50 Canvases in 2014 -- Canvas #4

HA! Canvas #4 is finished many, MANY days EARLY!!! It helps that I started working on it while I was working on Canvas #3. What can I say, gesso takes a long ass time to dry.

This time around the challenge was issued to Let it Drip. And there was a audible sigh heard 'round the world when I read those words. If anyone remembers the non-success I had with the whole free form watercolors thing from Anti-Journal Week 2, you will understand why I sighed. LOL Again, time to (wo)man up and embrace the adventure. :D I did, however, go about the whole 'drip' thing in a different way this time around.



I really like her. Her wild, pink hair, the dripping 'rain', etc. The only thing I'm not super fond of is the words. I like them, I'm don't love them. I wish that the pictures showed more true to the actual painting. She's really pretty. LOL

Anyway, there's my Canvas #4. Finished. DAYS ahead of schedule. :D If you would like to join in the 50 Canvases Challenge with me and the others that are participating, just check out the post on Wonderstrange for details.

I can't wait to see what's next!

50 Canvases in 2014 -- Canvas #3

So, I learned a few things about myself with this third canvas. The challenge was to do something dimensional. Sarah's example is AMAZING. Mine, not so much. I like it. I don't love it. I may work on it some more. Maybe. I'm just not a huge fan of it. I was, however, a huge fan of using up some of the 'stuff' I have laying around here. That was awesome. Destashing feels great sometimes. And, BONUS, I have completed 3 canvases :D



It needs more of something. I've haven't figured out what yet. I'm thinking some black paint and maybe some glitter. Hell, everything's better with black paint and glitter. Pretty sure I might just be seeing what that does for me tomorrow. Yep. Pretty dang sure.

Anyway, if you would care to join in on the 50 Canvases in 2014 Challenge, you can check out the details HERE on the Wonderstrange blog. And I will definitely be posting the end result of my alterations to Canvas #3 when it is finished. ;)

50 Canvases in 2014 -- Canvas #2

Oddly enough, I'm not super great on the follow thru when it comes to things like running commitments that have no necessary deadlines or don't absolutely have to be done. I have so much going on that if it is not an absolute must do, I just never manage to stick with it. Which brings me to the WHOO HOO! of it all.
Say it with me -- I FINISHED MY SECOND CANVAS OF THE 50! Unh Huh! That's right!

Anyway, enough of that. LOL For the second week, Sarah (the Wonderstrumpet) challenged us to use something that we have never used before for this week's canvas. You can check out the original post over at the Wonderstrange blog. While you're over there, check out some of the other awesomeness going on. Ann made a cute little crochet headband. The canvas Sarah made for week 3 is AWWWWWWWEEEEESOME! Every single week Ann lists a new way to decorate your house with all the amazing artwork you create. Etc. Seriously, these amazing artists are working their tales off sharing what they know and challenging everyone to be their creative best. As well as operating their own businesses and taking care of their families. They ROCK so hard.

Back to the canvas showing!

This week, for the challenge, I used something I had never used before. Taking inspiration from Sarah's circus family canvas, I used duct tape and tiny trim tapes to mask off sections of the canvas I had prepped with a coat of matte white acrylic. I've never used tape in my painting before and found out that there is a bit of a learning curve. Perhaps I just didn't use the right one, but there was A TON of 'cleaning up' around the edges that I had to do after it had dried because the paint had bled under the edges of the tape. So, using it for stripes that don't need exact definition, probably okay. Using it for crisp, defined lines, not so much. LOL Whatevs. I survived.

And I LOVE my little Goth girl! Especially her little ear :D

The text on the left is a verse from the song 'American Pie' by Don Mclean. I have always loved that song, even with it being 9 minutes and a million verses long. It gives me goosebumps and makes me tear up every single time I listen to it. So, I spent about 9 hours searching thru pages of text for the words to one of the verses (and using cut out letters to make the words that the pages didn't have). It was truly a labor of love and I am so pleased with the way it turned out.


I know the pictures aren't super great (she doesn't look that 'harsh' in real life LOL) but I can't figure out how to make them any different. LOL And, honestly, I get to look at the real thing every day, so I'm good with that.

If you want to join in the challenge (and I seriously think you should), check out Wonderstrange for the details. Sarah posts a new canvas post on Thursdays (Week 3 looks AWESOME, but it is going to be a 'break out of the box' challenge for sure. LOL). They post stuff every day of the week, so there's always something new. Look around, you're sure to find something to join in on. I promise. If you do join in one of the activities, be sure that you go back and post a link somewhere so that I can see it.

On to #3!

HeART Swap for Valentine's Day: An Artist Collaboration on MotherHenna

At the beginning of the month, I signed up for a swap that I found out about on Facebook. You can read about the details on the MotherHenna blog. I've participated in this kind of swap before and I have always been pleased with the results. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I have been able to join in on one of these (I always seem to just miss out on the sign ups). But I am super excited about the returns on this one. It's an amazing group of artists and I just know that I will be pleased with what I receive. Anything created from the heart is always wonderful.

Originally, I had intended to write a blog post illustrating how I went from

this:


to this:


However, I managed to forget to take photos of the steps as I went along. So, all I have are the photos of the finished project. LOL

Each one is a mixed media masterpiece featuring watercolor and acrylic painting, text elements, lots of sparkle, and loads of added texture. I really love these a lot and I'm hoping that the other 19 artists are pleased with them as well. I know they will be because these were created with HeART. Which was the whole point of the project. :D

Aren't they pretty. Yes, I do believe they are.


There are 19 other artists that have signed up for the exchange. If you want to check out the MotherHenna blog and see some of the other artists' work, you can click to see the blog and then scroll down and you will see each artist listed with their blogs if available.

Kids Clothing Week starts next week and so I'm busy pulling patterns and fabrics for sewing up some great stuff for the girls. I also have the 2nd canvas for my 50 Canvases almost finished and plans for the 3rd one. Just wait and see. :D

50 Canvases in 2014 -- Canvas #1

Last time I mentioned that I had decided to participate in the 50 Canvases in 2014 challenge over at Wonderstrange. I actually have a bunch of canvas paper and canvas boards and a couple of stretched canvases lying around just waiting to be painted on. So this challenge is actually perfect.

I just finished up the first of the 50 and I really like it. It even has the 3 stencils that Sarah gave as a challenge (Although you really can't see them. Other than the bubbles.) I did purposely cover one of them up completely because I HATED it that much. LOL The canvas itself was a stretch for me as it is larger than anything I've ever painted (11" X 14") before. Not only that, but the fact that I haven't painted more than just a couple of things in about 3 years made it a bit difficult (I'm sure that someone else would have breezed right thru and done a much better job, but this is my adventure. I'm going with it.) At one point, the oldest girlchild told me it looked like a 'cute ChibiSealMonkey'. Whatever that is. And I'm pretty sure I've heard enough "But where are her arms?", or some variation of that phrase, to last me a lifetime (I suck at arms. She's armless. I'm okay with that. It's my painting and I'll paint them if I want to. Which, I don't.)
Anyway, first one done. On to the next thing.



Again, the picture is not the greatest, but it's there. I say her expression looks sad, everyone else says it's probably 'cuz she has no arms. Whatever.

Next week the canvas is going to be much, much smaller. And the painting will be much, much differenter (What?!??! It's a word. I just said it. That makes it a word.)

Should anyone decide they want to join in, you are more than welcome to. Check out the challenge for details (and an awesome video by Sarah) and just jump right in. No worries, no pressure. :D

Patience Grasshopper

Oddly enough, I have actually been doing stuff. In fact, I have been really busy. I've been making plans and working on projects and getting things started.
So why does it feel like I am not accomplishing much of anything?

I think that everyone feels this way at some point in time. I have this huge list of things that I have planned out for my year, some projects will literally take the entire year to adventure thru, and I am working on several different things as we speak. I want to see the results of my planning and my working, but they are just not there yet. I am finding that sometimes adventuring requires patience. LOL

One of the year long projects I'm working on that I'm pretty dang excited about is 50 Canvases in 2014 For those of you that suck at math (like me :D) it breaks down to roughly 1 complete painting per week. Which is a fairly big deal for me 'cuz I haven't really painted a whole lot in the past several years and I have serious issues with commitment, so we'll see how it goes.
Also, because I totally love the women of Wonderstrange, I am going to attempt The Anti-Journal with Sarah. Again, not being a commitment oriented kind of person, I'm a little apprehensive about it. I am, however, totally committed to throwing myself into it 1000% and crashing and burning if that is what occurs. Hurray for the adventure!
I thought I might join in on the 100 Things to Draw When You're Bored 2014 edition but I'm not really talented in the drawing department. Perhaps if I am either really bored or really desperate I might start. Rest assured that, if I do officially add that to my plate, I will not be subjecting anyone's eyes to the trauma of viewing my doodles. LOL
I'm also signed up for a heART swap for Valentines over at MotherHenna. I've participated in artist collaborations over there before and they are so much fun. I actually have my 20 cards nearly finished and will be blogging about them shortly. I am super excited to see what the other participants have come up with. I really miss exchanging art with others, and it has been really fun to create something with heART.

On the non-art side of things (well, I guess it's still art, just a different type LOL), I am participating in Kids Clothes Week Jan 27th thru Feb 3rd. I know that it is supposed to be for the Winter session, but the girlchildren are not in need of any Winter clothing at this time. So, I'm going to sew for Spring/Summer because that is what they need. The youngest girlchild will likely end up with the majority of the items because she is the one that needs the most. The oldest will get some stuff, but not nearly as much because her closet is cram packed already.
I've also set myself up with the goal of sewing thru (or selling/giving away) a minimum of 200 yards of fabric this year. While it may seem like a ridiculously astronomical amount of fabric, I can assure you that I have plenty in my stash to complete that goal (and then some.) Every year I say that I want to sew more and I want to get my fabric under control (I'll post a picture of my stash later for reference). But I never manage to actually do it. I sew and I sew and I sew, but I also buy and I buy and I buy. So, less buying, more sewing (not no buying because that would just be too much to deal with. LOL)
There is also an 'UpCycle' contest over at SewingMamas that I have tentatively signed up for. I have no idea what I will be making for that, but it is due the 29th. I need to figure it out quickly so I can get started and finished and submitted. Especially with everything else that I'm already doing.

Then there's the list of books I want to read and recipes I want to try and a couple of other things that I am still fleshing out.

So, I have been busy. I'm not getting much completed, but I am working my ass off. And it actually feels pretty good. I think I kinda like it. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I do.