I'm still here...

Oddly enough, I have not felt much like blogging lately.  Not in a bad mood or anything, just not much to say or share art wise.
I have been taking a few new on-line classes, Brush calligraphy, Itallic Calligraphy, Shades of Gray, and probably another that I can't think of right now.  All great classes and instructors.
I  am looking into classes being offered by the Art League here in the DC area.  My thought is that I might benefit from having a teacher in the room who will critique and provide guidance.  I have the need to learn my own process and not re-create someone else's style.   This is my second year of painting with acrylics and I am still a bit in awe of them.  My drawing has improved, but I still don't know where I want to go with my painting.
My husband and I are going to visit the facility this weekend to get a feel for the location and to view the artists studios.  I really hope I will be inspired.....
I have also started Zentagles.  This is really a fun and relaxing art form.  I'll post pictures in s day or so.

Snow Again!

We have yet another blizzard today with 40 mph winds.  Not the weather we are accustomed to in the DC area.  Too nasty outside to take a picture to show you, but imagine 6-10 inches on top of 26 inches already on the ground.  Oh well back to working on taxes...

Snow bound art

As we await yet another snow storm, I decided to share the art I have done in the past few days.... Both pieces have napkins incorporated in them.

Blizzard in the DC area

I really love snow, and since I don't have any place to go for the next few days,  I love it!  This may be more snow than I have seen in this area since 1995, or some say ever.  Great day to hunker down and browse blogs, work on painting, and do what I really should be doing...work on a baby quilt for a customer that must be ready by 2/16.  The quilt is made, I just need to do the quilting and binding ( the not so fun, hard on the back part).  But in this economy, I am thankful to have a customer, so I will work through the pain to make the quilt cute for her new bambino. 8-)

Great Find

I am taking a few online classes this month (what's new), but I think this is it for me for a while unless something really awesome comes along.   A couple of the classes have to do with drawing and painting faces, but I am also taking an awesome class in color theory, offered by Julie Pritchard andChris Cozen.

Great class and exercises to help one understand color and the color wheel.  They focus mainly on Golden products since Chris works for Golden.  They peaked my interest so much that I checked out books on the subject and found these three.

These three books are awesome.  As a woman of color I often struggle with skin tones, and have often resorted to craft paint colors in my paintings as opposed to trying to mix the colors.  I now have the confidence to try mixing my own skin tones to celebrate the many skin tones of people of color.

Portrait classes

As I have probably mentioned earlier in a post, I am taking two portrait classes this month.  One from Pam Carriker and now one from Misty Mawn.  Their drawing and painting styles are very different, and that is why I wanted to take the classes.  I have learned great stuff from both so far and my goal is to come up with a style of my own.  I really need to practice more, but I love all the information I am learning from both artists.

New Drawing

The new year has brought on more art endeavors.  I am taking a portrait class from Misty Mawn, that starts next Friday.  Thought I would try my hand at a self portrait while I wait for the class to start.  I did this drawing last night and showed it to my husband and asked him if he thought it looked like me.  He didn't think so, so I guess I am back to the drawing board soon, but thought I would share my effort anyway.

I am also taking an online class from DJ Pettit on digital art.  I must say that I feel that I am in WAY over my head in this one.  Think I will take a few hours of quiet time this weekend and try to figure it out.  My small brain just doesn't want to do digital art I guess...8-)

Happy New Year

Here's hoping everyone has a happy, healthy, prosperous, and artful 2010!
If my Muse continues to visit me in the new year, I will have a lot to share here on my little part of the net.
I am really thankful for all the online classes that are being offered by some really awesome teachers.  I love the online format over the 6-8 hour format of a class at a retreat, because it gives the student more access to the teacher and allows the teacher a chance to share more of their knowledge.  I also love the fact that you can take the class at your own speed, and sometimes even download the videos to be able to revert back to them from time to time.  Don't know about you, but often I feel rushed in a classroom setting and never do my best work.  I also often forget some of the instructions given, which makes it hard to recreate the art at a later time.

Speaking of creating, I used the instructions from my friend Serena Barton in the Dec issue of Cloth Paper Scissors to make this Wabi Sabi piece.  Great fun.

Pan Pastels Arrive

My Christmas gift card purchase form Dick Blick arrived today.  I did a little testing with them to see what they're like.  I would compare them to the creaminess of applying make-up, and very easy to apply.  I purchased additional applicators and glad I did.  The pastels are very pigment intense and only a little is needed.  Since I tend to be a bit heavy handed, I sort of ruined my first applicator..8-)  Lesson learned.  Can't wait to try them on all of my art.

New Journal Cover

I am taking an on-line class from Mary Ann Moss (Remains of the Day).  I used one of my favorite color combinations, red,black, and white fabric scraps to construct the cover.   I used novelty quilting fabric for the inside of the cover.  Now that the cover is done, later today or tomorrow, I will work on the pages for the journal.  The cover was great fun to make.

New Drawing

Decided to spend Christmas Eve relaxing with artwork.  All chores are done.   One of my early holiday gifts was a gift certificate to Dick Blick.  I have been thinking about pan pastels, since I saw Teesha Moore use them, so today I ordered them.  I plan to use them on a lot of the drawings I have done and are laying around waiting for color. Perhaps I'll use them on this...

Finished work from Misty's class

I spent the last month taking an online class from Misty Mawn.  Loved learning how to make better backgrounds, and then incorporating other images and faces into the mix.  If you didn't get a chance to take the class and she offers it again,  jump at the chance if you love to paint.  Here are two of the things I did, one is an exercise in collage and the other is painting.  Great fun!

Now I m gearing up for a class with DJ Pettit, and another class with Misty in January.  No winter blah's  this year!

Snow for the holidays!

Less than a week before Christmas, and wow do we have snow!  As is always the case here in DC, everything comes to a halt when it snows; but this time I think it's warranted.  The forecast says up to 2 feet are possible.   Most of my holiday shopping is done, so I think I am going to sit back with a cup of hot chocolate and just enjoy it!

Happy Holidays!

Finally getting around to decorating the house.  Still have a LOT of gifts to make and finish up, but decided to take a break and liven up the house a bit.  I noticed that each year I want to decorate less and less, because I HATE putting all the decorations away.  Plus time is passing so fast that it seems as soon as I put everything up, it's time to take it out again.  They say that's a sign of getting older...time passing at warp speed.

Along with getting my holiday chores done, I still have homework to do from a online class I am taking with Misty Mawn.  Very cool class.  She is planning to offer another one next month, so I need to get cracking to finish up my paintings before the next session starts.  I am also psyched about a photoshop class starting next month with DJ Pettit.  It will be so cool to learn how to enhance my photos.

I may not get a chance to post again before the holidays, so Happy Holidays everyone!

Journaling

Teesha Moore has a wonderful journaling tutorial on her blog site.  I am not really into journaling, have tried to start a journal many times and lost interest.  Teesha's tutorial is very inspiring.  I haven't gotten very far in the process, but I have enjoyed what I have done so far.  I still have a lot of collaging and pen work to do, but  check it out her blog if you get a chance.   Here's what I have done so far...