hearts and needles

halloween + my first printable!

in the shop

I have been wanting to experiment with printables in my etsy shop, and made this halloweeny witch - sort of last minutey. Just to try it out.

If you like to cut stuff out and have some of those little brads, then it might be for you.

 

Halloween is right around the corner - like, super close!

What’re you doing for Halloween?

Usually, I do dress up and do something in public (to justify the costume)...

Now that I have this Big Head, I pretty much have a costume at the ready…. I think we’re going to hand out candy + scare children, then get thai food. I hope it’s thai food.

I’ve been working on various projects and busy teaching after school art. One of my classes is middle schoolers. I walked around checking on their progress the other day, and stumbled into a conversation in which the first words I heard were “man tits”.

I’m just keeping it real - they said it, not me.

I just kept on. There’s no way I was going to try to stop the conversation. Or participate.

blooming & growing forever

bloom & grow  - available

My most recent painting - it sums up what i've been up to, artistically: blooming & growing. i've been very inspired and obsessed with making these last couple of weeks! that's why i haven't been blogging.  but i'm glad to be here in this space again. 

 

making stuff has been very inspiring, but so has seeing what other folks are up to. here are a few folks inspiring me right now:

Carissa Paige's wanderings & wonderings

Mystele's update

Corey Moortgat's utter obsession with her many vintage doll houses!

 

what's inspiring you? where are your interests leading you?

 

Dream time

Been working on so much these days and wanting to share in this space. Now that i have an iPhone, all this will be way easier. For now, a peek at a small painting.

ladies - 100, or so.

So, this is a little project I want to share with y'all.  I was at Michael's a few weeks ago, and they were having a sale in their dollar section.  I found some awesome blank books (they were actually $2.00, but on sale for 40% off) that I had to buy.  Usually, their notebooks have lined paper, but these were blank and the paper was brown kraft paper - my fav.  So, I bought four of them, though I already regret not getting them all.  The covers left a lot to be desired, though.  They came with Victorian fairy themes, but not really cute.  Sort of cheesy.  I decided to re-cover one, and I'm so glad I did!  I love the way it looks.  I used craft paint, scrapbook paper, and some fabric scraps, and some vintage paper and made it more "me". 

I was hoping to use it as a sketchbook thingie that I could paint in.  I really like painting on kraft paper - the texture is great, and it takes paint really well, and I like the non-shiny finish.  I also wanted the painting aspect to be stress free and fun with very little thought or analysis or judgement.  Fun + stress free = the best.

Thus, "100, or so, ladies" was born.  The book has 100 pages, so my goal is to fill it up with paintings of ladies.  That one above is probably my favorite, so far.  But what about this one:

Are you scared?  She remind me a bit of Carol Channing.

Does anybody else have a little project like this?  One that keeps you motivated to make stuff, but is just for fun, with no "is this good enough" type of judging? I'd love to hear about it.

 

I will post ladies from time to time - if one if particularly funny or interesting.  But if you want to keep up with the ladies, I've created a flickr set of them.

 

tomorrow: illustration friday.  does anyone else participate?  i'm starting now!

springtime, oh yeah!

 

I'm so loving this early springiness.  Spring in Virginia is so beautiful, and this is the first spring in our new house.  I'm discovering all sorts of blooming stuff, and am pretty thrilled that we will have lots of spring flowers to cut.  Right now: tons of forsythia and Japanese flowering quince (the pink flowers in the picture).  Our flowering quince is enormous, and it is something I've always wanted to have in my yard.  I've been cutting giant bundles of them and stuffing them into vases.  Next up, we'll have dogwood and azaleas. We were so lucky to find this little dream bungalow with such well established and giant flowering things - I'm grateful for it every day.

This is where I am with my 4th week of Get Your Paint On.  I'm still planning to finish this painting at least.  The 5th assignment is pretty free-form, so I'm not sure if I'll do it, or not.  Anyhow, the painting above has been really fun to work on but I've had a lack of time lately.  I've been teaching a ton and doing a lot of class prep.  But!  I am going to keep on with this one because I still want to add some acrylic transfers, and a few more details, etc...and then I am planning to hang it up in our house!

 

While I was painting it, I kept laughing a little to myself and saying "put a bird on it"!  Ha!

 

What do you love about spring?

p.s. new listing on etsy

 

 

Get Your Paint On Wrap-up & Momentum!

Get Your Paint On ended this past week, and it was pretty wonderful.  The class was low pressure, but the more I put into it - the actual painting, participating in the facebook, flickr, and blog - the more I got out of it!  I also just loved the (low) pressure of getting assignments done.  I’m still working on my week 4 and need to do week 5, but it will happen.
I loved reading the different struggles my fellow students were having - some had *never* painted before and did not know basic stuff, and some students were struggling with adding more meaningful content to the textured backgrounds they loved painting, and a lot of more experienced folks were trying new things out of their comfort zone.  Regardless of each individual issue or fear, they all made the most expressive and lovely paintings!  And everyone was so kind to each other when giving feedback and praise.  I know my heart swelled with pride when I read the supportive, sweet, and funny comments folks made about my paintings.  I made my husband listen to me read them out loud!

Mati & Lisa did a really great job.  Despite Lisa breaking her arm, and Mati moving her studio and other deadlines they mentioned going on behind the scenes, I never felt like they disappeared from the community.  I also thought their videos were endearing and sweet (as well as educational!).  The artist interviews and inspiration each week was downright amazing, and it really did inspire me to try new things and think about my paintings differently.  

More than anything, for me, it helped me put my stuff out there.  I paint and collage all the time, but taking pictures, updating my blog, and even finally listing something on etsy seems overwhelming at times.  Having a weekly goal to post a painting on flickr made it easier to write a blog post about it, and that just got my momentum swirling...

Thanks Mati & Lisa!  You guys rule!

And speaking of momentum, I’ve listed my first item ever in my etsy shop!  Yeah!

Sketchbook Wednesday!

headphone dude from my collage sketchbook!

 

i decided to start my own blog theme day: sketchbook wednesday.  why? well, i love working in my sketchbooks - i get my best ideas from the doodles, scribbles, collages, drawings that show up in my various notebooks - and i feel like sharing them! 

i never start out with any specific ideas when i work in my sketchbook.  usually, i just have to get my pencil moving to get my brain moving.  or maybe i'm in a trance?  and with collage, i just start cutting out a shape and see where it goes.  with collage, though, i always seem to cut out a pair of pants first?  not sure why.

i need to learn how to take better pictures!

 

in other news....

the leaves are turning around here - i can't believe it's almost fall!  i'm looking forward to:

-cardigans

-carving pumpkins

-apple picking and apple pies!

-clouds and some rain