January Chicks

"Blackcapped Chickadees in the Lavender Field"

Acrylic, 8" x 24" January 2010

Sold!

This week I completed my painting of two chickadees and sold it, with the varnish barely dry! I started this painting in November, but was commissioned to paint the smaller "Joyful Chickadee" as a Christmas gift, so the big one was set aside. How am I going to build up a body of work to have a gallery show if I keep selling them off? A good problem to have!

"Joyful Chickadee"

Acrylic, 5" x 7"

Commissioned, sold!

"Tea with Dagny" and "Donuts"

My latest doodle. I have been drawing in the Mary Engelbreit style lately, enjoying her wood/china/fabric textures, but this is my own confabulation. On Friday mornings, I sometimes go for a visit to one of my friends from church, Dagny, who is in her mid-80s and lives alone. We always have some tea and a snack, chat and pray together. It is good to have friends of all ages! She is so sweet and always writes down my concerns in her prayer notebook so she can remember to keep them in her daily prayers!

This second drawing is by my 12 year old son. He was home from school with a cold on Monday, and was amusing himself with my art supplies. He was impressed with the effects I get with the Prismacolor pencils over marker, so I gave him some pointers and he made this enticing plate himself! He was very tickled at all the praises he got when he put the drawing on his facebook page!

Bathroom #2 Finished (a la Azteca!)

Inspired by the radical improvement in the upstairs bath remodel, I finally got off my uninspired rear end and finished the boys' bath downstairs. I had done a lot of the hard work last year, patching and repainting the ceiling, then painting the ceiling and walls with the cream and turquoise, but I stalled out at the "tile" mosaic. After dropping the "stamped tile" idea and cutting my own stencils for the 5-color tile design I created, I was finally back in business.

I stenciled the mosaic pattern all the way around the bath, then added a simple mosaic around the window to set it off.

I found a nice shelf unit at the thrift store and covered up the pink roses with dark green paint (thought the boys would appreciate that). I wanted a little more storage since this bath has no vanity.

The boys like it! Jo likes the lizards and Z appreciates his school colors in the design.

Workin' It

Thought I'd share a photo of the holiday window I drew for my store, Manna Mills Natural Food Market. It was on the window for December and then I replaced it (haven't photographed it yet) with a New Year one.
j
I'm up to over 30 hours a week now at the store, which is a huge change from my previous stay-at-home-homeschooling-mom life, but I like it. There are lots of interesting products and I meet lots of interesting people and 99.9% of them are very friendly. I think ours is the kind of store people go to with the mindset of looking around and exploring, not in-and-out rushing, and are usually in the mood to chat or at least smile. And usually they like to talk about health or recipes, whether it be a mom with little kids, an immigrant with little English, or lonely senior. I have learned so many interesting things like how to grow sprouts on a windowsill and how to make injera (Ethiopian/Eritrean teff flatbread). It's never boring!
j
click on the photo to see it bigger

1-2-3-4-5 and Beyond

Howdy there! Yes, I do still inhabit this planet. I'm doing well, how 'bout you?
j
Lots of good stuff going on, and this kale photo has nothing to do with anything. Yikes, this has been the worst photo-taking year ever! What's new? Well, I got a part-time job at the gluten-free healthfood store where I've been a customer for 5 years, and so far I'm really liking it. Heck, I have been advising people about gluten- and dairy-free stuff for free for years! Secondly, I have gotten a little decorative painting job to do in a home before Christmas. Thirdly, I recently got an email from a photographer who's interested in having me paint her bird photos! And they're beautiful photos too! Hope that happens! Fourthly, I was invited to sell my fabric grocery sacks at a craft fair in 2 weeks, so I am sewing, sewing, sewing. Fifthly, Christmas is coming and my choir is having major long extra rehearsals lately.
j
So that's what I've been doing. Hope you are well - I've been checking in on your blogs, I have!

You're a Star!

Little girls like personalized stuff, right? What to give the niece you haven't seen for a million years (well, two)?
j
I heard that she wants her room to be lavender although it's currently yellow, so I made her a name star painting to announce her stardom. Hope it arrives in time for the big day!

Acrylic paint, 12" square.

Update on the Mural Painting Biz

Here's what the balcony mural looks like today. I haven't got it done as fast as I thought I would, for several reasons: running to the store again and again for the required school supplies, running to the school to pay lab fees and bring forgotten lunches, and getting distracted with some sewing projects.
j
But I'm still pleased with the progress, I like how the sun shines through the railing onto the floor. You can see I still need to finish the floor and the pot of flowers on the balcony. I have lined up my next project: a baby nursery for twin girls! I met with my client and got her input, now I'm going to make some sketches for her. I also have leads on two other future jobs!!

Add a View, Any View!

I really like our house. It's the first home we've owned, after moving and moving and moving with the military. I don't want to move any time soon. But I have always wanted a beautiful view of the Puget Sound, like the homes nearby.
j
So what do you get when you add one beautiful water/mountain view (taken from Cedar St. last week) and a plain-ol-closet door in my art studio, mixed with a "if-it-stands-still-I'm-going-to-paint-it" artist homeowner?

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

j

You get a sweeping Western view of the Sound and Mount Olympus and the Olympic range, on my actually-south-facing doors. Still in progress, as you can see. I still have the balcony railings, the floor and seagull to finish.

j

This mural is an example for my new business that I'm launching, doing murals, borders and trompe l'oeil. What do you think? I'm excited!

Illustration Friday - "Grow"

Oh, I miss doing Illustration Friday! I see that this week's topic is "Grow" so I have recycled last February's drawing since it fit! I really like this doodle - I think it could grow up to be a cool painting some day...

I strive to keep growing in every way. It's so easy to fall into the comfort zone of familiarity, but remember: "You're either green and growing, or you're ripe and rotting!"

Black Micron pen in my sketchbook.

Lavender Farmhouse

"Lavender Farmhouse"

Acrylic on wrapped canvas, 5" x 5"

j

I finished this little painting this morning - the first landscape I've done in acrylics. I was trying too keep it simple and not go detail-mad. It helps that I used Golden's light molding paste to texture the canvas first - it changes the absorbency of the surface to be more like watercolor paper. Trying to get back into the habit of painting pictures again. I feel so good when I'm doing it! I think doing a big painting was too much - the poor thing is doomed to be painted over.

j

I took many photos of the lavender farms in Sequim on our visits, and I have many potential little paintings in my head. Do any of you Washingtonians recognize this house? It's at Purple Haze Lavender Farm. And I see on their blog that they are currently turning this farmhouse into a vacation rental!

Transformation complete!

Yahoo, it's done! Take one old chest of drawers, add new knobs, paint, and an hour or so a day for a month, and VIOLA! A studio supply chest!
j

The first photo shows how the whole chest front looks, with the holes from the old recessed pulls still showing. The second pic shows the small wooden plaques I have velcroed on the drawers to label the contents. I thought they'd be easier to change out with velcro. Maybe some day, in the far future, it can be a granddaughter's clothes chest. With all the work I put into the silly thing, I hope it "lives" a long time...

Transformation, in process

I'm just finishing up a monthlong project in my studio. Remember this old dresser? Hubby and I bought it out of a garage when we married 19 years ago for about $20. It has moved about 10 times.
j
Well, now it has a new life as an arts & crafts supply chest in my studio. And a new look, inspired by this awesome painting I saw at Jam Jar.
j
And it is aaaallllmmossstttt done...

ArtSplash!

Here I am, beaming on the first day of the ArtSplash show, with my little 4' by 4' piece of real estate!

j

Come on by, if you're local!

Big Painting

Hi there. I'm gettin' ready for the ArtSplash show. And I'm painting.
j
A landscape.
j
A big one.
j
It's fun to use big brushes and not those itty-bitty ones for once.

But it takes LOTS more paint.

Just in Time

I've been ticking off my list of things to do to get ready for the ArtSplash show this week ... One item was to finish my "personality portrait" of my two nieces as fairies, which I will be using to advertise my custom portraits at the show. I will also have examples of Amy and Ian's birthday portraits.

j

I found the cutest little hanging basket to hold my two business cards on my section of the wall at the show. Next - to print up lots of cards and stock it!

j

Lastly, my new studio was in sore need of a clock. Of course, me being me, I couldn't just buy one, I had to make one. And it was lots of fun, and now I have my own cheery bird to keep me on time!

j

Fairy portrait is 10" x 14 " on stretched canvas with painted sides. The goldfinch clock is about 6" x 12" piece of plywood, painted with acrylics, with twigs for a frame.

Looking at my options...

Today I took my paintings (the tulip, bluebird, gull, lemons, and bluejay) and some prints of other paintings (the oriole, chickadee, and bumblebee) over to the eastside of the lake and showed them to a gallery owner. I didn't eat much beforehand. Gulp.
j
It is a really cool place. Lots of different styles of paintings, blown glass, jewelry, carved wood, dolls. And it's in a really neat old-fashioned country-style shopping district.
j
And...she liked my stuff! She gave me her opinions on size and prices and subject matter, and she said she'd be HONORED to carry my paintings! And I don't have to wait until I do a bunch, she'll take 5 or so at a time. So, by the end of the summer, I will be in a gallery.
j
Way cool!
j

Photo of a daisy and bee with Photoshop watercolor filter. I was taking reference photos of daisies for a painting I'm currently working on!

Bluejay

Bluejay ***SOLD***

Acrylic on canvas with painted edges, 4" x 4"

2007

j

Here's a new little bird who's joined the flock over here at my house! I experimented with some Golden's Light Molding Paste over the canvas before I painted - very interesting! Besides the rougher texture, it creates a very absorbent, watercolor-paper-like surface which was very fun to paint on. I like how this turned out. Kind of rustic-looking, like he flew in the window of a little log cabin to check out who's there!

Illustration Friday - "Cars"

In an effort to be more conservation-minded,

Leon traded in his sports car for one of the new energy-efficient Bugs.

j

Drawn in my sketchbook with black Micron pen, Prismacolor markers and pencils.

End-of-the-School-Year Fidgets

Drawing silly pictures during school. What will the teacher say? Oops, I am the teacher!

J. finished his math book yesterday and he did our traditional homeschool finished-out-a-subject song and dance: "Good-bye, Math! See you next year..." and traditional toss-the-book-over-your-shoulder celebration. He's come a long way this year. We figured out it makes all the difference if he has a good breakfast including both carbs and protein. No protein, no focus!

Z. is almost finished with his online Algebra II course, although the last unit has been a struggle. A lot of it has to do with the clunkiness of taking a course on line and typing in the answers exactly as the computer wants. It has been very frustrating for him to spend a ton of time on a problem, just to get it wrong because the program wanted the answer rounded to the hundredths, not the thousandths. Part of the problem is having a mother who has data-dumped advanced math in exchange for crochet patterns and flower names (Hey, I aced it back in my day - who was to know I'd need to retain it?). I'm thinking it will really help Z. to have the interaction of being in senior math at the high school next year. He's tall enough, maybe they won't even have to know he's only an eighth grader...

Drawing in Micron black ink in my sketchbook of Clematis durandii, a jar of duck and swan feathers, J's stuffed penguin, a rubber duckie and a fisherman's hook necklace.

Illustration Friday - "Sign"

About 8 years ago, I met my friend Leila. I had been learning some sign language from books and I introduced myself to her at church. She and her husband are both deaf from birth and they have two hearing daughters. Leila is an amazing person. She was born and raised in Lebanon and grew up lipreading Arabic and French and using Arabic Sign Language. After her father died, her mother moved Leila and her 3 brothers to the U.S. Leila was 16. She missed 1 year of school while she started learning to lipread English and to sign ASL, then she went to a Deaf Institute for high school and graduated. She was sworn in as a U.S. citizen in 2000. She is an excellent teacher and friend. Her two gorgeous girls are like our daughters too. God definitely put us together!j(My sign name is a combination of the letter "P" and the sign for "art." Leila's sign name is a combination of the letter "L" and "long hair.")

jDrawn with Micron black pen and colored pencil.