New ACEO series

hi everyone. I started a new series of ACEOs (for those who don't know what they are, they are miniature artworks, the size of a baseball card).
I love painting whimsical girls, and I love adding text, so why not do it with my ACEOs?  I have two finished so far, and will see how many I end up doing. I was hoping to do a large painting this weekend, but time got away from me again, lol!
Is anyone watching American Idol this season? What an impressive group of talent they've got! Thank goodness it's not on for several hours a week,  because all I seemed to do lately is watch tv!

A couple of days ago I went to an art show in Toronto, it had quite a few artists, maybe 200? It was great to see the types of art out there, and I tell you, people are so talented! Some of the artwork really inspired me.
I wanted to come home,and paint a big abstract...except I haven't a clue how to do so, lol! it's not a matter of just throwing things on a canvas, it takes a great amount of skill to make an abstract really work. Abstract art used to be something that I just didn't understand, but I found as the years went by that I can appreciate it for what it is. I guess that's it for now, thanks for reading!

Cobwebs on my blog

hello everyone, it feels like  a long time since I posted. I've had so much I wanted to blog about, but couldn't get started.

First off I want to say welcome to the new readers of my blog.  I appreciate you following along with me, especially since there has been no new material since the One World One Heart event, lol!
And thank you to my regular readers, I appreciate every one of you.
I don't know how some bloggers manage to post so regularly, it's something I need to push myself to do.

Artwise, I've been working on ACEO's (art that is the size of a playing card) but am feeling the need to paint larger, maybe some angels. The events in our world have made me a bit melancholy. I've been watching some of the news coverage, and wonder what our world will look like next year.
These are interesting times, but also scary. Protests, earthquakes, unusual weather, solar flares,   the economy....doesn't it feel like things are speeding up?

I was remembering an ice storm a few years back, where many people had lost power for several days. They weren't ready for it, and it caused panic.

 I think a good idea for everyone reading this, is to go out and stock up on any foods and supplies you may need if something unexpected occurs.  That's what I did last week, bought lots of bottled water, canned foods, just whatever could be used in an emergency. We've been lucky so far, the bad snowstorms have missed us, but it is smart to be prepared. Just leave it in your basement, and keep an eye on the expiry dates. You are not losing anything by doing this, but during an unexpected event, this could save you from  finding grocery stores empty.
If you doubt anything like this will happen, then how about the fact that food prices right now are skyrocketing? Stock up on things  like flour, rice, coffee, sugar. The prices are rising right now, and in some countries there are riots because people cannot afford to eat. Of course, none of this is being shown on TV, but it is happening.  Hope this doesn't sound too negative, but I really want you all to be safe, and  be prepared, just in case...

Most of all, live your life to the fullest every day, because we are so blessed to be alive on this magnificent planet, and during this most incredible time!

Thanks for reading!

And the Winner Is.....

Hello everyone. It's time to announce the winners of my One World One Heart Giveaway.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, but I tried to get to as many blogs to say hello as I could.  Hopefully I got to everyone who commented.

Thank you everyone who participated, and to all you lovely people who commented. I really appreciate you stopping by, to me everyone is a winner. 

**********************************************

Now to get to the giveaway:   I decided to pick 3 winners instead of 2, so here they are:

First prize - Original Painting - comment # 130 Audrey  Magic Miracles and Joy

Second Prize- Choice of print - comment # 83  Lorri   Artivity

Third Prize -Choice of print - comment # 72  Brenda  The Creative Chook

Congratulations to you!

 

It's here! the One World One Heart Blogging Event.

hello everyone! this is an exciting day. It is the 5th and final One World One Heart event, an idea brought to life by the wonderful Lisa Swifka.
This is an event for bloggers worldwide, in which we get to visit new blogs, make new friends, and even have a chance to win a prize.  This is my third time participating in this annual event where I have discovered many new blogs and met some fantastically creative people.

I will be drawing two winners  for my giveaway.  The first prize will be for the original mixed media angel painting you see on the top of this post (size: 6" x 8" canvas)  (15 x 20 cms).
The second prize will be for your choice of any print from my Etsy Shop.

For those who don't know me, I am a self taught artist who likes to create all kinds of whimsical art including ACEOs, angels, mermaids, and big eyed girls.

How to enter my giveaway

In order to have a chance to win, all you have to do is have a blog, and leave a comment on this post. Very easy, right?
The giveaway ends on February 17th, and I will use a Random Number generator to pick the winners.
I will announce the winner on my blog, as well as contact them.

For more information, and for a list of all participants,  please go to the OWOH blog, and enjoy your trip around the world!

Deep Freeze

It's been so cold the last few days! This morning when I left for work, the temperature was -24 C (-11F). By the time I got to my building my fingers were so frozen it was difficult getting my keys out. lol! Seems a lot of you bloggers are in the midst of the same weather pattern from what I've read :-)

 This past week I've been in a rut. With Valentine's Day coming I was hoping to make more ACEOs of my whimsical owls to sell, but everything I touched  turned to crap! What do you do when you just can't get it right? I've done hundreds of owl ACEOs, but nothing was working last week. At least 6 or 7 were thrown out, after spending so much time to get them right. That's not including the many drawings that just weren't working.  It's frustrating, I feel like a beginner, lol!

So I got out my sketchbook and worked on my faces.  I've neglected my girls, and it's time to bring them to life again. The above was drawn on good quality paper, she is not done yet, but once I finish,, she may find her way into my Etsy shop.

 I finally got out my Pan Pastels to try on the background. They are fabulous! They are a nice creamy pastel, which you add with an applicator that looks like a makeup sponge, and I can't believe they'd been sitting on my shelf for months before I finally opened one up. You can't see it well in the picture above, but they truly give such wonderful, soft color. Remember, this is the year to pull out all your good supplies, and stop saving them for when you are a 'better' artist.

I have a question for anyone who draws on paper with pencil, do you spray your finished work? I know pencil smudges, but spraying it makes me nervous. I've gotten spotted results before...there must be a better way.

thanks for reading, and stay warm :-D

Illustration Friday - Chicken

There once was a little girl, who loved animals so much! One summer, she went with her family to grandma's farm. Grandma had recently gotten four new chickens, but they had yet to lay any eggs. She said to the little girl's mother, "if they don't start laying soon, they're going to become our dinner". Well, this would certainly not do! thought the little girl. I have to do something to save the chickens!

So she devised a little plan. Every morning, she would sneak some eggs from the house to the barn, then she would come running inside saying 'look what I found!'.
Mother and grandmother were pleasantly surprised that the chickens started earning their keep.
This went on for a few days.  How strange though,  that the amount of eggs  in the bowl on the table never seemed to increase, considering 3 or 4 new eggs would be brought out from the barn.

Ahhh, finally the women got wise to the trickery of the little girl!
So were the chickens safe? well, they were while the little girl was there. She would throw a crying fit if anyone even mentioned having them for dinner. What happened after she went back home? who knows, but at least for a few weeks, they were safe......

and that my friends, is the basis of my Illustration Friday painting, called 'Save the chickens'. I know it's Thursday, but I had to get it finished before the deadline. As soon as I heard this week's theme, I knew I had to illustrate it.
Oh, and the above story is true, I'm sure you know who the little girl was, lol!

thanks for reading
xoxo

Fireworks ACEO

hi everyone, I just finished this ACEO for the ACEO Challenge blog. This month's challenge is 'fireworks'. It's fun and lighthearted, and anyone can join in. I've missed every single month, and was determined to finally get something in there, lol!
Last month's topic was the Northern Lights, which I really wanted to illustrate. I was so proud of myself after finishing my entry, then when I went to add it, I saw that it was too late and we were voting, lol!

hope you are all doing well, lots of crazy weather going on in the world. Please stay safe :-)

Feeling nostalgic

After work, I happened to catch the Oprah show. They were re-visiting teen heartthrobs, hers was Michael Jackson's big brother Jackie. You should have seen her face when he showed up in her dressing room unexpected.  I think I would have passed out if one of my teen idols showed up, lol!

I was a child of the 70's.  I had pictures on my bedroom wall of David and Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garret, Robbie Benson, John Travolta, and I was absolutely in love with the Bay City Rollers, haha! I would spend hours listening to their music, reading about them, dreaming about them, like any typical teen I suppose.

 Oprah had Shaun Cassidy and Peter Frampton on the show as well as the Backstreet Boys.
Watching some of the older women in the crowd go crazy when Shaun Cassidy came on the stage was so beautiful, because in that  moment, I could see their younger selves. I could see the girls they used to be before family and responsibilities changed them. That youthful spark though, was still inside.

I totally get it now. When I see young girls screaming over Justin Bieber, I get it. That was me, many decades ago. Maybe it's a rite of passage for girls? I don't know.

Man, aging is tough! Seeing your teen hearthrobs age is tough, but it's worse seeing what time has done to you.  I still remember those days when I was young and hopeful, and full of dreams. It felt like a more innocent time, but maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic. Sometimes I wish I could go back just for a day, to experience a different world, a world without cell phones, internet, texting, video games...a world where we spent time outside, when we could go downtown without parents worrying about us.  A world with cute boys like Shaun Cassidy who we could dream about.

I'd love to hear about your childhood crushes, don't be shy! Who's poster was hanging up in your locker, lol?

Happy New Year

hello everyone, Happy New Year! It is my wish that 2011 brings you all everything your heart desires. I wish you much prosperity, perfect health, happiness, and unconditional love. May 2011 be the best year ever!

Is anyone making any New Year's resolutions? I haven't thought about it too much, since I tend to break every  one I make, lol!
However, just because you break your resolutions, doesn't mean you have failed. In fact, every day you wake up you have another opportunity to make any change you choose. So what if you eat a big piece of cheesecake when you said you were dieting? Tomorrow, you simply try again.
I like this gentle approach to change.  If we don't forgive ourselves when we fall down, who will?

This is a good time to reflect on 2010.  What I did was take a sheet of paper, write down all the wonderful things that have happened, and all the things I am grateful for. It was not a perfect year, as I did not exercise regularly, nor did I cut out sugar.  However, tomorrow morning is a fresh start, and another chance to make the changes that will improve my life.
How about you?

Nun painting

hi fellow bloggers! hope Santa was good to you this year, and if not, perhaps you were naughty, lol?
I see lots of you are getting hit with winter storms, please be safe, the roads can get brutal during blizzards. I'm going by memory, because I haven't seen a snowstorm in a couple of years, lol!

I thought I'd show you the painting I did for my sister's Christmas present. A few years ago I made a large folk art painting of nuns for her, and from then on, every year I would buy her a nun ornament for her tree.
My original idea was to paint 2 folk art nuns drinking coffee, but I couldn't get the sketch to look right. An image of a more gothic nun popped into my mind, so I changed direction, and here she is. My sister loved her! thank goodness, because I wasn't sure what I thought of it. I guess if you paint from the heart, it all works out for the best.

I haven't made  any resolutions for the New Year yet, but want to cut back on  sugar....well I went shopping today, and of course all the holiday chocolates were on sale half price. I walked away with 4 boxes, which I will call my emergency stash, haha! And if that's not bad enough, I went out with a friend just now, and picked up some more chocolate! See, this is why I don't do resolutions, lol!

Warm Holiday Blessings to you!

Hello dear blogging friends!
Christmas is such a magical time of year, but  it can also be  very hectic, with baking, cooking,  scrambling to find the perfect  gifts, fighting crowds in busy malls...and the million other things that can turn us into the Grinch. It's easy to get lost in all the chaos, and the lists of things to do, that you forget to stop, breath, and take in the wonder of the season. Let's be grateful for what we have in our lives, and the dear friends and loved ones who share in them.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays! My prayer is that you are blessed with happiness, and much peace.

 

hi everyone, I finished the work in progress painting from my last post. This is not quite what I had in mind. I planned to add red roses, but guess what, you cannot see red roses against red hair, lol! so I had to change my original idea, and added just one pink rose at the bottom. Oh well, not everything you try is going to come out as planned. So I just had fun and experimented, covering over the elements that didn't work. That's the beauty of mixed media on wood.


While I was on a mad hunt for a rose to stencil on her, I realized how much cool stuff I have that has never been used! I was looking through a clear container and it was filled with stencils, stickers, rub on letters, and other fun stuff. They were purchased for use in my art as well as my art journals (oops, they have been neglected, lol!).
A good New Year's Resolution will be to USE THEM UP, lol! and that includes all my Golden Fluid paints which I am 'saving' for when I'm a better artist. How silly is that? It's time to get out the good stuff, and have fun with it. So many supplies, so little time :-)


thanks for reading!

Work in Progress and another owl ACEO

hi friends, I thought I'd show you my latest work in progress, which has been sitting in my art room unfinished for a few weeks now. (sorry for the glare-it's evening).
Today I worked on her face, and must say, how relaxing the process is! I can blend, and layer skin colors for hours, and I don't notice the time passing.  I know exactly what the title of this one will be, and hopefully the finished painting will look as good as the one in my head, lol!

I'm winding down my Christmas themed ACEOs, since time is rapidly running out. This one was finished last night. I called it ''Can we keep him?"
They really are fun to do, and for those of you who haven't tried them, they are extremely addictive. If you don't know what an ACEO is, it is a small artwork you create, no larger than a baseball card. You can use any technique you desire. The sky is the limit, and the best thing is, they are much quicker than paintings, well, usually they are quicker. I've had many that took over 2 or 3 hours, since I love adding tiny details,and I'm quite finicky about making sure everything is perfect. Something I need to loosen up on, lol!

If you read my blog you may have heard my wishing for snow. Well, last night we did get a little, maybe a few inches, after it had rained all day,  and we were expecting the temperature to drop rapidly over night. No big deal right? So this morning I bundled up, and left a couple of minutes early to warm up my car....problem was I couldn't get into my car. The doors had frozen shut, and there was no possible way to get in...I'm one of the 2 people responsible for opening my building in the morning so it's important that I get there. I was one minute from going inside and calling my boss to say I couldn't come in, when the door finally opened. This is what happens when you have a flash freexe. I won't even tell you how long it took to scrape the ice off my windows, but will say it was quite the workout first thing in the morning, lol! So if you hear my complaining that we're not getting any snow, remind me of my not-so-fun start to the day...or send me a virtual kick in the pants, lol!

thanks for reading

Montreal shopping, and a Free Vintage image for you

 hi friends, a few days ago we got back from our annual shopping trip to Montreal. It's only 2 days, but we certainly shopped till we dropped, lol! This year was the best one ever. I was hoping for snow, but as the train pulled in, it was dry. However, within a few hours of our arriving, it started to snow, and snow, and snow...how perfect, a snowstorm while we were there, and it was still going on when we left.
I wish I took more photographs of the streets though. They were simply beautiful.

 

Lots of pretty displays in store windows to see...

There was a giant buddha in a store. Did you know that you are supposed to rub a buddha's belly for good luck, lol?

It was the perfect little trip, got lots of Christmas shopping done, and enjoyed good food and good sights.

I made a couple more ACEOs(small art, size of a baseball card) this past week. This one was my favorite, I put it up on Ebay last night as a Buy it Now, and woke up to it being sold.  Time is running out, so I'm happy this buyer will have it before Christmas.

I haven't added any free vintage images from my collection for a while, so I dug up this Christmas post card from 1910 for you to download, and use in your art. Click on the photo to make it larger, then download.

Well, that's it for now, I need to make a few more ACEOs, then watch a Christmas movie.

thanks for reading!

Hey, chill out!

                        Have yourself a Whimsical little Christmas

hi friends, first I thought I'd show you some Christmas eye candy. I made a treasury on Etsy for the young at heart. I love everything here! If you want a closer look at these talented artists click here to go to the treasury.
It's made up of cute and whimsical stuff to give as gifts, or keep for yourself, lol!

Well, we are in the first week of December, and before you know it, Christmas will be here, and then the New Year. I can't say I have accomplished what I wanted to this year, but isn't that belief pretty typical? We rarely think we have done enough. Must be the society we live in that keeps telling us to do more, be more, have more, buy more, no wonder so many people are stressed around this time of year.  I think we can all use a little break from the insanity.

A helpful tip is to take at least 15 minutes each day, to just sit, breathe, and recharge yourself.  Take slow, deep breaths, and concentrate on your breathing. On the inhale when your lungs are filled, hold your breath for a few seconds, then exhale. Your mind will wander but stick with it. After each exhale, feel your body sinking deeper into your chair. Keep your eyes closed, unclench your jaw, and soften your facial muscles.
After a few moments, you will realize that the chatter in your mind has slowed down, and you feel so good. Continue as long as you desire, and when you open your eyes, you may find yourself smiling and at peace.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.  In fact, if you are sitting on your computer reading this, what a perfect time to take a few moments  and see if it's true, or if I am full of crap.
And don't say you can't spare 15 minutes for yourself.
YOU are the most important person in your life, and don't you forget it :-)

love ya!