Horizontal Space

With my rocking chair out of the way I finally had room for the worktable where the Knitting Machine will "live" through the winter but as with any free space a number of other projects have come and gone across it first but as you can see I'll be installing the machine today as soon as I can find the clamps.
While we're waiting for that would you like to step back in time and see a few other pictures of this corner?

Back in April I had dragged the dining room table in here because the living room has the best  light and the most windows of any room in the house. In this picture I'd just received a lot of my merchandise from http://www.Zazzle.com/julia_art* and was using some of the cards to answer my mail.

Of course I also had to do a bit of painting in here before the  round table headed back to the dining room.

As you can see this has been a very busy room. No wonder it felt good to bring the old rocker in here for a few months and relax. I think I'll miss it...if I ever get time to...

Scrap Project for bits of card stock and watercolors

My card stock is limited to scraps of assorted sizes and I thought it would be fun to mix them with the results of the salt experiments a few posts back to see what I could come up with.

There was also a floral painting in that little watercolor book that  I thought should "come out and play" too. I trimmed it with part of the watercolor I used on the other card and used bits off the top and bottom of the floral on the second card too. As they say in the movies "I love it when a plan comes together".

Here's that second card and below is a photo of both cards along with a few other things I'm working on.

What do you think so far? Yes, I mounted the paper bits on those watercolor note cards that I'm so fond of using. There's so much you can do with them that I order them in 100 at a time...several times a year.

The end of the Petunia Project

As you can see I've added a lot of detail since you saw this project yesterday and yes, I mailed this card to one of my sisters. I just love mail!!!

Here's the envelope. Wouldn't you like to see something like this at your mailbox? She's got the original but I'll be making a few products with the images in my  http://www.Zazzle.com/julia_art*  store so that you can enjoy them too.

Deja Vu and petunias too

I couldn't let the garden season pass without making one more attempt at capturing this years petunias on a note card and envelope. Yes, I'd already given last weeks away...and yes I scanned it first to see how it would work on products at zazzle. I figure that way the widest number of people possible get a chance to see, use or enjoy it. I find that more gratifying (and useful) than doing a gallery show. Yes, that's weird but so am I and it makes me happy...it makes lots of people happy, and isn't that the whole point?

Back to the Sunflowers

I went back an forth between working the flower petals in Cad Yellow Med, Raw Sienna and white and working the leaves and stems with Hookers Green, Sap Green and white. It's sometimes hard to decide which areas to work first but don't let that discourage you. Just keep trying different things until you find what works best for you.

The centers of the flowers are base coated in Ivory Black

Flower centers are finished with small strokes of raw sienna around the outside inch or so. You can also do more layers in other color mixes if you want more definition of the seeds and texture in the area as well

Making Room for Creativity

I decided to kick the comfy chair to the cub to make room for one more work table in here. I have an old Brother Bulky Knitting Machine that I used to make mittens, hats, scarves and slippers on so I thought it would be handy to do some of that again before the really cold weather sets in. 

Amazingly my hubby decided to get rid of his recliner too and  they were gone in minutes!!!
It was nice to see people so happy to get them and we're looking forward to the changes in here.

There wasn't even time to snap a picture of both chairs. What an interesting way to start a day!

Sunflowers in the Round materials list and details

The sketch is done in a round format because I plan to use this painting to design a necklace, key ring, magnets, coasters and stickers.

I like to use Liquitex Professional Acrylic Artist Color Heavy Body. The colors used here are: Titanium White, Ivory Black, Burnt Umber, Raw Sienna, Hooker's Green, Sap Green, Light Blue Permanent and Cadmiun Yellow .

I'm using 2 8x10 inch canvas panels. One for the painting and another to lay my paints out on (this will become a painting of it's own later, I'm building a textured surface at this point) Place a small dab of blue and a small dab of white on the blank canvas panel but do NOT mix them there. I prefer to use a #8 flat or round brush  and pick up a bit of each color which I tap lightly and make small cross strokes on the painting which blend them some but produces a mottled, cloud like background.

I had some extra white left on my other board so I began using that with the yellow and raw sienna to make the flower petals more prominent.

now comes the fun part!!! Any extra paint on the other board gets spread out and worked with a pallet knife which of course is where some of the wild backgrounds for my other work start.
There's lots more to go on this painting but I'll take a break here.

"Cold enough for you?"

Summer seems to have shot by in our part of the country as I'm sure it has a lot of other places and we're not quite ready for winter in spite of the fact that some mornings it sure feels that way.
I'm having another cup of coffee and trying to talk myself into dashing outside and digging into the yard clean up but then I notice the debris field that is my house these days and find it funny that when I'm in the middle of a project I never even notice it.
I'm not sure what I'll be doing today. Right now I'm just content to be in where it's warm and the coffee pot is on.
What's life like where you are?

First Frost and Fall Campfire

Some of the frost on the roof this morning about 9:00 AM

Yes, there is an eighteen foot gravel circle out here around the 

campfire

The weeds weren't too hard to clear and it's staring to look a bit more useable

2 weeks ago this was full of weeds and wildflowers. A few of my friends thought  it was the garden

Now that it's been cleaned up a bit It's even looking pretty good from the kitchen.

Sock it to me. Sock Monkey and Granny Square Christmas Stocking

Even the woodpecker is at home with the art here

As you may remember we built and painted bird houses last year and as you can see here, The woodpecker has come to do some remodeling this season.

I hate to see all our hard work damaged but it was interesting to watch our feathered friend working so hard and we found it a bit funny that it chose our little house when it's just a few feet away from some really large, old and amazing trees.

Doug took this shot from the living room and it was interesting to see the differences in the light and color between this and the photos I took out in the yard. I managed to get within 4 feet of it before it flew up the tree. We're certified Wildlife Habitat here so most of the birds and animals are used  to having my around and that should allow us to share even better photos with you in the future. I may even base a few paintings on them this winter.

Petunias in Watercolor and Photos

I took that photo of the petunia in my yard earlier this season and thought it was about time to try painting them.

I always start with a small painting in the corner of the envelope and then move on to a more complicated design for the card.

I haven't quite decided whether to leave this card at this point or to continue to work in more details. What do you think?

It's simple but bound to make the letter carrier and the recipient smile.

Finished Floral in Purple and Gold

I always attach in progress photos to the backs of my paintings as well as writing notes on them as to the date completed and the type of paint used. I'm hoping that this information proves useful or interesting in the future and people seem to like the idea so far.

Here of course is the finished painting which will be sent on it's way in just a few minutes. Yes, it's a gift for a friend. I may scan it first and check out the design possibilities so that we can all enjoy it. What do you think?

Wildlife Habitat and Gardening in the City

The chipmunk was cuter than this squirrel but it moved too fast for me or my camera. The squirrel even jumped back out of the birdbath before I finished shooting my photo.

I love the way the flowers at the corner of my yard look against my neighbors arbor. It's proof that you don't need to live out in the country to find a little beauty to brighten your day.

Well, the backyard is still a mess but even it has a few bright spots like the black eyed Susan's that popped up in  our campfire area. They really surprised me because there's an 18 foot gravel circle out here and I wasn't expecting anything to take root in it.
There's a large, old martin house a few feet away from here that's been full of all sorts of other birds all summer-maybe THEY planted them...

Hosta End of Season Clean Up

It's looking pretty rough now but as you check the older posts you'll see that the hosta looked great this summer. The season went awfully fast and instead of waiting for it all to die back I prefer to clip the flower stems and pull out the dead or dying leaves to keep it looking as nice as possible.

The wheelbarrow is on the street side of things because I always start there so that things look nice from the road whether I actually finish the job or not. A lot of seniors have mobility issues and we just like people to know we're doing the best we can. Nobody wants a messy yard but no one wants a stroke either so sometimes you have to compromise. There must be a program that pairs people that live in apartments and miss gardening with folks that have gardens and can't keep them up, have any of you heard of one here in Minnesota?

I got started cleaning things up and shot this photo while taking a break and trying to get a picture of a chipmunk passing through.

Believe it or not there is a lovely gravel circle under this mess that really makes the plants look great early in the season. There's a lot of work left to do.

Latest Lily Painting

As you can see there are still a lot of other projects going on so I may not finish that painting this weekend but here are the photos of where I've left off to tend to a few of the others.

As you may have noticed lighting makes quite a difference. The painting appears much brighter when placed in the scanner than it does outdoors in natural light or just laying in the dining room table. It's an important factor to take into consideration as you work so choose the intensity of your colors carefully.