Jan 31

WIP: fairy painting

I started this painting a long time ago – waaaaaay back before Thanksgiving, I think! I started with a photo of my daughter, Noelle, sitting between two trees and another photo I had that my son took of the lawn daisies that were growing around the trees that same day. I thought she might like to see herself as a fairy! :-)

 

I think I’m going to change the background a little bit to try and give the composition more depth and give it more visual interest – right now it looks kind of flat and uninteresting, to me. I’m going to put some sky up at the top and give it some distant hills and trees at the horizon. The idea is to make it look like you’re lying in the grass .ooking up through the daisies – which is where you’d have to be to catch this teeny-tiny fairy basking in the sunshine! :-)

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Dec 24

Christmas bizzies

Merry Christmas Eve eve! Oh, my wordy! I’ve been so busy! Too busy to blog, even! BUT, I have ALL of my projects finished 2 DAYS before Christmas, which means I am going to sleep soundly tonight!

We have 9 kids, with 7 still living at home with us. My little guy is 9 months old and just learned to crawl, so even if I get time to knit, I’m constantly watching out for  what he’s playing with and putting in his mouth. It goes something like this: “Only 5 more rows until I turn this heel. I can get that much done before I have to start dinner.” At that moment, Justin finds the scrap of paper that his big sisters missed after making paper snowflakes in the liviong room. Quickly and carefully put down the knitting so as not to drop any stitches, jump up and take paper from baby before he chokes on it. Pick up knitting again, finish the row (maybe) and then answer the phone. “No, he’s at work. No, there’s really no good time to get hold of him. Bye.” Work another row, then 4-year-old starts doing the potty dance. “Joy, don’t dance around in the living room, go to the POTTY!!! By now, it’s probably time to make dinner. sigh… So, needless to say, I have done a lot of my Christmas knitting at night, after the kiddos have gone to bed. Last night, just after 2 a.m., I actually finished the LAST project! :-D The tally is 4 pairs of socks 1 pair of one-toe flip-flop socks 3 pairs of fingerless gloves 1 quilt 1 crocheted baby rattle 1 crocheted crinkle bear baby toy 1 photo-illustrated storybook 1 very cleverly detailed amigurumi octopus 1 knitted/tunisian crocheted snowman couple ornament 1 amigurumi angel (and a lot of peanut brittle that will be made tomorrow) So, since everything is wrapped already and I don’t want to spoil any suprises, the photos will have to wait.

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Nov 09

On challenging myself (and stepping away from the canvas)

I have some very talented up-and-coming artists in my house.  Two in particular: Connie and Noelle.  Connie is 11 and Noelle is 9.  You might remember the doll that I crocheted recently that was inspired by Noelle’s art.

Connie and I have been talking lately about the fantasy genre.  She’s really interested in fairies, dragons, unicorns and things.  My art, up until now, has been very realist.  So, we were talking about the possibility of doing paintings in the same style I am accustomed to, but adding little fairies into them, peeking out from under leaves or around tree trunks, or something.  I’ve been thinking about it for a while.

A few days ago, I was flipping through some photos of the kids from last summer and found a really cool one of Noelle.  Well, the photo isn’t that amazing but I really like the lighting in it.  The highlights could be a lot of fun to paint!  So, here is the photo of Noelle:

And then I found some pics of lawn daisies.  Here is one:

 

So, I’m stepping waaaaaayy out there (for me), turning Noelle into a fairy and combining the ideas into one painting.  Here is my sketch:

I actually started to add some color to this today but I didn’t get any pics.  I was getting pretty frustrated with it.  I decided to do the painting in acrylics, which I’m not used to.  I wasn’t making much progress and I wasn’t liking what was going on with all of the greens.  I finally just put down the brushes and started cleaning up my mess.  I stuck the painting up on the wall, just to put it somewhere and then I stepped back and actually looked at the whole thing.  You know, it’s not as bad as I thought it was.  It might actually work!  Ha ha!!

Sometimes, you really do need to step away from the canvas!

I’ll post a current photo with the little bit of paint that I have on it so far when I get a chance.  I’ll at least get some pics on the WIP page.

Have a really great day, and thanks for reading my blog! :)

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Oct 26

My newest crinkle bear

I just love this simple design; it has so many possibilities!  I’m planning on putting together the pattern, complete with photos for the tricky parts, for sale soon.  Can you see how a few simple adjustments could turn this into a cat or a sunflower or a bumblebee?

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Posted in amigurumi and crochet

Oct 25

New feature added to my blog

I was browsing through the available apps for Etsy members today – and really got sent on a wild goose chase that entailed changing passwords on my site’s server and updating my WordPress installation – but in the end, I managed to install and configure this cute little sidebar widget that shows a few of the items from my Etsy shop right here on my blog.  You can click on any item and go straight to the listing in my shop.  Yay!

It may not sound that exciting, but it’s just the kind of toy (I mean, TOOL) that I like to play with and after all of the hassle getting my website straightened out, I feel like I’ve accomplished something.  So, please oogle the new sidebar tool, visit my shop and tell me how nice it is to have that snazzy little tool right there.

And have a wonder-filled day!

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Oct 22

New Autumn aceo listed

This is my latest little painting.  I got it done just before we went on vacation last week.  It’s an oil painting, so I had to wait for it to dry.  Now it’s touchable and listed on Etsy. :)

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84164442/turning-point-aceo-atc-original?ref=ss_listing

This one struck me as I was driving into town recently (probably buying TP, or something equally inspiring – no wonder my mind was wandering!) when I came around a curve in the road and saw a beautiful shower of leaves blowing off a tree and swirling in the wind!  So, this is my tiny rendition of the scene.

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Oct 22

Little One’s Christmas presents

I’ve been working on Christmas presents for my family since August – and not making very good progress, so far.  I had to rip out the pair of socks I’m knitting about halfway back to the beginning.  It was very frustrating.  So, I decided to change tacks and do some crocheting.  I was going to make baby socks for my little guy, but then I decided that socks are for everyday, Christmas presents should be something he can play with and enjoy!  I had a few ideas in my head, which turned into other ideas as I was working – I’m sure at least some of you out there know how that goes!  So, here are the first two that I came up with.

The bear crinkles when you squish (or chew on) it and the blue toy rattles. :)  I’m planning a few minor adjustments to the bear design.  I’m going to make a few more of those – as many as I can with that yarn, then we’ll see what else I have in my stash!  My stash has been growing, lately, so it’s time to start some small projects like these.

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Posted in amigurumi and crochet

Oct 04

New listing in my Etsy shop

I’ll tell you what – painting with actual thought and intention is not easy with a baby on your lap and little ones buzzing around.  My Twin Rocks project is finished and will be delivered to its new owner next week, I’m still working on the Dulcinea painting but just wasn’t feeling very focused today.  I’m down to the finishing details, so I really thought I should do something else until I can really concentrate on it.  So, instead of making any progress there, I handed the kids each an aceo canvas, organized my space, set up my acrylics and whipped out this little landscape.

It’s available in my Etsy shop right here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/83177686/look-up-aceo-atc-original-collectible

I’ve also been working on some new amigurumi dolls.  With wings and halos, they’ll make darling little angel ornaments!  Hopefully, they will be ready in time for Christmas.  I’ll post pics when I work up a few more and have time for a quick photo shoot.  Not to be bragging, but they are turning out to be awful cute!

What are you working on for Christmas?

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Posted in drawing and painting

Aug 15

I’ve got this picture stuck in my head…

This isn’t it, but I really like moving water and my mom took the photo and I thought I’d share it with you.  :)

I’ve been really struck the last few days with this idea of God as the Master Artist.  I have this picture in my head – I wish I could paint it – of a canvas on an easel with a landscape sketched across it, part of the color added, a hand holding a paintbrush in the act of applying paint to the canvas, and then in the background, the same landscape done in greys with the sun rising and washing the colors across the scene.

God’s hand, of course, creating the morning from His sketched-out concept.  Isn’t that a beautiful idea?  I’d love to try to sketch that out.  Maybe someday I’ll get a clear enough sketch to actually paint that picture.

Did you know that the first mention in the Bible of someone being “filled with the Holy Spirit” is in the old testament book of Exodus when God was giving Moses the plan and directions for building the tabernacle for His people, Israel, to worship Him in the wilderness?  A man named Bezalel is named as the one God had designed for the purpose of creating all of the beautiful things that would fill the house of worship.  What an immeasurable gift!  This man was filled with the Holy Spirit of God for the purpose of creating beautiful works of art whose purpose was to lead God’s people to worship Him.

Many people have told me that my art is very peaceful and relaxing.  I hope that it is also worshipful.  I believe that creativity is a gift from Him and one of the ways in which we are created in His image.  God, the creator of the universe is, after all, the Master Craftsman!

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Posted in drawing and painting

Aug 10

Ugh! Some days!

So, I really don’t want to dwell on this “woe is me” theme, but it’s been challenging to keep a positive outlook today. Things are breaking down that I really need to keep functioning, annoyances, aggravating discoveries, communication issues – and then there are the inevitable interruptions which come along with motherhood that just make it hard to focus on art. Yeah, some days are a challenge and today has been one of them.

No one of these things on their own would be that big a deal, but when they all get piled up on top of one another, they create quite a mountain to block any kind of creative vision. Not to be deterred, however, I set my current work-in-progress aside and dabbled in a little acrylic aceo. These little projects don’t intimidate me and can be really great for clearing my head and getting myself focused on creating.

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