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Showing posts from July, 2011

Experimenting with Patterns

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I am looking over different designs I've found, trying to figure out which ones would make good freebies. I'm torn between the idea being simple and yet still being fun. My original 30-step butterfly looked terrible on the first run. So I filled it out a bit. Now it's 70 steps. Hmmm... What do you think? Maybe I need to make smaller motifs that really are only 30 steps. I think this one looked weird the first time because the taller a motif is, the more pages it needs horizontally to look full enough to hold the shape. Maybe I should just do 1-1 1/2" patterns. Here's the finished 70-step butterfly: Plain and unadorned   With colors... What do you think?

Permission to Make Art

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This article, How to Steal Like an Artist is amazing. I've seen the link on Pinterest for a while now, but took time to read it this morning when a person linked it on Facebook who didn't seem like the type of person who would link something like that. It was coming from a different perspective. Weird how things are. So, I read it. And I am different now. I have been given permission to be me - a person who works a day job, who is married with children, is not thin and beautiful, reads children's books, loves cats and baking and flowers and art - and use all of those things to create beautiful things. The most important thing I read in this article had to do with sharing secrets. People love knowing HOW to do things. Sometimes they like your secrets enough that they'll buy your stuff. Think Martha Stewart. She tells me how to make a beautiful home. Mary Engelbreit showed me people's studios and art processes. I learned their secrets and wanted to know more ab

Flowers Flowers Everywhere

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More of the evening watercolors I do while my son is dipping his head into the kiddie pool "changing his hairdo". I also fend off cats (we have 16) who drink my paint water. Maybe it will sterilize them ... This one is a work in progress. I'm going to add a few more layers of colors. I tried putting a flower everywhere there was an "o" to give it a really random feel. I like the composition. This one isn't my favorite drawing-wise, but I'm happy with the composition and the contrast.

Book Page Watercolors

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I didn't realize until I was browsing Pinterest yesterday that so many other people do this same thing - use book pages to paint upon. Don't judge me badly! The whole point of this painting exercise was not to make a single drawing, but to make a mass of drawings. I've been seeing so many people do things that look beautiful en masse . I want to see if it makes a difference even when my drawing skills are rather ordinary. The paper in this book is de.lis.cious! It takes pen and pencil and water so easily and beautifully. At first, I found myself not wanting to use any of the paper because then it would be all gone and where would I get more? But I finally had a talk with myself and persuaded Me that it is OKAY TO USE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL UNTIL IT IS ALL GONE. So I'm using it without fear now. And when the paper is gone (have I really ever let myself use up anything in my life for fear of running out?), I will be satisfied. By the way, last night I had to get o

Imagine a Clever Title Here

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Woo hoo! Finally I have a camera again and can take pictures of dictionaries reflecting my red shirt in the morning light... And I have been drawing again. I think I'm going to put some paint on this one... maybe.

The Woes of Technologilessness

Alas, I have been without a camera for nigh on a week now. I would love to show you the dictionary I'm folding little by little in the evenings. I'd love to show you the new hearts I've been folding (and making a tutorial for!). It would be great to do all of these things BUT I DON'T HAVE MY CAMERA. Aah... technology. How I do love/hate thee. Still, in other news: My 101 goals. I made a huge breakthrough this weekend with one of the most important ones: #50. Use or lose stained glass.  I lost it. For a few months(!) now, I've had 10 or so of those small plastic bins stacked up in my HALLWAY that were filled with different colors of glass. It's been probably 15 years since I've done anything with glass, but I couldn't bear to toss it - it was expensive! I used the stacks in the hallway to remind myself to think of something wonderful to do with the glass. I could think of lots of things to do with it, but it was all so contrived and useless...