Inspiration Avenue Challenge

Inspiration Avenue's challenge this week has been Fairies. I decided to join in, because I figured - "Here's something I can do." After some agonizing days with no results, finally, today I was able to complete a painting using watercolors. It was frustrating to have nothing to show all week for my efforts. I'm so glad that this little one emerged from my brush.

She's inspired by a bookmark I have from the Boston Ballet advertising Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream.

Watercolor Again!

Well, my friends and visitors,

I decided to explore some watercolor again.

Here are the results...

some notecards.

Watercolor is so much fun.

It's quick, adaptable to many subjects

and satisfying.

I even decorated the back of each of these cards :)!

Until I get a chance to create some more,

enjoy the week!

AEDM Check-in, November 15

Celebration!

I thought it would be fun and relaxing to do a quick little painting today. I'm going to a "girls only" birthday party for my hubby's Aunt Carol. She's just a couple of years older than he is and they went to high school together. I always thought that was remarkable.
I decided to do a watercolor sketch. I painted a cupcake tree, coffee pot and balloons. It all came out rather spontaneously. Even though we don't have an outdoor party planned, it will be fun to see all of the cousins (female of course) and Aunties in this huge Irish family.

AEDM Check-in, November 14

Well, I guess everyone has to have those days.
How about a week?
After a week of work on my latest painting, it's so sad to say that I will not use it.
At first I tried to make a textured background using watercolor. The colors were disappointing and grey looking. I added some salt to create texture but it did not have the effect I wanted.


Next, I decided to paint the illustration without the background and while the painting is progressing, it does not have the fun movement of the other works I had posted earlier in the month.
The illustration looks better online than the actual image. It just looks static

I know that if I were working digitally, I could correct a lot of it painlessly. But with this computer, I don't think that is a possibility.

I'm just going to put both aside for now and revisit them later. I might find another way to use the background and the figures.

Art Every Day Month Day 8

Here is an image of my almost completed picture. There are some finishing touches that I want to add, but most of the work on the figures is completed.
I found a really nice quote from Mother Theresa that I might use inside:
...It is Christmas every time you smile at your brother and offer him your hand
I think it's just perfect for this illustration.
Maybe tomorrow I'll head over to the print shop in Kingston to see what they can do with the whole card idea.
I might make some copies of my newest paintings to sell at the Marketplace at Feathers Wellness Studio.
It's so exciting to finally have something finished enough so that the project can be completed. I can't wait to figure out what's coming next in this series.

Art Every Day Month Day 7

It's been a couple of busy days since I last wrote about my work. Believe me, both days were filled with important stuff. I did get a chance to work on my art cards, although the latest one still isn't finished. I thought I would share a work-in-progress as I plug along.
In keeping with my holiday theme, I wanted these angels to have colorful outfits. Several issues came up as I was working.

~A friend asked: what will I write inside? I had not thought
about the inside yet. I want it to be spiritual and uplifting.

~The details are coming along slowly because I'm using
10X14 inch paper. Faces and fingers are tiny.

~I have to talk to a printing company about reproducing these
as cards(not really a big problem).

~How will I package them for sale?

~ Other computer/internet-related questions.

The process is fun - watching these angel spirits evolve.

Soon, I'll post a finished product! Woo - Hoo!!!

Art Every Day Month Day 3

Ocean Angel
I just finished a new painting of a dancing angel. I do have several other sketches started as well. When I spoke to my daughter about this project, she suggested that I try to make the angels ethnically diverse to represent every race. Now, that's a challenge.
I'm still researching this idea, but I did work on this angel. I love her motion. There are some things I struggle with, especially shading.

Art Every Day Month

Leah Piken Kolidas has begun her AEDM challenge for 2009 today. I decided to join the challenge this year and do something creative every day and post it on my blog. I hope this is the big nudge I'll need to post more often. I seem to put that off a bit.
Here are my first creative efforts for the month. I'm going to sell some of my work at a marketplace at Feather's Wellness Studio in Weymouth later in November. Of course, I want to have some new pieces to offer. After a lot of planning and thinking, I have decided to create some new designs to offer as prints and cards.These sketches (very faint, I know) were part of my planning. I want figures moving or dancing. (a lot of joy). Next, I made some of them into angels.The results were pretty good. So, I decided to add color to a couple of them.
I like to work in watercolor and colored pencil. The results are promising; although, I would love more detail. This is going to be a work in progress, so I'll let you know every day.

Tide Pool

This is so exciting. I finished this collage painting, finally,

today.

It is to be a wedding gift for one of my former students

who was married a couple of weeks ago.

I really tried several different designs

before this one came to me.

It's a combination of several

ideas that I had.

It seemed to work the best for the shells

that I had painted.

Her Mom told me that they both love

anything to do with the ocean.

So I figured that a tide pool of shells

with a few additions

would work.

I'm going to try a dark colored mat for it

and a simple frame.

Ill take a picture of the completed

composition in a day or two.

Sunshine Blessings

This painting is a gift that

I created for my niece.

She just had a new baby and I decided produce a painting for her.

I wanted a lullabye, but she said "You Are My Sunshine" is a favorite song of hers.

She described the baby as her Sunshine and joy.

So, I used the words from that song as the inspiration for the picture.

The piece is too large to scan at home, so I took a picture of it.

The result is that it looks angled and the quality is a bit off.

I wanted to post it before I bundle it off to her.

Dolci

Here is the final product of my painting efforts.

I love the colors

and I'm really not going to add anything else.

I may or may not use it for my header.

I think I'll play some more before I decide.

I'm really glad that I finished it

My Header

Well, I did a painting for my header, but...I don't think it's finished enough. Here's a preview:

The border needs some work, and I think the details can be better. I spent as much time on it last night as I could. I went to Yoga and had to go to Staples for my Hubby. Those breaks actually gave me some time to get a fresh look at everything.

It's ok, but not quite what I envisioned. If anyone reads this, please let me know what you think. I can redo it, or use parts of it in a new composition or even a collage.

Right now, I'm going to the store for some groceries. Later, I'll approach it again with fresh eyes.

For now, I have placed one of my favorite photos from last summer in the header.

I'll be back.

Lighthouse on the Maine Coast

While I did use an actual photograph of the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine to compose this illustration, I decided to improvise a bit with the style and details of the setting. My Niece wanted a painting for her dorm room. I decided to give her both this painting and the one of the stone railroad bridge (below). I photographed this one while it was in progress, but there were very few details left to complete. Both paintings were great fun to compose. Getting them up on my blog has taken longer than I'd like.

I keep hoping I'll get better at uploading my work and publishing to my blog.

Railroad Bridge

This illustration is done in watercolor and colored pencil of the stone bridge on Dean St. in Norwood. I was pleased with the way that it came out. Rather than pay a lot of money to have it scanned, I photographed the original using my Pentax *istDL SLR Digital Camera. This camera is a marvel! It is an amazing tool.