestic Endeavor #2 and The Accidental Bear

2009-01-16T20:05:00.004-05:00

Holy cow, I'm on a roll! Tonight I cooked a delicious dish from this month's Real Simple magazine. It's called chickpea pasta with almonds and Parmesan. And it came out truly yummy! I'm feeling pretty good right now. And full.

And last night I attempted my third (we won't discuss the second) needle felted animal, this time after having received the excellent "Little Felted Animals" book.

This actually started as a cat, but by the end I decided he was a dog. When I showed it to Chris, he said, "Nice bear." So, after a little arguing about which animal this most resembled, I conceded defeat, went back to my desk and made a few edits - changed ear position, made the legs bulkier and most importantly, snipped the long cat, er dog, tail.

He's pretty cute, no matter what he is exactly.

Reused Food Cans

2009-01-13T14:13:00.003-05:00

I am in no way claiming to have had an original idea here, but I wanted to show you what I did today.
I'm really into reusing items whenever I can. So many of our food items, especially baby stuff, come in these great containers. I love storage items, so I had set these aside, trying to think of what I could do with them.

Then I remembered all the pretty scrapbook paper I bought on sale a couple of months ago and came up with this:
The one on the right is turned backwards so you can see the seam. With a slight overlap for your paper, the length you need is 13 inches. We all know scrapbook paper is 12 inches, so you can stick either white or a contrasting color under there first.

So easy, so quick and I feel so proud of myself. Quin loves these snacks, so I'll have them all over the house for pens, etc. I just don't recommend them for wet things like paintbrushes, because the cylinder is made of cardboard/paper and the bottom is metal - likely to rust. So, I'll stick with my mason & tomato sauce jars for those.

Speaking of reusing, I'm a big time thrift store shopper, but selling children's items there will be against the law as of Feb. 10th per my post below. Because it's retroactive, thrift stores will have to pull everything for kids under 12 off the shelves and would have to have them independently tested before selling. Since that runs about $4,000 per item, I'd say it won't be happening.

First thing next month I'm stocking up on clothes for the kids, etc. just in case it takes our lovely congressmen ages to get this stupid law amended.

See more info here:
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

Needle Felted Sea Otter

2009-01-08T19:55:00.005-05:00

I just figured out how to turn this:

into this:
Thanks to my blog-hopping, I discovered needle felting. And then thanks to my Dad, I was able to purchase the supplies to try my own creations. And here's creation #1 - a sea otter.

I got my supplies here: The Silver Penny, and here: Lambkin Wool. The Silver Penny offers a ton of different kinds of wool, needles, etc. etc. They also have very helpful tutorial videos on the site. Lambkin Wool sells a great starter kit for $13.95. Both had excellent customer service, very friendly people. I've also ordered this book off Amazon: Little Felted Animals, but it hasn't arrived yet.

Now, I know he's not perfect. His face isn't what I was aiming for at all. But for my first try, I think he's not bad. And it was really fun. So easy and relaxing.

And yes, though I live in "The Ocean State," I made that seashell out of clay. It's cold out there!

I'm looking forward to trying some more creatures. Maybe an elephant next?

Oh, and by the way, Jackson wouldn't touch my lovely biscuits. Jeez!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2009-01-06T12:55:00.003-05:00

Yes, yes it's true - I actually baked something. I was perusing an old copy of Women's Day and came across a recipe for sweet potato biscuits. I thought it might be a good way to get some Vitamin A into Jackson.

Okay, yes, I had to call my mom first to ask "How do you make a mashed potato?" and then "What does it mean to 'knead' it 12 times??" and when the recipe said to roll it to 1/2" and cut into rounds, I thought it meant to literally roll it, like a long tube or something and then slice circles out of it, like with those prepared rolls of cookie dough.

It took me a couple of minutes of struggling with the not-quite-sticking-together dough before it hit me that it meant to roll it out with a rolling pin(!). Thank goodness I'd bought my first rolling pin just last night! Rather fortuitous, eh? And they are shaped like flowers because that's the closest I could come to a circle cookie cutter. But I like the flowers. Much more interesting than boring old circles!

And here's the absolute truth: not only did I enjoy the process, but they taste good. I've already had two while the boys are napping.

Hooray for me and my domestic endeavor! Will there be more to come? Stay tuned and find out.

Save Handmade!

2009-01-04T10:39:00.002-05:00

I just came across this post and was very concerned by what I read. I encourage you to click on this link to learn about how handmade items for children in this country are being threatened by new safety standards that are a reaction to the unsafe junk being made in China.

I immediately sent letters to my congressman and senators. It took about 10 minutes thanks to the letter template provided in the links at the bottom of the post.

These standards will put thousands of craftspeople out of business who make the products we all love to discover in our local shops and on etsy.com. And I'm one of those people! You never know what great, cute idea I might come up with next - like my magic wands (soon to be posted on this blog).

Please follow the link: http://thebabygardner.com/blog/2008/12/11/love-handmade-a-call-to-action-for-all-of-us/
and take some action today!

"An Art Affair on the Fence"

2008-08-28T06:29:00.004-05:00

Here's how my paintings looked at this past Saturday's art fair in Bristol, RI. I had 23 paintings and sold 12. I also took 3 orders for custom paintings. I arrived feeling completely out of place but left feeling great.
These were my neighbors to the right.
And these were to my left. It was a gorgeous day.

I'll definitely be signing up again next year!

Paintings for my First Art Fair!

2008-07-22T11:58:00.002-05:00

I have signed up to participate in "Art Affair on the Fence" in Bristol on August 23rd. I get 8 feet of fence on which to hang my paintings. These are four 8x8 paintings. I will also have 12x12, 6x6 and 4x4.

I am painting every chance I get, though these days, I don't get many chances. Quin and Jack take up almost all my time, as they should. But I'm still excited to do this Fair. I'll post more paintings as I complete them. Wish me luck!

Firetruck

2008-03-02T12:21:00.002-05:00

Another acrylic painting for Jack & Quin's room. A school bus is next.

Pig & Monkey

2008-02-18T11:32:00.004-05:00

So, I've finished this set of animals for the boys' room. This was a really fun exercise in doing something new and not getting mired in the details. It was a struggle to paint an animal that didn't look realistic, but it was a good challenge. I'd like to do more of these. Maybe I'll do enough to trade animals out every few months and keep it interesting for the kids.

Right now I'm just glad I got them done before Quin's arrival!

Dog & Cat

2008-02-14T11:13:00.003-05:00

Here are the first two acrylic paintings I did. Mr. Piggy is underway!

A Purple Cow

2008-02-13T13:24:00.004-05:00

(please note that this photographed a little dark)

A few months ago, watching David Bromstad on HGTV, I was inspired to break out the acrylics and paint some colorful animals for the boys' room. I think I did Jack's original nursery all wrong - pale, muted colors. Blech! Babies brains should be stimulated, not bored!

It took a while, but I finally got the 12"x12" canvases I wanted from Dick Blick (at $5 a piece, a total steal over the $20/piece they wanted at Michaels!) and started painting once the R watercolor was complete.

This is actually the third painting, but the cat and dog are already hanging in the bedroom and Jack's napping, so no photos yet.

I'm having a great time with this. I forgot how messy acrylics are and how you can just slap it on. The paint is so thick and saturated with color. Such a different experience from the watercolors. Also different because other than a reference image and quick sketch directly on the canvas with pencil, I'm not spending a lot of time on preliminary work. It's a nice break from all that goes into the alphabet series.

I think a piggy will be next...

The Robin Rollerskated on a Red Rug

2008-01-31T14:45:00.000-05:00

Letter #20! How has it taken me this long to only get to #20? Oh yeah, his name is Jackson.

This one's the same as the others - Daniel Smith watercolors on Arches 140lb cold press. The background is largely DS Undersea Green mixed with a little Hansa Yellow Light. I also used the same green mixed with Raw Umber for the darker parts of the bird. A useful color.

The Terrific Toad Took a Turn in the Tub

2007-12-04T14:50:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed doing this latest painting in my alphabet series. Probably largely because I had several new Daniel Smith watercolor paints to select from. I love getting new colors on my palette!

The background is a layer of my new Cascade Green over a flat wash of Cobalt Teal Blue. The frog is a mix of Olive Green and my new Mummy Bauxite. The gray of the tub is actually three colors - Moonglow (new), Prussian Green & Cadmium Red. And the T is Rose of Ultramarine (new) mixed with Cobalt Blue. So fun!

I've had two requests for R recently, so I'd better get on that letter!

The Dormouse Dreamt of Delicious Desserts

2007-11-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

18 letters down, 8 to go.

The background here is Phthalo Turquoise mixed with Chinese white and the D is Quinacridone Pink mixed with Cobalt Blue. I think they work nicely together.

I had fun doing the tiny desserts, especially the chocolate chip cookie. It's amazing how little highlights and shadows can create the appearance of the swirl on top of a chocolate chip. I love working in watercolors.

I just ordered some new colors from Daniel Smith. Their watercolor passport page offers such great deals - free shipping, free paint, etc. I am so excited to get some fresh color on my palette!

The Hedgehog Held a Heavy Hammer

2007-10-26T12:41:00.001-05:00

Doing this hedgehog was fun. I've never painted a hedgehog before.

I'm trying to decide if the head of the hammer needs to be darkened a bit to stand out more against the green background. I just want to keep it looking silver/gray rather than near black.

It's been a while since I last posted a painting. That's because after finishing G I decided I hated it. So, that one will be a do-over.

The Fantastic Frog Found a Fine Fiddle

2007-09-09T09:15:00.001-05:00

This is the first painting I've done since finding out I was pregnant. I have been so nauseated and tired, plus my babysitter was unavailable for almost a month. Now she's back and hopefully so am I!

It's funny how seeing a scan of my work brings all the little flaws to my attention. I thought I was done with this, but see some changes that need to be made.

The Koala Kept his Kite in a Kettle

2007-07-19T15:21:00.001-05:00

Thank goodness for Jack's two-hour naps and my helper, Brittany, who watches Jack two afternoons a week while I paint down the hall. Otherwise, I'd never get any painting done.

I now have all the letters for "JACKSON" completed and it will soon be hanging on Jack's bedroom wall.

The Whacky Whale Water skied on Wild Waves

2007-07-16T19:32:00.000-05:00

I really struggled with the wave in this painting. Most of it is actually cut off - poor planning on my part. I think I need to scrape away paint to show more white. Does it even look like a wave? I'm not convinced.

Do you know how many types of whale there are? And they all look so different from each other. It was tough deciding which kind to include in this painting, but ultimately decided on a blue whale.

The Impatient Ibex Ignored the Inquisitive Insect

2007-07-09T11:39:00.000-05:00

So, here's the Ibex. I had a difficult time with this background. My original attempt made it look as though he was standing in front of a forest fire. So, I added a wash of New Gamboge (yellow) and it took the fiery look down a notch.

At this size, it's probably hard to see the bug on his nose.

It looks like I'll be taking part in next June's "Uncommon Art on the Common" Art Festival in Bristol, RI. By then I'll have all the letters done and hopefully can sell more than a few prints. I'm trying to come up with alternative items I can sell with these paintings on them, like notecards or something. I want to have a good price range in my booth. If you have any good ideas on that, please share them with me.

The Manatee Made Marvelous Music with Maracas

2007-07-02T18:59:00.001-05:00

So, here's the letter M. Doing a manatee was fun. I did also finish the letter I, but forgot to scan it before giving it to the printer. I should get it back tomorrow, so I'll post it soon.

The Jolly Jaguar Jumped over the Jack-o'-lantern

2007-06-08T08:35:00.000-05:00

This painting was a lot of fun to do. I've never painted a spotted cat before and enjoyed studying reference photos for what a jaguar looks like. I decided to keep the background very plain, as the jaguar's fur is so busy. I hope the blue isn't too light, though. I'd appreciate hearing opinions on this.

By the way, does anyone know what the difference is between a jaguar and a leopard? I need to look that up, because they look pretty much the same to me.

The Nifty Newt Nibbled on Nectarines

2007-05-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well, I had finally achieved the smooth, flat background wash I was going for with this painting. And then I hated it. It was so boring! So I added a bunch of texture with shades of purple. It took a while to get it the way I wanted it, but I'm finally done.

I bring E & N to the printer today and then get started on J!

The Egyptian Elephant Enjoys Eggplants

2007-05-06T17:20:00.000-05:00

The first of six paintings I need to do as quickly as possible. Eek! I'm still working on the background, as the green is a little too light in most places. I'm happy with this, though.

Final Fun Stuff

2007-04-22T20:28:00.000-05:00

So, these are the last fun little things I'll do for a while. I just got an order for the name Benjamin in my watercolor alphabet, so I've got quite a bit of work to do!

Above is a coaster I did for someone on Swap-bot. The swap is to send someone a handicrafted coaster and a bag of your favorite tea. I had no idea what to do for this and kind of regretted signing up for it.

But then I read my partner's profile and found that she likes Asian culture, flowers and the color blue, so I attempted this faux sumi-e painting. I say "faux" because it was done with regular brushes and glass paint on a .53 tile from Lowe's. I even added the traditional calligraphy "seal." I made an elephant for reasons obvious to those who know me.
This is a close-up of my elephant "seal," also done with glass paint.
I have begun taking embroidery lessons from a woman who is here from India. Her husband is getting his Masters at Brown and she's giving lessons to make extra money. The stitch above is what I learned in my first lesson. I was so excited I came home and immediately started on some old jeans. Now I want to embroider everything!

Stay tuned for scans of upcoming alphabet paintings!

More ATCs

2007-02-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

Three new ATCs for a Ness PIF Twist. The Nesser wanted ATCs in the following themes, if it's not obvious: Pirate, Dragon, Junebug.

The Junebug is pen & ink with watercolor, cut out and placed on a piece of collage paper with French writing. I added the red metallic rub-on underneath to make it stand out a bit more. The dragon is pen & ink, Twinkling H2Os, gel pen and red gems. The Jolly Roger is pen & ink with watercolor. I drew the skull from my new (used) anatomy book I picked up at BookMooch. Love that site!

Achin' for ATCs!

2007-02-17T13:55:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since I made ATCs. Browsing around Ness and Swap-bot, I found a couple that got my creative juices flowing, so I signed up.

Above is my 3-for-3 Mermaid Swap on Ness and below is a 2-for-2 (with 2 partners) Elephant Swap on Swap-bot.
These were fun to make. That tiny canvas is so freeing. I'd forgotten how addicting these things are - I must pace myself or I'll never finish my alphabet!

Other Creative Outlets

2007-02-10T17:59:00.000-05:00

I find that between paintings, I need to dabble in other creative endeavors as a way of keeping from getting stale. That's when I turn to Nervousness or Swap-bot for ideas and projects.
This was thru Swap-bot. I had to decorate a matchbox and then fill it with beads & buttons. The idea is to pass along the odds and ends from your stash. I used my finger to paint the box with purple acrylic paint (because I was lazy and didn't feel like rinsing out a brush). I glued a line of little beads along the length of it. I drew those swirls on white cardstock with a black pen, cut them out, glued them on and put some gold paint on them. Then I covered the whole thing in an acrylic glaze. And you can see what I stuffed inside.

This project was fun because it was unplanned - I just kept doing whatever entered my head.
For this Ness LMAO (Land Mail Art Object), each participant was sent a little green or yellow bag. We were supposed to decorate them in a spring theme. I hung beads along the bottom, added beads to both handles and glued these fabric flowers to each side. I think the bag is too small to actually be functional, but it was a good exercise in a creative effort that had nothing to do with paint.

Now onto the letter N.

The Spotted Snail Scaled the Sunflower's Stem

2007-02-06T14:46:00.000-05:00

I really like this one. I haven't painted a flower in a long time, so I had fun with this. And I'm happy with my color choices. The S is the same combo of paints as the Octopus's overalls, but heavier on the Quin Sienna. I'm drawn to orange lately for some reason. On my favorite HGTV show, Get Color, they say that orange inspires creativity.

Now onto the next letter!

A Purple Parrot Painted a Pretty Picture

2007-01-21T15:35:00.000-05:00

Here is P number two for someone whose initials contain two Ps. Painting feathers is not the easiest thing and I'm not sure I really captured them here. I might rework this a bit before I have prints made. Next letter will be S.

The Playful Panther Put Puppets on its Paws

2006-12-31T16:22:00.000-05:00

Here's the first of two P paintings I must do. I had actually nearly completed another version of this painting and suddenly realized I hated it. I had done preliminary sketches and thumbnail color studies and still, by the time it was almost done, I realized it was all wrong. I'm much happier with this painting, and though it meant losing precious time, I'm glad I started over.

Except for the blacks (Ivory, Blue and Lamp) these are Daniel Smith paints. A combo of Cadmium Red Deep and Quin Gold for the background, heavy on the QG. I love that orangey color.

Now onto the next P, as I am doing a gift for a little girl whose initials are SPP.

One Outstanding Octopus Owned Orange Overalls

2006-12-15T10:48:00.000-05:00

I'm really happy with this one. This is where all those color mixing tests I did a while back have really paid off. When I'm not sure which color would work best, I flip through those pages and always find exactly what I want. I love how the orange overalls came out. They are a combination of New Gamboge (yellow) and Quin Sienna.

The Large Lobster wore a Lovely Lei

2006-12-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

Here is the letter L - the 4th I've completed in my alphabet series. I'm skipping around based on people's requests for certain letters. This is Daniel Smith paints on Strathmore cold pressed paper. I have to say that the Strathmore (obviously) just does not compare to the Arches Aquarelle 140 lb cold pressed I used for A, B, C and so I have gone back to Arches permanently. It's a totally different painting experience.

The Clever Camel Counted her Chocolate Cupcakes

2006-11-01T07:08:00.000-05:00

Jack & I are going to meet with the woman who does prints today. I'm excited to learn about the process and to get going on this so I can start selling.

I have to say how happy I am with these Daniel Smith paints. I think the colors come out so nicely - not washed out like my Winsor Newtons.

Someone asked about my process, so I thought I'd give a brief overview here:

The first thing I do is sit down with a dictionary and sketchbook. I make lists of words that inspire me. This can take a while. Then I start putting words together to see what kind of sentences I can get. I usually end up with a few and ultimately choose the one that creates the most fun (I wish "funnest" was a word) image in my head.

At this point, I start sketching the composition, figuring out where the subject should go in relation to the letter, etc. Once that's decided, I do some color studies on scrap paper to see which colors will go together best. I also often refer to Google Images for reference photos. The camel above is a composite of several camel photos I found online.

Finally, it's time to move to the watercolor paper, where I transfer the letter and do a light drawing. Then I add paint. Voila!

I love every step of the process.

The Brilliant Blue Beetle Brought Bananas in his Backpack

2006-10-28T15:08:00.000-05:00

(click on above image to see it slightly larger)

Here is the letter B. I had fun doing this beetle. I like bugs.

The owner of Madre Bella and I have decided it would make sense to sell prints of these paintings, rather than just the originals. So, next week I am meeting with someone who does those. This way, rather than have A, B & C in the store simply as samples and then take orders for monograms, I hope to do one painting for each letter, have prints made and then people can just select their letters.

I am excited about the prints process, though it's not inexpensive. I hope to sell many, many prints!

The Affable Alligator Ate the Angry Ant's Apple

2006-10-22T18:05:00.000-05:00

(click on the image above to see a slightly larger version)

The owner of the lovely Madre Bella maternity boutique here in Barrington would like to sell some of my paintings. I immediately thought of those alphabet paintings I had done a while back as part of a collaborative project with some other artists. I had really enjoyed doing those.

The "A" above is a variation on that theme and I'm pretty happy with it. My plan is to do an "A," "B," and "C" as sample paintings for the store and to then take orders for monograms. I also want to think of general paintings I can do for those impulse purchases.

These are so fun to do - I love coming up with the silly sentence and then figuring out how best to illustrate it. Now I just need to find more time to paint! I am very excited about this opportunity!

Best So Far

2006-09-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

I did this drawing this morning, as Jack slept in my lap. I'm surprised at how much this actually looks like him, as it was completed after several frustrating false starts. I had finally given up on his face and decided to just draw his mouth. I worked out from there (I almost always start with an eye) and voila!

His mouth, chin & cheeks always fascinate me because they are so chubby. They are fun to draw.

Jackson in Moleskine

2006-09-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

This was done in the Moleskine sketchbook I share with my grandfather. We take turns drawing in it. Since July 6, all my sketches have been of Jack. I think this is one of the better ones I've done lately.

I forget how much I enjoy drawing on that smooth Moleskine paper. Using my finger to smooth out the pencil strokes in the shadows is so nice. A very different drawing experience than on rougher paper of my regular sketchbook.

Sleeping Beauty

2006-09-13T19:24:00.000-05:00

This is the best of the latest sketches of Jackson. It seems he's extra squirmy in his sleep lately. I get an eye or his nose down and then he moves.

I really don't want to work from photos, despite how much easier it would be in terms of his movement.

I love studying his little face up close as I draw him.

Jackson again

2006-08-28T17:43:00.000-05:00

My sketches were steadily improving, peaking on August 12, when I drew the sketch below - the most accurate representation of my son, I think. Since then, my drawings have been very disappointing. I'm not sure what happened, except that I lost a week of drawing thanks to leaving my sketchbook in the diaper bag and constantly forgetting to put it next to the nursing chair, where I usually have the opportunity to draw.

I did this one today. It's the best in a while, which isn't saying much.

Jackson

2006-08-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

This was done this weekend while we visited relatives in PA. My young cousins watched me draw Jack and ooh'd and aah'd over every stroke of my pencil. Children always appreciate art.

These sketches are definitely improving and actually look like my son. I don't know why I'm always surprised at the difference practice makes - in anything, but especially with my drawing.

Jack is 5 weeks old! Look at those cheeks.

The Sketches Continue

2006-08-08T16:03:00.000-05:00

I am doing pretty good with drawing Jackson every day. When I nurse him, I sit in the livingroom easy chair. I keep a sketchbook nearby, along with a bottle of water, remote control, telephone, etc. etc. Once he's still, I pull it out and begin to draw. Here's the latest.

My two trouble areas are his nose and his ear. I think I caught the nose in this one, but felt a study of his ear was necessary, which is why there is a floating ear above his head. Sometimes I enjoy just focusing on one feature, rather than trying to put together his entire face.

A Sketch of My Son

2006-07-28T10:59:00.000-05:00

It has been quite a while since I've posted anything to this blog. First there was internet trouble, then my computer died, then the internet refused to work at all and then I had a baby.

My scanner still isn't hooked up, so I took a photo of this sketch with my digital camera. I'm not happy with how dark it came out.

My son Jackson is 3 weeks old. I would like to do a daily sketch of him in his many poses. Obviously, when he's sleeping is the best time, and even then he moves quite a bit. He's almost as bad as Osiris.

I won't be able to post every day, but I'll try to do what I can.

Stupid Computer

2006-06-30T13:52:00.000-05:00

Well, my computer finally died, just as my husband predicted. I can access the internet on his machine, but he doesn't have a scanner or Photoshop, so I'm out of luck with updating this blog for a while.

I should be giving birth any day now anyway, so I probably won't have much to post. Waiting for my son's arrival has left me completely unable to concentrate on painting or anything else. I've done a few sketches of Osiris - how can I resist when he gets into those crazy sleeping poses? - but little else.

I hope to have a new computer soon!

Osiris

2006-06-22T13:51:00.000-05:00

I apologize for the lack of posts this month. I don't have much of an internet connection (wireless) on my computer lately and it's too frustrating to even try to post. But, I seem to be having a good day today, so I'm giving it a shot.

This is a recent watercolor sketch - no foundation drawing - of Osiris stretched out in Chris's office. I did it in my little Moleskine watercolor sketchbook, which I do like for the most part. My only complaint is that the paper is a tiny bit too absorbant and won't let me push the paint around the way I like. I used my little Winsor Newton travel palette and a Niji waterbrush.

Daily Painting - Elegant Trogon

2006-06-08T07:35:00.000-05:00

I apologize for my lack of posts. Our home internet connection has been spotty at best, making it pretty much impossible to add anything to our blogs. I'm taking advantage of a few minutes here to post things very quickly.

I have become very good about doing a painting each day. Here is one of my recent favorites, though it doesn't quite fit my parameters of fast and simple. Still, he's awfully pretty, isn't he?

I got the most fabulous book - an encyclopedia of North American birds. It's full of beautiful, full-color, close-up photos like this. There's nothing like good photo references.

This was painted with my Daniel Smith paints on Strathmore cold press watercolor paper.

Daily Painting - Vermillion Flycatcher

2006-05-28T10:20:00.000-05:00

This is my second attempt at a bird this morning. The first one came out awful - and then my fat cat laid on it, so it got all bent. He just saved me the guilt from tossing it out.

What I like about this painting better is that it's much looser. While I did do an initial pencil sketch, my painting lines were done quickly. I did not get lost in the detail. I find that using a dry brush on this cold pressed paper creates enough texture without me breaking out the tiny round brush to get every darn feather.

I want to continue these looser drawings. I like the challenge and the result.

Daily Watercolor Sketches

2006-05-26T20:35:00.000-05:00

French Toast Girl has inspired me to do a painting every day. Nothing huge or serious, just watercolor (or gouache) sketches.

It’s turning out to be an interesting experience. I’m not sure the one I’ve posted here actually counts, as I did it for a thank you card, and so my motivation was a bit different – I put real care into making it come out right.

The other paintings I’m doing in my new little Moleskine watercolor sketchbook are done much more quickly, though also without any kind of preliminary pencil sketch or pen outline, as seen here.

While I think the paintings are coming out awful, at the same time, I don’t mind that the proportions are way off and they look a bit sloppy. The point is to loosen up, stop focusing on the details, just put color on paper.

I hope that as I continue to do this every day, these quick sketches will actually stop looking so bad. As my hand and mind become accustomed to looseness, perhaps they will produce better work.

Altered Tins

2006-05-21T15:07:00.000-05:00

Through the Ephemeral Notions Yahoo group, I signed up for an altered tin exchange. My coworkers donated their emptied Altoid tins, which I put on the grill for 30 minutes and then sanded to get the paint off, as seen here. So nice and clean without that paint!

My two assigned colors for this project were Amber and Jade - or as close to them as I could get. Using alcohol inks, I did one color on the inside and one on the out for each tin.

Then I started brainstorming in my sketchbook for what kind of design/altering to do. These are what I came up with: a tissue holder (with the face on top), a postage stamp holder (with the stamps decoupaged all over the outside), a nature shrine (with the bee on top) and a mini art kit (with the word ART on top).

These ended up being a lot of fun to do, though figuring out the best way to remove the paint was difficult, as being pregnant, I couldn't use anything with fumes. So, these were sent off to the group moderator, Terri, who will shuffle up all the tins she receives (there are about 20 of us participating) and then send them back out to everyone. I will get 4 altered tins from 4 different people. I can't wait to see what the other people did!

Pet Portrait - Heike

2006-05-10T17:23:00.000-05:00

Since my computer is still working, I thought I'd post my latest pet portrait. He is a German Shorthaired Pointer named Heike. It's a watercolor painting done on 11"x15" Strathmore cold press paper with my new Daniel Smith paints, which I really like working with.

The photo I was given for reference was a bit blurry, so I hope I captured all the details correctly. He is holding a beloved tennis ball in his mouth.

The paper was too big to scan, so this is a photo taken with my digital camera. I prefer scanning my work - I think it captures the color, etc. much better.

And here's a shot of my work area while doing this painting. I love my art desk.

Zentangle

2006-05-09T20:02:00.000-05:00

It never fails that when I go to do a blog post, my computer has a trauma. Chris informs me my computer is about to die, so if I don't post for a while, that will be why.

However, before that happens, I wanted to share my first Zentangle with you. My Dad got me this kit from www.zentangle.com and I am having a lot of fun with it. It comes with all the supplies you need in a very cool little box. I've always loved doodling, especially repetitive designs (which I find very relaxing), so this is perfect for me.

And to make it even better, the people who own this company are super nice. Don't you love supporting small businesses?

Sketchcrawl - Bristol

2006-04-29T16:42:00.000-05:00

Today I went on my first ever sketchcrawl. I've wanted to try it since I first came across the sketchcrawl website, so I finally posted a message on craigslist to see if anyone else out there wanted to join me.

Two women took me up on the offer and we met this afternoon in beautiful Bristol, RI. It was a great experience. I liked Alyssa and Denise very much and it was fun to talk about art and tools, etc. Also, it was just nice to have company as we sat in the grass sketching tulips or along the sidewalk drawing trees.

I was very focused on trees today, as I feel I need much practice in that area. I've posted my two favorite attempts here: a pair of shrubs and a leafless tree. In reality, the tree did have leaves, but I was so happy with the shading I achieved on its trunk and branches, I didn't want to bury any of it in green. I was also practicing with gouache paints, which I really enjoyed using. I just need a better travel palette for them.

Pen & Ink Deco

2006-04-14T15:18:00.000-05:00

Here's the second and last deco page of the day, another one created by Tam. The pages are the blue you see here.

What I love most about doing ATCs and decos is that they push me to try new things; they give me the courage to experiment. This is the kind of thing I would not normally do. I was looking around my art room for something to draw and my eyes rested upon this old doll I purchased at one of those junky antique stores years ago. She's unusual - not sure what culture she represents, but she is swathed in gold and silver fabric with tiny rhinestones all over her jewelry and headdress.

I decided she'd be fun to draw and good face-drawing practice to boot. I used the Sakura .005 and colored her in with Prismacolor CPs. Her arms and hands were doing that "walk like an Egyptian" thing and I totally screwed them up, so salvaged it by making an oval and cutting her out. Then I used my exacto knife to remove the background as well, leaving the oval outline.

After gluing her onto the deco page, I drew the flowers and tiny circles around the outside of her oval, colored them in and filled all the "gems" on her with silver gel pen. I decided this was a good time to try out my new diamond glaze on each gem. It gives them a raised appearance, like little diamonds. That was fun. I love trying new things. I also like that I made this up as I went along, with no plan whatsoever. I should do that more often - see where my creativity leads me.

Honey Bee Deco

2006-04-14T12:06:00.000-05:00

It was a crazy week that left no time for creating. Today, on my designated art day, I have several projects to get caught up on. The first are two decos. This is a Honey Bee Deco started by the talented Tam, in the Embellished Circus group.

I was provided with the brown cardstock base. Using a photo I got off the web as reference, I drew the bee with my Sakura Pigma Micron .005 (which was on sale at Michael's for only $1.99 each last week) and colored him in with various Sakura and Prismacolor markers. Then I printed this flower photo off the web and cut it out using my super-fine, ultrasharp Honey Bee scissors. Total coincidence!

I wasn't sure what to do then, so instead of also cutting out the bee, which would have probably been a disaster, I colored in the background with various shades of blue Prismacolor and Derwent colored pencils. I glued it all to the cardstock, leaving an edge of brown so the flower would feel like it's coming off the page a bit, and then added text.

I'm always disappointed when my .005 marker won't write over colored pencil. The tip is immediately clogged by wax, so I had to use one of my new Faber Castell Pitt artist pens. It worked fine.

Now onto the other deco...

Sketch

2006-04-09T08:02:00.000-05:00

My new favorite thing: Bath & Body Works In-shower Moisturizer. After using your soap, you slather this stuff on all your dry spots, leave it on for a minute and then rinse it off. I can't remember the last time my skin was this soft. I love, love, love it!

I drew this with my Sakura Pigma Micron .005 and used Prismacolor colored pencils to give it some interest. I did finally get a Faber Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pen, but I'm not confident enough yet in those sketches to post any. Soon, I hope.

More Art Dolls

2006-04-03T19:26:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I played with fabric scraps and made two more art dolls, one for an Art Object PIF Twist on Nervousness. Instead of sewing beads all around the seam, like I did with the first two, I sewed dangling beads off each arm, the bottom and the head. I like the effect.

I bought face molds at AC Moore a couple of weekends ago and used soft Fimo polymer clay, onto which I brushed PearlEx Pigment powder in silver and bronze before baking. After baking, I sealed the faces in a glossy varnish because the pigment still rubbed off a little when I touched it.

This photo makes them look like they are the same color, but one is blue and one is purple.

Handcarved Stamp ATCs

2006-03-31T10:15:00.000-05:00

My first ATCs in months. These are for an EC swap of ATCs made with handcarved stamps. I carved this fish out of a Nasco Safety-Kut block and used pigment inks. The background of the cards are done with my new alcohol inks. Thanks to someone on Ephemeral Notions, I tried dropping the inks onto wax paper, squirting the blender onto my piece of felt and then picking up the inks with it and dabbing them all over the glossy photo paper. It worked like a charm. I did the outlines with Roseart metallic markers, added an eyelet & fibers and voila! These were fun.

Playing with Alcohol Inks

2006-03-27T20:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend I bought my first set of alcohol inks (Adirondack Inks) and played with them a bit last night on glossy photo paper. I did not at all get the effect I was hoping for, that kind of marbleized, agate look that I've seen online.

However, I salvaged my colorful mess by slicing the paper into thin strips with my papercutter. The individual strips looked pretty cool, I thought, and inspired this journal page. I sponged Winsor Yellow watercolor on a gessoed page and then glued the strips of photo paper around the edges. I really like these colors.

Art Doll #2

2006-03-25T07:36:00.000-05:00

Well, here’s my second art doll already. I was pretty happy with that first one, so I decided to make one for my grandmother as well, whose birthday was this month.

In terms of technique, it’s exactly the same as the other. I just used different colors.

Art Doll #1

2006-03-24T17:54:00.000-05:00

This is my first art doll, done as a birthday gift for my Mom. I spent hours this morning creating my own pattern, ironing fabric and figuring out the damn sewing machine, only to discover that I was doing it all wrong. Thanks to Ronda Kivett, though, I was able to use her free “Goddess Doll” pattern to create this beauty.

I already had the flowery fabric, followed Ronda’s instructions for creating the body, then added my own embellishments – beads around the seam (thanks to this site for those instructions), a face made from a charm mold and painted with acrylics, flower petals sewn behind the face, and some fun fibers wrapped around the body. Oh yeah, and I added a string of beads with ribbon on the end so Mom can hang it from her rearview mirror. Thanks Aimmer on EC for that idea.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Sketching while watching TV

2006-03-23T20:52:00.000-05:00

I dragged a lamp out to the living room so I could sketch while watching TV with Chris. This baby’s face is from the cover of a magazine.

I wish my scanner handled pencil sketches better. If the paper has any amount of tooth to it, the scanner picks up every nook and cranny, making it impossible for me to darken the image at all.

Disney

2006-03-23T20:41:00.000-05:00

I stayed at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort last weekend for a USTA convention. I didn’t have much time to draw, but squeezed these two quick sketches in my first full day there. The text may be too small for you to read. The first drawing was the most prominent architectural form outside our balcony. I need to practice my architecture sketches, as this is not satisfying to me. I think I lack the patience for the details and lines, so it ends up looking rather childish.

The bottom sketch was simply so I’d never forget that at Disney, even the manhole covers have Mickey Mouse ears on them. Unbelievable.

I did the purple squares with Derwent watercolor pencils prior to leaving and sketched with my trusty Sakura pigma micron .005.

Cooper

2006-03-17T11:22:00.000-05:00

Today I had to take Cooper to be put to sleep. It's the hardest thing I've ever done. He was one strange and neurotic cat, but I loved him. I got him at the Dover, NH animal shelter 11 years ago. He was a little puff ball and irresistible. He and Osiris have always gotten along well, either grooming each other, chasing each other around the house or just sleeping beside each other. It took close to 7 years, but eventually he decided he wanted to be a lap cat - only my lap, though. When I was painting in my artroom, he would lean back on his hind legs and tap me with his front paw, meowing and wanting to sit in my lap. And he always came when I called. Osiris just ignores me. He started to get sick a couple of years ago. First it was a sensitive stomach, then it was hyperthyroidism. Finally, they didn't know what was wrong with him. The vet said probably a lymphoma.

Today, after they gave him the anesthesia, they put him in my arms and I got to hold him, kiss him and tell him what a beautiful boy he was. I am grateful for that time with him.

The first drawing is done from a photo, during healthier times for Cooper. It's in my moleskine, with the walnut ink background again and the sketch done with the Sakura pigma micron .005. The other page shows quick pencil sketches I did of him this morning. We had a quiet time with him sleeping in his new favorite spot - on my Northface jacket shell that is lying on a kitchen chair. Shortly after finishing these drawings, we went to the vet's.

Self Portrait

2006-03-12T18:07:00.000-05:00

I need to practice faces and there's nothing like drawing from real life, so, home alone, I decided to draw myself. Holding the mirror and drawing at the same time was a little awkward and half-way through, I realized I was concentrating so hard that my face looked terribly serious. It was too late to change that.

I'm not sure this actually looks like me, but it was a fun exercise. I just wish my white gouache showed up better on the walnut ink prepainted background (in my little Moleskine). If anyone can recommend a good brand of gouache for white, please let me know. This is Winsor Newton.

PostcardX

2006-03-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

I haven't even thought about PostcardX in a while, but yesterday I received a nice pc from someone who saw my name on there. It's always such a pick-me-up to get fun mail. So this morning I returned the favor by randomly picking a name. This pc is going to Kat in Hawaii.

I didn't know what I was going to do ahead of time. I wanted to play with those new Daniel Smith paints and mixed the colors on the paper. This paper is super aborbent though, so I didn't get quite the effect I was going for. Then I decided to draw over the color and used one of my favorite elephant statues in my artroom as a reference. I drew with my usual Sakura micron .005, but again, the paper wasn't very cooperative.

Osiris Again

2006-03-07T19:38:00.000-05:00

I could not resist sketching Osiris in this intriguing pose this weekend. I don't think I've ever seen him sleep like that before. I drew with a Sakura micron pen .005, on a pre-painted background with a simple purple stripe.

Moleskine Sketches

2006-03-06T18:35:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things to do is to go to www.bloglines.com and look through all the artist blogs I've subscribed to. It is so inspiring to see what other artists are up to, particularly in their sketchbooks.

Lately, http://craftmonkeys.typepad.com/ has been especially inspiring and led me to the sketch I've posted here. Because of all I've read about the Moleskine pages not accepting watercolor, I've pretty much avoided using anything but a black technical pen in it. But the craftmonkeys blog gave me some great ideas and this is one of them. I love the layout and how much the colored squares add to the page. I also like that the small squares force me to focus on details. I want to practice that more often.

I used Prismacolor watercolor pencils, which seemed to do okay when water was applied. Not too much resistance from the paper, as long as I kept the brush from getting too wet.

Cat portraits

2006-03-05T09:59:00.000-05:00

Finally, I have internet in my art room and am able to scan and post new work! These are three cat portraits done for a longtime customer who has something like eight cats! Her husband must be a very patient man. This customer has had me do a painting of each of her cats and these three are her latest. I'm afraid the completion of these paintings got postponed due to morning sickness and then our move, but they are finally done. My favorite is the first white one, Lambchop, though this scan doesn't really show the detail of his fur.

Apologies

2006-02-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

I feel great guilt when I don't get artwork posted to this blog. However, with our big move to our new house (http://cortesehome.blogspot.com), I have been unable to do much drawing. I don't even have a computer set up yet to scan any artwork. By the end of next week, I hope to have things to show you.

Disappointing Brushes

2005-12-31T21:20:00.000-05:00

With getting ready to move house, I haven't done much sketching. Any free time I have in my art room, I spend on these color mixing charts with my new paints. I'm getting very frustrated, though, with my sable brushes. These things weren't cheap, but they won't keep their shape. It doesn't seem to matter how often I clean them. Should a good sable brush do this?

Color Mixing

2005-12-29T07:12:00.000-05:00

I bought myself a gift this Christmas of new paints from Daniel Smith. I am excited about the new colors and learning about how these paints compare to my Winsor & Newtons. Last night I started some color mixing reference sheets. It might look boring, but I found it very relaxing to play with the paints and see which combinations I like best. And now I'll have these sheets to refer to whenever I'm doing a painting. Also, this time of year, when everything is so brown and blah, focusing on these colors is rejuvenating.

Experiment - Day 5

2005-12-27T18:37:00.000-05:00

Well, this one is slightly different - Cooper instead of Osiris. Cooper, the skinnier cat, chooses to sleep in the much larger box, as you can see. However, most of the time, even with all that space, he sleeps with his face pressed into the side or corner of the box. I'm happy with these sketches. I think I captured how funny he looks with his face stuck in the corner. Are all cats this silly?

Experiment - Day 4

2005-12-27T18:33:00.000-05:00

Tired of seeing Osiris in his shoebox? I can't help but draw him. His positions are so intriguing and comical. They also pose a challenge for me - how to show him all curled up when so much of him is black.

The background here is me playing with watered down acrylics. The only acrylic inks I was able to buy were Pearlescent, so if I don't want sparkles, I'm stuck with acrylic paint.

Moi Pots

2005-12-23T10:14:00.000-05:00

Our friend Moi Dugan is a wonderful potter and she made me these awesome bowls. I struggled with the best way to show her fun designs, so I photographed them upside down (right). I am so excited about these bowls! Please check out her website: www.moipots.com. Not only is she a terrific artist, but she's a great person too!

Experiment - Day 3

2005-12-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

This is watered down acrylics as a background again with a .005 brown micron pen. I did pick up the black pen again, but decided to put it down. I'm glad I did.

You probably can't read the writing on this sketch. It says that there are two boxes for the cats in my art room - a good sized shipping box and a shoebox. For reasons unknown, Osiris always chooses to sleep in the much-too-small shoebox. It doesn't look terribly comfortable and yet he looks so happy to be in it.

Immediately after finishing the drawing in the center (thank you Osiris, for holding the pose), he curled himself up inside the box, burying his head in its corner. His head looked completely flattened. I hope I conveyed that well enough in the bottom right sketch. He looked so funny.

Experiment - Day 2

2005-12-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

Here's my second day of experimenting with Roz's technique on a loose sheet of watercolor paper. I actually had to do this over two days due to running out of time Sunday night and not being home last night.

No, this is not a fish I actually saw. It's from a reference book. Of course, there's nothing like drawing from life, but I do love this book of strange and sometimes extinct animals.

I spattered watered down acrylics onto the paper and then drew with a .005 blue micron pen. I had meant to use black, but ultimately kind of like the blue, though I don't think it shows up in the scan as well as it does in real life. I should use colored pens more often and break away from just the black all the time.

Experiment - Day 1

2005-12-17T13:35:00.000-05:00

One of the things that Roz Stendahl does is cut pieces of watercolor paper to a manageable size and then keep them loose, rather than binding them into a sketchbook/journal. She then keeps them together in a box or pastes them into a sketchbook later. She often pre-paints many of those pieces of paper. I was really intrigued by this idea, as I tend to only use my watercolor paper for serious work, never for sketching/practice.

I decided to use some paper my grandfather gave me. I don't know what brand it is, but it's a nice cold press, very smooth watercolor paper. I pre-painted it with watered-down acrylics last night and today tried it out.

I found using just the loose paper rather than a sketchbook kind of nice, particularly when drawing my cat, who would not stop moving around. It made it easier for me to keep trying different angles. And I really like how the background makes the page more interesting.

Sketching again!

2005-12-16T09:41:00.000-05:00

It is wonderful to be back to art after a forced hiatus due to terrible morning (noon & night) sickness. I'm beginning to feel a little better and coincidentally found a terrific website by artist Roslyn Stendahl (Roz). Her sketchbooks are so inspiring, they made me realize how much I've missed my daily sketches.

Not only does Roz make her own sketchbooks (inspiring me to buy "Bookbinding for Artists" by Keith Smith, but she pre-paints many of her pages so that she's not always staring at that blank white page. So, I purchased some acrylic inks and gouache paints yesterday and attempted my first Roz-inspired sketchbook page. Clearly, I need some practice with gouache, but that's what my sketchbook is for. (The green swirl is the acrylic ink.)

This page, as you can probably read, is measurements for the shelf my friend Ken is helping me build for my new art room when we move next month. Teesha Moore used to have a photo of one in her amazing studio (she has since replaced it with other photos). I'm stealing her idea for a shelf that will perfectly hold all the smaller supplies I use, like ink bottles, rubber stamps (that's what the leaf is supposed to be), etc.

Women's Wilderness Weekend

2005-10-26T20:48:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, my mother and I went to URI's Alton Jones campus in West Greenwich, RI for a Women's Wilderness Weekend. It was a great experience and I cannot recommend it enough. It was $165 for two nights lodging in a heated cabin (shared with several other people), 6 (very yummy) meals, and a bunch of different workshop-type things, like hiking, canoeing, rubber stamping, dreamcatcher making, etc. The supplies for each class are even included in the cost. They do a book swap and everyone donated Crayola supplies to make arts & crafts kits for Hasbro Children's Hospital.

The beauty of the weekend is that you can do whatever you want. Even if you sign up for the 9am hike, you can decide to sleep in or sit by the fire in the main building and just read all day. There is no pressure to do anything you don't feel like doing. And we met some really interesting women.

They had a Halloween party Saturday night, but my Mom and I weren't in the mood for costumes, so I brought my facepaints and painted some of the women there. Heather, a totally awesome person, was kind enough to take this photo of my Mom and me.

These sketches are what I decided to do Saturday afternoon instead of the rubber stamping class. I picked up the acorn on that morning's hike in the rain, the wooden sign was on our cabin, and another really great woman I met named Peggy found the cool "whale rock" in the woods. It really did look like a whale in profile coming up out of the ground.

I have to thank my friend Roma for telling me about WWW. I'm so glad we went!

Stitched Surprise

2005-10-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

For the Embellished Circus group, one of this month's trades I signed up for is a "stitched surprise." I decided to swallow my fear and break out the sewing machine. Naturally, I have misplaced the instruction booklet, so it took me about 3 hours to get the darn thing threaded. However, once I had that done, it was easy to use and this guy is what I ended up with. He's a Wish Bear. The recipient can write their wish on a little piece of paper, stick it in his belly pocket and come morning, hopefully the wish will come true! Well, it's a nice idea, anyway.

He's made out of felt. I hand embroidered the words and his facial features. I think he's kinda cute...even though one leg is a bit longer than the other.

Art Show

2005-10-16T14:37:00.000-05:00

Today I participated in my very first art show at our public library. The show goes for the entire month of October, but today was the reception, complete with wine and hors d'oeuvres. I was pretty nervous about it this morning, but so many of my coworkers showed up to support me that it put me much more at ease. This is a photo of me and my 5 paintings (taken with my new digi camera my husband bought me). Seven other watercolor artists participated as well, all members of the Portsmouth Arts Guild. It was a good day.

Birthday Card

2005-10-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

This is an extremely belated birthday card for my s.i.l. Jane. She likes faeries, so I drew one on white cardstock, colored her with pencils and cut her out. I used my handy dandy paper scorer to make the card out of blue cardstock and glued on some neato fabric-like paper I have with gold flakes in it. I bought those tags at Staples and just love them. I've been trying to think of different things to do with them. The faerie is offering Jane a piece of Rhode Island sea glass. Now, if I can just remember to mail this off on Monday...

Handcarved Stamp

2005-10-12T21:08:00.000-05:00

This is for an Embellished Circus handcarved stamp exchange. It will be going to Nici. I broke out an old box of carving supplies my parents bought me years and years ago. I was delighted to find that I still have everything but the lino-blocks, which I used up. But I had quite a few of these large Mars Staedler erasers left and made a Buddha, which I happen to know Nici likes. It's pretty basic looking, compared to the carving talents of some of my fellow ECers (ahem, Kelli), but I'm happy with it. I hope Nici is as well.

Pet Portrait

2005-10-04T18:06:00.000-05:00

I just finished this watercolor portrait of Baci, a toy Fox Terrier. I hope his owner likes it! This was done for someone who purchased my gift certificate through the Rhode Island PBS Auction. This is the second year I've donated a gift certificate and each year I forget to watch PBS to see my sample painting on the air. I always think it will be exciting to see it and then it totally slips my mind. Oh well.

Boxanotions ATC #2

2005-10-03T19:48:00.000-05:00

The last color for the September Boxanotions swap was Zebra or Zucchini. Clearly, I chose Zebra and made an ATC out of it. I used a reduced scan of a painting I did last year and a handcarved stamp in a zebra pattern on red paper. I put the stickers on to spell zebra and added some metallic paint.

Sketching at Work

2005-09-29T21:06:00.000-05:00

I took a little break at work today to sketch this cupola. I have a nice view of it from my window. It was done very quickly with my favorite .005 micron pen in my pocket-size moleskine sketchbook. I love that little thing - the smooth, creamy paper, the way it lays flat when open, the sturdy leather cover, the bookmark, the back pocket, the elastic that holds it closed...love it.

In real life, those shingles don't look quite so...messy. I didn't have the time to draw them carefully.

Beth's Garden

2005-09-25T19:01:00.000-05:00

My neighbor Beth is good at gardening and has lovely flowers around her yard. This morning I sat in a canvas chair and sketched a section of her front garden while she fed me and gave me coffee. Nice.

This was done super quick with a micron pen (.005) and filled in with watercolors later, as I had less than hour before I needed to get ready for a facepainting gig. I wish I could have spent more time on it. It was so beautiful here today. It finally feels like fall.

Boxanotions

2005-09-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

I joined a new Yahoo Group called Ephemeral Notions. Seems like a fun bunch of creative people. One of the swaps they do each month is called Boxanotions. The moderator of the list picks a theme and then each day of the month posts something related to that theme. Participants look around their art areas and place things in a box that correspond with this. At the end of the month they are matched up with a partner and they send each other their boxes of goodies. Make sense?

For example, this month the theme is colors. Each day of the month two colors are posted. You can pick whichever one works best for you. I have a Cobalt pencil sharpener, Aqua heart-shaped beads, a Navy Blue colored pencil, etc. in my box so far. One of the colors was kiwi. I couldn't find a darn thing in that peculiar shade of greenish brown, so I drew a Kiwi instead and made an ATC out of it. This is going into the box.

Sketching

2005-09-21T20:27:00.000-05:00

Today a neighbor friend called to see if I wanted to go sketching with her after work. I have always wanted to sketch with a friend, so I told my husband our date was on hold and met her after work. We walked over to a neighbor's house who I had never met and she knew kinda sorta. To my surprise, she said, "Hi, we're artists. Can we sit in your yard and sketch?" I wanted to back away slowly and hide behind a bush, but the people were very nice and invited us into their back yard, which abuts the Sakonnet River. The sun was just beginning to go down, so there wasn't much time. I drew these little boxes and then filled them in with details from their yard and the water as quickly as possible.

The best part of the experience was listening to the children's conversations behind me on the swingset. There must have been 7 kids out there, laughing and talking, aged 4 to 12. I wish I could always listen to that as I drew. It's better than TV.

Window ATC #2

2005-09-21T05:59:00.000-05:00

Here is my second windows-themed ATC for Nici. I had fun experimenting with layers of paint to get a sort of burnished look on the front. Then I stamped a text stamp all over it. The inside is a transparency I bought at ArtChix Studio that's been attached to white paper. This is what I love about ATCs - the freedom to try new things without feeling like I'm wasting paper or materials.

Drawing people

2005-09-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

I came across this terrific site, portrait-artist.org, that takes you step-by-step through drawing people. I had taken private lessons on this in highschool, but have focused entirely on animal portraits the last few years. This site is a great refresher on all I had learned.

My Dad fell asleep in his chair while reading his favorite poem by Elizabeth Bishop. It's so much better drawing people in real life than from a photo! And a sleeping person is even better because they hardly move. I am happy with this sketch. It's a real likeness of my father.

Travels

2005-09-12T20:05:00.000-05:00

I've been gone for a few days, first to Maryland to visit my brother, then NYC on business and then VT, where my husband ran the Stowe Marathon. I managed to do some sketching while I was gone. I've discovered that almost wherever I am, there is usually a chair to draw. The other scene is of Shelburne Pond, this gorgeous, peaceful spot in Shelburne, VT.

It's good to be home!

Window ATC

2005-09-06T20:19:00.000-05:00

I made this ATC for the September swaps on the EC group. This and another one with the "windows & doors" theme will be going to Nici. I drew the various leaves based on the ones in a fabulous little reference book called "Trees of North America." I use it all the time, both for drawing and just for information.

I painted each one in acrylic - those fall colors were really fun to use. You can't see it in this scan, but each leaf was topped with a layer of metallic paints in various shades of gold and bronze. Since I planned poorly, I did the background last, but it still came out okay.

I added the black "window" with strips of cardstock. I haven't done an ATC in a while. It was fun.

My First Stuffie!

2005-08-31T20:08:00.000-05:00

I created this for an exchange on the Embellished Circus Yahoo Group. It's my first stuffie and all made by hand - no machine. My sewing machine scares me, so I rarely break it out. The face was a rubber stamp that I stamped onto a piece of white paper and then scanned into my computer. I shrunk it down to the size I wanted and then printed it on an Avery Inkjet T-shirt Transfer sheet.

Thanks to Judi on EC, after ironing the face onto the lighter fabric, I made a circle out of it by cutting a piece of cardboard to the size circle I wanted, "painting" starch around the edges that stuck out from the circle, folding those edges over the cardboard and ironing them down. I then removed the carboard and voila! a circle sans frayed edges!

I used the star shape in Microsoft Word for my pattern and though you can't really see them here, there are beads and sequins sewn on the star's rays and around the face. I hope Aimmer likes it!

Fire

2005-08-29T14:36:00.000-05:00

My parents' house caught on fire last week. They have a large house filled with many collections. Though the fire didn't spread far, the smoke did, covering everything in a layer of sticky, smelly black soot. Walking in the front door is like walking into a nightmare or horror movie.

The only saving grace of the whole thing is my parents' wonderful neighbors who have been incredibly kind and generous, providing them with a place to sleep and lots of food, as well as emotional support. Thank goodness for kind people!

I did this quick watercolor sketch from memory my second night there. The hallway walls where the soot is dripping down in streaks were the most upsetting to see.

Tiles

2005-08-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

I painted these tiles at my friend Meredith's store, The Clayroom, in Portsmouth, RI. It's a great place - nice and big with lots of fun items to pick from, as well as tons of colors to paint with. I'd like to do a couple more in this elephant theme. I have no idea yet what I'll do with them. Suggestions are welcome!