Quirky Birds Mini Book

"Quirky Birds" for Lifebook 2013. I used selected lyrics from Annie Lennox — Little Bird. This was so much fun! This is mixed media on watercolor paper. It folds like an accordion book.

The lyrics I picked start with the bird on the top left:
I look up to the little bird
That glides across the sky

But this little bird's fallen out of that nest now
I've got a feeling that it might have been blessed
So I've just got to put these wings to test

For I am just a troubled soul
Who's weighted...
Weighted to the ground
Give me the strength to carry on
Till I can lay this burden down

So I've just got to put these wings to test

Here are some close ups:

She's Got Style: Mixed Media Canvas

I have always liked fashion illustrations. So, when I looked at my Brain Coral Stencil and my Ripples Stencil and realized that the size and patterns of the designs would look great on an outfit for one of my girls,  I couldn't wait to get started on this project.  The first thing I did was sketch out my girl and her obvious companion, a stylish cat.  I used Bristol paper, and graphite pencils to do the sketch work.  I then used a black pen to trace the lines of the Ripples Stencil on the jacket of my girl.  I traced the Brain Coral Stencil on the dress.  I started the coloring process with Inktense and colored pencils.      I continued adding color to the design using Inktense.  I cut out my girl and her cat and used matte medium to adhere them to my prepared background. Some of the supplies I used in my background are as follows: Stencils: Amiens, Ocean Waves, Cherry Blossom, and Seven Jewels. Silks Acrylic Glazes, white pens, gesso, white heavy body acrylic, bleeding tissue paper, gold paint pen, water soluble markers, and workable fixative.  

Thank you for stopping by!

Jane Girls: Under the Sea

I have the entire tutorial including all of the supplies I used available for you at Artistcellar.  I would love it if you leave a comment for me there.  xoxoxox

Having Fun With the Jane Girl's Stencil

What a thrill it is to get to work with the Jane Girls Series Stencils. They offer so many options. I have been playing with eye placement, curve of the lips, and hair styles. In this post I show what subtle differences can do to the look of a piece. I used the same colors and supplies in both 8"x 8" canvas pieces.


In this canvas, I have her eyes looking towards the viewer, have hair on both sides of the neck, have a more subtle background pattern and use a hair band all the way around the face.           In this canvas, the girl is looking more forward, her lips curl more upward, the hair is pulled back and on one side of her neck and the background pattern is more pronounced.

 For these projects I used:

1. The 3-Quarter Stencil from the Jane Girls Series.
2. The Star Coral stencil from the Coral Series.
3. 8" x 8" Canvas
4. Derwent Inktense Blocks
5. Silks Acrylic Glazes
6. Water soluble color pencils
7. Sekura Koi WaterBrush
8. Water soluble crayons
9. White Gesso

Process:

• Prepare each canvas with White Gesso.
• Use Derwent Inktense Blocks to color the entire background.
• Blend colors using a Sekura Koi WaterBrush, dry.
• Use the Star Coral stencil from the Coral Series and the Silks Acrylic Glazes to
• Use the Water soluble color pencils, 

Thank you for checking out my post.  I would love to see what you are doing with Artistcellar stencils.

My Hope is in You: Intricate Doodle Tutorial

I enjoy making intricate doodles and I love the Cathedral Series Stencils so I decided to combine these two loves to create today's project.

Techniques for creating the Paris Cathedral Intricate Doodle: 1. Trace the Paris Cathedral Stencil onto an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper using a black pen.  (I decided to use an 8.5" x 11" inch piece of paper so that I could easily print out copies of of my finished artwork to use for homemade calendars or other projects.)

2. Color the page using water soluble pencils and blend the colors with a Sekura Koi WaterBrush.

3. Add doodles using black and white pens.

4. Finish the project by adding a title strip.  I made mine using Photoshop.  I used http://translate.google.com/ to translate my title into French to go with the Paris theme.

Flower of Life Mandala

This mandala took about 20 hours to finish.  I hope you enjoy it.  xo

29 Faces 2.3.13

Summer Girl  She is a Work in Progress.  

I created her with Pan Pastels (the 20 piece portrait set), sketching pencils, Derwent Inktense Colored Pencils, Silks Acrylic Glazes, the Seven Jewels Stencil from Artistcellar, and the London Old World Map Stencil from Artistcellar.   

Compass, Too Mandala: The 2nd in my Compass Series

I created this while praying for my family to go in the right directions for our lives, our growth, our love and our faith.

Whirlwind of Dreams and Opportunities

Since the Design Team announcement for Artistcellar, I have been quietly working on my pieces for my weekly contributions to their site.  I will have posts up both on their site and on my blog every Wednesday starting the first week in February.  I am utilizing their amazing collection of exclusive stencils.  Similar to the way I have used them in the background of this piece and each of my posts includes a tutorial.

At the same time, I started teaching Intricate Doodles at The Doris an art gallery in my town.  For the Intricate Doodles class, I am working to create a greater variety of colored pieces to teach my students how to use color in their work.  Both of these projects take time.  An intricate doodle like this one takes me about 15 hours.

I thought that the opportunity to teach and to work for Artistcellar was exciting enough and then The Doris requested that I submit pieces for a gallery show they are doing this weekend and for the month of February at the Florida Community Design Center in the Chamber of Commerce Building.  So, for the first time in my adult life, I have three art pieces in a gallery show.

The show opens with Artwalk this Friday night.  I am in the amazing company of the Artists' in Residence at The Doris and some of the other art teachers like my beautiful friend and Mosaic Artist Limor Ben-Naim Herb.  

As I spoke with Turbado Marabou, one of the incredible Artists In Residence at The Doris, he expressed interest in the Artistcellar stencils.  It was a surreal moment as my online art world and my local art world came together.  I will be sharing with Turbado the amazing line of Artistcellar stencils and I hope to discover his methods for using them in his work.

To say that I am amazed that all of this is happening at once is an understatement.  I am also extremely grateful for each of these opportunities to express myself through my art.  So, while I might be more quiet than normal, I am in my studio working away and bursting with excitement that I am able to participate in the art world both locally and online.  I am immensely grateful for your generous support.