Flicker, Storm Brewing, etc.

I have recently added a few new paintings to my site, Dragonfly, Flicker and Storm Brewing.

I also made a few pairs of earrings.

Cardinal

I was finally able to get back to digital painting this week and completed this picture for a monthly challenge at wetcanvas. It is to be printed 5x7" and was done in Gimp. I didn't keep track of the hours but it took a few afternoons.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

In December I got a little painting done, including these flat rocks that I gave to my cousin for Christmas.



I also painted a still life which I will be posting on my website eventually.

And I managed to get some crafting done. Not as much as I wanted to, as usual, but I have some ideas for next year.



Now I am getting used to my new computer that I got for Christmas. I will have to get a new paint program so that I can get back to digital work. I also have quite a few acrylic paintings in mind that I want to get done soon.

Kira, etc.

At the end of September I did a digital painting of an orange rose.


In October I painted a portrait of my dog Kira. I also did a haunted hospital for fun. It is based on an old hospital that used to be in my home town.



I also made myself some jewelry lately.


And I have done two more ATCs.



And I finally put my rainbow series on my website.

Summer is over

In spite of camping trips and trying to do something with the yard, I have still been painting, just haven't gotten around to posting anything. One personal project that I have completed is a large painting of my grandparents old porch, which is posted on my website.

I have also done a few small pictures, a couple with coloured pencil. It was fun to try but I think I'll stick with acrylics and digital painting. I was hoping to take these pictures to the craft sale at Blueberry Fest, but there wasn't one this year. The bananas and onion and garlic are coloured pencil. The hummingbird and covered bridge are acrylic.

Rainbow complete

Both Green and Blue have been done. These two went quite easily compared to some of the others. I also picked up black frames for the series. I will be keeping the originals but when I save up enough for a new printer, I will make prints to sell.

I have also started a new cross stitch project called "Steps to Twilight". Other than that I have just done some doodling but I am getting a new sheet of masonite ready that is 2x4'.

Yellow and stuff

Earlier this month I painted a small picture for the wetcanvas different strokes project. This month they posted three pictures of cats and we had to use at least two of them in a painting. My first thought was of a throne room, and then I looked at the expressions of those cats, and I came up with this. It is 5x7" on posterboard and I framed it and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day.

I also recently finished my cross stitching project, called Cozy Winter Twilight, which I had started about a year ago. It is about 5x18" and the pattern is from a booklet. Now I'm doing another birth announcement border, just to be prepared, plus I needed to do something simple after that detailed picture.

And I have completed Yellow in my rainbow series. The background was frustrating, the lemon and flower were ok, but the banana was really easy.

Red, orange, and frustration

Last year I had started a rainbow series of still lifes and had done Indigo and Violet. In April I went back to working on that series and completed Red and Orange, though they gave me some difficulties.

With Red I started with a gray-scale under-painting, bringing it to the point where it looked like a completed black and white painting. Then I started glazing on the colour, which was going ok except that it looked too purple. After a lot of glazing and nearly giving up, I finally got it the way I wanted.

When I started Orange, I thought I had learned something with Red, like not to make the under-painting too dark. This time I saved a picture of the completed under-painting. When I started glazing on the colour things just kept going wrong. I had to give up and start over with a fresh one and decided to skip the under-painting and go straight to colour. There was still some struggle with it, but I think it turned out ok.

Charms

I had bought a pack of three charms that you can put a picture inside. I thought at first that I would just print something for them, but then I decided to challenge myself by painting small pictures. It isn't easy to paint that small, and nearly impossible to actually draw. The bear was first and I wasn't sure if it would turn out, but I think it looks ok. I decided then that landscapes are better suited to this size, so I did the cabin scene next. Then I did the waterfall but I'm not sure if I'm completely pleased with that one. I think I was getting tired of dealing with the tiny size by then. They are each 1.4 x 1.8 cm.

I also painted two new ATCs lately, a loon and mallards. I was a little worried about the feathers on the loon and the female duck, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Of course at that size, things have to be simplified quite a bit.

Happy Easter 2008

I have three new pictures to post. One is an 8x10 painting of a daisy which I gave to my aunt and uncle as a thank you for all the driving they did for me when I was sick.

I also painted a blank card which I will give to the other nurse who also came in on a weekend for me. The image comes from wetcanvas and was part of the Different Strokes project in acrylics.

And I painted four wooden eggs for Easter, three of which my Mom already bought.

Bookmark exchange

In September 2007 I did some digital work for a bookmark project. Part of it was that each artist taking part would receive back another bookmark from one of the other participants. I have received mine, created by Jan Hall from Thompson MB. It is a "fabric manipulation experiment". Lovely.

Still life and jewelry

I recently finished a still life painting, 8 1/2 x 11", and will be giving it to a nurse who came in to work on many weekends for me, even though the clinic here is only open on weekdays.

I also made some jewelry for myself. The red and green stuff was made from one of those triple packs of beads, and I used every bead in it. I also made a simple pair of earrings with purple crackle and iridescent clear beads. It's nice to be doing some crafting again.

I currently have another gift painting on the go and will post when it is done.

Fantasy Mural completed

I have been painting like crazy lately, often painting for 5 or more hours a day, which is a lot for me. I have been very eager to get this mural done, partly just to see how it would turn out, and also so that I can get to other projects and paintings. I spent about 112 hours on this and I'm glad to be done. The finished painting is posted in my webshots album.

Back again

It has a been a few months since I last wrote here, and I haven't done much crafting either. To make a long story short, in October I was having some stomach pains. I went to see a doctor and ended up being admitted and they took out my appendix and told me I have Crohn's disease. After a few day I went home but was in a lot of pain. A week later I went back with an infection where the incision was. They had to drain it and then I stayed in the hospital for another week. When I went home again, I still had an open wound there and every day had to go to the local clinic, and sometimes into the city on weekends, and get the dressing changed. They have to pack the opening to make sure it doesn't close from the top first. It hasn't been painful since the infection was drained, but healing has been very slow because of the Crohn's and I still have a small hole. I hope it will close up soon. I am also on medication for the Crohn's and it seems to be under control.

For a while I couldn't do much of anything but over the last few months I did do a little painting and have started making art trading cards (ATCs). So far I have four done but still haven't put them online. I will make a page soon and then I hope to find other artists and crafters to trade with. I also did a quick little Christmas picture on the computer, just for fun. And I painted an old guitar.

And, the other day I started working again on a mural which I had started in October. It's actually on masonite because I think that's safer than putting all that work on a wall. But I'm still calling it a mural. It is 6x3 feet. I started putting work in progress pictures in a webshots account.

Coffee pot

One day my Mom and I were in an old house where a friend of hers used to live, now long abandoned. We found an old coffee pot inside, and my Mom gave it to me to paint. So, of course, I knew I would make it a gift for her. After some thinking, I decided I would put a pink rose on it. And then it just happened that the September "Different Strokes" project in the acrylic section at wetcanvas.com was a picture of a pink rose. It was just what I needed and I painted the pot and gave it to my Mom to thank her for all the help she has given me this year.

Also, the voting was done for the Dragon Project at wetcanvas, and my spiral dragon won for most unusual.

Long time, no post

Finally, an update. I was very busy with packing, then painting, then moving, then trying to settle in. This house is supposed to be bigger than the last, but I'm having a hard time finding a place for everything.

I have done a little painting since moving in. I did two 8x10s, but they will be part of a series and I will post them when it is all done. But I had to put that aside for now.

I also did some digital work last week for a bookmark project being held by the Manitoba Arts council, where you submit 3 bookmarks, then each artist will receive one back from another artist, and the other two will tour libraries and then be sold to raise funds for the arts in Manitoba.

Spiral Dragon

I haven't had much time for artwork lately. I haven't even been cross stitching because I've been playing Final Fantasy 12 in the evenings. I thought I had lots of time because we were supposed to take possession of our house on July 14, but now we get it on June 26. So I guess I will be busy with packing and stuff, and then painting the new house. All I have done lately is this Spiral Dragon, just for fun. Drawn with pen, then scanned and played with in photoshop.

Pencil attempts

For practice I did this bird one afternoon from a picture from the Birds and Blooms calendar. This bird was just begging to be drawn. I did the outline without a grid, I just compared proportions, and it came out pretty close.










Then I spent a few afternoons on a Ukrainian still life, well, about 5 hours all together. I drew from the actual objects set up on my table. I used a ruler to hold up and measure things, but I still had a hard time. The designs are off in places, and in the end I decided to skip a lot of the design on the candy dish. I guess any time I really need to be accurate, I need to use a photo and the grid method. I'm not sure what I will do with this drawing. I may paint it over on the computer later.

Squirrel

Over the last couple of weeks I worked on a painting of a squirrel. It was a bit challenging because the background in the photo was very blurry but I didn't want to paint it that way. I also haven't done very many animals, but I like the way it turned out. You can see it on my website. http://www.forest-of-dreams.com/squirrel.html

Now I plan to spend some time with my pencils. Perhaps I will do something for the Ukrainian festival in pencil this year.

Thai Eggplants-Flemish technique

Imprimatura (mid-tone wash)








Umber layer








Opaque highlights









Dead layer









Colour layer

These are the steps involved with the Flemish technique. This was really interesting for me and I enjoyed most of it, except for that jug.

Thank you to Maverick at wetcanvas.com for showing us this, and to 'mprince' for the photo.

Painting Dragon and Snowmelt

Two new digital paintings are done, including my dragon which you can see at my website.

I also completed the painting posted here, Snowmelt. It was an experiment in painting digitally all on one layer. I almost did it, exept that I had started by outlining the main trees, and I needed to copy those outlines to a new layer where the water is so that I could paint under them. I don't know if I would ever want to try one layer again, but it was an interesting experience. I think I picked a good subject for it, and I would have hated painting this picture with acrylics. Even on the computer I was starting to get a little tired of trees. It took about 28 hours to do.

Now I am working on a small acrylic piece. I have been doing a lot of reading at wetcanvas.com and one member is teaching others the Flemish technique, so this week I started following along. The painting will be a Mother's Day gift along with photos of the stages involved, which I will post here when it is done.

As for the house, we're not buying it after all, and we're not sure what we're going to do at this moment.

New tablet!

I finally got a new tablet on the weekend and have gotten back to work on my latest digital dragon picture. In the meantime, I had done a little doodling with coloured pencils. I just have some cheap ones right now though.

Feeling a little stressed out about the house. We don't know what will happen until the appraisal is done. And if it does go through, a lot of work will have to be done to bring the house up to code. I'm starting to think that we should have just built a new one. Oh well, what's meant to be will be.

The roller coaster ride continues

I still don't have a new tablet. I was hoping to get one when we traveled up to Thompson, but Staples never heard of one and I don't think there was any other store there that would have one. On the bright side, I finished my second sock while traveling.

I also attempted painting on fabric again. I'm not completely happy with this one. I like the flower, but I made some mistakes for the background. I will probably donate it anyway.

And I tried doing more work on my picture with the mouse, but I think I need a new tablet before I can finish it. I'm not sure what I'll do in the meanitme. Maybe something for Easter. I'm also feeling tempted to try coloured pencil again.

Things are kind of uncertain with the house now. Our banker finally looked into all the policies for this kind of thing, and now they need to appraise the house first. The whole thing is really dampening my motivation to do anything.

Ups and downs

I was just thinking yesterday morning that if anything happened to my tablet I would cry. Well, I didn't cry but I am very upset. I was working on my latest picture on the computer yesterday and one time when I picked up my tablet, with it being so dry and 'staticy' lately, I got a big shock when I touched the top of it. I think that did something to it because after that it didn't work properly anymore. And knowing the wonders of modern technology, it probably can't be fixed. We really can't afford extra expenses right now so I guess I will have to try to finish my picture with the mouse.

On the brighter side, the first sock that I knitted turned out pretty good. I think it took me almost a week to make but I hope the second one will go faster now that I know what to do.

We also got approved for buying a house. It's an older house, but newer and bigger than ours. We will be moving it here and demolishing this old one. So that means I have to get everything packed for storage. Not an easy job with the two of us being pack rats. Gee, I remember when most of my craft supplies fit into a big box. Now I have a room full.

Painted fabric

I have tried painting on fabric and enjoyed it. I think I liked it because the textile medium thinned the paint and that made it easier to use. I have to try thinning the paint more the next time I paint on masonite. This square will be donated for a group quilt for charity. I'm not sure where I'll go next with fabric painting. I was thinking I would like to so something with beads. But for now I have started on a new dragon picture on the computer.

I have also been knitting and I'm almost done my little afghan. I didn't think I would ever reach the point where I could knit and watch tv at the same time. After this I want to try making a pair of socks. Then I can go back to cross stitching, but I should start a couple more birth announcements before I go back to the house pictures.

Cross stitching done

I don't know when I started this picture, but it has been a few years. It was always being set aside for other projects and it wasn't an easy picture to do. I might try to do some knitting again now, at least make a small afghan for my pets. Then I will start the next picture in that book of cross stitch patterns. There are still three that I haven't done.

I also finished some polymer eggs this week.

Clay Valentine

I spent all day Monday making a Valentine's gift for my husband. It was one of those days when nothing goes right. My plan was to put a heart shaped photo on a circle of clay and decorate it. I tried laminating the photo with iron on stuff, but it turned out all bubbly, twice. And then the clay circle that I made with a mixture of red and black turned out really nice, until I broke a piece off it. I thought about patching it, but in the end decided to cut a heart out of it, and stick it on a black circle with a heart cut out of the middle, and I stuck another photo on the heart, which got ruined in the oven. So finally a fourth photo was used and I finished decorating in the evening with sparkle paint and pre-baked clay hearts. I haven't given it to him yet because he is away at work, but I sure hope he likes it.

Catterflies

Here are the two thank you gifts I painted for friends in the Creative Home Arts Club. I had been wanting to create butterfly wings for a while, and when I thought about what kind of bodies I would give them, I decided on cats since I love them so much. So the gifts were a good opportunity to try this idea out. I'm sure I'll do more someday.

Catching up

I didn't even realize how long it had been since I last posted here. Well, Christmas was good. I did some drawings for a short story I wrote last year and got a new scanner for Christmas, so I was able to colour them. I posted the story and pictures on my MSN group.

Christmas also supported my gaming addiction, and I have already played Destroy All Humans 2 (fun!) and Shadow of the Colossus (ok). In between I painted two 5x7 pictures for thank you gifts, which I still have to get online. This week I'm doing some stained glass suncatchers for gifts eventually. And I have been doing quite a bit of cross stitching. Unfortunately I haven't done much drawing lately, and I really need to get back to that.