From Start to Finish...

The bottom face of an oven door

8" X 30" taped and gessoed, then sanded..

papers, chosen for collage...

white paint rubbed lightly over the collage papers...

paint applied...oooh, getting close here...

outside photo

inside photo...

it's going to read, in teeny tiny letters...

"he wasn't lonely anymore..."

How 'Bout This and How 'Bout THAT!

i'm taking alissa burke's sketching and drawing class right now...this was A first...i didn't have watercolors, so i watered down my acrylics...it was such fun, though quite imperfect...and am learning learning loving LEARNING!

i might retire soon, so while i have a paying job, i've been taking these classes and wow what a TRIP!!!

a shadow casts itself across this collage i did during misty's class, STRETCHING FROM WITHIN.

IT was quite an experience, the entire class! and this, i know, i will do again... attempting a portrait.. can't wait!

this is a painting that is in my friend miz katie's journal.

we collaborated, but are not done yet..it has been so wonderful, we will probably share when we ARE done.

she has a painted page of this "mrs. crow" in her journal now...but i couldn't just let her fly away that easily :))!

i printed her on silk then incorporated her into modeling paste and paint. this is on a fabric remnent and was an experiment... such fun and turned out wonderful...that doesn't always happen with experiments, eh?!

"little annie", cutting while painting...as of yet...she will NOT use glue to paste items to her paintings...she will ONLY use paint as the glue...this tickles me pink..(which is her fav color so far with red thrown in)

she did her first collage this wednesday without any prompts...and she was so INTENT on cutting, she only asked for help a couple of times...

her favorite sentence...ME DO IT!!! how can ya' not LOVE that, when it comes to art, especially!!!

MEANWHILE.. at work...

Two of my little "noodle monsters"

Gracie

Sydney

IF OUR WORLD WERE ONLY BLACK AND WHITE???

i tried to get good photos of my framed painting...i took these photos on the gallery wall, just couldn't do her justice...she is one of my fav's, plainly beautiful and then richard framed her plainly beautiful :)) !!! THE WORDS WERE OUT...

HER VOICE WAS GETTING STRONGER

an altered photo of OUR GIRL...inside lighting was horrible, but she is my ADORABLE, inside and out!

REAL COLORS OF THE SKY

appreciation

OAK...one sunny day!!!

COLORS IN THE HOUSE

the sun showed it's lovely face for about 5 days out of 2 months, to let this beauty finally show her colors!!!

From the inner sanctum of myself...misty asked us to paint with all our passion and soul...

i've been stretching...

WEDNESDAY'S WITH ANNIE and SHARING OUR GIFTS

SHARING THEIR FOOD

i'll be back to the land of blogging soon i hope...i miss perusing all your wonders and sharing our lives...soon!

Annie--Collage Painting--Sundown

this is my new painting partner...every wednesday...for a few hours before i run off to work...her name is ANNIE! she lives next door...while her mama goes to work in her older children's classrooms, annie and i go to town with our paint!!!

i just finished this for a friend that asked me to make a wine hanger...it's a miracle i got it done, while trying to work on my lessons...! this can be enlarged twice to really appreciate it and read the words.

Thursday night sundown...couldn't resist to take more photos again...soo beautiful!

Backgrounds, Samplers, WIP, and oops my chair!!

catch those faces on the flowers...kinda looks that way, huh?!

i know emelie will see them :)) !!!

OOPS...i noticed today the back of my chair...

and i say...i don't give a care..

i'm all grown up and get to paint... ANYWHERE!

Sorry i can't tell any secrets, as it's what misty's class is about...all i can say again, is...

i am STRETCHING, LEARNING, LEARNING and having FUN!!! and wanting

to SHARE SHARE SHARE!!!

P.S. i don't know how to edit out that extra double photo...there's always something, eh?

Thank you Yael, rachel, joanne rose, objekte-aus-ton, buffy diane emelie and jane for your great posts here! xoxo

Moving along in misty's class...working hard as i said, and not visiting everyone right now...plus the "life" things going on...i want to remember this on my blog and share as well.

judy wise left a message at the end of her blog lately and i loved it..."Remember as you go about your day that we who create are part of the solution for what ails the planet. We are kind, we share, we encourage and nurture. We are powerful. Pass it on."

we were to sketch one of our body parts...so as you can probably tell..i held my hand and arm up in front of my face, with a blouse on and sketched away...a very good learning experience!!

this was a trial of using abosolutely only 3 primary colors. i didn't love the outcome but it was an excellent learning experience...oh, and we could NOT use white...i was almost at a total loss...lol!

Now this was my very FIRST "still life"

MORE GOOD WORK AHEAD...

i've been working really hard, painting, writing painting writing...lots of writing in stephanie's journaling class and much excavation there.
and in misty's class we are sketching, painting and writing. so, please forgive me for not reading your blogs...i will later for sure...i just want to get and do as much as possible while there is time in my life.
the painting below is one of my favorites that i have kept and am going to frame some day. it too, has a poem on it, fairly similar to this one.
this poem is our latest written prompt from misty..."i am the.." . i just posted on our private fb page, joining others with their special poems. i feel so connected to many of YOU, my blogging friends and supporters...so am honoring you as well in this poem at the end, "thee" is YOU. XO


i am the:
THREAD that holds family together
i am WOVEN with many colors...
many kinds:
cotton, nylon, mesh, satin and embroidered by the cement in my life

i am the:
knotted, curled, crocheted, and straightened threads that add ccolor to other threads

sometimes wet--sometimes dry
filled with static--smoothed out evenly
straight, crooked, crinkled, flat, bumpy, sparkly and surreal

i am the:
THREADS tied and untied
wound around a finger or a spool,
on the sewing machine or laced between rows.
sometimes, i am sewn into pretty french knots
and sometimes i am found on the floor as a remnant

i wrap myself with me
i have control of where i'll be
but never the same on any given day!
i am the many colored threads of THEE...

THANK YOU ALL FOR DROPPING IN, LEAVING ME WONDERFUL NOTES FROM THE HEART, LAUGHING WITH ME AND SUPPORTING ME!!!

I'LL BE BACK!

i might be gone for a little while...i am taking misty mawn's class, STRETCHING FROM WITHIN and i was lucky and won a journaling class with stephanie lee, so....

Pea Soup and 40 Degrees....

See this ORB...this is about all we've seen of it for days and days...no, it's not the moon...it's actually the sun!

This is when the sun tried so hard to come all the way out one day...it never made it...this was a very brief (YAY) moment!!!

this is not an island...this is an idea of how the fog has rolled in of late...we can't even see this beautiful chunk of land today...

He showed Heidi what it was like at the top of the mountain...she liked it!

Out with the OLD / In with the NEW!

She's been hanging on our wall, without this change of hair...she was going to the gallery, but each time i looked at her, there was something that wasn't right...well, i knew it was her hairdo and she was framed and waiting...so i printed out two little pics of her on paper and painted new "do's" and went for it...and so glad i did! i am ALWAYS amazed at how afraid i am to put the brush to something that was supposedly DONE! learning this lesson again and again...

Richard pulled through with an exquisite frame...

i'm thinkin' about keeping him!annnd...i am going to darken her hair a bit more after seeing this post!

she was given a better head of hair

oldie moldie hairdo