Friday, February 29, 2008

Today is snowy and quiet. And it's Friday! Friday is my favorite day of the week. John and I will watch a movie or two tonight and stay up really late. I'll sleep in of course, but John will be up at the crack of dawn. Above are some random photos that I thought I would post.

- John and I on Signal Hill on a snowy, quiet morning
- A corner of our bedroom
- A mixed media piece titled Family
- A pair of earrings I made
- Roman and Cleveland, my cats, playing

Thursday, February 28, 2008




Today almost felt like Spring, so I did some Spring cleaning. I'm not fooled though. I know Winter isn't finished with us yet, but it sure is nice to enjoy warmer temperatures while we can.

I've been experimenting in the studio with the blow torch again and it's amazing what beautiful colors appear on steel wire when it is heated. Fun, fun, fun! I need to buy a proper charcoal block to use while using the torch because the piece of charred wood I was using kept catching fire. :(
If you look closely at the top image you can see the colors on the wire. It's easier to see in real life. Earrings are available for sale in my Etsy shop.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Friday, February 22, 2008

Earrings


Available for sale in my Etsy store.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

New Earrings



Some new earrings I made while the wind howled outside my window. Available for sale in my Etsy store.


Sunday, February 17, 2008

Another drawing (my daughter) from when I was learning to draw people. I was surprised to learn that eyes are halfway down the head rather that one third of the way down. Many people when first learning to draw tend to draw the skull part of the head too small.

Friday, February 15, 2008

This is a drawing I did a few years ago of my son, John, with his finger up to his face as if deciding what he's going to do next. I used to draw my family a lot when I was learning to draw. Sometimes from life, sometimes from photos. I liked drawing them when they were asleep because they didn't move around much. Drawing the cats and the gerbils (long gone) was always fun too.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Art For A Friend


Here's a couple of mixed media/collage pieces that I did for a friend. He likes to drink a certain alcohol beverage that has a square cap that I thought would be perfect to make art on. They measure 2" by 2".

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A Sense Of Accomplishment


Making earrings is a fun and creative way for me to relax. It doesn't take hours and hours of my time and I feel a sense of accomplishment when I haven't created any artwork because I have created something. Available for sale on Etsy.

Monday, February 11, 2008

New Earrings


Here are some new earrings that I have listed in my Etsy shop

Finished Painting!



Swan In Bowring Park
Watercolor
10" x 14"


Friday, February 08, 2008


Here's an update on the watercolor I am working on. I built up many, many layers to create the look I was after. I added a little bit of color to the stones to make them more interesting. I noticed that the head of the swan is right in the middle and I don't like that. When I finish the piece, I may crop it. Otherwise, there' s not much I can do about it now. The second image is a closeup of the stone. I'm hoping to complete this piece today. Stay tuned....




Thursday, February 07, 2008

I thought I would share with you the progress of a watercolor that I am about to begin. I snapped a photo when I was at the park during the summer and I drew it on to watercolor paper. I'm interested in the contrast of the swan against the dark, rough stone in the background. Stone is something that I love to paint and I can't wait to get started. I'll start with the background and work my way forward.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

When I was teaching myself to draw, I always drew from real life or from my own photographs. I couldn't resist this image of a woman I saw in a glamour magazine because of the strong contrast between light and dark and the many folds of the blanket, so I drew her. The line you see going across the drawing is where I taped two pieces of sketch paper together. Although it looks like it, her back is not hairy. :)

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

This is a graphite and charcoal drawing of my family. They are sitting on a bench in the park. I'm not a hundred percent happy with this, but it is only my second time using charcoal in a serious drawing so I won't beat myself up about it. I really enjoyed using the charcoal because I could get a really nice dark very easily and I could also cover a large area much quicker than graphite. I covered the background with charcoal and then I used an eraser to draw the trees. It's a cool technique and I like how it looks. It's almost like scratchboard.

This is Noah, my nephew. He was an infant when I drew him, now he is six. I don't usually draw babies. This was my first one and I only did a second drawing of an infant after this (Noah with his grandmother in Innocence And Grace.) I find that you have to have a very delicate touch in order to make a baby look like a baby -- no harsh lines on the face.
If you have ever had artist's block or you would just like to live a more creative life, The Artist's Way is an excellent book. I did this book several years ago when I was having trouble calling myself an artist. It helped me tremendously. One of the things the author of the book encourages you to do is write morning pages. You get up in the morning and the first thing you do is write whatever is going on in your head down on paper so you will have a clear head to start your day. I used to do my pages in the evening and I still found it a huge help. I really enjoyed doing this part. I keep a journal anyway, but mostly of everyday stuff that's going on in my life.

Monday, February 04, 2008


This is my Uncle Bill. He was my favorite uncle and he died in 1998. I did this drawing for my aunt after he passed away. I saw after I had framed the piece and given it to her, that I had forgotten to finish drawing one of the wrinkles on his face. I don't think anyone else noticed, but I sure did. When I started drawing faces, I found the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, a huge help. It's one of the best books about drawing that I have ever read. I highly recommend it if you want to improve your drawing skills.

Saturday, February 02, 2008

This is one of the first watercolors that I ever did. I couldn't get the foreground the way I wanted it so I kept scrubbing it out and repainting. I read somewhere that watercolor was unforgiving and it was hard to fix mistakes. I learned that with a little patience and a stiff brush and some water you can remove most of the paint. Here's an example:
When I completed this painting I didn't like the sky, so I scrubbed all the paint out and
this is the result. It changes the atmosphere of the painting completely. Pretty cool!

Friday, February 01, 2008

The house in this painting burned to the ground shortly after my husband took some photos of it. I believe I wrote about it in an earlier post when I used its transparent image in a mixed media/collage piece. I remember when we were at the property, many cats were walking to and from the house. They must have been strays that had taken shelter there. I only hope that they had all gotten out when the house started to burn.