Mini canvas

I love summer.  It is a time where the warm weather and beckoning beaches slow down the pace a little.  I love to sit on the beach and relax with a good book or some soothing music.  I love to grab my camera and catch a beautiful sunset. This canvas was inspired by some of those gorgeous changes of color in the night sky.



Top canvas: Inspired by a summer beach sunset  (This one will be sent to the winner of the PAO July lottery which I am hosting.)

Bottom canvas: Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

2 1/2 " canvas done with pan pastels.  These were fun and will do some more.  They were easy and quick.  I just had to decide the subject and begin.

Awesome

Well, sorry I've been MIA.  Having vacation fun and been so busy.  I did win the June lottery for fairies and the art I've received has been awesome.  I did  have a chance to do many scrapbook pages while gone and a Christy Tomlinson inspired "She Art" canvas.   I stayed up until 2:00 AM one morning working on her.  She was such fun and I was so absorbed in the art that I didn't even realize the time.

Be prepared

Be ready when the spirit strikes!
I saw this is an article by  Barb:

"Whether you're into collaging, sketching, painting, journaling, or something else, if you have your art supplies at the ready, you won't miss a creative opportunity, no matter where you are.

What perfect weather for sitting outside and sketching...doodling...journaling. This doesn't mean you'll want to create every time you're able to just sit, but I am here to encourage you to be prepared for the moment(s) when your Muse encourages you to make art. Whether you're sitting in your own backyard, on the beach while on vacation, or relaxing in some far-off exotic place,  you can make art IF you're prepared."  Barb


This is so true!  Recently on a ride home from the beach I was able to draw and paint a poppy AJ page and to draw and paint the base layer of a She Art girl.  Later at home I was able to finish her quickly.  I had only a few supplies with me on the ride, but because I did, I was able to create art when the mood stuck.

Spread your wings and let the fairy in you fly!

This is my entry for the June Fairy lottery challenge at PAO.  She's a small art quilt.  I sure hope I win so I can keep her.  She was fun to make and has many, many layers.  I am going to attach some pictures taken as I progressed.

Step 1-6:  5 layers of fabric, darkest on top.  Free motion quilt circles so that you can cut away layers until you reached the last layer.  At some point in the quilt you have exposed a piece of each layer.  Brayer white gesso over the top, then use a background stamp with black paint (not ink pad ink since it won't take to the fabirc as well), making sure to dry in between layers.  Then I added paint from oil sticks, Stickles, Golden paints, Dyna Flow fabric paint, MS glitter, and metallic rub on paint.  You can add anything you want to give more color and depth.

Step 7-10:   I used Golden molding paste and a daisy and a flourish stencil(s) to give some added depth.  Let them dry and colored with Golden paints.  I stamped the fairy, colored her with Prisma colored pencils, added glitter for some bling.  I cut her out and popped her off the page for dimension using Liquid Scrap dots.  This allowed her to stand out and not fade into the quilt. Then took some flowers, glittered to make the flowers and butterfly.  

I decided she needed something else to pop her since even though she was popped up, she still seem to fade into the quilt to much.  I found some very sheer fabric and created a bed of fabric behind her to separate her from the quilt background.  I was very pleased with the finished quilt which is featured in the first photo.

She was fun to do and I know that I'll make more art quilts using part of this process.  The stamped was unique to this challenge and may not use that process again, or will I ?

Art Journal page

I am doing a Fairy lottery challenge over at PAO.  This is isn't my entry but just a fun little AJ page using the fairy theme. She makes me smile.  Drew her, painted with watercolor, accented with pan pastels and glitter.

Art Journal page

Here's a page from my AJ.  It's done in watercolors and pan pastels.

Why Art Journals ?

Keeping an Art Journal is a fulfilling and creative experience.  I can choose to write about the little things in life, reflections about my day....or my Journal can be purely decorative!  My journals tend to be on the more decorative side.  It’s whatever I want it to be.  That’s what I love about art journaling.  I am in charge of what goes on the pages....the book is just for me.  (Unless I want to share it, but that’s my choice.)   I do share some of my pages in this blog and participate in swaps with other artistic friends where I journal in their books.  Now that will take you out of your comfort zone, but is so rewarding.   It is a place where I can experiment and try new types of media.  I always have five or six journals going at the same time.

If you've never tried art journaling, I'd encourage you to give it a try.  There is no right or wrong way to journal, it is whatever you desire to create.  You will be amazed at how much fun a journal can be.

AJ page for swap

This was a page I did for a recent Art Journal swap.  I used pan pastels.

She Art Girl

I didn't take the She Art class by Christy Tomlinson but wanted to try my hand in making one of the girls. Sunday I was in the car riding back from the beach and decided to give it a go. That was new for me to draw and paint while riding. All I had with me was the blank AJ page, pencil, water soluble wax pastels and a water brush. I had no patterns or pics, just my memory/imagination. I got her drawn and colored right before we got home (the first pic). Last night I couldn't sleep so I decided to finish her. I'm pretty pleased with the way she turned out. Think I'll try a canvas next.

Birthday card

I used some of the scraps from several other challenges to make a birthday card for a friend.

Tim Holtz ideology challenge

I made this for a PAO Tim Holtz ideology challenge.  You had to use some thing from his ideology line.  Had this in mind for awhile and finally got it done.

Vintage Woman

I did this vintage lady for a May Lottery Challenge.  Random winner will be drawn and receive all the creative artwork from those who participated.

Do you see it all ?

As you look across a grassy slope         

Filled with amber grasses tall.   

You think you've seen all there is to see  

But... Do you see it all ?     

                                                                                                                        

Quote

  This quote pretty much sums up why I love to art journal so much:

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."  -- Georgia O'Keeffe

Spring Fever

I used the iris picture to do a transfer technique in the background and decided after the background was finished that it was the perfect frame for the iris picture.

Girl with an Attitude

Girl with an Attitude

Royal Wedding

Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

collage

collage (n.) an art form in which bits of objects, as newspaper, cloth, pressed flowers, etc. are pasted together on a surface in incongruous relationship for their symbolic or suggestive effect.

-- Webster's New World Dictionary

art journal page

I did this art journal page for a swap.  So much fun to do art journal pages.  If you've never tried one I encourage you to try.  They are fun and there is no wrong way to do a page.  It is your art and an excellent media to try new things and just have fun playing.

art journal page

Art Journal Swap Page

She Art canvas

I've been doing some art on canvas to hang in my house. I did this 5x7 canvas based on a Christy Tomlinson posting I saw.  I was very pleased how it turned out and will hang it with my other CT inspired canvas. I made some changes to suit my tastes.

Iris

I took this picture yesterday at the WRAL azalea gardens.  I thought the yellow Iris was so beautiful.  Most of the azalea's were gone but some of the other flowers were beginning to bloom.  It was a beautiful day and a very pleasant walk.

Poppies

This is the front of a greeting card that I made for a "Poppy" challenge on PAO.  Today's the last day and I wanted to get it posted before the deadline. I may have to mail this one to myself.  I was very pleased with the final card.

Poppies challenge

Poppies journal page for PAO challenge.

Silly Hat

PAO had a challenge for a "Silly Hat".  I just had to play with this one for fun.  Think it will find a home with an earlier piece named "Birdsong".  I love to do challenge's because it makes me think outside the box.