Angela Vandenbogaard

Moving!!

2012-01-14T11:55:00.005-05:00

That's right! I'm moving, but not out of my apartment - or at least not quite yet. I'm moving blogs!!

part-timecreative.blogspot.com

I will no longer be posting here, but this blog will stay up since it is a wonderful collection of articles from the past 5 years. I know, I can't believe that I have been blogging for 5 years! Anyways, I figured it was time for a big change - and what a better way to start a big change, but with a completely clean slate.

I will be blogging at part-timecreative.blogspot.com and will hope to become a regular blogger over there. I am still working on the design elements of it, so some things might not be completely functional yet - but I just wanted to jump right into my blogging over there. I hope you have all enjoyed your time here and that you willl enjoy your time even more at my new blog. Thanks so much for the past five years here :)

End of Week Recap

2012-01-08T18:39:00.000-05:00

This week was a lot of ‘getting back on track’ with things. The holidays always throw routines out of whack, and I find – personally, since I'm driving around so much – that it takes a while for me to find me groove again.

This past week saw a lot of interesting ‘things’

I began the 366pages project that I had signed up for, I have already shared with you some pages. I’m finding myself waking up and looking forward to working in it. It’s different and it challenges me in new ways. It’s part of my plan to explore new artistic mediums and to really develop as an artist this year (since I’m not in school, and I have employment). I can put the time and energy towards creatively looking at different things, and finding what works for me. I also have the income to be able to 'dispose' on art materials that I didn't always have before.

I made of list of ‘firsts’ that I want to complete in 2012 (so no unrealistic ‘backpacking through Europe’ goals – since I know that’s not in the cards lol). It was hard, I won’t lie. But, what it made me realize more than what I want to do – is what I have done: jumped off waterfalls in foreign countries? check! Zip lining? Check! All that Toronto sight-seeing (as of this past December) Check, check, check! Try new foods? Check! (I’m constantly doing this, so it didn’t seem fair to put in). Piercings? Check! No tattoos – it’s more I have such a wondering mind, I could never decide. Anyways, this is the list I came up with:

I created a “to-do” for January, that includes major cleaning of the bathroom – there’s not good ventilation, and with steamy showers I want to be steps ahead of potential mould. Reorganizing life, and trying to make my apartment look like a 25 year old lives in it, not a 18 year old – don’t worry, there’s not stuffed animals or anything, it’s just cluttered and disarrayed most of the time. Eat all the food in the freezer – I think I have more than enough protein’s to last well past the month – it’s just focussing on eating those, and not getting more. Also, no new art supplies. I know this seems ‘odd’ for an artist – but I’m going to use this month, and possible next to try and use up odds and ends, and essentially get rid of clutter. This will also force me to be a bit more creative as I get down to the nitty gritty.

That being said, I did have a small ‘lapse’, although personally I don’t think it counts as it’s not ‘art supplies’. It also counts as number one on my lists of firsts! I purchased a ‘Project Life’ kit, in an effort to start keeping track of photos a little more creatively. I know I would never be able to do the full blown scrapbooking, since I want to avoid the clutter that comes with that. So this will work out a bit better. I’ll let you all know when it arrives. I’m excited for it! I know most people are doing a ‘picture a day’ sort of thing, but with the cost of this kit, I want to stretch it over the next few years. And less face it – an album, a year: we’d be drowning in books before we knew it! So it’s more of a quality vs. quantity with this one.

I’ve also done some more work on my sketchbook project for 2012:

Inside my Sketchbook

2012-01-05T20:57:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holidays. Mine was filled with lots of travelling, but lots of holiday goodness too. Starting of this year, I signed up for the 366 Pages online workshop, and here are some pages that I worked on. It’s not too late to sign up for it, and it’s great fun!

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

2011-12-21T06:37:00.000-05:00

Based on an image from nationalgeographic.com – such a perfect place to look for sketchbook-inspiration.

Sketchbook Project 2012 Update

2011-12-20T07:37:00.000-05:00

Cuddling in bed has got to be one of the most wonderful, and relaxing, things to do.

That was one thing that was hard with the long distance relationship, when we had it – is that you don’t wake up together all the time. And the bed is awfully cold in the winter without that extra living space heater.

Sketchbook Project 2012 Update

2011-12-15T07:34:00.000-05:00

I’ve had this white-marker pen for a while, and I’ve been utterly in love with it. It’s perfect for adding little touches here and there, and working as a resist with watercolours (it’s oil based).

I wanted to create a spread that just used the white marker with a nice background. Here I found the green creates the perfect ‘organic’ feel for the greenery that is sketched / drawn out.

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

2011-12-14T06:35:00.000-05:00

..based on a National Geographic image that I saw. I was intrigued by the numbers in the stands.

Gift Certificates!

2011-12-13T12:58:00.001-05:00

I am pleased to announce, that my online shop on Etsy – www.jellybeans.etsy.com is now offering gift certificates!

These certificates are perfect for last minute shoppers – they can be emailed to you, and you can forward them onto the recipient. Or, I can email them directly to the lucky person! Also, if you prefer, there is an option for me to print out the certificate and mail it the good old fashion snail-mail route (please note: all shipping deadlines have past for Christmas, so if this is a Christmas gift, it might be better to go the email route).

These make the perfect gift for those hard-to-shop-for people – let me them have some fun shopping for what they would like to receive. They are completely customizable to whatever amount you would like to give – just send me a convo and I can create a custom listing / certificate.

Happy Holiday shopping!

Sketchbook Project 2012 Update

2011-12-13T07:31:00.000-05:00

I’m starting to work on the cover, and get that done. This is where it stands now:

I like the ‘raw-ness’ of it. It sort of goes against the technology that it’s illustrating. For those who are new to my blog, and since I haven’t posted about this project in a long while, my topic was “Long Trips and Short Phone Calls”. I’ve self-edited the title to reflect the long-distance relationship James and I were in when we were in school: Long ~~Trips~~ (Distance) and Short ~~Phone Calls~~ (Text Messages).

It’s Christmas Time in the City!

2011-12-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

I went to Toronto a weekend or so ago for the One of a Kind Show (no, I didn’t exhibit, just bought lots of goodies!).

Since we (mom, brother and myself) have never done the CN tower, we thought we’d give it a try. They had it all lit up perfectly for the holidays.

The view was amazing:

And the glass floor not too scary:

Let it snow…

2011-12-10T06:02:00.000-05:00

Early morning, before I head out for work at the hospital

…it’s mornings like these that I cross my fingers that I don’t end up following a super slow snowplow

New in the Shop!

2011-12-09T20:54:00.001-05:00

I’ve been going through my paint works, and have decided to part with some paintings that I have been, well, hoarding.

Cactus Delilah – Watercolor Collage Original

Shadows – Watercolor Original

Two Little Birds – Watercolor Original

Supernova – Acrylic Mixed Media Original

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

2011-12-07T06:34:00.000-05:00

Day 5: Holiday Wreaths

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

I wish I could have a wreath on my front door. But, being in an apartment building – and not really knowing the other tenants – I would be worried that it would get stolen or destroyed. So that being said, I sadly won’t be making a wreath this year. But, I still wanted to share some wonderful-wreath-making tutorials that I found on other people’s blogs:

Alisa Burke: Paper Flowers Holiday Wreath

Simply Camylla - Felted Holiday Wreath (scroll down for tutorial :)

Martha Stewart – Pinecone Wreath

Homemade.TipJunkie - Winter Wreath Tutorial

There are tons more on the internet – just visit google and type in “Wreath Tutorial”

Happy Wreath Making!

Sunday Shopping

2011-12-04T07:16:00.000-05:00

This Birch Tree pillow is amazing. You can find it in YellowBugBoutique’s shop. The contrast in texture between the two materials used just adds so much interest to this piece, and it’s neutral colours means that it can fit in with any decor.

Snow

2011-12-03T06:46:00.000-05:00

I woke up one more this week to a blanket of winter wonderland goodness.

The big question now – will it last? Please do!

Day 4: Pop-Up Reindeer Cards

2011-12-02T06:44:00.000-05:00

Today, we’re making pop-up reindeer cards. I got this pattern off MarthaStewart.com so I won’t take credit for it. They even have a video on the website on how to make it. I will be showing you pictures, and linking to the appropriate patterns for you to make it easy to complete this project.

Now, I have added my own personal creative touches to this project, and it’s the perfect demonstration how you can take a pattern and make it yours. I’ve been waiting for the snow, so I decided to make this card, well, more snowy.

Materials:

Coloured cardstock
Glue
Scissors
Printed-off patterns – you can find them here, here and here
For my version: acrylic paint, clear coat and glitter

1. First following the pattern cut out all your pieces. I don’t use the ornament pieces for my cards. Be sure to glitter your pieces at this step.

2. I also cut out a ‘landscape’ that will go in front of my reindeer. This way, the bottom is sort of hidden.

3. Next start designing your card. I begin with the front. I painted with blue acrylic paint, and then glittered some hills in front. On top of this glitter (once dry, of course), I used a coat of brush on clear coat. This prevents the glitter from getting all over the person who receives this card, as I’m sure they would not appreciate that.

4. I then used the same stamps that I used for my ornaments to stamp on some snowflakes and a cute saying. Now the front is ultimately a winter wonderland :)

5. Once that’s dry, you can begin working on the inside. I paint out my basic blue background – anyone can paint this, sans skills required!

6. Now begin placing your pop-up pieces. You can either mark your card based on the pattern from Martha Stewart. What I did: I folded up the pieces, and placed them, being sure that they do not extend from the sides of the card, and then glued the tabs.

7. Make sure that everything pops up right.

8. Next, glue on your landscape, and then you’re done! You’ll notice that this one below has snowflakes stamped on the inside as well – I only did it to this one. I realized after, that this didn’t leave much room for a holidays greetings.

Here comes Rudolph!

My Creative Space

2011-11-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

Things have been beyond busy getting Holiday orders out, and getting everything organized. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling overwhelmed. Usually, during this time of year I’d be in exams in school and so I would have quite a bit of free time. This year, I’m working – a lot – and so time is not so readily available.

I need some sort of ‘mental' escape’, so I took a moment this week to paint – just to paint. There was no plan, it won’t be going up for sale. This was solely for me. I grabbed my acrylic paints, the largest canvas I had on hand. I put on my headphones, and cranked the music. I listened to ‘Down With Webster’, on repeat for the entire process of this painting. It just felt like the right music, and nothing else interested me.

I didn’t take too many progress shots. I started, but then as I really got into it, I just got lost in it.

I also didn’t set it up on the painting easel – I planted my supplies and myself onto the floor and painted there.

Before I knew it, 5 hours had past and this was my finished piece. I felt tired and needed my bed. But I also felt creatively refreshed. It was good for me. Now it’s hanging in my bedroom adding a much needed splash of colour – so it turns out it was good for my bedroom too.

Here’s some Down With Webster for you all :)

You can see more creative spaces, here.

366Pages Preview

2011-11-30T13:44:00.001-05:00

My good friend Amanda from Ulixis is putting together a year long sketchbook workshop, where she provides prompts and inspiration for everyday of an entire year. Being a leap year, there will be 366 prompts.

As a special feature, and to give a taste of the project before she releases it, she provided a ‘preview prompt’. You can find it here.

Here is my interpretation / submission:

Some detail shots. I took the chunk of text from the reverse side.

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

2011-11-30T06:33:00.000-05:00

Day 3: Snowflake Stamp Ornaments

2011-11-29T06:30:00.000-05:00

For this DIY, we’re making ornaments out of clay. They don’t have to be snowflakes – they can really be any shape that you want to cut out. Once again, I did this in the evening, so the lighting isn’t amazing.

Here’s what you need:

Clay of a sort – I used Fimo, but you can use any sort of clay.
Cookie cutter to make a shape
Stamps – to stamp your design in
Paint brush to smooth imperfections, fetching stray hairs ect.
- Optional: glazing / clear coat, acrylic paints.

Instructions to create these lovelies:

Roll out clay until fairly thin.
Stamp your designs into the clay, being careful to get the imprints deep enough
Use the cookie cutter to cut out the shape, peel the clay from around the clay and cookie cutter (I keep it in the cookie cutter for stability reasons until I’m done).
Poke a hole through the top with the end of the paint brush for a ribbon later
Place on the baking sheet. If using Fimo, or another baking-required clay, follow directions to bake. If air-dry clay, let dry completely – this may take a day or three.

The rest of this tutorial is optional. You can stop here if you`d like to keep your ornament simply white. For those who are continuing, you will need acrylic paint. I`m using a dark blue.

6. Use a small paint blue to paint inside the stamps. This might be difficult depending on your design. Wait until dry.

7. Use white paint to correct the areas where the blue might have taken control of itself:

8. Finish with a clear, protective coat and string a ribbon through. Hang and enjoy :)

Here are some of the others that I created. If you don’t have a cookie cutter at all, you can always form a circle shape with your hands. The unevenness seems to add to the artsy-ness of the piece.

Monday Art Class: Easy Magazine Image Transfers

2011-11-28T07:52:00.000-05:00

Today, we’re going to learn about easy acrylic image transfers. Perfect for your mixed media projects.

When you apply images using this technique, the resultant image is transparent and reversed. So, unless you want you text backwards, you typically will only use this technique for images. Now you may ask: why not just collage the image on? Well, this gives the image a different look, and if you have images / layers underneath – then they will peak through. You’ll just have to try it out for yourself!

This technique also works for laser print images / photocopies. You want to be careful with inkjet images as the water / gel medium will make them blur / run sometimes.

Materials:

Acrylic Gel Medium
Canvas (or support of your choice)
Brush – to apply the acrylic gel medium
Magazine image

1. Apply the gel medium in a very even layer onto your canvas support. Do not apply it too thick, but not so thin that the image does not adhere.

2. Apply your image. Make sure that all portions of the image are making contact with the gel medium. Anything that does not make contact with it will be removed later: you can use this to your advantage if you’re going for a ‘grunge’ appearance. Now let dry very thoroughly. I recommend leaving it over night.

3. Now it’s time to remove the paper: apply a damp cloth to it until the image is soaked through. Do not drench the image: the water softens the gel medium too and you don’t want that to loosen.

4. Rub gently with your fingers to remove the paper. Be careful not to rub so hard that the actual image gets removed.

5. Now that your image is visible, you can continue with your artwork!

Colour Inspiration: Retro Coffee Time

2011-11-28T07:20:00.000-05:00

Image by: http://ironicna.deviantart.com/

Sunday Shopping: Hedgehog Clock

2011-11-27T19:13:00.001-05:00

This Hedgehog Bamboo Clock, by decoylab, is so friggin’ cute! I think every child’s – and adult’s – room should have one! How can it not make you smile every time you look at it?

Weekend Getaways

2011-11-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

A couple weekends ago, James and I went to Collingwood for a weekend escape. Work has been crazy this summer for both of us, and probably won’t slow down until after Christmas. Our getaway was also in celebration of 5 years together (back in September). We went for the weekend, turned off our phones, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Yes, he’s grown a moustache for Movember…you can donate to his team, here

We both work shift work – I’m a medical radiation technologist (aka: x-ray technologist), and he is a paramedic. So sometimes, I’m going to work when he’s going to bed. Not so romantic, and not a lot of time together sometimes. View from the top of the blue mountains:

I can’t say I’m sorry that we’ve been so busy – it’s sort of a Catch 22: I do love that we both have employment in similar fields, since we can then discuss with each other difficult and interesting cases. He’s also sometimes stationed at my hospital, so there are many patients that he bring in with the ambulance, and that I later x-ray.

We went to the Blue Mountain Village. This is a year round resort – but it’s best known as a ski resort. November, being an off season: no summer activities and no winter activities yet – proved to be the perfect time to go with lots of discounts.

We never had to leave the village: it has shops, activities, spa, restaurants and an excellent night life. It reminds me of a Christmas village, it’s just too cute!

We ended up hiking the ‘blue mountains’ as well – what a work out! We ate so much delicious food that weekend, and I think the hike alone worked it all off.

We also picked up our snowboard passes while we were there – so excited for this season, living so close to the hill this year!…now we just have to wait for the snow, and it will be bliss. Can’t wait to ride on those chairs again, soon:

Day 2: Painted Glass Ornaments

2011-11-25T08:54:00.000-05:00

This is another simple, quick project. Although I am not making any of these this year (sadly, I must limit what I choose to make based on time-restrictions and the ever-looming Christmas budget…not to mention, craft supplies are scarce where I live LOL). But, since they are such a great idea, I still wanted to share with everyone. If your children are old enough to be careful with paint (as I'm not sure if it will wash out of clothes), then they would be able to make their own ornaments

What you need: clear glass ornaments, paint designed for glass - preferably translucent, brush – or acrylic works as well (bottled craft-acrylic, not tubed, especially if you’re pouring it inside of the ornament and swishing it around.

Instructions: these are simple: paint the glass glass (either on the inside, or the outside), let dry, hang and enjoy!

Here are some tutorials that I have found on the internet for these easy ornaments:

Buggie and Jellybean: Paint Ornament Tutorial

Kaboose: Festive Polka Dot Ornaments

and the cutest for last: Painted Snowmen and Penguin Ornaments

Day 1: Graffiti Holiday Cards

2011-11-22T13:30:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the 12 Days of DIY Holidays. During this mini-series, I’ll be sharing some of my own DIY projects - as well as featuring others that I have found on the internet and in blogs. I hope that this series inspires everyone to be a little creative this holiday season.

First up is graffiti holiday cards. The wonderful things about these cards is that you can just have fun creating them – there is no being precise or perfect, you can just go with the flow. The one thing that you need to understand about this project: there are no limits or guidelines. How I create my card below isn’t how you need to create yours.

What you’ll need:

Cardstock folded into a card or ‘pre-made’ cards on cardstock or watercolour paper.

Various painting, drawing and craft materials

What I’m using: Masking fluid, watercolour paints, watercolour iridescent medium, black markers, white paint marker

Christmas song lyrics

Instructions:
1. First you need to pick a holiday song. I’m starting with “The Christmas Waltz.” It has been stuck in my head for about a week now, so it’ll be good to get it out of there! My specific lyrics that I’m working with:

“ It's that time of year when the world falls in love. Every song you hear seems to say: Merry Christmas. May your New Year dreams come true.

2. Next place those lyrics on your card in pencil in a way that you like them.

3. I then use masking paint to ‘reserve’ the areas where the words are. I’m not too careful about it, I just apply it quickly and a little bit messy. Let dry.

4. I apply my first background layer. Let dry.

5. I add some messy paint details. Let dry.

6. Remove masking fluid, and begin to accent the letters with the black marker.

7. Some more details and shimmer.

And then we have our card!

You’ll have to excuse the picture quality. I did this project at night, so my camera didn’t take the colours well. The colours are truest to the final image, the scan.

Art Class: Petroleum Resist Technique

2011-11-21T07:41:00.000-05:00

This week we’re going to learn a really fun, and easy acrylic resist technique using – what else – petroleum jelly!

Materials needed:

Acrylic paint
Petroleum Jelly
Cleansing clothes

Here’s the general idea of the application: you will apply petroleum jelly with your fingers (since it’s hard to clean from brushes) to the areas that you do not want paint applied to. Next, you will paint all over everything. Once dry – and it’s very important that it’s completely dry you can wipe away the jelly using some sort of cleansing cloth: baby wipes, face wipes, ect. And – tadda! That’s it! Simple! Right?

Now for the demo :) I am starting with an ‘already-in-progress’ piece.

I’ll start with some progress pictures, and then show you the resist demo. There are collage and mixed media elements to this painting.

As you can see, I’ve already applied two layers of resist. We are going to now add the third and final layer.

Apply the petroleum jelly to the areas that you would like preserved. Thicker the better, you don’t want any paint to get through.
Apply paint to your piece. Wait until dry
Wipe off and enjoy!

Golden Aspiration – Mixed Media on 5x7” canvas board.

As you can see, you can layer the resists to create neat effects.

Colour Inspiration: Frosty

2011-11-20T19:09:00.001-05:00

Color by COLOURlovers

Happy (6)

2011-11-19T18:21:00.002-05:00

…crisp and clean mornings

Shipping Deadlines

2011-11-16T20:03:00.001-05:00

It’s that time of year again!

I just wanted to make sure that no one is disappointed with late packages.

Happy (5)

2011-11-12T07:39:00.001-05:00

A spa hour in the Blue Mountains village...ahh

Purple Hair

2011-11-11T09:15:00.001-05:00

So when I went to the hairdressers yesterday, for a second time this week. We were able to make the purple stay! We ended up mixing a more pink purple, and it took. We’re both still sort of boggled as to why it never took in the first place – my hair has had only one colouring treatment before this, the brown is natural colour, and it’s never been heavily bleached before. I guess it will stay a mystery.

It’s definitely ‘peek-a-boo’ colour, but that’s what I was going for. I work in health care, and so I don’t think I could get away with anything too crazy.

It’s two thick purple chunks on both sides. So to peak out perfectly when my hair is down and curled or straight. The show a lot more when it’s up.

I do love them a lot, and I’ll see how my experience with them goes (how long they last, ect). If it’s really positive, then I may just get a little bit more next time :)

Happy (4)

2011-11-11T07:38:00.002-05:00

Weekend getaways with the one I love most.

My Creative Space

2011-11-10T12:06:00.001-05:00

I’m on a bit of a mini-vacation this week, starting yesterday. So, last night I was up late dabbling and painting. I crawling into bed without straightening up, and this was my desk / creative space in the morning:

I had a whole table of watercolours, complete and in the works drying:

I also have a table full of family tree commissions – but since I know a lot of them are gifts, I don’t want to post them and ruin the surprises. I

Everything is cleaned up now:

I also got a little creative with my hair yesterday…

It’s a lot more blonde then before, probably the most blonde I’ve even been. Now, it’s not done – my hair is a work in progress (unfortunately). There is supposed to be a bright purple in there too…and well, as you can easily notice – there isn’t. I didn’t chicken out: the colour wouldn’t take *frowns*. She bleached out the blonde, and then applied some purple, and it just completely washed out – there’s not even a tint.

She’s going to try today…and I have my fingers crossed that it takes since I really wanted that splash of colour. If it doesn’t, then I’m just going to have to manic panic it I think. It won’t last as long, but at least it will be there.

Oh, and one last update: pooky has a name! Say ‘Hi’ to Charlie:

He’s still pretty shy. He has a castle now that he likes to hide in. I hope he becomes friendlier, but he does still keep my company when I’m working.

You can see more wonderful creative spaces, here.

Happy (3)

2011-11-09T10:38:00.001-05:00

Getting my hair done

Monday Class: Inspiration–David Blackwood

2011-11-07T06:30:00.000-05:00

David Blackwood is a Canadian artist who has recently exhibited at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario). I was sad to realize only after he was gone that he had the exhibit. Nonetheless, if he had never exhibited, I would have never found his artwork.

He is a printmaker (etchings) and a painter – I am particularly a fan of his etchings. My favourite is the one above, of the whale called: Fire Down on the Labrador.

…I love this whole series of the iceberg, whale and sail ship images. Here is my inspirationally created image:

‘Old Norse Iceberg’ - watercolor on 140lb watercolour paper

The term ‘narwhale’ comes from an old norse word: nár – so I felt an appropriate title. Show me your David Blackwood inspired images!

Sunday Shopping

2011-11-06T18:18:00.000-05:00

Some great finds that I found this week:

Sea Urchin Porcelain Cup – New Moon Studio

Vintage Style Bracelet – lonkoosh

Grey Slouchy Hat – KittyDune

Happy (2)

2011-11-05T19:20:00.000-04:00

…walking through piles of crunchy, colourful autumn leaves.

Pook Pook

2011-11-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

I got a new roommate today, and a step-brother for Oreo…who is a little jealous

It took me a long time in the store to choose this little guy, but I finally decided on him. He was not as vibrant or colourful as the other fish, but he has this cute little black freckles on his top fin – which I thought was pretty unique, since none of the others did.

I’m also finding that he sort of changes colours: sometimes his body will be a pale orange/pink colour, and then other times it will be quite a few shades darker. And he has a nice lilac shimmer on the top of his body. His fins sometimes look grey, sometimes lilac, sometimes almost blue. Ha…right now his body is actually looking red…

I still haven't thought of a name yet for him….I wanted him around a little bit before I choose something. I want to see if he has any antics yet. I will let you know once it’s named.

This isn’t my first time owning a fish either – years ago I owned a Betta fish, like this one here – his name was Martini. He lived for over three years – which, considering that I moved around a lot and thus he was moved around a lot was pretty good. He has always lived in one of those ‘Betta-kits’ though, and it’s not very nice looking. The plastic starts to get gross, and it’s really not a large space.

This guy has a nice bowl, and it’s glass so it will be a breeze to clean. He has a plant in there right now. I was looking for a ceramic item that he can hide / swim in and around but I haven’t found it yet – so a plant it is for now. He’s been pretty active, so I think he likes his new home.

Rawr

2011-11-01T17:04:00.001-04:00

I’m a tiger!!

Or, at least I was. I was working at the hospital for Halloween, so I dressed as a tiger. I figured it was simple, and with having to help lift patients, it would be very easy to move around in and not get caught. Rawr!

Monday Art Class–Drawing Exercise #2

2011-10-31T23:10:00.000-04:00

Today we’re going to extend on the last class with a drawing exercise.

As you might recall last week, we were drawing without looking. Training the eye and hand to coordinate a little bit better. Now, this week: we’re going to be drawing the same subject. You can look: but you cannot lift off the paper. That’s right – we’re going for a continuous line today!

So there is mine. I only did one, because this exercise is a little bit slower. You take your time to try and get it as accurate as possible. I once again used charcoal and 18x24” newsprint pad – love these things for these sorts of important exercises. At a couple dollars, maybe less, each – you cannot go wrong!

Take your time this time. Think about how you approached the subject last week, and observe where would be the most practical place for you to start and stop. I started at the top in the middle, but you might find it better to start somewhere else: everybody’s creative though processes are different.

Once you’re done – come back here and post a link and share :)

End of October Life Update

2011-10-28T10:40:00.001-04:00

Things have been busy…really, when have they not been lately? lol. I played hooky on Monday from art class. I didn’t have enough time with working the weekend and being on call at the hospital, as well as working on commissions to write up a good class. I have a good acrylic effects one in the making right now though, and it will be complete with a painting demo. As well as some more drawing exercises – these exercises as so quick to participate in, and they build amazing skills.

Here’s a list of what been going on:

Works loads at the hospital…and lots of call. My job is going wonderfully, and I don’t think I could be happier then where I am. Sadly, I’m just replacing someone who is taking a maternity leave, and once the new mom returns I will be placed at a different hospital within the ‘network.’ I just hope that there will be a permanent opening, so that I can settle down somewhere. – My hospital organization runs about 5 hospitals in this area, of which I can work between them all under one employer and maintain seniority – it’s sort of a nice deal.
Finalizing plans for James and my ‘weekend getaway’ to Collingwood in mid November. We’re staying at the village at Blue Mountain Resort for 2 nights, 3 days (where we also get out yearly snowboard passes – I bet most of you didn’t know I did that! lol
Finding a Halloween costume for work. Finally just settled on the typical ‘cat ears n’ tail’ getup with some black scrubs. I work in a radiography department in a hospital – so most costumes just aren’t practical for moving patients and working with patients who – if from emergency – can technically be bleeding, muddy, ect – so anything extravagant would just get in the way, and maybe even get ruined.
Starting a collection – I’m not a huge collector, so this is sort of big for me. I’m going to start collecting the Dept 56 Christmas village houses, in the Dickens theme. I’ve started with scrooges house this year. Very excited for it to arrive!
Painting commissions are in full swing – If you are interested in one with a Christmas deadline, please contact me ASAP – I can only take so many with that deadline, and it’s filling in very quickly!
Christmas cards – since I’m only offering original painted ones, they have been keeping me on my toes. I’ll be posting an update later with a whole lot of new ones.
Working on some side painting projects – I have a new watercolour series I’m working on, and there’s always a large acrylic or oil painting sitting incomplete in my living area that I can dabble on here and there.
Finalizing plans for a Toronto trip with my Mom to see the One of a Kind show in Nov / Dec. I’ve been trying to make up some of my Christmas lists, so I can do some of my Christmas shopping there.

There are a few more little things, but these are the major ones. I have today off, so I will be running around with errands (post office), and painting. And then I work again this weekend.

Us

2011-10-21T19:41:00.001-04:00

All dressed up for a wedding.

Speak

2011-10-20T07:24:00.000-04:00

I’ve been working on this series for awhile, and due to a wandering mind it took a little longer than I thought it might.

“Speak” is a series of four paintings, two landscape and two portrait with various “sayings”, being sung by little birds. There is “Hello”, “Tweet”, “Chirp” and “You Are Lovely” You can find the series here.

Camera Face

2011-10-19T07:51:00.000-04:00

Monday Art Class: Drawing Exercise #1

2011-10-17T19:49:00.001-04:00

Today we are going to be doing a quick simple drawing exercise. This will loosen you up if you’re about to start a harder drawing, and put you a little bit out of your comfort zone. But, it will also teach you to look at things in different ways. The materials that you need are: a blanket (something smooth, nothing intricate). a chair, paper and a drawing utensil. I will be using some charcoal and newsprint.

First set up the blanket to that it’s hanging off the chair. Make sure to arrange it so that there is a good number of folds. Here’s how I arranged mine:

Next you are going to draw the blanket following specific drawing instructions (we are not focusing on the chair today, so just ignore it. That being said: it’s best if you arrange the blanket to cover most of your view of the chair).

Here’s the drawing instructions: you are to draw your blanket using

one continuous line

That means: you cannot lift your pen, marker, charcoal – whatever! – until you are done your drawing. To do this, you will need to observe and ponder how you are going to approach your subject. Also,

you will not look at your paper

– that’s right! NO PEEKING! You can look to see where you place your pencil down in the start, but once you start drawing, life those eyes up to the subject and don’t look down again until you’re done.

Here are mine:

Yes, these are most definitely not pretty pictures. They do just look like scribbles. But that’s not the point, and not all beneficial drawing exercises look pretty – but they can be effective. I did it a couple times (and I recommend that you do the same), trying a different approach each time. Sometimes worked out better than others. Also, as you re-attempt the drawing each time: you ‘learn’ from it, and get a little better each time.

If you joined me today with this exercise, please post a link to your blog or picture to share with everyone your experience. Happy scribbling!

My Creative Space

2011-10-12T20:35:00.001-04:00

I’ve been packing last night, late into the night…

But I got all my orders done :o)

See more creative spaces here.

Things that make me happy #1

2011-10-12T07:43:00.000-04:00

When my fur-ball, Oreo, actually decides that he will cuddle with me…

This will be a new feature in my blog. I loved ‘the book of Awesome’ so much, that I thought it was a great idea to take a moment and just remember all the thing that make me happy.

The 2012 Sketchbook Project: You and I

2011-10-11T07:18:00.000-04:00

I have been in love with with the song “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson.

Love this song, it’s just too cute!

I decided to use some of her lyrics in my latest sketchbook layout:

‘You and I’ – Watercolour and ink

The words in the clouds are not from the song, I just added them in to tie them into the theme of my sketchbook.

I feel that I’m getting close to the end of my sketchbook, but I also feel like there is so much left to do on it. I will say this: I am ridiculously happy that I got my sketchbook when the 2012 program started. If I was getting it now (with it due in January), I do not think that I would have time to complete it the way I want.

Monday Art Class: Masking Fluid

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!!!

Today, we will be looking at masking fluid, and then it will follow with a painting demo. Sometimes, painting with watercolours can be tricky, especially when you’re applying background washes, and there’s small, or intricate, items to paint around. Since watercolour is transparent, it’s not like acrylic where you can paint a layer, and then paint on top without a problem. This is where masking fluid plays an essential role of taking out some of the stress.

Masking fluid reserves white space. You apply it, let it dry, paint on top, and then remove to reveal perfectly preserved areas of white. There are some things that you need to know about it:

Be sure to shake the bottle, so that all the elements of the fluid mix together to provide consistent coverage. Note: these bottles last forever! This is my second bottle of masking fluid, I’ve had it for probably two years, and it’s only a quarter gone – a wonderful investment!
Some masking fluids are tinted, some are not. The tinted ones let you see it better on the paper. Neither will leave behind colour or residue. I’ve worked with a few different brands, and they all work the same – so my preference is pretty neutral. I tend to buy whichever may be on sale at the time.
Use an old brush. This stuff dries quickly, and you may not be able to wash your brush and restore to it’s original state before you’re finished. I have two reserved brushes, one large and one small. They are brushes that I no longer used for painting. They tend to get a plastic-like feeling.
You must let the fluid completely dry before applying paint over it
Be careful for air bubbles: if they ‘pop’ before it’s dry, you may end up with small dots of colour where you had originally wanted white
In my experience: painting masking fluid over colour has not worked well for me: it takes some of the colour away with it when I remove it.

This is a wonderful item to experiment with. Once it’s dry, use an eraser to gently remove it. If you are too rough, you may take some paper with it too.

Now for my painting demo. I am using masking fluid here to reserve my tree against a black sky.

If you don’t have masking fluid there are other techniques to reserve white in watercolours. You can use masking tape (cut into a shape if needed….and masking tape works for acrylic too). Just try not to leave the masking tape on for more than a day or two if possible – the longer it’s on, the harder it is to remove.

First is to create a sketch, and then apply the masking fluid where necessary:

Once dry, you can apply the background wash:

Wait until the paint is completely dry, and then you can gently remove the masking fluid, and you’re left with white:

And then fill in the reserved spaces:

Ghostly – Watercolour ACEO

I couldn’t resist doing little ghosts, I do just love Halloween :o).

My Creative Space

2011-10-06T13:18:00.001-04:00

I got a new desk today!! Since moving into my new apartment at the beginning of the summer, I had been doing my watercolour paintings on the living room table, sitting on the floor. It was frustrating, but since my apartment is quite small I really wanted to try and do without it. My kitchen table gets no natural light, so I find that I’m sucked of creative inspiration there. This cute, simple little desk fits perfectly between my bedroom and bathroom door. The painting is from a trip to the Dominican that I managed to bring back with me :o)

I’m also been busy with paintings:

See more creative spaces here.

Monday Class: Inspirations–Klimt

2011-10-03T15:23:00.001-04:00

I have always loved Gustav Klimt mostly for his portraiture like paintings – I enjoy how he portrayed the face / body of his subject in a realistic manner, and then created with rest with amazing intricate patterns. I especially enjoy his pieces with romantic embraces, there is just so much feeling that radiates from them.

Klimt was from Austria and he often portrayed more sensual women in his work. He contributed to the Art Nouveau movement. He puts in so much intricate details into his works, they are simply stunning.

If you would like to learn more, there is a website dedicated to him and his work: http://www.klimt.com/

Some of my favourites:

The Kiss – 1907-1908, oil

Birch Forest – 1903

Fulfillment - 1909

Here is my sketchbook page inspired by him:

“In His Arms” – pencil, watercolour pencils and white acrylic pen

Homework: Work in your sketchbooks to create a sketch / drawing inspired by Klimt’s unique style.

New Freebies!

2011-09-28T10:15:00.000-04:00

I had been waiting on this order for awhile and they finally came: my new freebies! These are to replace my business cards – since postcards can be used to send well-wishes to friends and family; instead of my business cards collecting dust or being thrown out.

Since I had gotten such a wonderful response from my “Full Moon” artwork, I thought it would be a good choice to grace the glossy front (and isn’t it just so deliciously glossy!!!). The back – for a wonderful surprise – is a sweet pink and pale-pink candy stripe. It is not coated with the glossiness – so it is very easy to write on.

A postcard is going to be included in every order until I run out (there’s lots, so it will be awhile). And suffice to say, it will be limited edition to the number that I have. Once these run out, I will be creating a new design, and this design will never resurface again.

If you really like them – you can purchase them in sets of 5 here. You will still get the free one as well – so it’s like getting 6 in a set :o)

Monday Art Class Cont… : The Kitchen Chair 2b: Complimentary Colours and a Painting Demo

2011-09-27T07:31:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for coming back for the last portion of the lesson! Let’s get right to the painting!

And then paint it up. I’ve decided to use the purple-yellow complimentary. I will be painting in acrylic paint. First sketch it out. I’m not too worried about getting the perspective right – I like the feel that a tampered perspective gives, it makes it sort of funky, and puts some emotion into it.

Paint in the background:

Blocking in the solid of the chair with cadium yellow:

Adding details:

And done!

The Kitchen Chair – 6x8” Acrylic on Canvas Board.

Available here

Can you see what other complimentary pair I snuck in? If you followed this exercise, please do post your link, I would love to see!

Monday Art Class: The Kitchen Chair 2a–Complimentary Colours

2011-09-26T07:37:00.000-04:00

For this class we are going to cover complimentary colours, and there will be a painting demo. You are going to need some colours (paint, markers, pastels, ect…), and the sketches that you made last week of your chair, stool – or whatever you had on hand.

First, let’s talk about complimentary colours. We know from our colour-wheel session that red, yellow and blue are primary colours, and orange, green and violet are secondary colours. When we start pairing these up in a specific way, we get complimentary colour pairs.

To make a pair: pick up your colour wheel, and pick any colour. Let’s say, green. Now, look straight across to see what colour is on the other side. You will find that it’s red. Red + Green = complimentary colour (and Christmas, but that’s off topic…).

You will find that when you mix these two colours together you’ll get a muddy brown. A trick to keeping your colours bright when mixing colours: try to stay away from putting complimentary colours together. Then again, if you want to tone down a colour: adding a touch of it’s complimentary will do that perfectly!

Complimentary colours are like a perfect pair – they bring the best out of each other. Used together in a raw form, they may hurt the eyes a little. But if you have a red object that you want to stand out well – using some shade of green in the background will in fact help that red stand out best, according to colour theory.

So, according to this theory if Green makes Red pop, then Blue should make Orange pop. And it does. But if you have that red object, and you use blue in it’s immediate surrounding – it may make your red look like there’s a tint of orange in it. So if you want a cooler red (more of a red-purple than a red-orange), you should try to avoid blue in it’s immediate surrounding. It’s hard to illustrate this with scanned paint, as the computer changes the colours..but they look a little different.

Well, that’s a lot to take in…and I’m sorry to say that it’s not even the tip of the ice burg; but I am stopping there. I just wanted you to get an idea of how these things work.

So let’s go back to last week. Looking at the picture I had presented by Van Gogh, you can see that it uses a complimentary pairing in its colours:

There is definitely an orange-blue combination going on here. This is also a perfect example, where it shows that you can use bright colours to show the pairing – but you don’t need to go to extremes…that’s when your pictures will start hurting your eyes to look at it. Now we’re going to paint / colour a picture based on Van Gogh’s painting.

Take a look at your sketches from last week, and pick the one that you like most. I’m going to pick the one at the top left.

Tomorrow I will show you my chair. This way, it gives you time and space to interpret things in your own perspective, and have your own take on it without influence :o) And, since I was working the weekend, I didn’t have enough time to completely finish mine in between cleaning, packing orders and answering emails.*blushes* Happy Painting / Drawing / Colouring!

Doodling Heaven

2011-09-24T07:46:00.000-04:00

I recently received an order in the mail, and what did I find in the box as well: a crazy long piece of Kraft paper. Of course, I am going to recycle it.

But, first I thought that I might doodle on it for a little bit…why not? How often are you presented with the opportunity to doodle on such a large piece of paper without pressure or drawing something ‘worthy of attention"’…you know what I mean, you always save your more careful drawings / paintings for your better quality papers.

Here is a peak at some of the doodling that I had completed before it got too dark to take decent pictures:

I was playing with some various coloured conté and some charcoal. It was lots of fun and very relaxing to just sprawl on the floor and let loose with the drawing materials.

My Creative Space: Getting Folk-sy

2011-09-21T19:40:00.000-04:00

Upon getting some new painting brushes (two Princeton Neptune brushes, and two Princeton Snap! brushes, which I absolutely love by the way, and will be getting one of these two brands again for sure), I wanted to great a ‘fun’ painting. With Halloween around the corner, I thought why not:

So that is where the painting stands now. It was a lot of fun getting to this point. The costumes that the four children are wearing, are costumes that my brothers and I have worn when we were young that my mom made for us: a lion, a cowboy (thanks to lots of dads old cowboy stuff), a princess and a dragon / dino. There are a lot of pumpkins by the house, and a trick-or-treating ghost on the lawn that are masked out.

I’ve sort of hit a ‘block’ with it though. I want to add some more scary things, but I’m not sure what. And I’m not 100% sure what I’m doing with the house, that’s why so much of it is left unpainted. A bunch more shadows…who knows.

You can see more creative spaces here.

The 2012 Sketchbook Project: A Love Like Sunflowers.

2011-09-20T18:31:00.001-04:00

Last week was my 25th birthday, and James got me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. They were so lovely, especially the sunflowers – which he knows that I love!

A Love Like Sunflowers – ink and watercolour, sketchbook project 2012

So, I thought that I would create a spread in my sketchbook for the sketchbook project with a sketch of them.

James also gifts me a KOBO – which I have been reading on almost non-stop since! It’s perfect for me, since I often bring books to read during breaks / lunch at work and now I don’t have to lug them around, and I can flip between books if I want very easily. All my wonderful friends gave me quite the jump at a surprise dinner as well. I love them all so much! It was a very wonderful and special birthday.

Monday Art Class: The Kitchen Chair– Part One

2011-09-19T08:54:00.000-04:00

This Monday, we are going to get a little messy. Grab some charcoal, some newsprint paper (or your sketchbook, but you can get pads of newsprint for dirt cheap), and your kitchen chair, stool, bench – whatever you sit on. I choose this subject, since most people will have some sort of chair at their disposal.

This exercise was inspired by one of Vincent Van Gogh’s chairs:

You are going to draw the chair you have chosen in many ways. You’re not going to be super detailed about it…this exercise is just to loosen your hand up a little bit and warm you up.

So place the chair in front of you and draw it as you see it. Use the charcoal very lightly to get outlines, and apply it more darkly as you zone into detail. When you are done, move the chair and draw it again. Move it again, draw again. Keep doing this until your page is filled up (or if you have a small page, until many pages are filled up).

It is a good idea to have the chair is some ‘not-so-usual’ angles as well – it makes you let go of the fact that it is a chair, and forces you to focus on the shape elements of it.

Here is my page of chairs:

Keep this page for next week. We are going to continue to use the chair in another exercise, and these drawings will help you choose how you wish to approach it.

The Sketchbook Project 2012: Love Songs

2011-09-17T10:22:00.000-04:00

I finished another spread of my Sketchbook Project. I do believe that I am half way done now, or at least very close.

This spread features lyrics by Paramore and and Ingrid Michaelson. It was done in ink and watercolour using masking fluids and cling wrap.

I’ve also started working on the cover, having finally decided on an idea – but it will take a little while to complete. It’s just in it’s preliminary sketch-phase right now.

Here is a sneak-peek at another spread that I’m working on in ink. It uses the other side of the tissue paper from another spread in the book.

25!

2011-09-15T07:14:00.000-04:00

Today I turn 25! I really cannot believe it…

I celebrated with my family on Tuesday, and today James will come up and we will have dinner and a chill night.

On Tuesday, I checked my last “Under 25” box on a contest ballet at the Outdoor Farm Show (huge farm show in Woodstock, Ontario that my parents wanted to go to, and I tagged along to hang out with my parents and brothers…turned out to have a lot of interesting stuff, and some pretty cute puppies). It made me sad that now I am in the 25-30 category, or whatever range it is….

Monday Class: Inspiration - Van Gogh

2011-09-12T06:01:00.003-04:00

Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter. I have always adored his paintings largely due to the amazing texture, vivid colours and flowing movement that is portrayed in many of his later pieces. He is said to have only begun painting at the age of 28 - a great inspiration to those who have just started painting: it’s never to late to pick up a brush and go.

Some of my favourites:

Starry Night Over The Rhone

Irises

You can find tons of information about this wonderful painter, as well as early works and sketches at: http://www.vangoghgallery.com/

Here is a charcoal sketch that I did based on his work - his bold strokes and scrolling skies:

Homework: Create a composition inspired by one of Van Gogh’s pieces, or recreate one of his pieces (the master's all learnt through imitation of their peers). Please post and share!

My Creative Space

2011-09-08T22:28:00.001-04:00

This week was mostly ‘administrative’ stuff that I was busy with – keeping caught up with tax stuff, filing various odds and ends, website administration - but I did manage to get in some painting time.

First off, I finished my waterfalls painting. This was the only picture that I’ve been able to take of it, and the lighting wasn’t so great. I will need to take a better picture before I post it.

I’ve been working on some more Christmas cards for my shop. Some of them sold, so I want to keep some stocked and available.

I’ve also been working steadily on my sketchbook project. Here are two pages that are in progress. I’m just waiting for them to dry so that I may continue.

I have another painting from the studio to share. I used crackle paint on this one in the pastures and got some interesting texture effects with it. I have to take more pictures, as with waterfalls – I’m just waiting for a day with some good lighting.

You can find more creative places here.

Monday Art Class: String Gel

2011-09-05T07:00:00.000-04:00

So my first class last week was somewhat 'serious'...a little bit of thinking, and no obviously art piece came out of it. This week I thought we would play with a truly fun art medium: String Gel (by Liquitex)... (also called 'Tar Gel' by Golden). I use both in this demonstration.

It is a clear acrylic medium, which has a consistency very similar to honey. That makes it very messy – as it will dribble all over the place while you try to take some out. You can add colour to it, or just use it clear to add lots of texture.

But, before we play. There are some rules:

Do not 'agitate' the gel very much - ie. do not stir or shake it before using. If you do it will a) get a whole bunch of air bubbles in it (unless that's what you want), and b) it will loose some of it's stringy consistency. I will note here, that I don't *always* find this if I mix carefully, but it's the golden rule that is everywhere, so it is noteworthy.
If you choose to add colour, you only need to add a teeny, tiny amount - like a drop. Fluid acrylics are best to add, but any acrylic will work. Slowly mix in the colour, and then let it sit so that #1 does not happen. This medium takes paint wonderfully, and completely stretches your paint.
This gel is self-levelling, so you would like your layers of string to build up on top of each other, then you need to let each layer dry. It is quick-drying, so you don't have to wait long. You also don't have to wait for it to be completely dry - once it has a ‘dry film’ on the layer, it should be okay.
Not really a rule, but good piece of knowledge: I found that Golden’s Tar Gel would give me thinner strings than Liquitex’s String Gel – so purchase based on what you’d like to achieve.

Okay, with that out of the way - let's play!!

Let’s first add a teeny amount of colour to a portion of the medium that I have placed into a separate container. I found that mixing on a palate does not work well, especially if you are letting it sit to get out all the air bubbles from mixing.

Mixing it slowly into the medium until it is a solid colour. The colour you see is the colour that it will dry to.

I found that a palette knife, with a narrow tip, works before for dipping into the medium and drizzling over my support. Some people put it into bottles and pour it out, others use the ends of brushes, or whatever they can get their hands on.

This picture is blurry b/c I was moving with the palette knife so quickly to keep my drizzle thin. You can drizzle more slowly and get a thicker one. As you can see, I have air bubbles – I am not the most patient person, and once I started working on this piece, I just got so into it.

I drew my inspiration for this play from some abstract pieces that I have found online that I thought were interesting.

Jackson Pollock - No.9 - a huge contributor to abstract expressionism, this artist created his piece on a huge scale...mine will be a bit smaller. He splattered the paint around, and considering 'String Gel' is a fairly new medium, I don't think he had it at his disposal.

And here is my completed work:

Where Is The Love? - 9x12" acrylic on masonite board

I might be adding some more layers to it…not 100% sure that it feels finished. But I still wanted to share with you where I was with it.

If you can get your hands on this stuff it's definitely worth a try...not sure if you'll finish using the bottle? I used some of it for a very shiny, almost 'hard candy' sort of clear coat on a recent painting of mine. It does take a bit of experimentation to get a feel for it.

Family Genes

2011-09-03T07:20:00.000-04:00

It’s quite obvious that there’s something in my families genes that have contributed to my being an artist. I’ve been creative ever since I could – Christmas gifts were often craft sets of all sorts, and then one year I got my first acrylic painting set from my grandparents. It was pretty cool looking: had Chinese lettering on the tubes – they had gotten them in British Columbia while visiting my aunt. They were pretty special to me, and I tried to use only teeny amounts and make them last as long as I could.

Anyways, almost everyone on my Mom’s side of the family is artistic in their own way. My mom has always dabbled in drawing and painting – she would doodle horses and deer while talking on the phone: with all the musculature….yes, doodling. My Aunt Connie is a wonderful painter who lives out west, you can see her art on her website.

Next would be my cousin Becky, she creates wonderful mirrors by piecing smaller elements together. She runs a store online called CatchaGlipseMirrors through Etsy. My favourite would have to be her Octopus mirror:

My Aunt Jane paints, and has an Etsy store called Waterlilys. There she offers adorable watercolour paintings and fine art paintings. Her My Treasure painting is perfect for the upcoming fall season:

Birthday Cards

2011-09-02T08:48:00.000-04:00

It was my good friend’s birthday the other day, and since she’s artsy like myself I knew that a hand painted card was in order:

I added sparkles, since I personally think every birthday card should have some sparkle – it just makes it so much fun!

Happy Birthday Girlie!!!

My Creative Space

2011-08-31T17:45:00.000-04:00

Happy September! A snapshot at my creative space this week. I got two days off mid week this round (for working the past weekend), so I got some good creative time in. Here’s a bit of my mess:

I worked on my large painting that I had shared with you last week. It’s sort of taking a form of it’s own as I progress through it. I just keep adding layers, and it’s working itself up.

How it started this week:

And, since I haven’t make a movie in awhile; here is some speed painting for you. The song is “Eet” by Regina Spektor.

Please excuse that my head is in the way a lot of the time…

My snazzy plaid shirt is a old shirt of James. I have a whole pile of them from both James and my Dad – I tend to get paint all over the place, so it’s the only way that I don’t ruin all my clothes…although some still meet that unfortunate doom.

Where it stands now:

I also splurged on some gorgeous hot pink pumps this week for a wedding that I have this weekend. (I have a black dress that I’m wearing, so I wanted shoes that ‘popped’). I will just say now: I *love love love* heels lol…they just make you look so much more poised {ehm, makes legs go on for forever}…, and are the perfect accessory to any outfit.

I was initially looking for a stiletto heel, since they are my favourite, but my shopping was limited. I think the chunky heel is a little more funky, but I don’t have many ‘chunky heels’ so it will be a great edition to my wardrobe.

You can see more Creative Spaces here.

Sleepy Painting Days

2011-08-30T14:37:00.001-04:00

As I’m painting away, Oreo is sleeping the afternoon away under my art easel. Lately I’ve been finding his furry feet poking out on a more regular basis – I think this has officially become one of his hidey-holes (As well as in my closet, on my shelf – cuddled in my clothes – but I’m trying to break him out of that habit, since his hair isn’t very fashionable on me). Here is can still look at the birds outside.

Monday Class: The Colour Wheel

2011-08-27T20:32:00.000-04:00

I got so excited to start on these classes, that this one is being posted up a few days early :o)

Yes, the colour wheel! Back to basics is how we know everyone is on the same page! And you will want this for some future classes...So, open up to a sketchbook, or grab a piece of paper and grab the following colours of paint: a red, yellow and blue. With these three colours - known as the primary colours, we can typically mix any colour we want. And, I don't want any cheating here.

So, lets first create our secondary colours by mixing our primaries: blue+red = violet, red+yellow = orange, and blue+yellow = green

And, from there we can make our teriary colours by mixing our secondaries: blue+green = blue-green, blue+violet = blue-violet, ect. Continue until you have completed your wheel.

Yes, some of the colours don't look fantastic, and some might even look a little muddy. That's why some people go out and buy their different colours instead of mixing; and you can adjust your mixing ratios to get the colours more clear and bright. And, you will find that, for example: different blues with the same red will give you different purples...maybe some less muddy than others. The differences are subtle here in my example below, but there are different nonetheless...you can see them better on my paper than the scan.

Homework: you can experiment with your colours and determine which colours make the best mixes. If you want to share your results, you can just post a link in the comments :)

Art Inspirations: Introduction

2011-08-26T17:18:00.009-04:00

I have decided - in an effort to continuously practice old and new skills myself, and share them with everyone - to start a weekly post on art instruction and inspiration. Sometimes it will be sharing with you all a painting technique, other times it will be sharing a wonderful piece of art and drawing inspiration from it. It will not only be encouragement for me to sometimes put my comfort zone to the side and try new things, but it will also work in an effort to use up all my hap-hazard art materials that don't seem to get used up (Yes, there is a solely personal and greedy reason for this hehe). Sometimes I find it's hard to get 'in the mood' when it comes to my art work...and when I come across posts, like the ones I hope to create, I just get sparks of inspiration - and that's ultimately is what I hope to achieve and share with you all.

I do not claim that these are all my 'original-never-heard-of-them-before' ideas, because that would be silly. Many of these ideas and techniques are well known among many artists, I'm just simply sharing with you to provide inspiration and to enlighten others who may not be aware of some of these wonderful techniques and materials. I do promise that nothing is taken directly from a book, and that all images that I present are mine in this series (with the exception of the inspirational pieces that I will share from other, most notably famous, artists).

I will try to run these posts on Mondays, and try my best to be diligent about it. We all know that I may have problems will keeping focused on one thing *blushes*...but I will try my best, since I think that this will be a lot of fun. For appropriate classes, I will try to get some videos made up - even if they're just a painting or drawing demo.

I'm not totally sold on any title for this series either - if you have an idea, please do share! It's seemingly hard for me to think up something, since it will be painting and drawing...and mixed media, as well as the inspirations pieces.

You can always click my label below as well to see my entire run of these 'classes' at any time.

My Creative Space

2011-08-24T21:26:00.005-04:00

This week has been very busy at work - I worked the weekend, and then got called back in at least once per night. So I didn't have too much time to be very creative....but I did squeeze in some sketchbook time during breaks. And I started a new painting...but there's lots to do on that still...

An overhead sketch of a layout of where I grew up, my parents farm (on right), and then a sketch of my hand holding that page (on left):

Of an elephant scene from nationalgeographic.com:

Of a street scene from nationalgeographic.com (I don't often draw buildings, but this scene had such vivid colours I was drawn to it...I only noted them with words for future reference in case I get the unlikely urge to paint some buildings).

Plans for my painting below with a thumbnail sketch, and some sea anemone :

This is the starting of my painting. It's 24x24", with acrylic paints - I want lots of thin layers, and so I need it to dry quickly or it would take forever :)

The first few layers down, but the next time you see it, it will be drastically different. This piece will be prominently white I think - I just want the odd bits of these colours to peak out.

Please see more creative spaces, here.

Sketchbook Project 2012: Our Distances

2011-08-13T09:52:00.007-04:00

I completed page 4 (and 4b) last night. It was a mixed media page, using a couple different mediums: acrylic paint, matte gel medium, glass beads medium, gold mica flake medium, black marker, collage. I'll take you from the start, and then show you the end product :o) ... this is going to be a long post with tons of pictures!

Firs I coated the image that I printed out with gel medium, so that when I started painting and dabbling on it, it would not run / smear.

While this was drying, I rebound my sketchbook so that I could insert a page of tracing paper. I have never bound / rebound anything before, so I did not have proper tools. I ended up using a thumb tack and a screwdriver to make the holes a bit bigger, and threaded in green/white bakers twine. I had to do this twice: the first time, I rebound half the book upside down from the other half - opps! This also means that towards the end of the book, there's another piece of tracing paper! :)

So I ripped the edges, and then used the same gel medium to affix the image to my book.

I added some colour with some paint.

Now on to the fun part: I added glass bead medium. It goes on white, but dries super clear and adds a very interesting texture. I used a palate knife to add this, I find it works better if I want large sections of beads.

A close-up of it dry - those little beads just attract so much light into them! :)

The tissue paper makes this spread that much more interesting. The other piece that I have in this book, I'm going to try to make it so it interacts with both sides.

Next, I added more colour. The green I just dabbed on with a piece of shop towel (I find these 'paper towels' stand up better for my painting - you can get them at Canadian Tire ect.)

After a bit more painting, some more glass beads and some gold mica flakes - the page is complete!

A close up of those lovely beads:

The spread with the tissue paper on top. The tissue paper has indicated where either of us lived (since we were long distance for while), where we started and where we are now.

And, with it on the other side, the lightened areas are places where one of us have lived.

I hope you enjoyed this (thorough) look at my pg. 4 and 4b page :)

Store Update #1

2011-08-12T07:15:00.004-04:00

I've updated my store with some of the many creations from the past two days. One painting went right away (I was confused when I went looking for its link last night, thinking I screwed something up lol). So that painting is now available as a print.

Hedgehogs - Original Painting Available

Night Watch - Original Watercolour Painting Available

Full Moon - Watercolour - Prints available

Chinese Lanterns - Original Watercolour Available

Golden Autumn - Original Watercolour Available

As well, there are some Christmas items that are slowing fluttering into the store. I am offering hand painted Christmas and Holiday cards this year. I will not be offering the printed variety. (sorry).

My Creative Space

2011-08-11T08:28:00.004-04:00

Work has been keeping me very busy, so my creative space hasn't been too creative - except for the past two days (days off, yippie!) - it's been a mad house of creativity.

I've been dabbling in my square sketchbook a lot, I think the smaller size and the more unique shape are more attractive and inspirational to my mind.

Oreo as a cartoon, and Little Miss X-ray:

I've also gone on a sort of a 'paint-a-thon' these past two days (and to continue today as well). I know that there are busy, busy times ahead, and I wanted to get out some paintings before I may not have time (I expect to be painting a lot of commissions instead with the holidays around the corner - sigh, yes I know it's silly to say: but it is in the online shopping world). Here is my 'studio area'. Yes, my headphones are taped together, but they are my favourite for painting - and they still work lol.

I no longer have a desk to work on (that didn't make the move to Owen Sound), but I figured since I'm not sharing the apartment with roommates, that I can paint where ever and it's working out fine. Those paper are 'lists' of ideas - I make then when I'm at work and an idea strikes - I know I won't remember until I get home or near a sketchbook. Here's a sneak peek at some of the paintings that I will be posting in a day or so:

I've also figured out the main page for my Sketchbook Project 2012. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do for the cover, but I think I want to wait until I'm almost done the book since it will sort of 'wrap around', and if the book gets thick I don't want that compromising it. I also have ideas for another spread of two that I will do today, and I'm hoping to introduce some tracing paper into it!

And lastly....*drummm rollll*....I got a new printer!! :o) Yesterday, my scanner on my old printer broke - it just wouldn't scan under any setting but document, and I didn't want that (and you know, when little things stop working it's a precursor for larger breaks to come). So I looked up my warranty, and I still had it - but it was done at the end of this month! Yikes! It needed to be looked after pronto then. So, I brought it in, and after some paper work - this new baby was mine! (Buying that extra year of warrenty was a great decision - out only 30$ instead of over 250...). So here's my new best-y: this one has touch buttons totally cool!

Check out some other creative spaces :) Happy creating!

Sketchbook Project 2012: All my Lovin'

2011-08-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

I've already made a painting based on this theme, but I do love the song, and I love the little paper airplanes:

Sending You All My Lovin' - pg 5 - watercolour and ink

I know - I'm bouncing around in my book...it's just some spreads are only one page, and some need both. This one was half done for a little while too, I wasn't sure if it was complete, and then I added some watercolour hearts in with the ink, and I'm confident of it's lovliness now.

Poppy Watercolour Sketch

2011-08-09T09:03:00.002-04:00

Just playing in my square sketchbook with some watercolour paints:

I got some of those watercolour brushes that hold water in them - I am smittingly in love with them now!

I must also tell you: I've been painting like a mad-women (and plan to continue for my two days off starting tomorrow :)...I'll have a major shop update, and some goodies to post for everyone real soon :)

Sketchbook Project 2012: Coming Home

2011-08-08T10:11:00.000-04:00

After my sketch of the "Berry Bird" in my square sketchbook, I knew I had wanted to do another sketch in a similar style.

Coming Home - Pages 12-13 - Pencil

It's a finch welcoming her fellow finch with a welcome home leaf :)

Sketchbook Project 2012: A-Mazing Love

2011-08-06T11:20:00.005-04:00

I recently completed another page in my Sketchbook Project submission:

Amazing Love, Pgs 8-9 - watercolour and ink

I used to make mazes when I was really little (Grade 2 or 3), after an 'art project' in class: the whole class each made a maze, and then the teacher photocopied them all and made us all an activity book. and I loved making them. They weren't as complicated or large as this one.

I just hope that no one solves this puzzle in ink / pencil when they're reading my little sketchbook. I put a disclaimer on the top, just to be safe.

New Sketchbook

2011-07-25T18:24:00.003-04:00

I love starting a new sketchbook. This one is by 'hand book', and is a cute 5 x 5". I thought I would try a square sketchbook to see if it drives a new part of inspiration; and the small size: so I can bring it with me more easily - just pops into my purse.

Scribbles and doodles - ink.

Berry Bird - Pencil.

Coming Soon To My Mailbox!

2011-07-24T09:41:00.013-04:00

I hope everyone likes my new banner. I thought I needed something more summery, cheerful and festive :). I changed the banner in my shop as well to match - I really like the font that I used for the 'Jellybeans'

I ordered some new art technique books from Amazon the other night, I cannot wait to get them!

I've been wanting to do more mixed media pieces, and utilize texture and the different additive mediums more in my acrylic work. I started, but then I realized that I needed just a little guidance - sometimes, it's just easier to read about the right and wrong way, than to 'waste' valuable materials on them ;). So I purchased this book, to advise me on how to use some of the mediums properly so they don't crack, or peel off as the layers get thicker.This second books teaches about more extreme textures, something that I was definitely wanting guidance on so that my art doesn't fall apart from heavy weight, ect.

I hope these books arrive soon so that I can start dabbling! Winter is coming, and my job won't require me to work as much (ehm, no more 8 to 10 day working streaks with a random day off in between here and there). I'll have more time for painting and dabbling.

Sketchbook Project: The Forest City

2011-07-23T21:32:00.002-04:00

The Sketchbook Project 2012 - Long Trips and Short Phone Calls

Pages 6-7: The Forest City

London, Ontario is sometimes called 'The Forest City' since there are so many trees in it. This is where James and I met. It was there that during our (almost) five years together, that we lived the closest (until we started semi-living with eachother: he's gone half the week for a job somewhere else, and then half he works where I live).

Back to the story - despite never have met, and having been totally set up by a mutual friend: we lived within walking distance of each other. After that: we both moved for additional school - me to Sudbury, and he to Barrie. Then I moved to Orillia for clinical placement (half-hour from Barrie), and shortly he moved to Whitby for work (1.5 hours from Orillia). Then, I moved in with him for a couple months after school looking for work; but ended up working in Owen Sound (close to his home town, where he ultimately wants to end up). He got a job here but he wanted to keep working the Whitby job for now...so he lives between two places. Yes, we have jumped around a lot. I cannot wait to not have to move anymore, or if we do: not have to move cities - or across Ontario.

So that's the travelling-hobo part of our story: the beginning though was in 'The Forest City'

Sunflowers

2011-07-21T18:11:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why, but I felt like painting Sunflowers the other day.

Sunflowers - 9x12" Watercolour

They're just so bright and cheerful. These are the flowers James got me on my first publishing contract for my stationery years ago - and I must say, I was happier to get Sunflowers than roses...I mean, com'on...everyone gets roses. To pick out these flowers means he put some thought into it, and he knew that I liked these flowers. They have always made me smile since then.

The Sketchbook Project 2012

2011-07-20T20:05:00.003-04:00

Well, first things: I got my laptop back. I must say, I am thoroughly impressed - it was in record time!! I sent it out last Thursday, and I got it notice to pick it up last night and got it today.

Even more exciting: I got my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2012 :) And, I have already begun:

My theme is "Long Trips and Short Phone Calls." It seemed very appropriate since I have spent a year and some in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend (Short story: we met, both decided to go back to school - got into different, far apart schools - and are now together again after graduating and finding work).

I can't wait to share the many more pages to come.

Blog Downtime

2011-07-15T08:35:00.005-04:00

SO, you know how I said that I was going to blog more...well, that's going to have to put on a little stand-still. I just sent my laptop out to get fixed *frowns*...seems that the DVD drive will not work anymore - my laptop refuses to reconize it anywhere, leading the technical support (over the phone) to believe that it is broken. This small realization came after almost 2 hours of talking to the person on the phone, but that's a whole other story lol.

Anyways, I won't be able to post for awhile. My store will still be running though - I can do that from my blackberry (Thank you for smartphones!).

In the meantime, I'll still be painting. Some things that I'm working on: a few abstract landscape oil pieces (one with amazing texture, and hence is taking forever to dry before I can continue to work on it), some more watercolour trees, and a floral painting, and - I know it's early - Christmas cards. This year I will be doing them a little different: I will not be offering printed sets of cards (I can get the quality of print, and the paper I would like), so I will only be offering original painted Christmas cards. The great thing about these are: 1. They are two gifts in one: a painting and a card, they can always frame it later; and 2. They are completely unique, no two will be exactly alike. They will of course be more limited though. I will start listing them once I have enough ready, and see how many I will make from the demand. So, they will be limited, but I'm not sure how limited.

Anyways, I hope everyone is enjoying wonderful weather! Ciao!

Book of Portraitures: James and I

2011-07-11T19:18:00.000-04:00

I have not forgotten about my Book of Portraiture's. Here is a 'scribble' one that I did of James and myself, from a picture that he took two-ish years ago from the top of the Blue Mountains on a snowboarding trip.

It was done in sharpie markers, so no mistakes can be hidden.

All My Loving

2011-07-08T16:06:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I've painted - going from only doing artwork, to doing a full time (sometimes more) shift work job takes a bit of adjustment.

Ever since the movie, "Across the Universe" came out, I turned into quite the Beatles fan. I won't lie, I'm more of a 'modern' music person - not that I don't respect the classics. I got the Beatles song, "All My Loving" in my head the other day though, and thought up this cute painting:

Sending All My Loving To You - 9x12" watercolour

This is my second 'Beatles-based' painting, I've done another one - "All you need is love".

Etsy Love Monday

2011-07-04T07:22:00.003-04:00

One of my favourite things about summer is summer dresses. They're so easy to slide on, and always make you look like you took that little bit of extra time to get ready that day.

This Cloud nine silk dress, by Minxshop, is beautiful. It's so beautiful and can easily be dressed up or down - it would make the quinessential summer dress for all occasions.

Orders going out!

2011-06-30T07:01:00.000-04:00

After the long Postal Strike here in Canada, it is nice to have my packages flowing out again. I made a trip to the post office and bought a bunch of different stamps for my packages - it feels more like I'm decorating them than posting them...look at all the lovely designs Canada Post has out for stamps:

My US and International orders tend to get the most stamps (simply because they cost more to ship). I won't lie, I do choose some of the lower value stamps so that I can stick more on. Also, with the stamps being stickers, it's not like I'm stuck licking all these stamps...just peel and stick and they're on their way!

And, here's Oreo supervising as always...

Finally getting settled!

2011-06-28T13:12:00.003-04:00

I'm finally getting settled down in my new apartment, in my new city...and with my new job. Things were a little hectic for awhile with getting everything sorted out, but all is well now! I'm officially a "grown up" with a "grown up job" hehe.

I will have some pictures of my apartment in a little while, but I must warn you it looks a little bare - when you go from moving from a house you were sharing, thus having most of your stuff in a single bedroom, to an entire apartment to yourself, where you can 'dump' things where you'd like: you start to realize that you never really did own an overly large amount (although, when moving it still seems like you own too much stuff lol).

I'm going to try with some regular blog posts again. With shift work, I may not be able to post as often as I was for a little while, but I'll try my best to at least keep you all in the loop, especially with creative processes blogs. I missed writing on here - I'll keep in touch with you all more :)

New! Family Tree Prints!

2011-04-27T20:51:00.004-04:00

Fill-in Family Tree

I've been pretty excited about this idea - I just needed to create all the painted elements, put them together and fill one out for myself :)

I had been pondering this idea for awhile - trying to decide how to go about it. I wanted to create an affordable way to offer a family tree to those who may not want an original painting. As well, with my new job ( Yippie!! - Medical Radiation Technologist at Grey Bruce Health Services...Eeee!) I won't have the time to accept as many custom orders as well.

So I created a series of trees, with spaces for families ranging from 4-8 persons. This is a great gift idea for family members and weddings. As well - make it a family activity: get each person in the family to write in their own name. Right now, I'm only offering the one design - with various numbers of 'name places'. I will create more as time permits and as needed. You can find them in my online shop on Etsy: http://jellybeans.etsy.com

Original Paintings on Sale!

2011-04-19T11:04:00.003-04:00

You read that right!! The Oil and Acrylic paintings in my shop are on sale - 25% off or more!! Now's the perfect time to get some new colour into your house - just in time for all those summer and spring parties!

Just go to my shop: http://jellybeans.etsy.com, and go to the 'Original Paintings on Sale' section - they are all there, and all ready for new homes!

Herb Gardens, Jungles, Pink Forest and Bunnies

2011-04-18T18:56:00.003-04:00

"Pink Forest" - Watercolor, 7x10"

Just a little painting update to share with everyone :) I've been working on integrating animals into my paintings more, trying to create some more realistic watercolour paintings and lastly using some light collage techniques in my work. "In the Jungle" - 12x16" watercolour

I've always wanted to put some jungle animals into my trees - it was just trying to figure out the best tree to put them in. I think the trunk here works well. "Thyme" - 7x10" watercolor

Here was my attempt to work with the 'botanical' sort of watercolour piece. It's not completely 100% realistic, but it still has some artistic expression in it, which I think is important in a piece."Spring Bunnies" - 7x10" watercolor

This will be my favourite of this update. I think the collaged piece of paper is just so different from my other pieces, and fully represents spring perfectly! Plus, you have to love sleeping bunnies.

Sunday Shopping

2011-04-01T19:05:00.002-04:00

Just some things that I heart on Etsy:

Ruby Lace Bird Bowels - PrinceDesignUK

Miss Flirty Floral Headband - ChloeANDMaddie

Rose Gold-Plated Intial Ring - meltemsem

...if only it weren't just online-window shopping ....

My Creative Space:

2011-03-31T06:09:00.000-04:00

As mentioned before, I've been painting tons. I think it's all of the fresh spring air that I'm getting. It's just so inspiring! The painting above is one that I had started, it's of some herbs (thyme to be more specific). I was thinking of doing a series of a few of them, but I'll first see how this one turns out to be sure.

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

2011-03-30T18:01:00.002-04:00

I love, love and love that they are making a movie based on Little Red Riding Hood. I cannot wait to go see it!

My painting, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, was inspired by this movie. In my painting I wanted to illustrate the sensitive an vulnerable side of the wolf. Here is dear Little Red walking through the forest on a dark evening, with a full moon, and she stumbles across the 'big bad' wolf as he's sleeping.

I really enjoyed creating this piece, and in creating it, bringing to attention the softness of the wolf and a twist to the classic fairy tale.

A book of many portraitures...

2011-03-27T09:20:00.000-04:00

I wanted to work on my drawing skills more, and obviously trying to make a habit of posting a sketch every week just wasnt' working out for me - if you're not in the mood to draw, I just can't do it. Oh well, C'est la vie!

I do know that I most definitely wanted to work on portraits (of people and animals)...so I bought a sketchbook dedicated to those things...enter my title page...:My first portraiture is of my dear feline, Oreo. Here he is looking all fierce and mighty:
So here I begin, hopefully the first portraits of many!

My Creative Space:

2011-03-25T09:09:00.005-04:00

My creative space has been packed with paintings and commissions, but I have not forgotten about the Fiction Project.

Here are some of my newer pages:

Pgs. 5-6, unfinished

Pgs. 7 (finished) and 8 (unfinished)

I think my favourite in the book so far is page 7. It was the first page that I thought of to incorporate collage, and I'm so happy that I did. The paper I used has gold accents that you can't see well from the scan. I will most definitely be putting more bits of patterned paper throughout this project.

To make the pages better for paint, collage and heavy marker I've either i) stuck two pages together, or ii) apply a thin sheet of watercolor paper - depending on what I'm doing on the pages. For both, I use double sided tape - that way I don't get a 'bubbling' of paper while it dries.

This part of my submission will only take 4-6 more pages. And then I can start on the 'dabblings'. Although I'm enjoying creating this little children's story, I am looking forward to less-planned applications in the book.

You can see more creative spaces over at kootoyoo.

It's a Celebration!

2011-03-23T11:41:00.006-04:00

Celebration - watercolor on 9x12" 140lb watercolor paper

I've been busy working away in my studio, just getting a sudden urge of painting out of my system. I have tons to show you, but I won't post it all in one go :)

I've also been making a lot of ACEOs lately too (small pieces of artwork, like mini-paintings). I love presenting the in frames, they're just so dainty!

Green Tree Watercolor ACEO

Golden Poppies Watercolor ACEO

And, I've also been experimenting with my watercolor techniques and have come up with an interesting piece:

Forest Ablaze - watercolor on 140lb watercolor paper

This piece and the watercolours ACEOs were in a new part of my shop: Original Paintings under $25. In this new section will be my ACEOs, 'experimental paintings', and other bits and pieces of work. It's a great place to find some great deals and affordable art!

Watercolor Wednesday: Bee Hive

2011-02-23T07:59:00.000-05:00

Bee Hive - watercolour on 9x12" waterc olour paper

This painting is the bees knees! I've always wanted to say that in context! With spring (soon to be) around the corner, this idea popped into my head. I also have a Winnie-the-Pooh obsessed friend, and that may have slightly fueled this idea as well.

The original is for sale in my shop :)

I've also completed some commissions:

Angela Vandenbogaard

Moving!!

End of Week Recap

Inside my Sketchbook

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

Sketchbook Project 2012 Update

Sketchbook Project 2012 Update

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

Gift Certificates!

Sketchbook Project 2012 Update

It’s Christmas Time in the City!

Let it snow…

New in the Shop!

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

Day 5: Holiday Wreaths

Sunday Shopping

Snow

Day 4: Pop-Up Reindeer Cards

My Creative Space

366Pages Preview

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

Day 3: Snowflake Stamp Ornaments

Monday Art Class: Easy Magazine Image Transfers

Colour Inspiration: Retro Coffee Time

Sunday Shopping: Hedgehog Clock

Weekend Getaways

Day 2: Painted Glass Ornaments

Day 1: Graffiti Holiday Cards

Art Class: Petroleum Resist Technique

Colour Inspiration: Frosty

Happy (6)

Shipping Deadlines

Happy (5)

Purple Hair

Happy (4)

My Creative Space

Happy (3)

Monday Class: Inspiration–David Blackwood

Sunday Shopping

Happy (2)

*Pook Pook*

Rawr

Monday Art Class–Drawing Exercise #2

End of October Life Update

Us

Speak

Camera Face

Monday Art Class: Drawing Exercise #1

My Creative Space

Things that make me happy #1

The 2012 Sketchbook Project: You and I

Monday Art Class: Masking Fluid

My Creative Space

Monday Class: Inspirations–Klimt

New Freebies!

Monday Art Class Cont… : The Kitchen Chair 2b: Complimentary Colours and a Painting Demo

Monday Art Class: The Kitchen Chair 2a–Complimentary Colours

Doodling Heaven

My Creative Space: Getting Folk-sy

The 2012 Sketchbook Project: A Love Like Sunflowers.

Monday Art Class: The Kitchen Chair– Part One

The Sketchbook Project 2012: Love Songs

25!

Monday Class: Inspiration - Van Gogh

My Creative Space

Monday Art Class: String Gel

Family Genes

Birthday Cards

My Creative Space

Sleepy Painting Days

Monday Class: The Colour Wheel

Art Inspirations: Introduction

My Creative Space

Sketchbook Project 2012: Our Distances

Store Update #1

My Creative Space

Sketchbook Project 2012: All my Lovin'

Poppy Watercolour Sketch

Sketchbook Project 2012: Coming Home

Sketchbook Project 2012: A-Mazing Love

Pook Pook