Christmas Paintings

For Lily

For Claire

For Ryann

For Isabelle

For Bobby

For Abby

30 Dec 2011

For Christmas, I did mixed media paintings for some of my grandchildren. They were fun to do and each is different. Our other five grandchildren received a hand-made book about our time together last year. I enjoyed the process of working on each of these gifts, though I don't imagine most of my grandchildren can really appreciate what went into them.

Christmas with Laura's family was fun, but, I thought, at my age, I'd be in a position where children and grandchildren would be joining me on Christmas Day, instead of the other way around. Maybe, someday. . .

I've Done a Little Painting and Crafting

Cut out lots of oversized paper trees to place on these 20' x 6' panels.
Made these cute reindeer on a 20' x 6' panel of felt.

9 Dec 2011

It may appear that I haven't been doing any painting, etc. since my last post, but, I have. Its just that some of the paintings are Christmas gifts, so I don't want to post pics and give anything away. Plus, I just realized that I forgot to take pictures of most of them before I wrapped them and sent them off to their respective recipients. Darn! I'll post something after Christmas with the pics I have.

I was also in charge of all the decorations for the church Christmas party and spent a good deal of time making things for that. (See pics)

So, I've enjoyed being creative and painting and making things since my last post. I just don't have many photos to show for it yet. . .

Final Painting, Oct 2011

14 Oct 2011
This week we had our last class of the six-week still-life course I've been taking. The first week, the instructor, Kurt Schwarz, demonstrated and lectured - and we just listened and watched. The other five classes, we painted from a still life he set up.
The past two classes, we've worked from the same set up of pumpkins/squash that he brought from his garden.
I can see that I've made some progress with my painting - and still have lots of room for improvement.
I've enjoyed learning from Kurt and I'll come up with some things to paint on my own — for practice. After the first of the year, I'll sign up for another class. And, I'll keep plugging along. . .

Baby Steps

29 Sep 2011
I'm making a tiny bit of progress. Last week's painting was awful, so I scraped it off, cleaned up the canvas and started over. This week was better. In the photo above you can see that its still unfinished and needs quite a bit more work, but I'm learning to do a better job of incorporating variations in temperature as well as color and value. Based on the proverb that you have to do something 10,000 hours before you've mastered it - as long as I stick with it, I should know what I'm doing in about 10 more years!

Lots of Room for Improvement

19 September 2011

I'm sure I'll learn from every painting I do. Today, I finished the painting I started in class the other day and learned several things during the process.
1. Its much better to complete as much of the painting in the studio as possible, because, even with photos to refer to, its very hard to recreate an image you're not actually looking at.
2. I have terrible lighting in the room I'm painting in at home. Need to find a solution for that.
3. I need to figure out how to photograph a painting so there's not so much glare on it (which makes every brushstroke show!) There actually is some definition to the table covering, but you can't tell from this photo. And,
4. I have lots of room for growth!

A Painting and a Book

The painting I started today. I had to take the photo at an odd angle because of the glare on it, so it looks a bit skewed. Its a good start, but still needs a lot of work.

My "Promises" book cover.

"Promises" book, first spread.

15 Sep 2011

Today I started a painting (in a still life class I signed up for.) Its great to be in a class and see everyone else's work, too. Several in the class are excellent painters, whereas, I'm just beginning, really. Someone in class today said, "We all learn to write with a pencil and paper looking at the same alphabet charts posted on the wall or printed in little books for us to copy. Yet, we all have different handwriting — each of us writes with our own distinct characteristics. Painting is the same. My brush doesn't make the same strokes as someone else's but I can appreciate how theirs looks." I like that.

I've also been working on a little book for myself. Its probably about half done and I'm happy with how its looking so far. . . (And, I'm continuing work on the book for my Chabo granddaughters, as well.)

Feels good to be doing more creative things!

WORK IN PROGRESS

Sophia and Holly's dance recital, 2010

9 August 2011

I've been thinking I should have something creative to post by now, but everything I'm working on is in a very unfinished state. And, the stuff I'm making for my on-line class are not the type of things I want to share. (Mostly journaling and personal stuff) However, I've completed the front and back covers (inside and out) of the book chronicling my 14 weeks in Ohio last year. Plus, I've nearly finished 11 of the interior pages. Its coming along pretty well. I really like the spread about the girls' dance recital (there's still a lot of work to do other pages) Its a work in progress. . .

I'm having fun with it, though, and, I hope they'll enjoy having it when its complete. (It will probably be a Christmas gift for them.)

THE POWER OF VULNERABILITY

My friend, Betty Huff, shared this video on Facebook. Its fantastic!

IT IS TIME!

Don't have anything finished but the cover, but I'm happy with how this is looking. . .

Flag I made for my husband to use at a scout encampment

Portrait I did of my mother, Mary Ellen, with one of my granddaughters, Lucy Ellen (from a photo taken July 4, 2009) Painting completed March, 2010

For too many years I've admired and also envied the art and creativity of others. Its time for me to do some of my own - and to not be afraid to post it for others to see.

The past few years have been filled with a number of difficult life challenges, as well as several moves. So, I've felt a bit displaced and a bit side-railed. I'm starting to move away from those feelings, however, and am planning time for me to make creativity part of my everyday life.

In the past three years I've done a total of three things that fit into the category of creativity — a portrait of my mother (huge undertaking - had no idea what I was getting into, just plunged in and did it. Sadly, have not painted anything but an owl since [see next item]); a flag for my husband to use at a scouting activity; and a cover for a little book I'm making for some of my grandchildren.

**A very small selection right now, but, there will be more!