Paint. Draw.

Here's a canvas board I did with acrylic paints, sharpie pen, and oil pastels.

I like playing on small canvas boards, and it just so happens I have a big stack of them!

I want to do some small paintings that will translate well to postcards and greeting cards.

Are there no "normal" pictures of me?

So, I am making a LinkedIn account and trying to find the most professional looking picture of me. After scrolling through tons of photos, I realized that I am usually being silly when the camera is pointed at me! It's not as though I have those horrible drunken pics that people regret putting out in the world....there are just a lot of me jumping...doing yoga poses in the middle of nowhere...eating (lots of those!)....totally bundled up in big cozy hats...doing my "Lewis and Clark" pointing....and so on. 

 I would like to point out, MOM, that there are a lot of you like this, too! Does the apple not fall far from the tree?

While I may be the kind of person who would hire someone sticking their head through the cut-out of a wooden snowman or chili pepper, I'm not really in that position, am I? 

I thought I would share some of these random shots!

Here I am in Roslyn, WA, pretending to be the DJ for the TV show Northern Exposure. 

Would you hire her?

Pretending to be one of the goats!

Leavenworth, WA

Oh, you didn't see boat captain on my resume? How strange. You can see from this picture, I have a lot of experience. I sail around to coffee shops.

Who doesn't hug and kiss George Washington?

Olympia, WA

And, I have been doing a little painting.

Now, back to the job search!

The New Girls

I starting painting some new ladies on denim. I haven't decided where or what they will end up as. I had done some fabric journal pages with the first ones.

I think these could end up in art quilts or even a big shoulder bag. 

They start as a pencil outline.

Add paint.

Add more paint. 

Give them some color!

More shades and color.

Almost done with the painting part.

They are waiting on some free motion quilting for that extra detail!

Day 6: Raw Food ( Leftovers)

I have a fridge full of salads and things I have made all week. I decided to eat those and spend my time in the craft room room instead of the kitchen! 

I gathered my beet- dyed paper I had made a couple days ago and cut, folded, and tore to do some little envelopes with messages.

I also have some mini 2 inch x 2 inch canvases I am making into tiny books, or just a fun way to send a quick letter to friends.

Cut paper to fit, folded it accordion style, and glued it into the opening. It tucks in to mail and friends can pull out their message, note, doodles, or whatever I put in there. 

Sorry, no food pics today, but tomorrow I think I should go out with a bang! Dare I try "cheesecake"? 

Thanks everyone for all your comments. I'm so glad you are having fun reading about this challenge. It's been great fun....and healthy! 

Good thing ART is healthy too! xo

I like Messy

I made myself a sketchbook cover for my Moleskine.  Time to try some stuff.

Drops of Daler Rowney acrylic artists ink onto denim.

Stitch all around it.

Sew on a messy loop with some scraps. Perfect for my pen.

View of the back. I like how it creeped along the side.

Some day I will run out of this fabric I dyed in a class years ago- until then, it's my fabric to do test runs with.

Insert sketchbook. Ready to travel.

I'll never be a redhead...

Believe me--- I really have tried to dye it three times. It ends up as an icky, rust orange color.

For now, I put these in my all inclusive fabric journal. We'll see if I make enough to give them their own home. 

Also, I have to thank Jill from Recycled Daze----I love when a blogger is having the same problem as me and posts about it--- I was about to freak out on the uploading pictures! Google Chrome worked for me too, Jill! 

A belated Happy New Year!

Goth Girl Gets Quilting

Goth girl has some color!

 

It's like the Manic Panic hair dye I used in highschool!

 

( I don't know why my dad didn't like my blue hair.)

 

 

I think I'll add some embroidery detail in those boxes.

 

XO

 

 

 

More Pages in the Works

More painting and sewing...

 

 

She's my little Goth girl.

 

Art Journal: The Goodies from Mail Art Friends

I get a lot of cool stuff pouring out of envelopes from mail art friends. I have piles of it. Boxes of it. Tins of it. Envelopes of it. Folders,too.

Why have I not been using it? Why am I hiding it away? Dare I say, hoarding it?

It should be used!

So, I started a new art journal- my first themed journal- and it is all about using these bits of paper, ephemera, stamps, cancelled stamps, envelopes themselves, stickers, altered and painted and stamped paper, and all kinds of fun stuff!

Here are my pages so far! ( Maybe you'll see some of the things you've sent!)

It is going to be fun to have a journal of these treasures from my lovely friends.

A Peek at my Heart

Lubomyr, my mail art friend in Ukraine, is doing this great project on her blog. She sent me a stamped envelope with a giant heart made out of stamps from the Ukraine. She is asking people to alter them and mail them back.

Here is a peek at mine. Check out her blog to see more! They are really great!

Encaustic Day

I have had a wonderful day attending an encaustic class with Serena Barton here in Olympia, WA. There is a new art studio here called Queen Bee Art Cottage--- it is a fabulous old farm house made into an art retreat destination! They prepared a lovely panini and fresh fruit lunch, which was much needed in a 7 hour day of painting. I met a lot of great ladies and ended up finishing 6 paintings. Here are a few of them. Some...well, they really don't need to displayed publically! ha!

The lettering is collaged on and edged with goldleaf.

The butterflies are photo transfers. We learned all kinds of techniques!

This one was made using a pretty Paris scene that was the packaging on a bar of soap. I'm still deciding if I love it. I think it has a feel of looking out a window onto the street.

Maybe I'll post a couple more in the future. And, I will definately be playing with my encaustic stuff more now. XO

Canvas board postcards

I have been playing with paint and ephemera and making 5x7 collages. I like doing these on the small canvas boards and just writing the address on the back and mailing them like postcards. The folks at my post office seem to like them too.