Fairy Is Painted And On Her Way . . .

"Her Heart Always Leads Her Home"

8x10 mixed media on canvas board

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I was excited to get her on canvas but unsure of the colors I would use. (as usual!) The magenta and yellow just kinda happened although I am not that pleased with how I placed the yellow. I used mostly caran d'ache water soluble crayons for this along with titanium white. Sometimes I forget how rich and creamy the crayons are so I added more yellow than I had wanted to but I think it does give her a nice glow! :)

I had planned on putting her in my etsy shop but she sold when I posted her pic on facebook. She will be on her way to a new home today and will be sharing wall space with my most recent angel painting along with 2 other past pieces. This man's daughters love my work and asked him to buy this one too! How cute is that!

I completed a new sketch for Gritty Jane's class so be on the lookout for that soon!

Have a great day!

xo

Wordless Wednesday

Texture Tuesday

I struggled with the challenge this week, I suppose because my mind is cluttered with emotion for the past few days. We were to use one layer of Kim's golden texture on any photo. I chose this photo I took a couple of months ago of the dogwood tree in our yard. The sun was setting and I just pointed the camera up, snapped and there it was.

I added a layer of golden in soft light and multiply. Then I took down the saturation and played with the levels a bit. Not sure I am liking it but my mind is jumbled today!

As always here is the original image . . .

Hope you will hop on over to Kim's blog and see the other beautiful work for this week. Just click HERE.

Her Heart Leads Her Home . . . First Fairy Sketch!

And Her Heart Always Leads Her Home . . .
6x8 graphite on paper

I have been doing alot of angel sketching but the other night I wanted to try and sketch a fairy. Here is my first try at it. I did the same style in the face as my angels with eyes closed. I just like it for my whimsy type art. (or I am too lazy to try and sketch the eyes that small! lol )

I love hearts. Many times I will incorporate them into my art. And this one was no exception especially since the words that popped into my head as I was working on her were about the heart! I had fun drawing in her curly hair!

My plan for her is to start a background and collage her on then color her in. Not sure of what colors I want yet but you know I always struggle with color palettes!

I also want to get my first collaged background started for Gritty Jane's class. So stay tuned for that!

xo

My First Profile Sketch! Thanks Gritty Jane!!

graphite on 9x12 drawing paper

I was so excited to post this I almost had another blog on Wordless Wednesday! lol I sketched her yesterday and I cannot tell you how much I like her! I have been looking at her every chance I get. If I wasn't so embarrassed at my first attempt at profile sketching I would post it because it would be a hilarious before and after! My first go at it was before Gritty Jane. I will be yet another artist to sing her praises!

I signed up for her latest workshop Portraits and Papers after seeing so many of my bloggy friends create amazing work in her class. I was inspired! I am trying to be a good little student and follow the class lessons in order but I must tell you I am so wanting to skip ahead to the collage backgrounds!

Her step by step instructions for the profile sketch were amazing and easy for me to follow! This was my first attempt at it and I feel like it is the most realism I have had in any of my face sketching so far. I will be sure to share my experiences with this class as I continue on in the lessons (hopefully in order!).

If you get a chance I highly recommend this workshop!!

For more info click HERE!!

PS . . . Thanks for all the great comments on yesterdays horse image! Glad you liked it as much as I do! I added texture and then inverted the image in photoshop for a way cool effect!

See you soon!

xo

Wordless Wednesday . . .

Texture Tuesday . . . People

People pictures is not my forte but that was the challenge for this week. I cringed at first and then I remembered one of the few I have taken is this photo of my hubby Lou I shot on vaca in Newport. It is rare he lets me take his picture so I snapped a few that day when he wasn't paying too much attention! Candid shots are my favorite.

I processed this image using Kim's granny's cupboard texture which I love. I used one layer of it in overlay, and another in multiply. I then did some adjustments to saturation and levels. The challenge for me with this was the eliminating texture on the face. I am pleased with how this one came out.

Here is the original image. . .

As always come on over to Kim's blog and see what other great work is being shared this week! Click HERE!

Sweet Freedom Retreat - For the Wild Artist In You!!

Good morning artist friends!! Thanks for all the lovely comments on my last post! She will be heading to her new home this afternoon! :)

Today I am happy to help spread the word about this amazing retreat being held at The Gallery Off Broadway in Excelsior Springs, MO where some of my art is on display. The inaugural retreat is this September and is sure to be a blast!

There will be many fabulous art classes including a P. J. Paint and Create Party!! There will also be lots of wine, live music, good food, and fabulous creative wild women to share this unique experience with! How cool is that?!!

Check out the Gallery's page on Facebook HERE!

For more info on this very special retreat head on over to the Sweet Freedom Retreats Blog HERE!!

If you want to help spread the word about this retreat check out this post by my dear friend Kelly Berkey who is hosting a great giveaway!!

Angel Sketch Painting. . . Finally!

"And Her Heart Opened Wide"

mixed media on 8x10 canvas board

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I completed this sweet angel piece yesterday. I didn't have much time this week for painting so I was happy to get in my studio and do some creating! You my recognize this sketch from a previous post. She was the third angel sketch along with my angel bride and ballerina. This was the last one I had to incorporate into a painting.

I knew I wanted to use pink and grey in the background. Then somehow purple got tossed into the mix. Funny that I didn't like how it came out at first. I was frustrated. But after stepping away for a bit I must have come back to her with fresh eyes and she looked better to me. Have any of you felt that way?

I posted her on facebook last evening and I am happy to say she sold before making it to etsy! The man who I am sending her to also has my angel ballerina painting. This will be the third piece he will have of mine. He has two little girls who really like my work. And that makes my heart happy!

New Landscape . . . WIP

Despite the fact that I had a super hard time getting a good pic of this painting in progress I am excited to share it with you! This is the best shot of the twentysomething images I took. I am not sure what I was thinking starting this on a 16x20 canvas! All of that blank space to fill can be quite daunting!

I knew I wanted to use a limited palette of complimentary colors. I just love yellow and purple together. I am using dioxidine purple and cad yellow medium with some titanium white. The composition is from a personal photo. There are trees lining the path that you can't see from this image which are subject to change at any moment! lol

This has been sitting on my easel for a couple of weeks now. I am hoping to get back to it soon! That is if I can tear myself away from photoshop long enough! :)

Texture Tuesday

print available on etsy

This week we could use any image using one of Kim's texture's. It was our choice! So I chose to share this photo of the roses my husband gave me for our wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. I used one layer of Kim's "subtly yours" texture in soft light and multiply. I also made adjustments to the saturation to achieve the muted tones. Of course "love" came to mind as I was processing the image!

Here is the original image . . .

Be sure to pop over to Kim's blog and check out all the amazing work being shared this week! Just click HERE!!

Love Is Carved . . . Painting Redo

Love Is Carved In Forever

mixed media on 6x8 flat canvas board

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Thank you for all the wonderful comments on my last post! It means alot to have so much support and encouragement! Hope you all had a good weekend. We had gloomy weather so it was good for staying in, watching movies and doing some art!

This piece I did yesterday. I reused a painting gone bad. I had tried an image transfer on this board and although I liked how the background came out the image transfer did not come out well at all! I think my mistake was using a photo that was too light on a darker background. So I left it sit for a few days. And then I thought of a photo that I could adhere over the bad transfer! The photo I used is the same one in my latest image transfer painting. You can see that post HERE.

I love this photo and thought it would look good with the olive green background. The words popped into my head as I was finishing it up. I used my caran d'ache crayons to add the details and color in the leaves on the photo to integrate it better into the piece. Similar to my black and white work but finally with a splash of color!

Hope you found some time to create too! xo

BIG NEWS !!!

"Altered Farmhouse"
mixed media on 8x10 canvas board
available on Etsy

I was going to save this post for tomorrow but I just couldn't wait! But before I get to my big news I wanted to share a new painting!

This is one of my latest black and white pieces created using an altered photo of mine. I hadn't done one of these in awhile so I was happy to get back to it. I really love how the landscape came out. And of course I had fun scratching and inking the photo! This image is one of my favorites taken in RI.

Now for my news!

Way back in February I submitted a few of my black and white pieces to Somerset Studio Magazine. In one of the issues the editor in her letter was inviting email submissions from readers of their artwwork. So I figured what did I have to loose! I emailed her a few images of my b&w work.

After alot of hoping, I got an email last month letting me know that my black and white pieces will be featured in the Sept/Oct issue!! And I was requested to write a technique article to accompany my work!!

I just submitted the article last week and I couldn't wait to share this with all of you!! I can hardly believe it! I never imagined that I would have such a great opportunity to share my work in this lovely publication!

I recently shared my 200th blog post and in just a couple of months it will be will be a year since I started this blog. It has been quite a journey so far with the best parts being the connections I have made with all of you!

I can't wait to see where it takes me next . . .

Wishing you all a great weekend!! xo

And The Winner Is . . .

Thanks to all who entered my giveaway last week!

I have so much fun with these!

The winner of this beach cottage print is . . .

MARLENE !!!

Congrats Marlene!

Wordless Wednesday . . .

Texture Tuesday . . . Words

Its that time again friends!! This week's challenge was to use words on your textured image. I took this photo near our house. Beautiful wildflowers that I just couldn't resist. And of course I had to get a macro shot! They are super tiny flowers but I love how macro makes them look super big! I added a layer of Kim's "greyday vintage" and adjusted the saturation to fade the color a bit. As I was processing the image I thought it looked so dreamy and then thought it was the perfect word to add!

Here is the original image. . .

Check out the other amazing texture work over at Kim's blog! You can see lots of inspiration HERE!!

Image Transfer Update . . . New Painting :)

Let Us Grow . . .

mixed media on 9x12 watercolor paper

Good morning my friends! Hope you are enjoying a lovely Sunday morning wherever you may be! Excited to see so many of you entered my giveaway! Yesterday I had some studio time so I decided to get back to my image transfers that I shared with you a few days ago! I wasn't really sure what I was going to do so I just grabbed pink and green paint and started randomly brushing it on the paper being sure to maintain my images.

I really hated the colors I chose so I grabbed some white gesso to tone them down. And then I added some yellow since it still wasn't looking how I wanted it to. I was trying to work off of the yellow tones I saw in the tree image transfer. Then I grabbed some of my water soluble crayons in an olive green and raw umber and shaded around the outside to give some perspective. I used the raw umber to draw in the tree branches and leaves. Just as I was finishing with that those words popped into my head and I quickly grabbed my letter stamps before I forgot them!

Here is how it started out in case you missed that post!

I typically don't work on watercolor paper but I liked how the transfers came out on the paper and wanted to complete the piece. This scanned image is not as rich as the colors in the original. Ahhh, still struggling with photos of my work! I don't often get in the zone but yesterday I was and I think that is when I connect the most with my work . . .

Blog Giveaway!!!

I just realized that I have reached my 200th post!! So I thought what better way to celebrate than to have a giveaway! :)

Since summer has unofficially begun I will be giving away the above photo of the Newport beach cottage. You may recognize from a texture tuesday post awhile back. The original image was altered to sepia and beautiful texture was added as well. I just love the vintage distressed look the texture gives to this image! I have to say that I think it is one of my favorite textured photos I have done so far!

The image size is 7 x 10.5 printed on 8.5 x 11 matte photo paper. So there will be a border for framing.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment! That is it!! I will be picking the winner next Friday June 10th!

Good Luck!! :)

Celebrating 2 Milestones. . .

I meant to write this post yesterday but time quickly got away from me! Yesterday was a double celebration for me. It was my 8th wedding anniversary and my 10th year cancer free!! Hard to believe all the years that have sped by. When my first husband died almost 17 years ago I never imagined that I could find love again. And when I was diagnosed with cancer it seemed like wishful thinking that I would ever reach this milestone.

Despite the fact that Lou had a long day at work he surprised me when he came home with these beautiful roses! One rose for each year we have been married. Lovely colors of pink and lavender which I had never seen before!

It was a quiet night of pasta , brownies, a movie, and a dance. We watched one of our favorite movies (at my request). . . "The Notebook". Then we made a toast and danced in the living room to our wedding song "At Last" by Etta James. The dance is a tradition that I began a few years ago.

This photo was my gift to him. I altered one of our wedding photos with sepia and texture adding the title of our song. I put it in an espresso colored frame to bring out the sepia tones. He really like it. He loves the vintage look!

I was glad to spend the evening with him quietly at home. I feel so grateful to have such a wonderful man that supports all that I do and encourages me each step of the way. I never imagined it possible after all I had lost. I tell him it must have been written in the stars . . .