Day 7 - 29 Faces Challenge

Another 2 minute sketch completed while listening to conversation during a conference call at work - literally only had 2 minutes.

I am a doodler and all my note books have vines, flowers, faces, boats - you name it - up and down the pages.  I am spending more time on faces for this challenge.  Hope this isn't cheating.

Day 6 - 29 Faces Challenge

My last face for tonight.  Almost the end of the weekend...back to work tomorrow.

Kept to my 20 minute limit and also tried not to 'think' so much - just drew - quickly :-)

Day 5 - 29 Faces Challenge

I am still using graphite for my drawings, but would like to mix it up and use watercolor, acrylic, collage...but right now I am enjoying the graphite.   

The face posted for Day 4 was difficult for me and it took hours to complete with plenty of erasure.  So for the next few days I am giving myself a time limit.

So this took 20 minutes and the lighting was not great - next time I need to take more care with shading.  This looks messy :-)

Day 4 - 29 Faces Challenge

Just a bit behind on this challenge.  I have to be honest too...this is definitely not my best work.  But I drew it for this challenge so here it is...

I'll try this one again.  :-)

Day 3 - 29 Faces Chaallnge

Quick sketch during a training class at work today.

Day 2 - 29 Faces Challenge

This is drawn from a still photo captured from a television screen of a documentary on Judy Garland.  I loved the stark contrast and always wanted to try drawing it.  I am not sure if this rendering does it justice.

Just a note on my Day 1 post.  That drawing was also a screen capture of an actress in a LifeTime TV movie.  I don't know her name.  If anyone wants to see the original picture I am happy to post it. 

Face 1 - 29 Faces Challenge

One down - 28 to go

29 Faces Art Challenge - 2013

I confess.  There are probably many of you that are like me - with all good intentions we join these challenges and then cannot complete them.  Long days at work and commuting home and life in general take a toll on my energy and time.  But I am trying to change this and the only way change can be made is to confront it - face first, so to speak.  :-)

So I am joining this challenge and working to ensure I participate.  Notice the word participate - not complete it all but at least participate.  Seems less over whelming this way.  

But above all, if I cannot complete this challenge, I will not stress over it.  That much I CAN accomplish for sure!!!  

Polar Bear with a Red Bowtie ...

See this bear?  It sat on a shelf in my mom's kitchen my entire childhood and it always fascinated me.  A few years after moving out of mom's I stopped in for a short visit.  Mom was sorting through all her 'junk' in preparation for a yard sale that day. On her sorting table was this little bear. I was crushed and told her how much I always loved this little bear. Originally it belonged to my grandmother and then it was my mom's so I felt it needed to stay in the family.  I asked if I could have it.

As a bit of background my mom never communicated very well. She was easily angered but would never discuss why. She would just stop talking for a few days and any necessary communication would be in short sharp sentences.  Then she would appear to just get over it - the anger gone as mysteriously as it appeared.

So, when I arrived at mom's that day she was already angry and when I asked for the bear she refused to give it to me.  So I checked the price tag, doubled the amount and left the money with her. After placing the bear back on it's shelf, I asked if she would hold it for me until I returned later in the day. She didn't respond and was still angry when I left.

Well without going into detail, I returned later that day as promised. But she had taken the bear off the shelf and put it in the yard sale. It was one of the first items to sell. When asked why she sold it and she said because it belonged to her and she could do whatever she wanted with it. I was heart broken, but not because she sold the bear.  I was heart broken because I told her how much it meant to me and she didn't care. I was hurt and she didn't care. I left to go home.  Later that evening I discussed the whole thing with my brother and then just put it behind me.

Fast forward 32 years. I was browsing through a junk shop located in an old house.  There were long halls and room after room full of everything you could imagine all spread out over 3 floors. I wondered around and found myself in the same damn room again and again.  So, I settled into a comfy chair to review the map of the shop. From that chair my eyes scanned the room and on the very very top of the tallest shelf I saw a polar bear.   It was covered in so much dust it looked grey but I knew it was THE bear.

I could hardly contain my excitement when I let the shop owner know I wanted that bear. The room was packed solid with merchandise but she skillfully navigated a tall ladder around all the breakables. I just kept my eyes on that bear. It had been on that shelf for so long it was stuck and made a crackling sound when she pulled it down. I asked where she had found the bear and she used the number on the price sticker to find an index card where she had recorded the town, street address and amount she paid.   She purchased the bear from my mother's yard sale for a dollar, brought it to her shop and placed it on that high shelf where it stayed for 32 years.  True Story.

After the initial hurt of the great yard sale incident and the healing conversation with my brother I never thought of that bear again; never longed for it or thought of it wistfully. But, I believe there are no coincidences. There was a lesson in this for me and this is what I decided: while I never thought of that bear again, I did resent my mom. I never talked to her about it but it was there and probably impacted our relationship in ways I will never truly know. This is not to say discussing anything with my mom would have worked.  As I said before she did not communicate well and would not have accepted or participated in a discussion.  The lesson for me is to be sure there are no white polar bears with a red bow' in my relationships.  Things mean nothing but relationships are everything.

Thanks for stopping by !!  

What Makes My Garden Grow ...

This is definitely not the best year for my flower garden.  With days of heavy rain early in the season the weeds got a foothold and are doing very well thank you.  In fact we have declared the weeds the winner in most of our gardens.  Why not, at this point the weeds have invaded like an alien force in a bad, or good, SciFi movie.   In the world of SciFi good and bad are sometimes synonymous.

But there is good news too.  Volunteer flowers.  These guys are annuals grown from seed that cannot survive a cold winter.  Isn't nature great !! They bypassed their 'annual' and 'not winter hardy labels' and popped up on their own.  They don't care - they just want to GROW!

The Dwarf Cosmos seeds from WildSeed Farm in Texas.
I plant orange and a few in yellow.  Love these flowers and I
plant them every year from seed - except this year.

Psycho White Cosmos also volunteered this year.  I had
not planted seeds for this in 2 years.  This flower is
gorgeous - the pic does not do it justice.

Close up of Orange Cosmos.  If you scroll through my
blog you will see many pics of cosmos.

Half yellow and half orange.  No one is going to tell this
flower what color it is !

Another orange cosmos

Yellow cosmos and friend

Seeds are a great inexpensive way to fill your yard with color.  They do take time to sprout, grow and bloom but they are worth the wait. Especially flowers like these cosmos. With no work involved they will remain in bloom until frost.

Thanks for stopping by !

Art Supplies ...

Who doesn't like art supplies?  There is no better shopping experience than browsing the aisles and finding the perfect new toy. I also hoard collect of all kinds of art supplies and there are some in my collection that have not been used at all. Pencils, pens, paper and especially paint.

This hoarding collecting has to end - the art supplies need to be used so I can buy more there will be more space in my working area.  Why I don't use more of my supplies is a mystery to me.  It is not as if they are so expensive and therefore too good to use; some are down right cheap.  After thinking about this for a while, I decided maybe it is because I just like the familiarity of the items I do use; I know how they will look, I know what to expect.  Ok, so how do I get past this pitfall?

I grabbed one of my many inexpensive thin paper journals and decided to sample all of my supplies especially those I don't use.  Maybe this will lead to using them more and it is a great way to handle and use your art supplies after a long day at work.

This is the journal I am using. I have since
collaged the cover, but this is the basic
journal.  The paper is maybe 90 lbs.

I began with the pencil sets I bought at Ben Franklin.  I have used these but they are not my go to pencils. Notice they are all sets...I loooove sets.  It never occurred to me I would be sharing this with anyone - I did this for my own use.  Sorry about the mess!! :-)

Fantasia Pitch Black Sketch Set:

I love these pencils - they are smooth and slide easily across the
paper.  They are also inexpensive - bonus!!

I have to admit, the art work on the boxes of all
these sets really appealed to me and probably
contributed to why I purchased these .  

The next set is the Fantasia Earth Tones Sketch Set:

The same sketching pencils are in each set.  I love these pastel pencils.
Love the color and they are again very smooth.  There is also a white pastel
pencil that I used to highlight a portion of the samples.

There is also a description of the pencils as
well as tips on using the pencils on the back
of the box.  Don't you love this fox?

The third Fantasia set I have is this one - Grey Tones Sketch Set:

Some of the greys surprise me - like the blue grey - because I
con't see this as a grey at all.  This also has a white
pencil, as well as sketching pencils

These sets were only 8$8.99 - not bad !

In case you are wondering, I do not in any way work for nor am I paid by Fantasia.  In my own way 

I am just trying to use all the supplies I have.  I have more pencils sets and will talk about those in the 

coming days.  Then on to my watercolor sets.  

Thanks for stopping by  !!!

One Step at a Time...

In order to give myself a little kick start back into blogging, I joined this Blogalong with Effy.  I've only missed one day so far.  Yippee!!

Check it out and join in

Paper Bag Journals ...

I love the idea of recycling brown paper bags from the grocery store. It seems so - green - and the price is right ! There are many tutorials on YouTube and you'll find many blogs with tutorials. I used this example from Judy Wise.

The pages have a unique texture and the end result does not need to be perfect. It's a great way to try out new techniques for very little investment and it really does not matter if you mess something up.

Here are a few of my pages - none are complete but it might give you an idea of the end result. I hope you try to make your own paper bag journal. I would love to see it if you do.

This is my messy work space. We have a screened porch so I often
work there when the weather is nice.

I used ink to add color to the scraps left over after
ripping the pages to size.                                                           

This cover is not finished. It is parchment paper
glued to the  brown paper and stamped /painted
I like the way this came out

I painted a base coat then added leaves on the left. I am
unsure how I will finish the right side. 

I love the soft colors on these pages

Trader Joe's bags are heavily printed. I either paint over
the design or incorporate it into what I am doing. 

Example of plain paper - love the texture 

Good To Be Back...

It has been a long time. I forgot my password and then we had connection issues, computer issues and the  usual 'life is just so busy'. There were many posts I wanted to add such as the Halloween snow storm.  After that storm we barely had any snow all winter.  Then there was the hurricane where one of my favorite maple trees lost a few large limbs that ended up very gracefully draped over my car. Missed opportunities for sharing.

But I am now back, my password is safely written down and the technical issues are resolved. I hope you are back with me too.

So, how are things with all of you? In the meantime I thought I would share my spring garden.

Friday Night Out ...

and worth every penny. It is a wonderful feeling to sit in a auditorium full of people that are all laughing at the same time. I enjoyed hearing everyone's laughter as much as I enjoyed hearing Sedaris reading excerpts from new stories.

 

A Day in New Hampshire ...

We have been in our home for 7 years and in all that time we rarely venture out to just explore our surroundings. On weekends we always have a destination and a tight time frame. So this weekend we decided to take time and explore New Hampshire.  We just 'followed our noses' and I am so glad we did. This whole area, Northern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire is very beautiful; horse and apple farms, pumpkins and mountain views. 

We found this beautiful lake just 20 minutes from home. The water was amazingly clear and reflective and with the leaves beginning their change, it held us captive.

Do you see the little fish in this picture?  Look in the upper left hand corner.

 The water was chilly but very comfy after a minute or so.

Then we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner - Parker's is a Sugar House, Restaurant and Gift Shop all in one. My kind of place ! and it has the very best homemade turkey dinners.

See you all later.

Hypertufa Planter ...

Has anyone tried making a hypertufa planter or trough? I just unmolded my first attempt and frankly I feel a bit proud. Mixing the cement, peat moss and perlite is a bit tiring but it was fun too.  I especially like the cost compared with buying something manufactured for retail sale. I'll also wait for warmer weather as playing with water in the fall is chilly.

On my 'To Do' list for the winter will be finding more items to use as molds. In the pictures below I used a plastic desk bin about 8' X 12' and 6 inches deep.  I love the way the mixture poked through the holes in the basket.

If you 've made something from hypertufa I'd love to see it. If you want to try it for yourself just google hypertufa to find many great resources.

Ch Ch Ch Changes ...

It is cold, 34 F ... oh wait, that was yesterday. Today it is close to 80 F.  Did anyone else feel that the summer just flew by.  Here are a few pictures of the action around here. 

Pastel Paintings...

I take a class in pastel painting with the lovely Joelle Feldman. You can learn more about her, view her wonderful work and see the work of some of my classmates here.

Over the next few weeks I will post some of the other paintings I have completed.  The one below is part of a series of spring flowers.

This is also a good time to finally join in Creative Every Day 2011.  Um - yup halfway through June and here is my first post in 2011.  :-)