A Work In Progress

I did a little drawing:

Which I really enjoyed.

And then I colored it in:

And now that I'm looking at her, I think my sister was right and I am not done with her...

So, for today, a work in progress...

Tacky Wallpaper?

Yay!

So after the pale polka dot baby steps of last week, I was thinking about drawing backgrounds and realized I shared this on Facebook but not on the blog.

I have a large canvas (that I've had for a LONG time) that I wanted to work in acrylic on and was trying to do a mock up and I ended up with this gal.

I like the gal, she's fine, but what I really love is the background!  I actually liked it so much that I started drawing the leaves onto my canvas...this was several weeks ago and I still haven't gotten any further, but let us applaud the fact that I got as far as I did.  (haha)

Eventually, I will get to my canvas...probably sooner rather than later, because I am really excited about those leaves.  I have been doing mostly couch art and acrylics are not such a hot idea for the only room in the house that still has carpet...not for a clumsy paint slinger like me anyway.

I've got the couch art area set up for arting all the time, but my other art area has been sorely neglected for a good while and would require so much cleaning and lord knows I'll do everything in my power to avoid that...the point to this story is: this is how I'm going to get acrylic paint on the living room carpet...it's a forgone conclusion frankly...but look at those leaves, clearly worth it...

The Palest Girl I Know

The palest girl I know...besides myself...

I was so inspired by my copycat girl from last time that I decided to try a girl of my style in Danielle Donaldson's color palette...wait...that sounds all la-di-da and I don't mean it that way...I should say I was still so inspired by Danielle Donaldson that I decided to do a normal me kind of girl in her palette...yeah...that sounds much less jerky...

This girl kind of reminds me of the first layer of a painting...one where you're supposed to add more on top...she's so pale.  But not everything has to be saturated with color!

Even though this is way outside of my usual color usage, I LOVE this pale gal so much!  And I like her pale polka dot background.  I tend to not do anything in the background...unless I do collage work or something...and then there's a whole lot of stuff going on...  But I never draw anything in the background, so this is a teeny tiny baby step and I like how it turned out.

I really enjoy experimenting with different things...although it's easy to do routine things and forget to experiment.  So when I do remember to experiment, I get super excited and, here I am, super excited by those pale dots!  Hooray!

Copy Cat, Smelly Rat...

I made this lady because I have a secret love affair with Danielle Donaldson's  work.

I really enjoy her color palette...it's so...I don't know...ethereal, antique, romantic...fabulous...

My girl is a pretty blatant copy, but I swear it's because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

I saw the head wrap on one of Danielle's girls and thought it was one of the most glorious things I have ever seen, so I had to copy it.

Donaldson's CreativeGIRL book is actually pretty good as well...  I have a copy somewhere, and I can't find it and it's slowly killing my soul.  You know how it is...you put something in a spot because there's no way you'll forget where it is and then the next morning you wake up and don't have a clue what you did with it...I can't be the only person who does this...

On my girl, I forgot to color in the eyes, but I think that it brings the head wrap out as the focal point...so much so that I decided to leave them that way forever...also, I really enjoy the lip shading on this gal...

I'm looking forward to making more art with this color palette in the future...and to finding my copy of CreativeGIRL so that I can do the exercises it contains!

Magic Things

"The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper."

-W.B. Yates

Did I spell "senses" wrong on the page?  Yes, I did. 

Apparently, my spelling senses need to grow sharper...

But spelling errors aside, I am a fan of the quote for sure.

I like the idea of magic things waiting for us to notice them.

I think we get caught up looking for grand gestures of the universe,

and, sometimes, I think we can get those things.

My guess is that the magic of life, though, is found in the small details...

the parts we ignore as ordinary. 

So much of life is found in the smallness of it....

Maybe that's why those magic things are looking forward to our perception becoming more keen.

Because the magic is already there.

We just have to open our eyes and see it.

Back Where I Started, In A Better Place

 

"It's a funny thing coming home.
Nothing changes.
Everything looks the same,
feels the same,
even smells the same.
You realize what's changed is you."
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Today is my 34th birthday. 

It's been almost two years since I've blogged.

It's been almost as long since I've really made any art.

How did I manage to let go of something that meant so much to me for so long?

The truth is, I think, that as much as I needed art and this blog for growing,

I needed it to stop for the same reason. 

My art and blog had been like a diary for me, a sounding board to hear my own voice in this noisy world...a place to figure out what I wanted and how I felt.  There was a time when that was what I needed most of all.  In a way, it saved me.

It became so important to me that it took over.

It consumed me to there point where nothing else really mattered.

No one and nothing else was as important as making art.

That's not a way to live.

The thing about growing is that it is not without pain.

The thing about learning is that we often learn we are wrong.

And then we must decide what to do.

Middle ground is not a place I have lived comfortably.

I have never been one to take a step forward or back, but instead a jump in either direction.

And so I quit, cold turkey, the blogging and the making of any art of merit.

I set out to live my life in the real world without any of the things I felt were holding me back.

In the process, I learned.

I realized I had led myself astray in a lot of ways.

It's important to listen to your inner voice,

but there's also value to listening to what others have to say. 

When you're in a situation, you can be too close to see the truth of the matter...

you can't see the forest for the trees.

Occasionally, you can be lucky enough to find someone to trust, who can slowly pull you back from the tiny details and make you see the big picture.  A person who can  show you that you're not lost forever amid the trees; there is a path out.

I was lucky enough to have a friend do that for me and wise enough to see that, even though it may not have been what I wanted, it was what I needed.  And that it wasn't selfishly only what I needed, it was better for others too.

So now here I sit, in a familiar place,

easing back into something I love,

with someone I love by my side.

Still learning, still growing.

Back where I started, but in a better place.

Orange and black and white

Today I've got my spread for week 9 of JOURNAL 52, where the prompt was "Artistic Restraint" (using only one color, plus black and white, and one shape).  I love what I ended up with!  Here's what I made:

Oh yeah...  *sigh of super happiness*

I know that I had said 2015 would be the year of the non-face pages for me, but I did say I might throw one or two in throughout the year if it was the prompt or felt right to do so...

I chose orange as my one color, only because it's the one color I don't use very often at all...and chose circles as my one shape.  As I was adding those shades and tints of orange, I realized I had no idea where I was going with this piece...I thought I had arted myself into a corner.

But once I finished the page and sat back and looked at it, I was immediately reminded of a dear childhood friend of mine, Arlene, who's favorite color was orange.  Once I thought of that, I couldn't shake it...and so I went to work sketching out a face on my page.  Still using only orange and tinting/shading it with white/black, I worked on skin tone and making her look more dimensional.

For my friend Arlene, wherever life may have taken her...

My lady doesn't really look like my friend did, but she does call her to mind.  Instead of an afro like the lady above, Arlene's hair had these amazing spiral curls that stuck out with a grand amount of volume from her beautiful face...they were so energetic and spunky...I loved them and was always so jealous of them...I can't tell you how bad I wanted my own hair to have those exact curls.  Ninety percent of the time, Arlene...did not love them...she wanted boring, straight hair like mine...which was pure crazy in my opinion...  That's how it always seems to go, you want the opposite of what you have...that's everybody I guess...we weren't special in that.

I haven't seen Arlene in a million years...not since before I got married...11 or 12 years, maybe...I lost track of her over time...growing up takes its toll and we forget what's really important.

But I still think of her when I see the color orange or smell Clinique "Happy" perfume.  She was hilarious and extremely talented...the most naturally talented artist I've ever personally met, with the possible exception of my sister Marian.  She was one of those people that people couldn't help but like...she could have a comfortable conversation with anybody.  She was beautiful inside and out, and I've never seen a person who exuded confidence in the same way as she did: quietly and humbly, but without a doubt that it was there.  I often wish, even now, that I knew how to do the same.

This is my favorite piece that I've done in quite a while.  For the fact that the lady came out of my head, with no reference photo...for the fact that I only used one color plus black and white to bring her into existence...and for the fact that it calls to mind a good person who I had forgotten for a time.

Arlene, wherever you are, you're still on my mind and I miss you and love you.  I hope life has been as kind to you as you always were to me.

So Long

And here we are...counting down the last day of 2014!

This year seems to have flown by!  Especially the second half...for me, from September on was a total blink of an eye.  It was crazy!

For this last post of the year...the post that completes my year as well as my December blog-a-thon (hooray!)...I thought I would share a few of the highlights of 2014...

In January, I was having fun with one of Jane Davenport's workshops:

This was for Jane Davenport's "Supplies Me" workshop.

It was also the beginning of my two year long art projects, Journal 52...

This page remains one of my favorites...one of the ones that I am most proud of!

...and Documented Life:

This was documenting a very sad thing, the passing of my dog, Nunu...he was such a good boy, but his passing away brought an end to a painful illness, and there's comfort in the fact that he's not in pain anymore.

In February, I had a rant about a co-worker, but this lovely page came out of it:

Her horns/tiny head trees are my favorite part...I adore them!

I started a short and frustrating trip into abstract art, that still goads me every time I think about it...

Then I tried my hand at a Mindy Lacefield inspired spread and found I liked that much better:

I've ended up with several Mindy Lacefield inspired pieces, but this was the first and probably my favorite...

I also realized that my desire for freedom isn't new to me...I've wished for it since I was a child:

I didn't remember this page, but maybe in 2015, I'll reach my lifelong dream of attaining freedom...

In March, I thought a lot about who I was...

...made with some home-made stencils I did a tutorial for (also in March)...

...and who I wanted to be:

"Now and Then"
I started understanding that if I wanted to get to the colorful and happy place on the right, I'd have to push through fear as illustrated on the left.

In April, I thought more about being afraid:

Another one of my favorite pages...I think she's so cool!

I worked on some personal stuff...

I love the color combo of the olive-ish green and the rosy carmine...

...and started a project that I later came to realize was better left unfinished:

My collage skills were improving by leaps and bounds, but I was backsliding to an emotional state that was better left in the past...I do need to get back to collages though...I was getting better at them!

May saw a couple mermaids (and me admitting that I like washing dishes):

...if I were a mermaid, I'd be a chunky one...but my tail would be fantastic!

This is another happy-making page for me...her arms and hands came out relatively normal looking! ☺

I also remembered that change comes from within and got a little confrontational with someone who had done me wrong (so out of character for me!):

...the shading on the ball of her nose turned out surprisingly well!

In June, I got experimental!  I made my first (and, so far, only) mandala:

...not too hideous for a first attempt, right?

...tried my hand at playing the Glad Game:

...I also started noticing a run of purple in my art that month...

...got to do an artist interview with my sweet and talented friend Jackie (aka My Honey):

Isn't My Honey an amazing artist?  I adore her and her work!

I also did a video talking about my art and myself...and I got all scientific on you:

...there was an informative discussion about what a 'line' actually is, involving time, our lifespan, and vampires...my mind is so weird...

July saw more science:

Real life anglerfish are NOT as cute as this guy is...

...participation in Summer of Color:

That wolf sure loves that girl...

...me making wishes:

...still looking for those things...

...and my realizing how appalling 'fashion' has gotten in recent times and how I would dress if I could:

check out those gams...

In August, I realized that I'm probably a psychic, but most of the time I don't know what I'm talking about:

The reference photo that I used for the above girl is one I keep coming back to...she's on my Pinterest board, "Photograph".

In September, I had an awesome beach trip with my mom!  Artistically, I played with texture, made some cards, and realized that some things can't be let go of quickly:

the olive green and carmine make their second appearance

I got my feathers ruffled:

That crow napkin is still awesome...I wish I had a million of them...

...and I started seeing things connect:

Leonardo was right...

October heard me bemoaning the fact that my mom and I couldn't stay at the beach indefinitely...and it heard me celebrating as well:

...after MANY attempts, a decent face in profile was drawn!

I thought about what was dear to my heart:

...also reminded you that Bambi was, in fact, a boy...

and magic was made:

...still NOT Tinkerbell...

November came with some baggage:

...we hold too much inside of ourselves sometimes, don't we?

but also contained acceptance:

...gratitude:

...and realizing I've still got some fight in me:

And finally December...it started out with a scare that THANKFULLY ended much better than it could have.

I participated in Reverb14 (my first Reverb ever!), which was fantastic and reminded me how much I enjoy writing (which has taken a backseat to art for quite a while).  I learned a lot about myself...

...finished off a bunch of pages where there was a background but nothing else...

where I wanted to be:

This page is laughably bad!  (but laughing's good, so it can't be all bad, right?  ...right???)

...and what I hope for the future.

Adora-bunny...

I wrapped up Journal 52 with an important reminder:

...better keep learning then!

and Documented Life with a little whimsy:

I've never been happier that my name starts with an "A"!

...thus completing TWO year-long art projects and proving that I CAN finish what I start!

-

And that brings us up to date with today, December 31...

...still celebrating the cleanliness of the desk!

...where I thought I send 2014 off with a little bit of fun...

Followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest to make this cartoony horse...you can find the tutorial on my "Copycat With Respect" board.

With many thanks for all it's taught me, I say:

SO LONG 2014!