Making Some Progress....

I'm still working on that one painting! 

So far this is where I am with her....

She still needs work but I'm liking her better 

even though I don't think her eyes are good.

I've also been playing with some other pieces. 

I work on these in the evening while we're watching TV....

Here are some close-ups....

They started out with water soluble crayons, then I added some black lines and now I'm using colored pencils and maybe some markers. I'll probably add some more layers of doodles on these. They're still a work in progress as are so many of my things!

Have a fun weekend!!

Unfinished Projects....

Well, here it is several days since my last post and you would probably expect to see a finished painting from the sketch I showed you last time....but you would be wrong! I have painted on that piece but now I've gessoed over parts of it because I didn't like how it was turning out.

I have also gessoed over that one face that I didn't like from a week or so ago....

In the picture behind you can see where I added a bit of gesso to the corner of the eye where it wasn't looking right. She is nowhere near finished but I have some things blocked in. I'll see if I like these pieces better after I work on them some more.

And here is just one small stack of more unfinished projects....

My so called "clean" table looks like this at the moment....

So you can see I've got my hands full of things to do!

Lots of projects to finish and more new ideas

coming along each day!!

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On another subject, as many of you know, I do NOT belong to Facebook. I joined quite some time ago but soon felt uncomfortable on the site and decided to quit. Getting my account completely deleted took some time and effort....they don't make it easy for you to do this which makes me wonder even more about the safety and integrity of the site.

Yesterday Geri had this link on her blog and I decided to put it on here, too. You might have second thoughts about Facebook after reading this article about how they've been tracking you even when you're logged out!! Just thought I'd pass it on in case you're interested.

Now I'm off to work on some unfinished projects!!

A Future Painting....

First off, I want to say a public thank you to everyone who sent me emails, e-cards, snail mail cards and otherwise wished me happy birthday. I had a wonderful day and don't feel any older!

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There are several classes and challenges going on around Blogland and as usual I'm trying to do too much at once. When that happens I always get overwhelmed and then somewhat paralyzed which results in no art. I'm in that mode right now! My brain is whirling with ideas but the rest of me isn't participating.

My inner critic is working overtime, too. There's so much beautiful art being shown on the blogs and when I spend time looking at it I begin to doubt my own abilities and go into that "why bother" thing. I know it doesn't do any good  to fall into that trap but it happens occasionally. I'm not telling you this to get advice but rather to just let you know it's happening. I KNOW what to do to get out of this but sometimes I just don't listen to my own advice!

But this morning I managed to sketch out a woman to paint. You may not be able to see this very clearly but here she is....

I'm not sure where she's going from here or when I'll finish her but when I sat down with the pencil and the canvas this is who appeared.

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Around the country many of you are enjoying cool autumn weather but not here. We're still in the 90's just about every day. Today I think we're expecting high 80's so it's a cool down! Right now the birds outside my studio are singing and chirping and talking about their day....it's one of my most favorite sounds. And since I have nothing else to show you or to talk about I think I'll go sit on the patio and listen to them.

Have a wonderful day....

Day 264 of this year....

You're probably wondering what this all means. What are all these numbers, and why road signs? Am I going on a trip....no. But 68 years ago in Illinois I landed on this planet! And now 68 years later I live in California. Yep, it's my birthday and I'm 68 years young.

If you're too young to remember 1943 (and most of you are!) then you can read about it here ....mostly it's all about WWII 'cause we were right in the midst of it when I was born. In fact, my dad was serving in the navy at the time and was not around for the big event. We didn't meet until I was about 2 years old.

This is not my cake. I found this image on Google and it's perfect....except maybe for the color. I would prefer the flowers and lettering be in shades of purple!

Okay, now I'm off to celebrate in the best way possible. I'm going to make some art!

PS - Happy Birthday, Eden!!!!

Finding Art....

Today I don't have much to show you except a little sketch I did using a paint blob from Carla Sonheim's blog. I used this blob....

and I turned it and saw this little scene....

HB said it looked like a little hobbit house.

Apparently something scared all the

birds because they're flying away from the tree.

What do you see in the paint blob??

A Little Clarification....

Hi everyone! Did you have a fun weekend? Mine was quiet with a little bit of art but with laundry and other chores thrown in there, too.

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After so many comments, I thought I should clarify something about my non-dominant hand drawings. I don't do the entire picture like that. I only draw the shape of the face and the beginnings of the features with my other hand. The rest of it is done with my usual hand. I didn't want you to get the idea that I was painting and doing everything with my non-dominant hand. I'd be really impressed if I could do that!!

Here's a bunch of the ones I've done. They're just waiting for me to finish them! There are probably at least 25 pages all with the outline of a face....

Some of these are too plain. I like the quirkier ones so some of these probably won't ever be used.

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There are some fun things going on around Blogland right now. There's a FREE stencil class here at Balzer Designs and Carla Soneheim is doing a challenge with sidewalk cracks and painting blobs! You'll have to check it out to see what I mean.

Okay, it's back to the studio for me and maybe some new art to show tomorrow. Those phone book pages are calling to me. I hope your Monday is fantastic!!!

She's Having a Bad Hair Day!

When it was first suggested to try drawing with my non-dominant hand, I thought "how will that be interesting?" But thankfully, I gave it a try and I LOVE doing it now. In fact, I can't stop! I now have a little stack of weird faces to play with.

Here's my latest one. I'm calling it She's Having a Bad Hair Day

Her pear-shaped face is what I like most. I'm not finished with her yet but so far I'm happy. This one was transferred to some watercolor paper and some of the phone book page stuck before I could get it off so there's more of it showing on the one side....but I kinda like it that way. Just a little more texture.

Seems she's having the same problem I have some days....that one piece of hair that won't co-operate!

Have a fun weekend and I'll see you on Monday....

What Do You Think???

Did I mess her up? 

I decided to add some detail on the forehead of this painting....

I like it but HB was less than lukewarm about it.

I'm always one who likes lots of embellishments and added texture but too often I stop before I get there. So this time I just decided to add something else and see what happened. I like her and I think she looks exotic....but she may not be for everyone. What do you think?

NOTE: at the suggestion of Giggles I'm linking this with Paint Party Friday.

Getting Into It....

This will be a quickie! I'm up to my elbows in art right now and I don't want to lose the flow. I just wanted to share a couple of things I've been doing.

Both of these pictures were started from drawings done with my non-dominant hand....in my case left-handed. I like how they look almost child-like in the way they're drawn....

The one above still needs some work. She was the first one I tried.

This one is my favorite. She will get a few more things done to her but for now I like the way she's turning out.

Okay, I'm off to continue working. If I owe you an email please be patient. I'll get to it but right now I'm on a roll.

The Start of a New Week....

Where did last week go? I turned around and it's already the start of a new week. Did you watch any of the 9/11 programs yesterday? We watched a couple of them. It's still difficult to watch and sometimes feels more like a movie rather than real life. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be in NYC on that day. I hope no one has to go through anything like that ever again.

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As for art, last week was somewhat of a bust for me. I did manage to make one piece that I hate.

No matter what I did to her I don't  like it....so I'm sure she will be gessoed over and started again. Any suggestions??

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I also started a background on this canvas....

I have some idea of what I'm going to try on this one but haven't got it started yet.

Also while I was on blog break I did one of those grid drawings that everyone seems to be doing right now....

It isn't finished but so far I like the concept. I'm using colored pencils to add some color.

Okay, I think that's about it for me. What have you been doing?

As Promised....Finally!

I got up early, took my morning walk and then headed over to the hair salon to take a photo. So finally here is what I put up in the salon....

A little bit of everything. Sorry about the color. It was difficult to get the right color under the lights. I tried to fix it a bit in my photo program. The walls are actually a soft golden beige.

And this is just one corner of Angel's studio. You can see the artwork reflected in the mirror.

Angel is great! I don't know if anyone reads my blog from this area where I live but if you do here is Angel's website with information about her. I know she's also on Facebook and she posted some other photos of my art on there but I don't have her FB page address.

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And just in case you think all I do is make art, here is what I made over the long holiday weekend. I forgot to show you earlier....

This is spiced caramel pear jam! Doesn't that sound delicious! I haven't opened one yet to try it but I hope it's as good as the name sounds.

I have been buying Bartlett pears at five pounds for ninety-nine cents!! I had to think of something to do with some of them and this sounded like just the thing.

Okay I'm off to play in the studio today. It's supposed to be hot so I'm staying inside for the rest of the day.

Salon Art....

After all my promises, we hung my art in the salon today....and I forgot to take any pictures of it! I'm going back tomorrow to take some so be patient with me. I can't believe I forgot. But Angel had a customer so I think part of it was, I was trying to get everything done and get out of her way. HB did a good job getting everything up on the wall.

Using those Command hanging strips is good except there are a lot of things to consider. First off, they have to be attached to something solid so the back of the art can't be paper or canvas. Many of my smaller pieces had the canvas wrapped all around the back side so we had to cut away little portions in order to use the strips. It was a learning experience for me. Now I know what to look for and what not to use when I create art that will be hanging in the salon.

Here's a piece I did recently....HB named her Josephine.

This canvas is about 4" x 12". For some reason I like those long, narrow canvases. I did her hair with paper circles....some I stamped on to give them more interest. I cut her face from a map and it shows through very lightly.

I added some Washi tape around the outer edge since it's so deep. I like how she turned out. She is hanging at the salon. I hope everyone likes my art and hopefully I will sell some things. Etsy sure hasn't been my best place to sell art. I've thought about just offering my art right here on the blog. Do you think that's too commercial? I would love to be able to sell some things so I can pay for art supplies and classes. Being retired isn't all that profitable!

The Long Weekend....

HB and I went to do the final hanging of my art in the hair salon only to find someone had locked the door to Angel's studio. So now I have to wait until she returns from her vacation on Tuesday to see when we can get back in to finish. But never fear....I will post pictures when I get it all finished.

In the meantime here is another one of the 12" x 12" canvases I did over my break....

I like the colors in this one and it was a bit easier to get a photograph of it. Also while I was on my break I did some sketching. Here's one of the crazier ones I did....

Later I may turn this into a painting....maybe with a little bit less headdress ornamentation though!

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend and for those of us in the US it's a long one because of Labor Day. 

I Finished the ICAD Challenge!

When I began the ICAD challenge I wasn't sure if I could do it or not because I have a nasty habit of jumping into a challenge and then life gets in the way and I don't finish. But this time I not only finished, I did a card every single day....no days off for me.

True, some of the cards are not masterpieces but I don't think that was the idea anyway. I think it was more of a challenge to get us to do some little bit of art each day....to keep at it. And that's what I did. Some days were better than others and the cards reflect that.

Here are the rest of my ICADs....

There are enough cards in my spiral book to continue through September 8th and I plan to do that but I won't bore you with them.

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HB and I have been working to get my art up in the salon....BIG job. I promise to show pictures of it when we finish. In the meantime here is another piece I did on my break....

No matter what I did, I just couldn't get the colors right on this piece. It has a lot of greenish-gold and some blues and browns. The quote says "The love of gardening is a seed once sown that never dies" - by Gertrude Jekyll. It's done on a 12" x 12" wrapped canvas.

Now that the ICAD challenge is over, I plan to do more of my own art. No more challenges for me right now!