No Wonder Daisies Make Me Happy

I've got good news! I just sold the daisy painting.

Here's the drawing from the corner of the envelope I used to write the buyer.

Now the exciting part comes with an empty space on the wall and a lot of ideas.

Art in a "family way"

It's been exciting this week that beyond working on my own art and craft projects here, two of my sister's have shared some of their art with me and allowed me to "play" with it on products at Zazzle.
I love the idea of having stores where everything in them was created by myself or one of my siblings. I think that's really unusual, don't you? I'm even trying to get some of My dad's old drawings and have Mom write a line of greeting cards.
As for myself, I've been too busy to scan my recent projects but hope to get back to some bigger paintings next week.

Lazy Daisy: reworking and old painting

Here's the old painting that used to hang in the living room. I'll be pulling it out of the frame and "playing" with it next to turn it into something we might like better.

Finished Painting of the Swinger Camera

I may continue to work on this from time to time but I've finished with it for now.

A few more pictures of the camera painting

None of the colors I've added have sparked an idea for a way to finish the background.

I'm not sure whether to continue working or just wrap it up for the night and hope I've got fresh ideas in the morning...

Day 3 on the Swinger painting, more knifework, texture and color

As I added the more intense colors and texture to the background I began to see where I'd gone wrong with the basic shape of the camera. As I go back to work on it this afternoon I'll be attempting to correct that before taking a breath and diving into the knifework with whatever color pops out of my paintbox first.

Sometimes I make things more interesting or challenging by closing my eyes and picking 3 colors at random to see where they'll take me.

As you can see there are a lot of different types of energy at work here. At this point the push/pull of the colors is unsettling but stay with me. it's going to get worse before it gets better.

The mood shifts on the swinger painting, day 2

I repainted the body of the camera and rounded the edges a bit more to better capture the look and style of the camera.

With my paints out again I couldn't resist "playing" with the background, finger painting as well as using brushes and pallet knives. As the layers of color build I stop wading around the edges and get ready to really dive into the painting. It will come off the easel and be worked flat on the table for a while.

Swinger painting day 1

I didn't spend enough time trying to get the shape right. I'm hoping to be able to work that out as the painting progresses.

Sometimes I get all caught up in the paints and forget everything else. We'll see what happens when I go back to it tomorrow...Ok, I couldn't wait so I painted a bit more.

This is where I left it for the night.

Painted poinsettia card and envelope

There's not much to say about this except that it's pleasant work and I think I get a little bit better at it every year. The great thing about something like this is that no one cares whether they're really good or not, they're usually just glad that someone took the time to paint something for them. It's a great way to get lots of practice and to make people that you care about happy.

Vintage Cameras

These belonged to my husband and as I create a series of drawings and paintings of them I'm also inspired to create a display area for them in the media corner of the living room.

With the cameras on a shelf on one side of the room and artwork inspired by them on the wall on the opposite side of the room we'll be able to be surrounded by the things that we enjoy.

The question now is whether to start with pencils or plunge directly into paints.

The finished butterfly painting

People may find it odd that it took me 5 days to do this painting but I was working it in between other projects and it's been pleasant to work with, both in doing the actual painting and in using some of the butterflies to design products with on Zazzle.

I'm still not sure what my next project will be so I'm taking some time to clean and organize my studio space while I wait for inspiration to strike.

The last of the yarn and some thoughts on the garden

I made hats in each solid color and a scarf in stripes of both and will use up the last of everything on more hats.

As look out at the snow and continue to crochet I've got to thank one of my readers for commenting on last season's garden and reminding me that there are still places where gardens continue to produce and bloom. It made me want to look over the photos from mine and make a few notes for planning next years. Thanks so much for brightening my day and giving me something else to think about.

Butterfly Hooks recycled/upcycled

 I don't know what the problem was with the pictures but I was attempting to show you some wire hooks that a friend had given me. They're past "shabby chic" and pretty rusty so I'm painting a few of them black with pops of color on the butterfly wings and using them to hang pans from in my kitchen

Nothing comes to mind

I'm still working on that butterfly painting and have already put some of the finished parts on merchandise on Zazzle but a clear direction for the next painting eludes me. I'm continuing to crochet a few hats and scarves for gifts and hoping that as my hands are busy with that a new idea or two will pop into my mind.
This is unusual for me I've always known what my next 2 or 3 projects would be at any given time so I can't help but think I'm at some sort of crossroads that may take me in a totally new direction and I can't help but wonder what that would be...right now I'll just be happy to to get going again.

Design concept for the first painting of the season

While I'm trying to decide which direction I want my work to go I thought I'd take some time to celebrate where I've been. Each of the butterfly shapes will be painted with one of my favorite subjects or themes. Yes,I've done something similar on horses and on a painted box in the past but the appeal of doing it on butterflies is that now I can release them and let them fly away as I make room for something new in my paintings for the rest of the season. So far I've got Iris, daisies, dots and roses. I think the last one will be abstract swirls of color like I did back in the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's.

This may not be fine art but it's fun and a lot of people will enjoy it as the whole design will end up on a card and each of the individual butterflies will end up on everything from baby clothes coffee mugs and it will help me loosen up and get ready to see what comes out on the next canvas.

The sky seems to be coming along well. I'm using a round, a fan and a flat brush with 2 shades of blue and one white. There's more clouds and blending to add before I'm finished but I'm enjoying the process.

It's almost addictive, I can't seem to leave it alone and I keep finding myself going back to work on it. I forgot to make lunch and supper and Yes, I'm going back to it now.

Winter sets in, settling into the studio corner of the dining room

Here's the usual view from my computer desk in the living room. As you can see, I never even got my watering can put away before the snow came. I kept meaning to pick it up everytime I went by but as any regular readers know by now I'm VERY easily distracted and have lots of things going on at the same time.

Back in the dining room/studio here's the usual view from my worktable. I'm missing the birds already.

This is the most organized corner because it's right next to the window and my table so I spend more time on it. My husband built this bookcase nearly 50 years ago and I've been wanting to paint it for the last 30 years or so...negotiations continue...

Here we are at the kitchen sink, well above the view of the dirty dishes. On days when the sky is blue it's my favorite view because depending on where you're standing it hardly looks like you're in the middle of the city at all.

Here's the view of the back yard from the other kitchen window. What do all of these photos have to do with painting or gardening? They set the stage as inspiration shifts from the things we're growing and picking to planning for next year and painting or drawing from the photos I took this summer.

Because of limited space in here I'll leave any large easel painting for next summer and plan to focus on drawings, small watercolors and acrylic paintings.

I can't wait to see what happens next!

Project updates

There hasn't been much time for blogging because I've been busy making presents (crocheting 2 infinity scarves, 1 hat and 2 pot holders) Added to these were some of the horses I carved and painted this year and 4 small paintings.

Even if I could afford to shop I prefer making things myself.

Zazzle is a perfect solution to indulge your creativity and shop for any occasion so I spend a lot of time designing things there and hoping for improved sales so that I can afford to buy the things that I want there too.

Painting holly and berries in watercolor