My forever LOVES...

I have been involved in creating art since I can remember. When I was younger faces fascinated me and I always wanted to get better at drawing them. As I got older my love of realistic portrait art grew. It has stuck with me and it has been my first love in the realm of art since a very early age. I have taught myself many aspects and techniques in using colored pencils to create realistic images. It has been and still is a wondrous journey. I am constantly impressed by what I am capable of when it comes to portraits. Each piece has made me better in some way.

Recent portrait - Hair study

The second art-induced love of mine is zentangles. I have tried many different ways of getting these doodles and designs onto paper. I have tried black/white pen on scrapbook paper, pages of books, transparency paper, with washi tape boundaries, etc. My newest creations deal with doodles on top of watercolor. This is my favorite thus far, but it is an ever-changing infatuation.

Large venture into zentangles

Zentangle on scrapbook paper

Zentangle with Sepia pen and white gel pen on scrapbook paper

Zentangle and Washi tape

Zentangle and Washi tape

Zentangles on top of watercolor circles

Zentangles on watercolor stripes

Zentangle on watercolor doodles
Work in progress...

My third infatuation in the art world has been ‘hearts’. Just the simple heart shape has been a love of mine since my high school years. I have always wanted to create a series of interesting hearts. My thought process was “that’s childish” or “no one will want/care about hearts”. Well, I am taking a stab at this and I cant even explain the joy that this has brought on. I created one and the process was so relaxing and enjoyable that I have created 3 pieces total! I have been pulling from some of my favorite song lyrics and adding them to the pieces. I just LOVE them!!

(Yes, this is the unfinished piece that I showed in my last post)
"The truth never set me free, so I did it myself"
Beautiful Truth

"I believe there is hope buried beneath it all"

Work in progress...

It just goes to show that no matter what anyone thinks or what you believe they will think you should do what makes you happy. Sounds silly at first, but not everyone is going to like your work and everyone will have their own opinions. Im so glad that I am taking a chance and using new/old mediums that make me happy!

Putting in the WORK...

I was finally able to do a little bit of designing and experimenting last night and today. After all of the organizing the reality of having a clean space has hit me. I have been dying to CREATE! Last night i had an idea just pop into my head while cleaning up my drawing table. I have been wanting to experiment further with transparency paper after doing portraits with elementary students last year. I loved the experience and the simple images that came from drawing on transparencies. I knew i wanted to do something small, so i chose to work with something on hand...those precious photos i found while working on my sons' project! I traced the image from a photo and chose scrapbook paper for the background. I chose washi tape to add around three of the sides to keep the image in place.

8" x 10" image from 2013

4" x 4" image of Lil Roli

Today I decided to take a different route. I have been wanting to paint/collage, so I chose a color inspiration picture from pinterest.

Color Inspiration thanks to Pinterest

I got out my paint and set up my area with a gorgeous view to keep me motivated.

Snowy day

 This is the last photo of the day. Not sure where i will take this piece tomorrow but i am certainly loving it! Another snow day ahead of us and nothing to hold me back.

Love the COLORS!!

I did add some paintings to my etsy shop, so make sure to drop by there and take a look.

BETTER Beginnings...

After two years away I am choosing to begin again and start sharing the joy that I feel while creating. My artwork has taken a wonderful turn and I am in love with drawing, acrylic/watercolor painting, designing, sketching, and zentangles more than I have ever been. My first challenge has been to reorganize my Art Room. It was a complete disaster, so I started by purchasing some new organizing systems for my closet. Thank you Michaels for the wonderful sale!

Turned out PERFECT!

Now I will give you an idea of what I was up against. Its EMBARRASSING how bad it gets in this room sometimes. It ends up being the catch-all room, if I am not using my work spaces appropriately. I am lucky enough to have recently added a table specifically for painting. This way I can keep my drawing area clean at all times and I don't have to move things around each time i want to work with a different medium. I can also have more than one project going on in different mediums, which tends to be a time-saver when paintings need some time to dry or when I need a break from one piece of artwork.

Complete disarray

Alright, so you may be thinking..."thats not THAT bad". Well, imagine the fact that I have been side-stepping all of these obstacles on the floor rather than actually moving them out of the way. That is usually how things end up encircling the room and when outlying areas are full the middle of the room is the only spot left to start piling things up. Well, needless to say it took time and I do have some more organizing to do, since my drawing table still has paperwork all over it. I will just applaud the fact that even those piles are separated and ready to be moved to their rightful place. 

Could NOT be HAPPIER!!

Along with doing this SUPER fun task I had to create my sons "About Me" poster to be hung in the hallway of his school next week. He has waited ALL year for his turn and he knew what he wanted. He was so excited to look through his baby photos and pick the best images. This in itself was a daunting task and that doesn't even include the cropping of photos, printing, cutting out photos, allowing him to make his drawings, adding my own designs, and adding the captions to his chosen photos. 

Roli's "About ME" poster 

I was pretty excited to be able to go through his baby pictures, too. I found some GREAT images that really sparked some ideas. Tomorrow is a whole new day and I am hoping to do some actual drawing or painting at some point.

Sheer silliness

Sheer Joy

Sweet smile

"Seriously?"

Busy

Those HANDS!