GOODBYE 2011

New Years Eve. December 31, 2011. The husband and I are pretty boring. No celebrations to get dressed up for. In our Jammie's, we sit home and watch a movie, occasionally flipping the channel to see who is performing at one of the live parties. Most of the time, I fall asleep and he has to wake me up to watch the ball drop. I get a "Happy New Year" in and a kiss, and it's Goodnight Irene!

This has been a busy and exciting year. The daughter was married, our Grand-daughter was born, the Navy family reunion and the pending birth of our second Grand-son! Lot's of love in this family.

My son leaves for Army basic training in February. It makes me sad that he will be away from the family, but I am also excited for him. He is pursuing a long time desire. He has the "guts" to step up and go forward. This is impressive to me, something I couldn't do. Call me chicken... lack of "kahunas!" I wish you well Michael. Push for the stars! I am so proud of you!!!

To all of you, my friends and my family... I wish you a healthy, happy year ahead.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012.

CHRISTMAS IN HUNTERSVILLE, NC

Hey everybody! I will be at the Huntersville Christmas Festival tonight, 5 to 8 pm. Donna Downey Studios has a booth set up and I will be doing a children's Christmas craft! Donna and Bill will be there also. So bundle up (I hear it's going to be very cold) and come out for some Christmas fun!!!!

I put the final touches on my fifth canvas and prepped them for the ride to the florist! All signed and tagged. I am actually only selling 4 of them, the fifth was a gift to Frankie, the shop owner. I really enjoyed making these. I have tried so many "styles", but I always go back to simple Folk art pieces. I guess it is what I crave for in life... simplicity.

Mixed Media Collage... I prefer the flat panel canvases and alot of texture. My all time favorite is to create a distressed, faux barnwood background. Layers of paper, different types of mediums, pan pastels, acrylics and inks...

An Old World Santa sketched onto watercolor paper and painted with Pan Pastels. His beard is light modeling paste applied with a spatula. I then hand tore
him and decoupaged him to the faux wood panel.

The stars are faux rusted metal. I plan on sharing this process in a future post.
the title of this canvas is; "BELIEVE"

My next canvas is "ANGEL AMONG US"

I free hand sketch all my pieces and then hand tear. I like the aged look it gives and it "fits" into the Folk art theme.
This next canvas I love... I titled it; "PEACEFUL"

The next was a fun piece... a winter wonderland after a big snow. I thought about my Grandson playing in the snow, as I created this.
Titled; "LET IT SNOW"

My final piece is not for sale, but a gift to Frankie. She is the shop owner in a restored gold mining village in Gold Hill, NC. Frankie made all the beautiful flower arrangements for my daughter's wedding. This is the village I used to display some of my albums I made. I was also Paula's partner in the bakery. Oh, how I miss all that! Now is my time to get back to that little village... this time with my art work.
To Frankie, thank you for hosting my art! "THE GOLD MINER'S DAUGHTER"



I hope you have enjoyed seeing my art... as much as I have, creating it!

If you are interested in purchasing any of the pieces, please email me at;
vintagebeginnings@yahoo.com Historic Gold Hill Village

I FOUND MY STYLE IN CANVAS

ALL I CAN SAY IS EEEE....X......I....T......E.....D...! I do believe I have found myself and my unique style! With that, I must go finish the last 2 canvases for my sale! You just have to wait a little longer for me to post some pics. Sorry!

ALL CAUGHT UP... well, almost

All my "work" projects are caught up for now... just waiting on a number for making class kits. That means, I can play all I want and not feel guilty! Thought I would share one of the Christmas Class projects I have been working on.


The next 3 days, I am planning on creating for myself. My art has taken the wayside the past few weeks... life in general...things... just things... tend to bog me down at times... and this time change... gets me every year. I hate when it gets dark so early... "lights out and it's time to sleep"! Guess that's why the bears hibernate! Haha...

Good news last night! My limited edition Halloween kits are almost gone! Thank you to all who purchased them and supported me. I have ideas for one next year already. Keeping a journal.. because I tend to forget as fast as I come up with them! ideas, that is... I'm working on a few ideas... have some preparation before I can execute... military strategy...

This is one of the items for the Children's craft day in Dec.



For more information on classes, please visit;
http://www.donnadowney.com/index.php/donna-downey-studios