Quick Journal Page of Love ♥

I miss painting.  I am all over the place these days.  But I know that when I veer off the path eventually I make my way back home.  

I am always inspired by hearts.  You may have noticed that they tend to show up in most of my art!  This time I wanted to see how it would work to just use a white background with red hearts.  I did this in my small journal and always wish for more space.  I used white gesso, stamps, alizarin crimson, oil pastel, and black marker.  I stenciled on the hearts and they messy'd them up a bit.  

Sharing today over at Paint Party Friday.  Hope you will stop by!  A new artist is featured each week.  It is always nice to meet new peeps!

xo

The Mustang . . .

Yesterday I headed up to the garage and took some quick photos of Lou's '65 Mustang.  It was his mom's car, a gift from her parents that she was given when she graduated high school.  To me it is a piece of history.  When Lou was 17 she passed it along to him.  It is such a beautiful car.  He is meticulous with how he takes care of it.  Unfortunately it spends most of its time in the garage.  Lou rarely takes it out for a spin.  

So I thought it would be cool to take some photos of it and tweak them a bit.  I used my iPhone but eventually I want to take some shots with my big girl camera.  

Just fun to get lost in a moment for a few minutes.  

 I altered them in snapseed to give a vintage look to the images. 

After all . . . the '65 Mustang is a classic!

BIG NEWS!!! New Somerset Article!!

Hard to believe it has been a year since I was published in Somerset Studio.  Back in May I submitted new work and was so excited to be invited to write another article about the new pieces.  This is one of them above.  

Despite the fact that I have written a memoir writing these articles about my art work is so much more fun!  Most likely because there was no angst involved like in writing my book.  

The article will be published in the upcoming November issue!  It is nice to have some good news to share!  The past year has been and continues to be challenging but moments like this are meant to be savored and that is what I am trying to do!

xo

Transforming A Painting Into Photo Art . . .

I created this yesterday on my iPhone.  I discovered a new app called "art studio"  and you can do really cool stuff with photos.  And since I have many images of my paintings including some in progress shots I thought it would be fun to try and see what I could create. 

The first layer is my painting and then I used my fingers to write the words and make some cool smudges on the painting with some white.  It felt like painting in a way.  

The painting below is the image I altered to create the above piece.  

Pretty cool huh?  ;)

"love balloon"

available on etsy

In these moments when I don't find myself painting in a traditional way  it feels good to know there are other ways to "paint" that can be as simple as a photo on your iPhone.  

I am sharing today for Paint Party Friday.  Hope you will stop by and check out all the great art being shared!

Click HERE!

Its All About Love . . . New Digital Collage

When I am just not feeling like painting I do the next best thing . . . play with photos.  I recently found out about another cool iphone app called "art studio"  and that is where I did this collage.  I used a flower image and layered one of the images from my latest journal page that I shared in my last post.  The most fun though was writing love across the iphone screen.  

Live For Today . . .

The title of this post is something I have been struggling with as of late.  I am feeling more lost than I have in a long time.  I am distracted, bummed out, can't make decisions easily, and am struggling with who I am.  

I am constantly looking back instead of forward.  I am always counting anniversaries.  But not the positive ones . . . the anniversaries of loss.  I am not connecting with our new pug because I am constantly thinking of and missing the one we lost. 

Friday night was the first time I had been interested in paint for a couple of weeks.  Mostly because I have not been feeling well.  So I grabbed my 5x7 journal and some fluid acrylics.  I like to smear, drip, and add some stencils.  It was quick but fun.  It was a moment of joy.  

The image below is the finished page.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to complete it.  

I started scribbling with a my wite-out pen.  After I added the circle I glanced over at my stamps.  I have one that says "live for today".  Ironically it was the only one I was drawn to.  

Quite fitting don't you think?

xo

Missing My Boy . . .

One year ago today I said goodbye to Bosco

 I miss him everyday . . .