Channeling Ferris . . .

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"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

~ Ferris Bueller

Texture Tuesday

I am sharing this today over at Kim Klassen's challenge for texture tuesday this week. For processing I used one layer of "subtly yours" in soft light/overlay and I also used "black magic" in screen mode. I adjusted the saturation as well.

Not sure how to get my images larger on blogger? Any tips?

As always I wanted to share the original image. Not much time this week to do the roll over technique I learned from Kim a couple of weeks ago. lol

Hope you will join us this week! You can check out all the fabulous photography being shared for this weeks challenge over at Kim's blog HERE!

xo

Sunday Sketches

What a crazy week it has been! Today while Rocky was sleeping in his crate I quickly tried to sketch for the first time in over a week. And it felt pretty good! It has been so stressful around here with the new pup and not much sleep. I am a bit cranky and I hate feeling that way.

I enjoyed sketching this girl and loved adding all the hearts to her hair! I am so behind in my many online classes. I have no idea when I will get to catch up. I am sorry for being so out of touch and not making the rounds to catch up with all of you. I hope to get back to that soon!

Rocky is still not sleeping through the night in his crate. He wakes up in the middle of the night and cries. I hate it but I try to ignore it. So hard for me to do. That is why I have lost so much sleep. Well, enough of that! lol

I am sharing this girl for Sunday Sketches today over at Sophia's blog! Its been a few weeks since I joined in but am glad to be back there today! Be sure to check out all the lovely work for this week! Click HERE!

Hope you are all having a fabulous day. xo

Happy Fall

It has been a rough week with the new pup. I have been neglecting this blog as well as myself. No art time at all. Boy do I miss it! But I thought I would pop in and share this fall beauty for today. I took this pic last fall at the Bronx Zoo.

Here in NY the weather is beautiful this weekend and our foliage colors look as though they are at their peak. It is my favorite time of year. Oh how I wish it lasted longer.

Hope wherever you are you enjoy a lovely weekend!!
xo

Say Hello To Rocky !

It has taken me 3 days to put up this post! Mostly because I have been at the mercy of one little pup named Rocky. Our Newport trip was a bust unfortunately and we ended up coming home the very next day. The short of it was that we had serious issues with the cleanliness of the hotel and decided to leave. We were both so very disappointed and bummed out about it but made the best of the rest of the weekend home her in NY. And we were able to bring this little guy home earlier than planned.

We picked him up on Monday and I have hardly slept since and not from sheer excitement either. This poor pup has skin issues and has been scratching the daylights out of himself for the past 3 days. A trip to the vet and its precautionary meds, benadryl, and antibiotics to prevent an infection. It has been very overwhelming to say the least. The vet visit alone pushed me to tears and brought a flood of emotions back about losing Bosco. Lou and I are both exhausted from no sleep staying up all night with this 15 week old pup who is not sleeping.

I am feeling weird and disconnected from the new guy. I am hoping that will go away at some point.

Needless to say I have not had any time to create, no photography or painting to be seen. I miss it. But I did manage to find time to get a little video of Rocky and thought it would be fun to share it with all of you! Of course I will be posting some pics of him very soon along with some backstory as to how this all came about.

I will be sure to visit all of you soon! Can't wait to see what you have been up to!

Heading To The Water's Edge . . .

Just a quick post today to say that I will be away for the weekend. Lou and I are leaving this morning for a much needed mini vaca in Newport. After the loss of our pug I am hoping this trip will help to heal us. The ocean has always been that kind of place for me.

I am looking forward to hearing waves crashing, smelling salty air, and feeling the sun on my face. But even more than that I am excited about having time away with Lou who has been working non stop for the past few months without a day off. I get to have him all to myself!

So the blog will be quiet for a few days but when I return I have a surprise to share with all of you!

I will be missing my friends over at Paint Party Friday this week but I hope you will head over there and see what's new!
Click HERE!!

Wishing you all an amazing weekend!!
xo

A Few Little Things About Me . . .

Ok, so even though I am late to the party, Amy over at Butterscape came up with this cool idea to interview her blog readers. I am a new reader so here is my interview!

1. what is your name and stuff? and any other good information.

like bank account details.

My name is Cathy (short for Catherine which I never liked . . . it was the name I got called when I was in trouble "Catherine Marie")

I live in Brewster, NY, was born in the Bronx, could never imagine leaving NY. I live with my husband Lou and we are currently minus one pug who we had to put to sleep last month.

I am a breast cancer survivor for 10 years now and was widowed prior to that. I am an author and now a newbie artist :)

Hmmmm . . . I think I will leave out the bank account details.

2. what is super hot about you? <--- don't you Dare skip this one. answer it.

I really would prefer to leave this one out. Can't I pretty please? Ok then, well, all of me is super hot when I am in the middle of a hot flash (thank you early onset menopause from chemo) ;)

3. don't lie or cheat: what is under your couch right now?

Dust bunnies lol

4. when was the last time you shaved your legs?

Ummm, a few days ago.

5. what did you have for breakfast?

A chocolate drink I make with rice milk and cacao powder, super yummy!

6. if you could choose a new name, what would you name yourself?

Never really gave that much thought. . .I used to be called "Cat" and I like that as a nickname. I do realize that I am not really answering this question but I digress. . .

7. have you ever had plastic surgery?

Unfortunately yes but not by choice. I had a mastectomy and reconstruction using my belly fat to make a new boob. I got a free tummy tuck out of the deal so that was a plus. ;)

8. are you afraid of the dark?

Yes! Always have been, was hoping to grow out of it but alas, no dice!

9. are you a hermit?

No, although in the bad weather I stay inside alot.

10. why do you blog?

I love to write and share with others. I have made so many wonderful connections with other creative peeps that I am so thankful for who make this blogging thing so much darn fun!

The End.

So now I hope you will stop by Amy's blog and join in on the fun!!

xo

Sunday Sketches

I have been doing lots of sketching lately actually more than painting. And I seem to be very drawn to sketching pretty girl faces. This one especially I feel a connection to and I wonder what her story is. The faces always look familiar to me. Maybe they are each a part of me.

Since having learned Jane Davenport's face sketching technique I am creating even more faces. I find it an easy way to get started and I love that. Although I would like to add color to these faces for right now I am enjoying them in just graphite.

I am sharing this today for Sunday Sketches. Stop by the lovely Sophia's blog and see all the beautiful work being shared this week!

xo

Back to Black and White

"Grow"

mixed media on 8x8 canvas board

I almost didn't make it to the party today!! I am sharing this new piece over at Paint Party Friday this week hosted by the lovely Kristin and Eva. You may recognize this image from my last post. I was so inspired by that photo that I decided to try it on a black background and get back to some of my altered black and white photo art.

The only supplies I used were black gesso, white gesso, and some of my caran d'ache crayons. Something new I tried for the tree leaves was sponging and I like the effect it gives. I also added some color with my crayon to the photo as well. I worked off of the grays and pinks in the image.

For some reason whenever I am working with images of trees the word "grow" always ends up incorporated somewhere in the piece!

Hope you check out all the great work being shared this week for PPF!

Click HERE!

xo

Wordless Wednesday

Sketching More Faces . . .

I have been doing more sketching lately. I always miss it when we are apart! lol Here is another face I sketched with new techniques I am learning from Jane Davenport. It is actually making me less stressed with faces because it is easy and quick to get started. I do love this girl a bit more than the last one I shared a la Jane. I think I just feel more connected to her.

For class we are supposed to be sketching with colored pencil but I just cannot bring myself to let go of my erasable graphite! And of course I love the look of monochrome. Maybe its the photographer in me or the fact that I don't want to screw up my sketch with colored pencil mistakes. lol An artist friend of mine suggested using both and I may just do that next time.

There is just something so simple about picked up a pencil and paper that always appeals to me. I can be pretty lazy when it comes to setup and cleanup of painting supplies. Maybe I just need to stop analyzing and just let myself gravitate toward the type of art that appeals to me in that moment. . .