COLLAGE MONDAYS

A few weeks ago, Donna Downey started a new phase in her teaching. Collage Monday. This process has actually been a lot of fun and has been quite relaxing... to the point that I lose myself and forget what is going on around me. No pressures... no worries, just cut and glue. There are no mistakes. Try something and if you don't like it... cover it up or don't do it again!!! (I'm laughing!)



Circles punched and stems and leaf cut... out of magazine pages. Flowers (Mini Mums stencil from Crafter's Workshop) are stippled with paint onto Bazzil cardstock and then hand cut. I tried cutting them from magazine paper also, but they just didn't "pop" like I wanted.



A washed background of soft grey watercolor. Flowers are Basic Grey's Sweet Threads. I think I am loving the color Grey as a neutral!

ANGELS ARE AMONG US

We spent the day with the daughter... our one and only... Lunch and a movie. Back home, John retreated to his office to play on the computer a little and started a new entry into my journal. I always start a written journal, but it fizzles out fast. This week, I decided to incorporate some of my art into it. Whatever I feel like, whether it be doodling, painting or trying something new. Today, nothing came to mind to write about, so I just started painting. End result; A rather perplexed, odd looking Angel.

HAVE A LAUGH ON ME!

If I had a day job, I would be told to keep it! 6 weeks (1 day a week) of drawing classes and my first attempt at a portrait. This is the result of "at least" 7 to 8 hours of doing each feature, over... and over... and over... I got it pretty close, but still not right. I think I'll move on to another and let this rest. I'm tired of it. Time to move on! I am starting a new class the middle of next month. Oil pastels and charcoal.
So... hang on to your hat and try not to pee your pants!! Here is the semi-final result. I still have to clean it up a bit!!! ...... (later)

"BEAUTIFUL"

Finally, I can share with you a canvas I made. My daughter-in-law had pregnancy pictures taken and there was one that just stuck out... saying "Create me"! So I decided to give it try. What could I lose? If it didn't work, the next step was the garbage! Well... I surprised myself! I glued, painted, inked, stamped and doodled the background. I hand cut her and the boy out of plain card stock, decoupaged, painted, dressed them, and embellished away.




I decided to give this to Ashley for Ava, my new Grand-daughter. My plan is to teach my grand-children about art. About experimenting with media and expressing themselves creatively.

DRAWING 101

Stepping out of my comfort zone... something I've never been comfortable with. I have always wished I could sit down, look at something and start sketching. Well, i stepped out... way out! I signed up to take a drawing workshop. I have been to 2 classes now. It was a little nerve wrecking, but our instructor was gentle. Nothing was overwhelming. We started with the basics... this is paper and this is a pencil. Well, not that basic! We did a few simple outline sketches and learned the difference between a contour sketch and a blind contour sketch.
***Simple outline sketch is as it sounds.....
***Contour sketch is the shape of the object you are drawing with detail.....
***Blind contour sketch is the outline and detail drawn while looking at the
object and NOT looking at the paper while sketching. This was not easy and
produced a lot of laughs!

Next... motion in sketching... the following is my completed sketch of motion. This was fun, all free-hand.





Day 2. Learning about value (light to dark) and the color spectrum. Pretty straight forward so far!




So there you have it. Out of my comfort zone. Now it's just practice, practice..... and I am looking forward to the next class!