Lucky Star Art Camp Experience

A few weeks ago I attended my first ever art retreat/camp.  I was so excited when I registered, it was close to home (Hunt, Texas) and my favorite online instructor, Juliette Crane, was going to be teaching all day painting classes, how could I not go?  As the time finally approached, I started to get a little nervous about it, sharing a cabin with 3 other ladies who I would not know, sharing my art work with others (which is always a little scary), and just the overall fear of not fitting in.

I should not have worried, Lisa Hamlyn Field, the organizer of the event, thought of everything.  Even the cabin mates where thought out, I was in with 3 other ladies in my age group and we all really meshed - although our art interests were different.

The event wasn't all art, there was Yoga, gardening, canning, jewelry making, photography, how to write a book, quilting, crocheting, and more.  The venue couldn't have been better, Waldemar, a girls camp, is just beautiful with the Guadalupe River running right through it.  The food was awesome, I haven't had three square meals a day like that, ever.  I got to try paddle boarding for the first time, that was so much fun, and there were kayaks, canoes and paddle boats available as well as archery and horse back riding.

Each night there were key note speakers and I must say, I got a lot out of each one - from how to form a like minded small group of women to get feedback and explore creative ideas, the current state of our food system and what an individual can do to make an impact, or what it takes and how to dream big, to accepting/loving yourself through self portraiture/photos.  All good stuff.  At the end of day we sat around a huge campfire and were serenaded by Mandy Rowden, a local Austin singer/songwriter.

On the first day I thought, boy, 4 days of this is going to be too much, but by the end I was longing for more time there.  I recommend attending an event like this to everyone, just get away and off the "grid" for a while, it does so much good for the soul and reminds you how great female companionship can be.  The only thing that would have made the experience better is more time for more classes!

I don't take enough pictures, which is why I should have signed up for a photography class, but here are a few.  The venue was so beautiful.  In the collage below I've included a picture of the two canvases I painted with Juliette.

When Art Happens

Well it has been a while since I've posted, life, vacation, work......

I have started a year long course with Juilette Crane called Serendipity, check out the button on the sidebar.  The first months project was all about following your intuitive side, not over thinking things, which is hard for me to do when I'm creating, especially if I'm working on a canvas (in lieu of in my art journal).  I did the project 3 times, each time it got a little easier to let go and just create.  Then, this weekend, I was in my studio just creating some backgrounds and doodling, using up left over paint with stencils, cleaning up and reorganizing and that is when this bird showed up.

I found a mask I had made out of a pattern in a magazine and thought, why not!  Love it when art just falls into place. A good lesson that maybe rubbed off from Serendipity!

I will try loosening up like this more often.

Whimsy

Finding my whimsical style. My faces always looked too much like a fashion model. If i make the face round and the eyes big it is more whimsical looking. 

I had a background started in my art journal and started with that. After drawing in the character I did a white wash over the background which helped to bring the character forward. Here are before and after pics of that. 

I will keep fine tuning this style. 

Thanks for reading!  

For the love of Duke

The past 3 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me.  Our dog, Duke has been sick and loosing weight.  We took him to the vet on July 9 and he was diagnosed with a bacteria infection and put on antibiotics, no improvement.  Back to the vet on July 18, more antibiotics, still no improvement.  Third visit to a different vet, who took an xray, found a mass pushing against his stomach, MRI revealed that his intestine was collapsing into the colon.  He is only 9 months old and tough as nails, we couldn't give up on him, so he had surgery yesterday and we are hoping for the best.

Lots of prayers were offered and I believe that is the only thing that kept him alive.  The vet couldn't believe he had survived 3 weeks in his condition. 

I am thankful for the advancement in veterinary medicine, for God's blessings, and that Duke has a chance.

Today I spent sometime in the studio, I had a art journal page that I had some background colors on that I really liked and had been saving (for who knows what), so I just started putting down some paint, then drawing in a figure and this praying girl showed up.  God is good.

I was also inspired by a print I purchased from Juliette Crane etsy shop  http://www.etsy.com/shop/juliettecrane.

Pets offer unconditional love and companionship, I cannot wait to get Duke home and watch him return to his old self.

Thanks for reading!

Whimsical face drawing w Jane Davenport

I bought the DVD by Jane Davenport available through Cloth Paper Scissors. Well worth every penny. Jane is a great teacher and takes the fear out of drawing a face. Here is my whimsical face, her nose is very long but I am happy with it overall.

I used col erase colored pencils, acrylic paint, tissue paper for background, distress ink for hair. 

If you want to learn to draw faces Jane's classes and DVD is the way to go. 

Owl Family Paintings

My friend, Kristin, had a birthday on Sunday and a few weeks ago I painted an owl family canvas to give to her.  I had some cute ephemra with family quotes and I picked one that said "family, forever, for always, no matter what."  I glued that down with Americana Decopauge glue (my favorite - dries clear and holds well), and started applying paint.  I used the edge of my pallete knife to apply some turquoise streaks to the background, really like the result:

I drew on 3 owls as she has a little boy 2 yrs old, and choose some colors to compliment the background:


Here is the finished piece:

Since then I've made another owl family painting for my step daughter representing their family of four:

I enjoy making art for gifts but there is always that fear, what if they don't like it and it ends up in a closet somewhere??  I usually have a pretty good idea how the person feels about my art so I don't worry about it too much.

What about you, do you give your art away as gifts to family and friends?  Do you sale your original pieces, and if so, how do you determine a price?

I appreciate your visit to this blog and any feedback!

Playing w art supplies

My intention was to start a new canvas for another Owl Family, got out inks, sprayed the canvas with water and dropped on the ink.  While I let that dry I thought I would work in my art journal, I had a  background already started & thought it lent itself to a under water scene so thought I would sketch a mermaid. Here's what I ended up with. I used LuMiere metallic paints for the mermaid and drew on the scales with a Zig  painty gold & silver pen I'd had a while and never used. Like the effect. Not sure the pic will show it. 

It was totally of the cuff so I didn't take any pics of the process 

Doodling Inspiration

I like to add some doodling to my art work, sometimes a little, other times more.  I like the extra element it brings to the piece.  I have taken some online doodling classes and would recommend Joanne Sharpe (joannezsharpe.blogspot.com) if you want to learn to doodle letters and Stephanie Ackerman (homegrownhospitality.typepad.com) if you want to learn to doodle images.

I have found that I do my best doodling when I'm not thinking about it to much but just going with the flow.  I have gotten some great inspiration from a book I bought that is all about continuous line quilting, the book talks about practicing the design on paper and that is what led me to use them as doodles on my art work.  Here are some examples:

The book is by Cheryl Malkowski, Doodle Quilting - here is a sample of what is inside

Where do you find doodling inspiration?

First Blog Post

While taking an online class with Juliette Crane, How to Paint an Owl 2, I was encouraged by some of the other students, via a private FB page for the classroom, to start a blog, so here I am. 

I was into scrapbooking and had amassed supplies and tools for that when when my local scrapbook store shut down and I had no other resource for live classes, I started taking online classes and was soon addicted. I got introduced to Mixed Media Art by Christy Tomlinson.   I have learned so much from a lot of wonderful, sharing artists out there, whose links you can find on the right column.

My hope is to use this blog to share art, tips and techniques - pay it forward. I would love to hear from you, since this is new to me, I appreciate any feedback. 

Here are some pics of some of the artwork resulting from the How to Paint an Owl 2 (which was before I started this blog, so I have no step by steps), in the future, I will post projects and pics of the progression.

 

Inspired by the Southwest

Flowers inspired by quilting design

Bleeding Art Tissue Paper Hearts

Ferns inspired by quilting design

Flying Owl

Inspired by Song Lyrics

Shy Owl

Sleeping owl

Inspired by Kachina Dolls