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.

A START....

Here is a peek of what was supposed to be a self portrait .... a journal page ... which quickly became a larger piece ..... and as usual I made it more than it was going to be! I'll explain some of the little details when I finish it. These pictures are the pieces and some of my art glued on a wrapped canvas, size 12x24 ... a little larger than a journal page. Doing part of it made me tear up ... it really struck a cord in me. I felt very thankful. I will now start to embellish it and add color and drawing on top... I think anyway ! There must be something in my personality that likes to take a mess or broken down house or something thrown away or of no visual value and try to make it into something special. We'll see if I can do it with this. Of course it may only be special to me....which is the driving force behind us artists! How we see... what we see. Hope you enjoy it... so far that is ....keep in touch to see the final results .... good or bad! Have a good week!!

FINALLY, A NEW PIECE!

I was so tempted to do Misty Mawn's 31 Day Challenge ..... but with a 24" x 24" area to do art on until my studio is ready .... I felt it might be too much pressure ..... but I kind of wish I'd done it anyway! I am going to pretend I'm doing it just for my own sake and see what I produce under pressure ..... I am even going to try a self-portrait. You should check out Nelda's self portraits she has done for the challenge.... I will post as I go. I have been reading where a lot of artists have picked a WORD for the new year and have made it their word to try to live up to for the year 2009. Well, I came across this word "CONSIDER" ..... and I decided it would be my word for the year 2009. It is a word with a lot of possibilities for anyone ..... so give it some thought for your self and feel free to share any profound thinking you've had on it. This is a journal page ... to be put into a journal when I have enough pages done .... I do everything backwards! I always find a fabulous old funky frame and then create art for it. Frame shops don't make much money off of me! This piece is watercolor, pencils, oil pastels, water based markers, black ink and some cut out leaves and flowers .... on a heavy watercolor paper. I'm new at this, the collage part and mixed media with new materials part.....and just being spontaneous is new for me.....my art is usually over planned.....so just enjoy it for what it is and I'll continue to experiment and learn how to use more new materials.....my most familiar medium has been ink and watercolor and prisma color pencils.....and I'm also trying to shed the fact that everything needs to be perfect. Funny, I don't know why because I have never produced perfect work!?!