Journal Page . . . and

a slight change in plans: I said I would draw a name over the weekend but I have moved it up. I want to make sure I get it mailed by Tuesday so I picked the name (camera is recharging or I would show the 'hat' full of names, I used the lid to my CD/DVD holder) Wanda is the name I picked! So Wanda please send me your address and I will pop that journal in the mail. Thank you to everyone who participated in the give-away. There will be another one soon maybe in December--I have a plan: really! Meanwhile . . . here is my latest journal page. Have a great weekend! p.s. Somebody is turning 11 tomorrow. . . . . meow!

FRIENDSHIP JOURNAL

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I did-gorgeous weather, two power walks with dh and some quality time in my studio. TaDA! In honor of my wonderful and loyal blogging friends I have created a handmade journal to give away. Here are the "stats":

Size: 5.5" wide x 7.5" high (closed). 140 lb. Arches hotpress watercolor paper. Hand painted in watercolors, dyes and stencils. Theme: Friendship. Inside- 20 pages of bond paper-off white. 

I will say this: It looks better in person. Random splashes, rich colors and . . . texture of course. 
this is the back cover. How to win? Leave a comment during the week of 11-16 to 11-20 saying you'd like to have it. I will pick a name next weekend and notify the winner. Depending on the response, I may decide to make a few more. I had so much fun: buzzing around in my studio, listening to music and reflecting on how much I enjoy my on-line friendships. I have another surprise up my sleeve . . so stay tuned and have a great week!!

new TECHNIQUE

Well, it's new to me at least. I've been experimenting with my portrait techniques recently to get a realistic look but I want to add a little twist to 'make it my own' as we learned in Crusade # 31. So I did some shadow painting in blue and then went over it with gold. I think I'll try it again with some other color combos. Have a great weekend!

WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?

I'm participating in Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Street Team Crusade #35. Our prompt  for this month is What's Your Sign? Not zodiac but signs that remind and connect us with others. Check it out here and join us if you can!

My Dad loved Eagles. There were many statues and photos of them in his 'study' which was a small, cozy room where he paid bills, read magazines and kept all his law books, etc. I inherited this love of eagles so I didn't have to look far to find them:

Bookend in my office.
Return address labels in my desk drawer.

Sticker on my office door. One of my favorite quotes.

A Ray Harm print given to us by dh's Granny just after we were married. It's large and hangs above the fireplace in our den.

Finally this journal page I did to capture the best sign of all: DH and I went to Providence Canyon in June, it's out in the middle of nowhere and our car was the only one on the road. We drove and drove for about 20 minutes without seeing another car or person or sign of life. As we drove along, something caught my eye and when I looked out the window I saw a huge eagle taking off from a fence post. What a thrill to see an eagle so close. It was so powerful, majestic, awesome. 

The best part: This happened the week before Father's Day and I have no doubt - it was a "sign" from my Dad.

Getting ARBOREAL #2

Here she is! This tall tree outside our bedroom which rains acorns upon the house every September keeping us awake all night-is worth it because now she is 'glowing'. Ahhhhhhh, nature! Below is the first pic of this tree taken back in August. Thanks to Julie Prichard  and JeriAnn for this wonderful challenge.

Summer in the forest.
Some panoramic Fall views from our deck. We do have neighbors close by, you can't see them from back here. 
Often, we look out the window and see a hawk flying by or sitting in a tree, sometimes there are two. It's wonderful. We also have a few raccoons, deer, and sometimes a family of red fox. Of course we have birds. Watching the sunrise through the trees is a big treat, too.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day.

DANCE

 . . . . like there's nobody watching.  

This is not a new piece, but an old favorite I 'unearthed' when I was cleaning. I'm taking a short break from my portraits. The weather is perfect this week and I'm feeling a little restless-in a good way. Maybe I have "Fall Fever"

PASSING IT ON

Thank you again Lisa for the honor of the award (see yesterday's post). I am passing it along to the following dear blogging friends. Jennifer White, Wanda, Regina, Kathy, Kim, and Sarah. Thank you all for your friendship and inspiration. Please click on each link to view their amazing work and to get a peek into their lives. 

WAITING

Many thanks to my friend Lisa for this award! Check out her amazing calligraphy here, it's well  worth the click! I'm so happy that people visit my blog. I've had a blast, 'met' the nicest people and I am constantly inspired by my blogging friends. 

. . . . speaking of friends: This one is called 'waiting'. When I was in school my best buddy and I would listen to Hotel California by the Eagles everyday. Like most teenagers: We were anxious to grow up and be on our own- we were waiting for our lives to 'begin'. Of course it seems pretty ironic now, LOL!

Technique:

It just 'evolved' from a rough warm-up sketch-which proves, again that we never know what might come of an experiment. Have a great day everyone!

On the Verge

 . . . of progress! In recent weeks, I've been experimenting with my portraits. Looking for just the right mix of realism and unique atmosphere-not just a 'copy' of the reference photo. It's been totally fun and I think I'm getting somewhere. We'll see where it goes from here. 

Meanwhile . . . 
some photos of my sleek brown friend. 

POSTMARKED: EARTH

The North Star:

On summer nights when I was a little girl, sometimes my Dad and I would have 'Stargazing Lessons' in the back yard.

He would hold me in one arm and the big flashlight in the other; beamed way up into the sky: One by one, he would name the stars of the Big Dipper: Alkaid, Mezar, Alioth, Megrez, Pheeda, Merak & Dubhe. They are embedded in my memory like the days of the week.

From the edge of the 'cup' you make a straight line to locate the North Star. It isn't the brightest star but unlike the others, it remains fixed.

He always said: "Once you find the North Star, you can find your way." He knew all about the stars, the moon and every kind of cloud in the sky. He was a Celestial Navigator in WWII.

He also knew about business, nature, boat engines, lawnmowers, bicycles, plumbing, painting, the economy, the military and the history of every town along the Ohio River.

He was patriotic, strong, dependable - and constant; like the North Star.

I miss him.

Well Dad, 

It's been four years since you left. I'm so blessed to have had you in my life. Tell Mom I miss her too. Thank you for all the memories.

Love

-J

CELEBRATIONS

Our wedding reception - 21 years ago. Who knew a 'blind date' would turn out so well?

Technique: Digital collage, hand drawn heart & painted background. 

Still on the "Dark Side"

Having a blast on the "Dark Side" Michelle Ward's current crusade. Check out the details here and join us if you can-you'll have fun and learn new skills. This one started with a black dye background. Bleach splatters to create an uneven lighter space-it went from pitch black to a brown/orangY color. I bleached out her face and the outside edge of hair and her shoulder.

Painted her features in. I added burgundy for the cape. I like her 'come-hither-at-your-own risk" look HA! **wink*wink** check out the pattern on her cape: I used my Hot Topic stamps from Michelle Ward.

 This is a favorite quote. Black acrylic paint on illustration board. Let dry. "write" persistence with Elmer's glue. Let dry. Paint over glue with black. Let dry. Now the fun really begins: Metallic gold paint all around the word. Feather it out - be a little sloppy. 

Add random colors to the corners and use many layers mixed with matte medium. I had no clue what this would look like when I started it. It really evolved and I just 'went along for the ride.'

Scan into computer. Add entire quote. 

THE DARK SIDE

It's just so much FUN! This month's crusade is to begin a journal page on a black background. 

If I had known I would like the results this much I would have photographed the step-by-step.

Anyway here is my technique:

1) Slap a thick coat of "Texture Magic" onto illustration board, let dry (overnight). 

2) Paint it black, let dry.

3) Paint (acrylic) a light area over the black for the face, let dry. 

4) Rub metallic gold paint on edges to bring out the texture.

5) Spray glue white tissue paper over the white area, let it overlap, don't be too careful. :-)

6) Paint in features of the face. I used watercolors but any paint will do. The tissue soaks up the paint so the features are rather crude, which adds to the creepy-ness, I think.

The nooks and crannys of the texture and the subtle texture of the tissue will make rough 'skin'

and goulish scar-like places on the face. 

As always Michelle, thank you for another excellent Crusade! 

In Progress

This is the cat of a friend of mine. She is the most beautiful Siamese with lovely turquoise eyes.

Things are still hectic here, my office is not finished-hopefully next week but I hate to be away from blog-land so I just had to post. Have a great weekend everyone!

NEW STORAGE!

Here is my awesome new storage area. Things have been a little messy in my studio since DH fell off the ladder and crashed into my storage cabinet. However, it's much better to lose a storage cabinet and still have a husband than the other way around. A good friend of mine had four storage carts in her garage and wanted to get rid of them, so we happily took them off her hands-they could not be more perfect! Look how they fit in the space woohoo! the fourth one is on the other side of my studio. 37 beautiful drawers to fill up - and I did, there are only three empty ones left! I even labeled them so now I'm super-organized (for the moment) LOL!  They have wheels too. And, we were able to recycle part of the broken storage cabinet across the top.
This is the new and improved shelf area that was overcrowded with  . . . . 
many boxes full of stuff-which is all in the new drawers. Oh yes-we are happy tonight. 

I won't mention my office which is still non-functional but someday it will be put back together.

Meanwhile, I'm basking in my freshly organized studio.
Have a great weekend !

FALL IS HERE!

I love all the seasons . . . but Fall is the favorite at our house. The picture above is what I sweep off of our deck every two or three days. Here's the update: DH is much better after four weeks of pain and we are grateful. To explain my absence from the blogging world, my office is in a shambles due to window repairs. We're making progress but it's slow.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and your good thoughts and prayers for DH. 

Please don't give up on me, I'll be back to regular blogging ASAP.

Crusade 33 'Back to School'

This month's crusade is about learning: Check it out here and join us if you can.

It doesn't have to be about art, but mine is: The title is 'Focus' and I need to warn you this is a long post, so here goes: For years I've had a box in the corner of my studio where I put half finished paintings and other designs or snippets that are too nice to pitch but not (it seemed) frame worthy. In another corner I have a bag of mattes without frames, frames without mattes and other mis-fit items. A few weeks ago I was cleaning my studio and I pored over these areas and decided: I'm going to DO it! These pieces will get finished, framed, sold, given away or hung up! I spent several (tedious) hours figuring out which pieces will fit into the mattes and frames I already had and what I would need to buy for the others. Fortunately, I have JoAnne, Hobby Lobby and Michaels' nearby so I was able to get all items 40 or 50% off. Also, HL was kind enough to add the paper backing and wire frame thingYs for no charge! 

I placed a matte around this half-finished painting of our house and realized it looked pretty good. I did some touch ups and now ta-da-it's hanging in the foyer.

This flower was an experiment that didn't turn out as I had planned and almost landed in the trash but I decided it has it's own 'charm' so now it's hanging in my office.
An imperfect sketch but I love the colors - now hanging in the Living room.
Pears-another experiment that looked better after I cropped it. I usually stay with standard rectangle mattes but I had this square left over from a workshop last year, so it was a 'freebie'.
Journal page that looks nice in the frame. There are three more items which can't be shown yet they are gifts for some up-coming birthdays, but you get the idea: It took time and focus and it was such a confidence boost. What I learned: Never underestimate the power of a good matte! LOL. The best news: I took five more pieces to a local gallery and they were accepted: woohoo!

My studio is clean (for the moment) just in time, class starts Wednesday! 

LATEST SKETCH

It's been a stop-n-start week so far but yesterday I was able to retreat to my studio for some quality time with my sketchbook and (beloved) pencils. Oh! what could be better than listening to the rain and meditating over lines and shapes that eventually 'converge' into a face. YeahBAybee! I'm hooked on portraits. From toddlers to teenagers to great-grandpas, I love em all!

More In Progress

Well, another week has flown by. Dh is slowly feeling better and I'm keeping busy working and trying to organize my studio - again. Ha! Here is another in-progress. More later.

In Progress

Well, in addition to all the chaos of last week, I got two new commissions! Here is the first one 'in progress'. Dh is still in a great deal of pain, the healing process has begun but he is so banged up, it's going to be a while. I hope you're all having a great Labor Day.

BLESSINGS

He's going to be fine, he's in pain right now but that will heal. Thankfully, he didn't break anything when he fell off of a ladder the other day. The ambulance got here quickly, and after a long day in the E. R. I was bringing him home instead of leaving him there. It made me think . . . back to the first time we met on a "blind date" almost 22 years ago. Back when I was an independent young woman who wasn't even looking for a husband. Before I knew he was going to mean so much to me and that nothing in the world could be more important than seeing this face everyday.

Technique: Pencil and pen sketch, watercolor wash

CRUSADE #32

Michelle Ward's latest challenge is "Knock Yourself Off" which means: Revisit a previous piece of art and re-work it with your current techniques. So here is a photo of moi' with a little Photoshop magic to 'erase' the wrinkles lol. It's nice, but a little 'blah'

don't worry, I'm not going to use the term "plain-jane" . . . . 

Step 2: The same photo with a more interesting composition portion control (wink, wink) also learned through the Crusades. Next, I added blue as a modern twist on the sepia/monotone technique. Then I added some "Make it Your Own" texture from Crusade 31. The 'texture' is a custom PhotoShop brush of my own signature. oooooooh! I love the Crusades.

There's still time to join us, click here for details. As always: Thank you Michelle for your inspiration and great challenges! 

Getting ARBOREAL

I'm participating in the 'Getting Arboreal' challenge I saw on Julie's blog. This tree is behind our house in what we call 'the forest' . . . because it is: no grass, just many many trees, and a steady supply of wildlife.  This tree is about 80' (eighty feet!) tall. The acorns are fat and getting ready to plummet onto our deck. Tune in again the week of November 8th for a treat when this baby 'turns' out in her fall splendor (I'm not telling what color she'll be). Better yet, join us and upload your own photo-click here for details. Meanwhile, I'm keeping the A/C on. Summer in Georgia is not over yet!

Street Strings

I am participating in a local project known as "street strings". Anyone can purchase a wood cut out of a violin and decorate it as-you-wish. No surprise I decided on portraits of women and no surprise again: I got a little 'obsessed' . . .  had to buy three. Fortunately they are only $5 so even I could afford it- lol! Anyway I've had a blast collage-ing and painting and sealing them. They will be on display in downtown Duluth in September. 

POSTMARKED: EARTH

August 22, 2009

My Mom, if she were still alive would turn 85 today. What a blessing that we were together on her last birthday in 2003. We did our favorite thing: shopping followed by a long lunch at P.F. Chang’s. When we arrived it was busy and most of the tables were occupied. Three hours later after much talking and laughing - we were the last to leave and they were setting up for dinner . . .  

That’s how it was with us. We would talk on the phone for what seemed like 10 or 15 minutes and then be surprised to discover it had been over an hour. She always said we were 

“Two peas in a pod”

We had a soulmate connection. From the beginning, she was always my favorite person, confidante and biggest fan.  Aside from our genetic bond, we were friends.

We laughed at the same things, we had the same style. 

There is no way to describe how much I miss her.

. . . Well Mom, if you were here-we’d get an early start to the mall. We’d have a gourmet coffee and shop all morning. Then we’d have a long lunch maybe at Nordstrom’s cafe. We’d talk and laugh like we always did and I’d think to myself: “I am so lucky to have you.”

Happy Birthday. Thank you for all the memories.