Digital Collage Play . . . She Dreams of Being Free

"She Dreams of Being Free"

print available on etsy

Ok so late last night I opened up photoshop and started to play. And man was it cool! I took an image of one of my butterfly mixed media paintings, a textured photo, a favorite sketch of mine and layered them. I played with blending modes, opacity, saturation, and the eraser for the push/pull of bringing different aspects of each piece through.

I was so in a moment and felt as though I was working on a painting. I have always admired digital collage and months ago made a few attempts but nothing I really was that happy with. This was the first one in which I decided to utilize a painting along with one of my sketches. I LOVE how this turned out! I may have discovered a new way to incorporate my sketches into my art! You know how I always say I am afraid to paint my faces? Well to me this sketch now looks as though it is in a painting!

I am hoping to spend more time trying a few others like this. I will be sure to share with you!

Wishing you all a creative night!

xo

Rocky's First Christmas

Hope you all had a lovely holiday!

Hard to believe its over already! I had a wonderful weekend with my boys. Lou had 4 days off from work which were much needed for him. Rocky was pretty happy to have his buddy around everyday! He is stuck like glue to Lou. Follows him everywhere. I can see they already have a special bond.

Rocky's first Christmas was a good one. Here he is laying in the sun. All the fun must have been too much for him as you can see!

He just loves his bed and is content as long as he is near us. (well, mostly Lou) ;)

Despite the fact that Rocky and I were off to a rocky start (he was very appropriately named wasn't he?) we are getting along better these days. I have to say he did melt my heart just a wee bit when he came over and hopped in my lap last night. Maybe it was the heat from the wood stove or maybe it was just me . . .

Our holiday was quiet, just the three of us, a staycation of sorts. And for that I am grateful.

xo

Merry Christmas

Wishing you peace, love, and happiness !

xo

Always Time For Photography

"A Peaceful Winter"

I didn't have time this week for painting or rather I never made the time but somehow I always have time to play in photoshop. It feeds my creativity when I cannot find the motivation to get out the paints.

I shot this image last year at the trail near my house after a snowstorm. I used a fab new texture from Kim Klassen and love it! Its called "more magic" and the texture is actually black! Very cool when you use it to layer over an image! I love the words and the distressed look it gives. You can read more about that HERE and even download the texture for free. Kim is very generous with sharing her talent.

I thought this image would make a lovely holiday card so that is what I spent time last night creating. It was alot more fun making my own cards. What a great way to share my inspiration with friends and family.

Hope you are finding time to create, dream, and fill your soul . . .

xo

Remembering Gram . . .

Thinking of my Grandma today on her 10th anniversary in heaven . . .

remembering fun times at the bronx zoo,

grilled cheese sandwiches at the counter in Woolworth's,

the secret candy stash in her cabinet,

sharing stories of her growing up years which I could listen to forever,

but most of all I always felt oh so loved,

showered with hugs and kisses . . .

she is forever missed . . .

Messy Flowers . . .

Ok, so these are some messy flowers, but I am really liking being loose and messy with watercolors and sketching! Sometimes the sketching comes first but this time I sketched in the details and shapes after laying down the color.

And of course I had to add butterflies cause I love them. I thought they would go well with the flowers! Then there is the dripping fun!

"Dare to Bloom"

I am sharing this piece for Sunday Sketches today hosted by the lovely Sophia.

Click HERE to join us and see the lovely work being shared!

xo

Messy Watercolor Play

Being the online class junkie that I am I recently signed up for another class with Alisa Burke. I have been enjoying her "Sketchbook Delight" which sparked an interest in watercolor so much so that when I found out she had a class focused solely on watercolors I knew I was in! Its called "Watercolor Bliss".

Yesterday I tried some of the lessons and here are the results. I got messy with my cheapie pan of crayola watercolors in my journal. In the above image I was playing with some neutral colors and added some stamping which as you know I LOVE!

On this next page I went pretty bold with the colors, fought that intially but in the end the colors won! Its a bit bright for me but I do like how it all came together. It helped me to begin to get over my fear of bright color!

As you can see I am enjoying learning watercolors with Alisa. Watercolors are really fun, loose, and alot more immediate than acrylic for me. Now I am anticipating difficulty when I attempt something more structured as I am finding that its harder to cover up mistakes in this medium but just being free and loose is great for now!

I am sharing these today over at Paint Party Friday.

If you want to join us just Click HERE!

Wordless Wednesday

Love And Rain . . . Sunday Sketches

"you can see the love even through the rain . . ."

graphite and pitt pen on 5x8 journal page

I stepped away from the watercolors for a bit with this sketch I worked up this afternoon. I traded them for my trusty graphite adding a bit of pitt pen for outlining. I am beginning to not mind my own script so I added it to this sketch. I do like the combo of graphite and pen. I wanted to add color but I think I like it this way for now. You all know how sometimes color scares me! lol

I am sharing this girl today over at Sunday Sketches. Click HERE to stop by Sophia's blog and check out the lovely sketching being shared!

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

xo

You Never Know . . . New Journal Page

I was up late last night working on this page and am really happy how it turned out. I saw this image a few nights ago in my head. Weird how that happens.

I am taking Sketchbook Delight with Alisa Burke. Its a great class! So fun and Alisa is a great instructor! I am really having fun with watercolors which I used on this page along with pitt pens and a bit of graphite. For the words I debated on using more fancy lettering like I am learning in letterLab with Lori Vliegen but as you can see I just ended up quickly writing the words in script. Actually I didn't think I had enough room. But I felt the sky needed something so I thought the words would be a good fit there.

I am sharing this page today over at Paint Party Friday. Click HERE to join us!

Wishing you all a great weekend!!

xo

Painting The Sunrise Every Day . . . Inspiring Artist Story to Share!

I recently saw this video about about an artist who paints sunrises in pastel.

It was so inspiring

I just had to share it with all of you!

Take a look! It gave me goosies! :)

xo

Sunday Sketches . . . NYC Skyline

I spent some time playing in my journal this weekend. I was inspired by a photo a took of the NYC skyline and wanted to try a sketch. I loosely sketched it out and added gray and pink watercolors with a bit of yellow for lit windows on the buildings. I am really loving watercolors when I sketch.

I took a pic after I first laid down the colors over the sketch and I also like it this way. It was fun though to go back in with my black pitt pen and outline, scribble and sketch it back in. Although I am not happy with the bold letters at at the bottom it was how I was initially inspired to write them so I just went with it.

I am sharing this today over at Sunday Sketches hosted by the lovely Sophia.

Hope you will join us!

xo

Fun With Letters And Watercolors! (And New Classes!)

As you know I have a bit of an addiction to online classes. The most recent one I am currently taking is letterLAB with Lori Vliegen. I have one thing to say about it (well actually I have lots to say but will keep it short and sweet for this post) FUN!!! I have long admired Lori's artwork through following her blog. Her lettering combined with amazing illustrations are inspiring. So when I found out she was offering a class I knew I wanted to join! I have been wanting to improve my lettering skills so I could feel more comfortable incorporating my own writing into my art. And I am loving learning from Lori!

The two pieces I am sharing today were both journal pages done in Lori's class. I used watercolor crayons and my pitt pen. I purchased a Strathmore spiral visual journal for mixed media and really love the paper. I am not big on art journaling but this class has sparked that in me.

This was my first time using watercolors in this manner and I have to say I am loving it! I like the sheerness of the colors and the ease with which they lay down on the paper. I really enjoyed using the watercolors for the landscape in the first image. I also felt very at home combining my own words with images. I think this may be a new avenue for me to explore!

I was so inspired in this class that I decided to take sign up for Sketchbook Delight with Alisa Burke. I have long admired her work as well and been wanting to take a class with her. I love to sketch so I thought it would be a good place to start. More on that class later!

I am sharing these pieces today over at Paint Party Friday this week.

Click HERE to join us!!

xo