WORKS IN PROGRESS.....

You can click on the pictures to see the detail better..... These are works in progress, some more finished than others. The vase of flowers on the magazine was the inspiration for the roses.....I like this one. I will put Isaiah 55:11 around the outer edge...."....a watered garden...." The ship one is an image transfer of an 1811 Argentine stamp, enhanced. Then the background surrounding the ship is a scanned antique handmade hankie I own from the days of the antique shop. It is from late 1800's and I printed it and then did my first image transfer. It was time consuming but fun and I learned something. Then the outer edge is stamping on kraft paper with pencil and oil pastel enhancements around the scripture...."Go therefore to all nations teaching....", at the end of Matthew. I still have to glue it on the four edges. The last one is one I am looking forward to finishing. You can see the image that developed by the painted shapes.... a woman with a hat on the garden path picking a flower and holding onto her hat. Trees in the back....and who knows what else. BUT on this one I CANNOT over work it like I did the last collage using all pottery barn catalog pages. Enjoy! Have a great week....I have!

I LOVE this Old Quilt!

I am working on some new art but not ready to post it....so I will post some recent pictures of a favorite old quilt that hangs in my stair well. I bought it about twenty years ago in the college town where my son was going to school.....and it was so exciting because the lady at the antique shop said she had bought it years ago in Round Top!!...but couldn't remember from who. I was so thrilled to get a bargain and to bring it back home where it belongs. It is tiny squares, I think called postage stamp...? Look at the beautiful stitching done in a shell pattern...! Anyway, wouldn't this make a fabulous paper printed for journaling or art? I think I will print it for myself....a few different sheets.....if you are interested email me and I'll quote you a price for the printing...or per sheet. ENJOY!!!

SHINEY the CAT....

Just like the artist Mystele said....as did PJ's Talking...."If you lay all your colors and background in on a canvas... then lay it aside to dry .... if you look at it, turn it, a picture of something might develop within the colors and forms" .... WELL .... sure enough I tried it. As it dried I saw this form that the girl takes and I already had "Cats" in mind so I added the Mama cat with her baby, "Shiney"( according to Olivia at age four "Shiney" means white and that's what she named her first kitty .... I guess that kitty was "shiney brite"!) It is wrapped in scripture. I did it quicker than I've ever done a painting, but STILL over worked it!! I'm used to watercolors, mixing the colors and only re-wetting them to use later. There is no "later" with acrylics. I know I have more to learn!! Enjoy.....FORGOT to mention that the original is painted on a canvas and the sripture border is actually on the sides of the canvas....but for printing it I put it as a border for this .... PRINTS are available 12x16 ...email me if you are interested in any of the copyrighted work as prints.

YOU ALL KEEP SAYING "PLAY"....

OKAY....all of you artists I'm reading keep saying....."PLAY!" So here is last night's "PLAY".....I must say, I HAD to play to figure out what would work with the different mediums I used....with the different pencils, sticks, paint etc that I was trying to use. This is the result! I didn't even draw much, because the birds are drawn from little drawings by a little eight year old boy named Tito, and the kids on the horse one are my brother and I on one of those 1950's horse/photographer teams that went around your neighbor hood.... the photographer had the western wear for you to wear for the photo. I haven't seen my brother for a long time.... there fore the great scripture. On the bird one.... Mama bird is pushing the baby out of the nest to go learn about life and grow, and to search for his "Father". The future is sometimes scarey for a little bird! Any way, ENJOY ....I did!!! OH!! The fun thing was that these evolved from stuff laying around the room!!! I didn't plan them!! For me that's a change!!

LOVE EACH ANOTHER....

This new art piece is a girl with a lot of love in her heart ........ grateful for YOU! I have prayed and poured over blogs searching for inspiration, not just inspiration ...... as so many blogs are very inspiring ..... but something that spoke to my heart, my art desires, just something that I wasn't even sure of myself! And through another blog (which I can't remember!,.....Lisa something?... sorry) I found a very unique and wonderful young woman and her ART journey..... MYSTELE .... is her name ..... I love her art, her heart and her commitments. Thank you Mystele!! Then through her blog I found this incredible "FEEDING PLACE" for your art needs, and for your soul! Before I realized it, I had been on that site for almost four hours! It is called FAITH FOLK CAFE.....you must check it out. Enough said ......... this is my piece I did in gratitude for the new discoveries of the week! In the flavor of Mystele's inaugural piece she did....thank you!

REARRANGING...A STUDIO

If I look out that window I am in the top of an old pecan tree....I'm upstairs with the birds....and I may put a bird feeder like my buddy PJ did....check her blog for her fun studio!!! I love my red goblets....they look and feel orderly.....I need that!!! I have a pile of letters off of an old building and kept the ART for this room.... Pottery Barn colors for a baby's name I did..... Do you see the photo of the three men sitting on a bench on the square in Round Top...? That was Onie, Willie and Mr Lewis.....they told me all about the local history when we had the cafe in town.... It was 1982 and they are all three now gone.....wish they could still be here....especially this year! What joy they would have in our new President! ....They would be drinking more coffee with me at the cafe!!! We would have a lot MORE to talk about and I would have a zillion more questions about their life! Wish I had written down all the stories that Willie Thompson shared with me. Aren't these pretty? The three flowery and leafy ones were my Mom's....and I particularly remember going thru the black one when I was young....just feeling and playing with the buttons....finding a treasure or two....like a cracker jack prize....still have a few. She's been sitting there for ten years waiting for me to claim this room back!.....gets lonesome in here!! Goodies from the grandma's.... Junk jewelry and collected crochet from when I had the antique shop in town! Ironing boards make good tables....NOT! We've been pretty wrinkled lately. This old day bed is now in the garage......plus twelve clear containers of fabric, new and vintage......and feedsacks and feedsacks....can I part with them????? I have been looking at painting and technique videos on different blogs...... and now I can't sleep. So I'll go ahead and show pictures of the sewing storage room before I started cleaning it out and after.... although MORE still needs to go out!! Thank goodness I have a big ole garage and a future Garage Sale coming up the end of MARCH!!! This room has hardly ever been used by anyone....and decided it was a great place to expand working on my art and computer projects.... but I must face a window and not a wall.... I'm a day dreamer, I guess. So the furniture will be swapped from wall to wall. I used some office furniture I already had.... and a ten dollar rolling restaurant chair I've had for years.... and I decided to keep my Ruby Red goblets from the fifties for my pens, brushes etc.....I cut down a styrofoam cup for the insert to keep the bottoms clean. And some great old egg cups! An old long wooden miter box for a mini shelf to put them on....added several old lamps...two were my Mom's and I love the warm lite and ambiance it gives with all four of them on...... I hung a small old folky cabinet (gift from a dear friend) and a door ? embellishment I have saved for years....and hung a long (3 feet plus!)frame that is begging for something special in it..... I actually like it blank right now.... will add a few pieces of art later, ....then I put this funky metal grate on a table easel and onto it I clothes pin my drawings or things I don't want to forget about...... got that idea from Mystele..... from her video where she shows her "brain on a ladder" organizing idea....same thing but different.... she is a sweet heart of a person and a Texas girl....wait til you see her art!! Let's see..... what else.... I need more storage but will do something under my tables..... and use the white cabinet too. This is pretty much it.... now I need my music, a cup of coffee and a few long days (usually nites!) .....and I'm ready to go!! Enjoy the pictures....some are just items I love that will stay in there and goodies I rediscovered......Thanks for looking! I JUST LIED!....I didn't talk less!!!!! How do I talk LESS!? .... I'll keep trying.

NEW POSTS COMING SOON.....

Hang in there, I will post pictures of my messy room....new studio.....what stays and what goes.....SOON. THEN some NEW FUN WORK I've done...learning to use new kinds of paints....and techniques LOOSELY! I need some classes....for what works what doesn't!!! But I press on! I promise to write less and show more....of what I can ..... THANKS for looking .... FINISHED ...?.... piece BELOW...

A FINISHED PIECE....?

I love my head band ..... HOPE ....there is always HOPE! I found this great quote and decided I needed to WEAR IT...."The Lord has an incredible destiny for you..." I'll take that!! A FINISH ...? The last post was called "a start" ..... I'm still not sure about this so called "Self-Portrait" .... it may never be finished .... so many things wouldn't work .... certain colors on top of the dried medium ....too slick for paint to stick ... etc .... so I've definately learned a lot! .....BUT MOSTLY, about myself!!! This piece revealed things about my life..... like it is very cluttered, and complex....which I know I am... not necessarily a good thing. I discovered that who I am begins with my Mother, the heart of the family and a Father who was a hard worker, and provided for us all, even later if we needed it. He also went to war to fight for our country and I'm proud of that...as did my husband. The baby bracelet with my maiden name encircles my Father and Mother...representing my natural birth. The vase is blooming as children do, then the strong thick branches are my strong personality and stuborness.....but there is greenery.... or growth....with eventually a flower or two....working thru the growth to finally bloom through difficulties that arose in my life.... we all have them, but the flower finally comes. I love birds and lots of details in life ... maybe too many details .... guess what.... I talk a lot! No surprise. The two whimsical portraits on the left are my favorites.... the top one was a drawing by a special little boy at age seven. It is the way he sees me. I like the way he sees me. The bottom one was altered with the computer, ... I would love it on a business card. The portrait on the right is a one line (sort of) drawing that doesn't focus on the age, wrinkles, grey hair or sallow skin and no reading glasses. I decided to ignore THOSE details!! I couldn't get my hair dark enough with the pencils I was using.... anyway, the Psalm 139 help me to realize that I was formed and known about when I was in my Mother's womb. And that I don't have to be perfect to be HIS child.... but that He knows me and loves me and has worked in my life to help me become who I really am..... it begins as a child....as seen in the lower left in the pieces that show the importance of children to Jesus. Matthew 18:1-5 was a crucial teaching for me,...read on further....6,7,...etc.... showing me that He actually protected me in many situations growing up. When I found Romans 8:16 and decided to add it to all the other elements, I teared up because I had actually put elements that told who I was... and now who I am in my spirit... His Child ... inspite of struggles ....He began the work in me, and I know it and am so thankful for His persistence and patience , His grace and mercy, and finally His gift of love. I know ... it's all about ME ... but it is a self portrait ... with a lot of details that came out....a story. It will stay in my studio.....it was just for me.