Tag Archives: inspiration

Happy New Year

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A year of creativity, good health, prosperity, love, patience, tolerance, and much more.   For me, I’m going to have a wonderful year.  I have around me very supportive family and some dear friends that always guide me and support my endeavours.  What more can a girl have?

With so much energy from a fun and blessed day with family, I painted this little floral the day after Christmas.  Once I started it I couldn’t stop, and had to incorporate tissue into this one.  It was new for me to try, and I intend to keep pushing myself all 2017.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday, and a safe and special New Year.

Keep Creating!

Artists Hacks…..

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I actually got a couple of things out of this little video. You know how things get forgotten over time? Well, This was just a little reminder about a few hacks I’d totally set aside and forgotten.

Robin Clonts is a cute young painter with ideas, take a look.  Maybe you can get something out of this video too!

Forged Metal…..

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I’ve used this method many times, and it always is fun, easy, and looks great when finished.  It is quick, and easy to create something last-minute.  My hope is that if you have some last-minute gifts to create, you might consider this technique.

Cigar boxes, regular boxes,  maybe glass jars,  this could be used with just about anything.  Step outside the box, and let your must enter…… The sky’s the limit!

 

Why Not?

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This time of year we are all not just a little busy, but with the holidays, it is difficult to find time for the things we need to keep us balanced, and happy.  This certainly is the case with me.  Usually the last three months of the year are busy with the beginning of holiday shopping, preparation of Thanksgiving, and gifts.  My thoughts are always in the gift giving mode.  What to buy whom, what will the grandkids love,  what about my grown kids, and what about my hubby.  My hubby and I are good to each other all through the year, so there isn’t pressure there, but we still like to surprise each other with a little  something we want.

This artist is just what I needed to see right now.  Her free style and fun of painting is perfect for me!  This is a large painting, and in my home there isn’t anywhere I could stretch out a canvas this large, unless maybe the driveway.  But……there are smaller versions of this style of art, versions  anaything anyone could imagine to paint.

I particularly love the jeans, and how she wipes her spatula off on her leg!  My kind of gal!  I’ll bet all her clothes have paint on them,  just like most of us.  In fact my motto is,  if it doesn’t have paint on it, I’m not trying hard enough!

I hope you find some kind of inspiration from this video, I know I did.  And even though I don’t have a lot of time to create this time of year,  it does take the stress of the holidays away just watching how free her work is!

“3 of 3”

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Inspired by all the fall colors, and the fact that we are getting ready to take a vacation to Northern California, I decided to paint another watercolor….in fall colors!

For some reason the watercolors I was sick of working with many years ago, seem to be what brings me joy today.  The mixing  of paint; watercolors, acrylic and even ink seem to be calming to me at a time when everyone is agitated about politics.  Boy, will I be glad when the election is over, the ads will be off the TV, and we can get back to talking about the  small stuff.

One of the reasons I stopped working in watercolors was the  length of drying time.  My creative self  started demanding instant gratification, and working on a painting that somehow was finished in a day or two was more than enticing.  Each piece was so different, as is the acrylic,  the time spent on just one petal or leaf seemed like forever, time spent on an acrylic petal, or leaf was oh so quick.  The fact that a watercolor has to be treated differently to hang it in a room, is surly a downside, but hey I’m up for a challenge.  Why not seal it, and mount it to a canvas.  It’s been done before, and it will be done again!

I’m an experimental artist, so let’s experiment!

Les and I are headed to Lake Tahoe later this week, and I expect to come home so revitalized, refreshed and once again grounded.  The air and trees always inspire me, and I don’t expect this time to be any different.  Nature is so amazing…..

Temperatures up North have dropped, from what we are use to  that is.  It’s cold up there and I expect we pansys are going to feel like it’s freezing.  We feel like it’s freezing when it get to the 60’s here.  We will moan, and groan, and rush from one place to another.  We aren’t going up there to gamble, just to be refreshed, and have a change of pace.  To regain an appreciation for all that we don’t have in Southern California.

There will be no hunkering down to keep warm at the expense of adventure!

Our plan is to visit some friends while up there, and let them tease us about how light weight we are for thinking it’s cold.  After all, they’re use to it, and I’m sure it won’t be as cold as it will be later in the winter.  They’ll have every right to tease us!   It will be a treat to have people we know to share dinner with, and maybe even a fire in the fireplace!

I’m hoping to do a little sketching… so my sketch book, and  pens are ready to go.  We are both looking forward to our little adventure before the holidays.

Happy Halloween everyone…..

Trick or Treet

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img_0192That’s what they say!   Some kids even say thank you when given candy!   Some don’t!   Weather they haven’t been taught, or they are just to excited to remember, I can’t say.  On the behalf of all kids, they could just be so excited they want to get to the next house in hopes of scoring loads of good candy!  Do homes even give out good candy?  Or….are the houses that give out the good stuff friends of the parents whose kids are at the door?

These are questions I’ve always wondered about.

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When my kids were little, there would be certain people in the neighborhood we knew that would reserve good candy for our kids.  We just gave out decent candy to everyone.  Most of the time one of us would have a Halloween Party for the kids that played together so they wouldn’t be out trick-or-treating many blocks away.  Bad things were happening then too!

As my kids grew up, and started having kids of their own, I started making cards to celebrate Halloween for each of them.  For years I would work on ATC’s, this year it’s tags. I still have more to make, and when their finished, I pick the ones that best fit each of my grandchildren.

The ATC’s at the bottom are from years past.  Maybe it will give you some new ideas, or maybe you could email me with your ideas. Either way I’m happy to share.

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Happy Halloween everyone…..