Friday, December 28, 2012

Wandering

I have been contently wandering between Christmas and New Years with my family.  We have few committments and can relax and do whatever happens.    
Yesterday I wandered back into my little art studio, and began this piece, which I finished today. 

I then wandered onto the computer to play with it a bit,

and then the final wander was trying it in a mat.


Oh what a lovely wander I have had.
 
I hope you all have had wonderful wanders this past week, and wish you all some fantastic wanders in the upcoming year!

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Happy Holidays

 
Here is wishing everyone the merryiest of the season. 
 
See you in the new year!

 
I was also fortunate to have a piece of my art work included in the 5X5 project hosted by Seth Apter.  It was published in the current edition of Sommerset Studio.  To see mine and other  5X5 pieces please visit Seth's blog

Friday, December 21, 2012

Unexpected Gifts

In the past few months I have received a few unexpected gifts in the mail.  First my sister sent me some leaves that have been eaten away by some sort of insect.

I find them so beautiful, and enjoyed playing with them.

Then a blogging friend, Mano sent me some beautiful leaves from her part of the world, plus a lovely postcard of her work. 

I so adore all of these leaves, and will treasure them. 

And then a few days ago I received this amazing little cup from my blogging friend Norma. She has such a steady hand to be able to paint this tiny wee little bird. 

It is amazing, the whole cup is so lovely, and I love how it looks on my Christmas tree. 

But once Christmas is over, it will find its home with a small chair I made some time ago.
 
I feel so very blessed to have so many wonderful blogging friends that always leave me so many wonderful and supportive comments - each one of them a gift that makes me smile and warms my heart. 
 And a special thank you to my sister Tracey, Mano and Norma for these cherished and unexpected gifts.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Playing with Summer

It is cold and dark outside, and nothing is blooming. 
So I played with the trays of pressed petals and flowers that I collected in the summer. 






The translucency and delicate fragility of these petals is so beautiful.  I had to move them gently and with patience so as not to break them.  Winter has its own cold, dark beauty that I love, but I was happy to have a bit of summer to play with and enjoy today.
 

Friday, December 14, 2012

Seeds of Hope

I have been playing once again with a tea bag, acrylic paint and pan pastels.

 
And I thought it was finished at this point, but .....

when I looked at it the next day, I decided it needed a bit more and added some pencil work (some of which is quite subtle and difficult to see in this image) with both a black watersoluable pencil, and a regular HB pencil. 

 
I then called it finished again.  We will see over the next few days whether it needs anything else. 

I called it 'seeds of hope'.  I continually seem to be planting seeds of hope these days, and am sure some of them will sprout with good things in the near and perhaps distant future. 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Different And The Same

I sat down at my desk the other night with an urge to create.  And I wanted it to be different then what I have been creating.

And this is what I created.  It is a bit the same, as it has a bird in it... a bird that I drew quite some time ago, and have since used in many creations.

But the rest of it is quite different.

As always I like to see how it looks in a matte.
 
I created it using some white acrylic paint, and my pan pastels.

 

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Playing with Cacti

I really like a cactus or two, and when this week's drawing challenge was "cactus" I knew I had to join in.   
My mom had given me a barrel cactus that bloomed many times this past summer.  I enjoyed it so much, so decided to draw a blooming cactus - although I did not choose the barrel cactus.

 
 


And although I didn't have the beautiful jar, or quite the makings that he had.  I used pieces of succulents I  had, and made myself a terrarium.  I left lots of room for them to grow... which I hope they do. 
It makes me smile!
 
 

To see more artistic interpretations of "cactus", head over to this weeks host of the drawing challange.




Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Discovery

I love the sense of discovery - not being able to see the whole thing at first glance - looking for the layers.

With that in mind I created this chunkybook

that when open has many pages that are actually small pockets.

I decorated each pocket with a painted piece of paper

that I stamped onto with my handcarved stamps.

Within the pockets are small pieces

that are also decorated

on both sides.
 
I may just have to make some more bits and pieces to add to those pockets.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Cold Winter Day

It was a cold day today.  It was - 40.  No matter what scale you use celsius or farenheit, -40 is the same temperature on both scales.

I live at the base of these mountains.  It is very  beautiful but at this time of year our nights are long.  And although I love winter, I do enjoy the warmth and light the sun brings. 
As I mentioned in my previous post November was a difficult month for me.  The difficulties continue, but what is different is my approach, as I work hard to understand, accept  and move on. 
Creating always helps.  My creative release is usually with visual arts, but a few nights ago I created with words.
 
Winter Words
I sit quietly in the cold of the winter,
blocking out the parts of life not deserving of my energies.
I gently nurture the broken open vulnerability I feel inside,
as the days, now all too short, will lengthen with the light,
taking over my being and letting my heart
fill once again to overflowing.
 

On the visual art side, I am working on a couple of pieces

that are experiments.   I will let you know if they work out.