CHILD'S PLAY....

Now with eyebrows and a little charcoal outline.... and her title....and signature....and a little lip color.....she's done....the story is told....she is looking at God's creation and her life....as Olivia said... I've been taking a class with Mystele, called Gut Art, also called pulled art, where you scribble, throw a little paint or color on a canvas or paper, add more.... take away....and look for a story.... WELL, I had some simple scribbles that when I turned it upside down, had nice lines of a face and some nice scribbles looking like plants or something. So I put it aside for today to start developing....and when Olivia came over (my grand daughter, age eight), she immediately picked it (12x24) up and commented on the face she saw! When I told her what it was...pulled art...where you find a story in the shapes, she insisted on doing it herself. SOOO, I got the craft paints out and she began developing and drawing what SHE saw in the scribbles....it was really fun watching her loosely find and enjoy painting what she saw....explaining as she went....seeing the face, then the funky hair, two colors, then the flowers and leaf shapes, then the blue lake and the hills, then said the green/blue middle area was the sky, then she saw the eagle, a golden brown eagle.....I had already decided to put the black edge that seemed to border what she was seeing....she named it "God's Creation...Genesis 1"...she said it was like the lady was looking down on God's creation.....and her life. Well, she told me each color she wanted and I mixed until she was happy and when she finished, I had her outline it with black charcoal....well, she was pleased as punch!!! And so was I!!! She is hooked and now wants her own paints and brushes and canvases! We settled on gessoed cardboard for future practice and craft paints for now....but she is ready to sell!! I had such a giggle, because she is planning to hang it in the gallery....and it IS a "little?" better than some of mine!!! HA!!! Today was a grand art day for us both!!! Blessings!! ENJOY!!

ADD A LITTLE SPARKLE....

Click to see the better colors....these look dull... I just noticed the piece of wood showing (hanging on a wooden tree hook on the door) right under the paper with the scripture....well, it is one of the Castanettes that I played when 10 years old living in Spain!! I leave it there and demonstate my talent on occasion! Ha! I've never been into doing arrangements, especially out of silk or artificial flowers. My yard is usually full of flowers, leaves and good smelling dirt in the vegetable garden and have never had the need for the artificial. So when one of the young women at church gave me a dull garrish brite orange and brown plastic wreath to "try and fix up"...as she said.... for the small entry door .... I said ....uh ....ok ..... Well, I was stuck with no supplies and a long way from a store. So I picked crepe myrtle dried blooms (FORGOT TO MENTION ...I sprayed them with a red-ish maroon automotive PRIMER color I found in the garage!! the only color that would work....and I'll use that color again!!) Then added gold and red glitter to them adding them to the wreath.....and then I added pink transparent paint over the really brite orange little pumpkins to soften them then added glitter there too. She said to add a scripture somewhere....so I printed part of a painting with the right colors and glued it in place ....added the soft polka dot ribbon...it was all I had....but I think it turned out A-OK! The scripture is in Spanish for our church and it says, "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song." Psalm 28:7 The last photo is an aerial taken by my husband of just the town of Warrenton (population less than 50) before all the crowds....during the Antiques Shows in our county and Round Top.....and this is just one little town! We are rested and enjoying our fall weather!!! Blessings to you all for a blessed Fall of Thanksgiving!!!

PRAISE....anyway?

Today is officially the last day of the two week Round Top Antiques Fair all over this county..... and in my excitement I was going to write a BIG PRAISE TO THE LORD for such a fabulous weekend.....and then I thought...."Would you be doing a BIG Praise if you hadn't done well?" And as I was cleaning up from such a busy two weeks in the shop, I was reflecting on how I got to this point in my life in the first place..... It all started in a Bible Study years ago in the eighties....I was working in our restaurant, which I really did NOT cherish....and longed to be out of it! At this bible study that I had just started going to...a girl read this scripture...."Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart...." Psalm 37:4,5....and I thought to myself...."Oh, yeah, right!....humpf!....and then I remember sitting there during that next few moments thinking what the desires of my heart would be. And my EXACT thoughts were this..."If anyone would EVER want just one piece of art that I could do....that would be the desires of my heart...." At that time I had only done some crafts and taken a few art classes .... hoping .... and loved art none the less! That was 27 years ago this year....and I have been creating art ever since .... and yes, someone has liked it. THE KEY?....the key was what I learned that day after me asking the leader to elaborate on that verse more...as it was really appealing to me since I was so miserable in the restaurant business. She and the rest of the women took the verses a little further and talked about the part that says..."Delight in the Lord...."...basically it was to learn to give God ALL the glory for whatever you did....however small or however great....and no matter what, to "delight in the Lord". At times when I am grumbling or angry or tired and frustrated ..... I think long and hard......and it always comes back to that day at that little bible study......and that one little verse .......that seemingly impossible verse that was read.... and I know how this all got started .....I think He heard my thoughts......that day and knew my love for art ......and my need for people contact and of course I HAVE to DELIGHT IN HIM and give Him THE GLORY or the CREDIT!! ....even if we did well or not.....thank You LORD for a great Antiques Fair Weeks with such wonderful people who blessed us! Blessings!....the manipulated photo above was a vase of flowers I took to Easter Service year before last.....just something beautiful we were blessed with in the yard that year.....I was way too busy to take any pictures of the fair weeks....sorry. Enjoy!