A Beautiful Piece of Art...

None of my art to show you today because I've been working on things for a swap. I'm always late getting swap items finished and this one is no exception. I'm the world's worst swap partner!

Luckily this swap is with two blog friends and they've graciously extended me some extra time. I received my swap package from the very talented Lee in yesterday's mail. She always surprises me with the things she creates...they're always something different, refreshing and unexpected. This is what she sent me...

Getting a good photo was difficult as this has plexiglas over the top. It's so beautiful in person and unfortunately the post office managed to chip one corner. Nevertheless it's a wonderful piece of art that will hang on my studio wall.

Here's a close up showing 

the paint technique on the plexi...

Don't you just love it?!! 

Thank you, Lee! It's fantastic.

Now please excuse me while I get back to the studio and try to finish my swap pieces! See you soon...

Back to Normal Today...

Thanks for all your comments on my Oscar night out! Daniel and I had a terrific time. He's such a gentleman (darn!)...today my feet are killing me after wearing those 4" heels but it's worth it. And I have a tiny bit of a headache from all the champagne but otherwise I feel great. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my previous post.)

Now back to reality! I have a few bits and pieces to share with you today. I belong to Mystele's Little Glimpses ning site (there's a link over in the right column) and she's been adding some great videos about painting faces. I've been practicing and trying to loosen up a bit. I just used a piece of Bristol so it wasn't the best thing to paint on but here is what I've been doing...

Just a few layers...and two of the heads are upside down.

More layers....

Still more layers...I have a long way to go but I'm practicing. That's what it takes to paint faces; practice, practice, practice and then practice some more! Mystele makes it look so easy. She's so free when she paints. I'm still trying to "control" it so I need more work.

I also recently scored some wood panels at the local dollar store...

I've sanded them down and will paint on them later. Where else can you get a nice solid substrate for just a dollar! The tall ones are about 6.5" x 12" and the square ones are about 6" x 6". I always keep my eye out for things like this at the dollar store.

So now I need to get busy and practice some more, plus I'm working on some projects that should have been finished a long time ago.

It's Oscar Time Again...

Here we are on THE BIG DAY! It's Oscar Sunday and I'm getting ready for my exciting evening. If you've been reading my blog for a few years then you know I like to "go" to the Oscars. It's the perfect time to dress up, look glamorous, and go out on the town. Keep in mind this is all virtual reality. I can look any way I want to, all the dresses fit, the make-up is perfect, and my hair isn't gray!

Shopping is never one of my favorite things to do unless it's for art supplies or books, but going shopping online is fun. I found several dresses I like...

This one is a bit too shimmery for me.

And this one might be too revealing!

Too pale...although I like it.

Just right!
This is the one I chose. 

I like the draping 

and it's dramatic without being too over-the-top.
I think it's red carpet worthy.

The shoes I chose are these...

Very classic but so beautiful.
They're by Christian Louboutin.
The leather is encrusted with Swarovski crystals
and they have a 4 inch heel!
(I hope I don't twist my ankle!!)

There were a few others I liked...

LOVE the color but not with this dress...

Same with these.

And if I didn't have to walk that looooong red carpet

 these might have been perfect.

Next up is hair.
I thought about this hairstyle...

Very soft and romantic.

Maybe a little too conventional for me.

 So I think I'll do this hairstyle...

There's a lot to get done before it's time for my date to arrive. Oh, that's right...I haven't told you who I'm going with this year. It was a complete toss-up as I had so many invitations. Brad called, George Clooney called, Colin Firth called...and of course, Johnny Depp called. I've gone with Johnny a couple of times and last year I went with Colin Firth so I thought it only fair to choose someone new this year.

So without further ado let me introduce you to....

Daniel Craig! 

He looks pretty darn good in a tux and if he can play James Bond I think he'll do just great for my date this year. I like ruggedly handsome guys anyway.

Arriving in style is all part of the game in Hollywood 

and we'll be doing it BIG TIME... 

enjoying some of the great accommodations

of our limousine...

I plan to dance the night away, drink lots of champagne and eat lots of delicious food. We're going to all the after-Oscar parties. I doubt if I'll make it home until the wee small hours of the morning. Don't worry, HB knows where I'll be!

If you would like to read about some of my past Oscar nights you can see them here, here, here, and here. On the first one you need to scroll down past the first part of the post.

Now I'm ready for my bubble bath and a massage. See you on the red carpet!

Kiss, kiss (air kisses)!!

An Art Swap and Some Pulled Art...

I'm still here! Bet you wondered if I was ever coming back. Sorry to be away so long but I had a nice visit with my daughter and now I'm ready to get back to doing some art. She's leaving very early tomorrow morning.

First of all I participated in a swap with Micki Wilde. This is the beautiful little package I received...

and this is what was inside...

Isn't she beautiful? I love it. 

Thanks, for swapping with me, Micki!

Below is the piece I sent to Micki...

not nearly as nice as hers.

The only other art I have to share is a piece of pulled art I did recently. I used to do a lot of pulled art but then somehow got away from it. It was fun to try it again. This is the face I saw...

And she became this...

I know her eyes are a bit strange 

but that's what I saw so I went with it.

She seems to be watching over me so I might add some words to the top center...something about a guardian. She also reminds me of the people in Avatar.


I'm up to my eyeballs in classes! I've done it again...loaded myself down with too many things all at once. My problem is I want to learn everything!!


It's good to be back and I'll be around to visit your blogs soon.

Red Vase...and Another Face

In the middle of a major house cleaning, I managed to finish the flower painting I started a couple of weeks ago...

I'm fairly happy with how it turned out. 

And I started another face using the tissue paper technique...

She doesn't have hair or eyebrows yet but I'm liking the way she's coming together. I have a couple of other things in the process but will share them later.

The major house cleaning is because my daughter is coming to visit! So you might not see too much of me over the next week. She'll be at our house next Friday. I'm so excited. I haven't seen her since January of 2009. She's just going to be here for a quickie visit but that's better than nothing.

Friday in February...

No new art that I can share with you but I have a couple of photos. We are having such a mild winter this year. Just look at the temperature a few minutes ago...

That was the information showing on my new computer screen...

Isn't that a great screen!

 I love it. 

Watching videos on it is almost like watching TV.

Now I'm off to do something outside. We're supposed to have cooler temperatures and maybe some rain over the weekend.

Hair...

She's finally got hair!!

I absolutely HATE painting hair...and this was not easy but I kept going until I'm sort of happy with her. She seemed to have some attitude so I wanted a hairstyle that fit with that. I love spiky hair. This would be a hairstyle I'd love if I was younger.

It's a Drizzly Day...

Today it's a bit rainy and drizzly...about 50º and gray outside. The perfect day to stay inside and do some artsy stuff.

First off here's a quicky sketch I did last night...

Nothing great, just practicing sketching a face.

In the stamp carving class (link over on the right side) I'm a little behind but that's okay. Here's a frame that I carved. Sorry about the stamping job. I didn't get it inked too good.

And here's a Celtic knot design I did...

I like that I can just continue stamping with it

 and make it as long as I want.

Not much else I can show you. I'm working on a swap with a couple of blog friends...later I'll be able to show you what I did for that. Now I think I'll sketch a few more faces...

Keeping Busy in the Studio...

As promised here are a few pictures of things I'm working on right now. First up I added some color to that picture I shared last week...

She still needs some hair.

And I've been carving some stamps in Julie Balzer's class...

I also decided to do a lettering class! 

I know...I never learn do I? More classes!! 

But here is a composition book that I'll be using for that...

It's just some duct tape and a bit of printed scotch tape with some of the original cover showing. When I get some things done in it I'll share them.

And last, I did another spread in my art journal...

This one had the woman on the right page and the basic color and it had been sitting for a long time. I decided to finish it up and everything I did was spur of the moment, not much thinking and I'm not really sure what it all means!

I'd like to think of a word that I could add to the dark purple area at the top above the pictures of the women but nothing has come to mind yet. If I think of something I'll add it using white ink.

I like the fingers pointing! As I said, not sure what it all means but it came together and I went with it. Now I'm off to carve some more stamps and do some lettering.

It DID Get Crazy...

Little did I know how crazy things would get around here when I wrote my previous post. Wednesday I spent much of the afternoon at the hospital with HB! He was in serious pain late Tuesday night until about noon on Wednesday when he finally decided to go to the emergency room to see what was wrong. Turns out he had a kidney stone.  He's all better now but we're doing some research on diets to avoid this happening again although they tell us that once you have one kidney stone the likelihood of another one goes up.

The good news is that he's back to his usual self and we have our new computers up and running as of last evening. I still don't have my camera hooked up so no pictures today but I have several things to share with you probably tomorrow sometime.

Have a fun weekend...it's Super Bowl tomorrow!