Thursday, June 30, 2011

A Finished Project: and I got paid! Woohoo!

A while back I had a post called Straight Lines.  It was about how much I struggle with straight lines, especially when painting. I prefer flowy and out of the boundaries kind of lines.
It was a project I was commissioned for and I finally finished it.  It is now hanging up in the business in town, for all to see.  It's very exciting.  And, he wants me to do one more painting to add to this, on another wall.
Anyway, here it is.  He asked if I could paint some of the historical buildings from our town, kind of like a skyline with more details.



Have a lovely day!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Punk, I mean Pink!


The color of the week is PINK!  for the Summer of Color blog event.  There are so many fantastic and creative blogs that have joined in for this event.

For my week of pink, I really didn't have any exact ideas of what I wanted to do.  The first things that popped in my head were, bunnies, cherry blossoms, Spring and owls.  Where this picture came from, I'm not entirely sure.  I started with the profile of the girl and it evolved from there.  I always enjoy drawings that just evolve as I go.   
  
Because she is a bit of a punk, I decided to add a little Steam Punkness to her.
Her nose stud actually matches the one I am currently wearing.  A little white flower with a pink center.  
I wanted her to have something that was somewhat vintage, to show her softer more nostalgic side.   
Have a wonderful week!  

Friday, June 24, 2011

Fireflies and Glowing Eyes


For this weeks The Summer of Color
the color we are to work with is GREEN!
Instead of adding many shades of green to my drawing,
 I decided to keep it simple and sketch it out in 
pencil no. 2 and just add hints of green.
I love the color green and my thoughts immediately
 went to fireflies, as this is the season for them.  
On my evening walks, there are thousands of them
 all along the sides of the roads, twinkling like stars.  It's magical.  
My apologies for the picture quality, my phone camera isn't uber spectacular. 
If you're interested in participating in The Summer of Color, click on the link and come join us, as we color the summer in many beautiful shades.  
Thank you Kristen for putting this all together, it's so inspiring.

On a side note, I finished a WIP.  I really hadn't planned to, but as I pulled out my sketchbook, I saw this waiting for me.  After a week of blue and then green, I knew what this picture needed to be complete.    

Mrs. Peacock
Enjoy the lovely weekend my friends!


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Tag....You're It!!


Tara, who is awesome and you should visit her, tagged me and now I'm it.  
I'm certain I was laughing, I can never get away when that happens.
Now to answer the questions and tag a few other fellows.


1) What's the first thing you do in the morning?  Make coffee and hopefully go for a walk.   

2) How old do you feel?  Most of the time, very young.  I am young at heart, so I think that helps.  A lot of the people I spend time with are in their 20's, that also helps.  

3) What's your sign and does the description match your personality?  
Taurus:  Patient, practical, dedicated, passionate, romantic, sensitive.  I think that suits me fairly well.


4) How do you like your caffeine?  Lots of flavored creamer and raw sugar.  YUM!  Oh, whip cream is always nice.  


5) Favorite cartoon character?  Hmmm....that's a tough one.  I love Shaggy from Scooby Doo, he's just so groovy.  But I also love Linus, how can you not love someone who believes whole heartedly in The Great Pumpkin?






Now to chase down a few fellow citizens....
You're It!  (I'm tagging all guys, when I gave out the Sweet awards,  I gave them all to girls)
I'm an equal opportunity blogger


Zade is my oldest son.  He just started his blog, so I thought a good tagging would help him to meet some people.  He writes, draws, plays music and has a slightly dark, sarcastic humor.  He's pretty amazing.  Pop over and welcome him to the blog world.  


Bryce is a writer and a poet and in the past two weeks has become a friend.  Check out his awesome blog, it is very lively and a pleasure to read.  


Mojo is a man of many very interesting pieces of information.  I enjoy reading through his posts and coming away feeling very educated.   Go by and introduce yourself.  You'll be glad you did.  


Mike is a writer.  He writes in a smooth, very relateable way.  You can read bits of his novel and follow his journey in writing.  Stop by and meet him.  


That concludes my being "IT"  Which is good, because I am beginning to fall asleep.   
Good Night every one!  Pleasant dreams!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Blue Moon


I am participating in Kristen's lovely Summer of Color event.
I am a wee bit late getting started.  I am just now posting for last week's color 
Blue.  If you're interested in joining in, check out her blog and sign up.  You can join week by week, she has awesome giveaways and if you'd simply like to just browse, you can see who is taking part and visit their creative blogs.  
My blue!
I named this Blue Moon, even though the moon looks more orange and red.
Recently, as the moon was heading for the horizon, it was very orange and almost redish.  My boys and I have been taking late night walks up the hill, to watch the moon.  The redness of the moon seems to only happen, once in a blue moon.
For awhile, I've been really wanting to try out collage, but haven't gotten to it.  
With this picture, I got creative and used my new business cards to make the trees on the left.  Shortly after having 1,000 cards printed up, we found out we are moving, so what does one do with so many cards.  Throwing them away seems wasteful.  I've decided to use them in pictures.  They are after all, cards for the art studio and art lessons where I was teaching.  Seems fitting.  Even more so for this picture, since it was The Blue Box and all the colors on the cards were blue!
Well friends, I hope you have a happy and not blue week!  
I will hopefully be posting my "green" picture before the week is out.


Saturday, June 18, 2011

The Sweetest Award!


Thank you, Bryce!

Yesterday, I was given this awesomely yummy award by
If you've not yet met him or visited his blog, I definitely recommend you do so.
He is a groovy dude.  You will enjoy his writing, pictures (both past and present) and his wittyness, which comes in generous doses.  Please pop on over and get to know him, you'll be glad you did.
Bryce, thank you, thank you, thank you!   :)

And now, a few sweet rules:




1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
2. Include 7 random tidbits about yourself.
3. Pass award on to 5 others and link to their blogs.
4. Let the people know you've given them the award.  



Seven Random Tidbits:
(And because I'm a visual person, I'm adding pictures!) 

1. Running makes me laugh, being chased makes me laugh even harder. 
(sorry, I have no pictures for this one)
2. I met my husband at the Olive Garden.

3. I prefer stormy/cloudy days over sunny days.

4. I buy my shoes in the kids department.

5. We had a pet squirrel once.  His name was Peanut, 
we raised him from a baby.

6. I adore events that require you to dress up, 
our last potluck was Super Hero themed.

7.  I've recently come to realize that Neil Diamond's greatest hits, is like the soundtrack for my childhood.


And there you have it!  Me, in a random nutshell!

Just Desserts:
And now to pass this lovely award on to 5 other sweet bloggers.

Firstly, to Robin, she was one of the first bloggers I met and she is definitely very sweet. She too, is an artist and is also on the road to writing and discovery.  She's fantastic and I have truly enjoyed getting to know her better. 

Next is Noemi, whom I also adore.  She lives in Spain and makes gorgeous jewelry that she sells on Etsy.  She is a lovely and tremendously sweet spirit.  

Tara is the epitome of sweet.  Her blog is full of poetry, tidbits of very useful information, flash fiction, comics and jokes.  She is bright and sunny, and always makes sure to share her bit of sunshine with everyone.    

Kristen is a blogger that I've very recently met.  She is hosting the Summer of Color, which I'm hoping to participate in, but have yet to.  Her blog is filled with goodies for the eyes and the soul.  She is very talented and her blog is also rather informative.  I'm loving it.  

Daniele has an amazing blog, filled with her gorgeous artwork, passion, photography and wonderful honesty.  I've only just found her blog, but I truly admire her boldness and creativity.  

It was difficult to choose only 5 blogs to pass this on to.  Please take a moment to check them all out, they're all filled with beauty, passion and sweetness.  
I'm certain you will enjoy them as much as I do.  

Have a sweet weekend and to all of you dads out there, 
A very happy and wonderful Father's Day to you!  







Thursday, June 16, 2011

Steam Punk Whimsy

Time Piece
Flowered Gears
Ready to Fly
These drawings were done in watercolor pencil and black ink pen.

This is my version of Steam Punk. It's a funky style that I love... movies, fashion, art, it's all very cool. I wanted to give it a whirl and this is what I came up with. A great example of Steam Punk in a movie, was Wild Wild West.




Hope your day is spectacular and whimsical!!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Something old and something new!


I drew this a couple of years ago.  I love birds and like to sit and watch them out my windows.  I've always wanted to hold a bird in my hand and kiss it on the head, but they're probably not fond of being smooched by random redheads.  

Tea Time
This picture is much more recent.  I drew this a couple of weeks ago.  I was inspired to draw this from a sculpture I was making, which I left at the art studio and have yet to finish.  I should probably get back to that and share a bit more about that project, but for the moment, I'm in procrastination mode.  This picture is a combination of black ink pen and watercolor pencils.  

Sieze the day and have a cup of tea!!  

Saturday, June 11, 2011

A Pen For A Dream

I was asked to paint a pen and wasn't really sure what I should paint, but this is what I came up with.  Aside from painting this pen, this project has nothing to do with me.  I am more than happy to help out and be a very small part of this hopefully huge and exciting project/adventure.  Thank you Brian, for the awesome opportunity!




A Pen for a Dream is an experiment, a chance, a hope. It’s dipping my toe into the world of snowball bartering and seeing how wet it gets. In the spirit of One Red Paperclip, there is the hope of a final goal, but what’s more important is the journey, seeing where this leads, all the crazy places it might go. Adventure is the game, and the prize at the end is still a long way off.  
To read more and follow along, check out Brian and his awesome adventure.  He's doing a few other cool things too!  Have a spectacular day!!

Monday, June 6, 2011

It's All Fun and Games Blogfest




It’s All Fun & Games Blogfest, June 6, 2011 - list your three most favorite games and why. Board games, card games, RPG, video games, physical games, drinking games - even mind games! If it’s a game you enjoy playing, it’s worth sharing.


It's a little late into this day, but I am going to play anyway, since I love, love, love games!  They have been a very fun and memorable part of our family.  From the tradition of playing Scrabble and Life on the Farm at grandma's, to the chocolate milk tidal wave that destroyed our Life.  So, here are a few of my favorites! Thank you, Alex alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com


The Game is Afoot!!


Cribbage is my all time favorite game.  It's a great conversational game.  My son and I love to play it in the mornings with coffee and toast.  It always inspires interesting conversations.  It's a lot of fun to play with couples too.  




Hugger Mugger has been a family favorite for many years.  We love the variety it has.  Spelling, Vocabulary, Quotes, Sayings, Rhyming, Scrambled Words.  If you are a wordsmith, you will definitely enjoy this game.  




221 B. Baker St.  My mother-in-law bought this game for us when she was visiting London, many years ago. 221 B. Baker St. is Sherlock Holmes address, so this is a clue like game, for adults.  We've had a wonderful time solving mysteries over the years.  I think we have enough extension packs to last us a lifetime.  I guess we aren't solving mysteries often enough. I should probably go.....The game is afoot, after all!