Diary of an Artist

Alphabet

2011-03-08T18:57:00.001-06:00

I don't have a lot of time to paint these days, so I am doing more digital work. It is much easier than dealing with paint drying and washing brushes. I recently finished an alphabet for my son's room. The whole thing is 14x11" so each picture is quite small, but it was fun doing all those little paintings.

Catching up

2010-12-12T17:24:00.000-06:00

During my pregnancy I did some digital painting, mainly a series of small old car pictures that I will give to my dad one by one. I also started a lake painting but wasn't able to finish until after the baby was born and things started to settle down.

Baby Vincent was born on Aug. 31. For a while there was only time for taking care of him and sleeping but after a few weeks I was missing being creative and did a little knitting to make him a hat, and I also have been cross stitching a bit. And as I said, I finished that lake painting, just in time to enter a contest at pixarra.com, but I didn't win.

Lately I've been busy with Christmas decorating and some baking but I'm looking forward to doing more digital painting soon.

Frosty Willows

2010-03-24T15:21:00.001-05:00

In January I found out that I'm pregnant. Soon after that came the morning (all day) sickness which made it hard to concentrate on anything. I got one painting done back in January, Frosty Willows. Since then I haven't done much except to knit myself a pair of socks. Lately though, I think I'm feeling ready to start painting again.

Merry Christmas 2009 and Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-07T11:18:00.001-06:00

December is always a busy time. I do a lot of decorating in the house and I have pictures posted on my website. I also got some painting done, like these jarlid magnets that I gave as gifts.

Then I painted a picture for my husband to give a guy he works with. It was a bit challenging because the photo reference wasn't very clear. Now I am working on next year's Christmas card in TwistedBrush.

Allsorts

2009-11-23T14:54:00.001-06:00

I have been neglecting my blogging duties again. But I have been painting. Recent additions to my site are Off the Point, Pink and Yellow Rose, and Allsorts. The painting of the lake was a difficult one for me. I was glad when it was done and relieved to get many compliments from the nice people at wetcanvas.com. The pink and yellow rose was a joy to paint, I love painting flowers on the computer. Paint the Allsorts was very enjoyable as well.

And in between there was Halloween and I made a small painting for myself.

I haven't been crafting though, not for a long time, except for some cross stitching. I recently finished another picture.

Site problems

2009-08-24T09:09:00.003-05:00

I've been having trouble with my Forest of Dreams website, but I hope to get it fixed soon.

I have done some more painting since my last post. I've been in a digital mood lately and I finished a knitting dragon for my creative dragon series. I hope to put these in a book someday. Currently I am starting a sewing dragon.

I also painted a picture of some raspberries using Twisted Brush. This was done in one layer, which is unusual for me. It is available as a 5x7" print.

Solstice at the lake

2009-06-23T11:02:00.003-05:00

The weather has really warmed up now! Saturday, the 20th, we were camping and it was a warm, bright night. We went for a bike ride with friends around the campground and I think it was close to midnight when we went to the beach. If I had thought of it then I would have been more observant, but yesterday I used my imagination to do a quick painting with Twisted Brush of the lake that night.

Fruit and Crystal

2009-06-12T11:01:00.003-05:00

Camping season has started, and gardening season, both of which get in the way of my painting time so I haven't been as productive lately.

We took the camper to the lake on the May long weekend to park it on the site we got for the summer. It snowed that day, but we thought we better take it up in the snow instead of the mud and we got it up there just in time.

We didn't stay that night but went back the next day and all the snow was gone. We have gone up there a few times and the nights have been pretty cold, but there have been no mosquitoes.

I did get a new painting done recently, Fruit and Crystal. I was scared to start on this one because of the bowl, but I convinced myself to relax with it and I got it done. You can see it here.

Steps To Twilight

2009-04-17T18:15:00.008-05:00

I finished my latest cross stitch project, which I believe I started last June. There is one more picture in that booklet which I have already started.

I have also been doing some digital painting. This iceberg painting was done in Gimp, the reference was from wetcanvas.

For my dad's birthday I bought a toy car and painted a picture of it, and gave him both the painting and the toy. This was also done in Gimp.

This next one was also a reference from wetcanvas, this time done with Twisted Brush Open. I wanted to practise painting foliage on the computer but I think I need different brushes and I have decided to buy Twisted Brush Pro.

And today I painted an ATC of orchids, but I haven't scanned it yet. It will be posted on my website eventually.

Goldfinches and Blue Lake Trail

2009-03-20T16:47:00.004-05:00

I have still been painting a lot, though most days I can only concentrate for a couple of hours. I completed this one of two goldfinches in the little stream I had in my last yard. I had to move the male bird to make a better composition, but that wasn't too hard. I thought I would go crazy painting all those rocks though. I was feeling ready to switch to digital painting again.

But, there was a tree classroom going on at wetcanvas in acrylics so I decided to use that as an incentive to get this other painting off my to-do list. I love painting trees anyway, and thought this one would be quick and easy but though I tried to relax with it, it wasn't very relaxing until near the end.

And then I wanted to take part in the different strokes challenge, so I made a new ATC. This one was quick, though I didn't find the dog very easy to paint, especially since I changed the light direction.

Now I am back to digital painting and I am working on a picture of an iceberg from a monthly challenge at wetcanvas.

Flicker, Storm Brewing, etc.

2009-02-24T14:41:00.005-06:00

I have recently added a few new paintings to my site, Dragonfly, Flicker and Storm Brewing.

I also made a few pairs of earrings.

Cardinal

2009-01-10T10:17:00.005-06:00

I was finally able to get back to digital painting this week and completed this picture for a monthly challenge at wetcanvas. It is to be printed 5x7" and was done in Gimp. I didn't keep track of the hours but it took a few afternoons.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2009-01-04T12:30:00.006-06:00

In December I got a little painting done, including these flat rocks that I gave to my cousin for Christmas.

I also painted a still life which I will be posting on my website eventually.

And I managed to get some crafting done. Not as much as I wanted to, as usual, but I have some ideas for next year.

Now I am getting used to my new computer that I got for Christmas. I will have to get a new paint program so that I can get back to digital work. I also have quite a few acrylic paintings in mind that I want to get done soon.

Kira, etc.

2008-11-20T17:02:00.010-06:00

At the end of September I did a digital painting of an orange rose.

In October I painted a portrait of my dog Kira. I also did a haunted hospital for fun. It is based on an old hospital that used to be in my home town.

I also made myself some jewelry lately.

And I have done two more ATCs.

And I finally put my rainbow series on my website.

Summer is over

2008-09-19T17:25:00.007-05:00

In spite of camping trips and trying to do something with the yard, I have still been painting, just haven't gotten around to posting anything. One personal project that I have completed is a large painting of my grandparents old porch, which is posted on my website.

I have also done a few small pictures, a couple with coloured pencil. It was fun to try but I think I'll stick with acrylics and digital painting. I was hoping to take these pictures to the craft sale at Blueberry Fest, but there wasn't one this year. The bananas and onion and garlic are coloured pencil. The hummingbird and covered bridge are acrylic.

Rainbow complete

2008-06-14T17:02:00.004-05:00

Both Green and Blue have been done. These two went quite easily compared to some of the others. I also picked up black frames for the series. I will be keeping the originals but when I save up enough for a new printer, I will make prints to sell.

I have also started a new cross stitch project called "Steps to Twilight". Other than that I have just done some doodling but I am getting a new sheet of masonite ready that is 2x4'.

Yellow and stuff

2008-05-25T12:02:00.006-05:00

Earlier this month I painted a small picture for the wetcanvas different strokes project. This month they posted three pictures of cats and we had to use at least two of them in a painting. My first thought was of a throne room, and then I looked at the expressions of those cats, and I came up with this. It is 5x7" on posterboard and I framed it and gave it to my mom for Mother's Day.

I also recently finished my cross stitching project, called Cozy Winter Twilight, which I had started about a year ago. It is about 5x18" and the pattern is from a booklet. Now I'm doing another birth announcement border, just to be prepared, plus I needed to do something simple after that detailed picture.

And I have completed Yellow in my rainbow series. The background was frustrating, the lemon and flower were ok, but the banana was really easy.

Red, orange, and frustration

2008-05-07T15:52:00.006-05:00

Last year I had started a rainbow series of still lifes and had done Indigo and Violet. In April I went back to working on that series and completed Red and Orange, though they gave me some difficulties.

With Red I started with a gray-scale under-painting, bringing it to the point where it looked like a completed black and white painting. Then I started glazing on the colour, which was going ok except that it looked too purple. After a lot of glazing and nearly giving up, I finally got it the way I wanted.

When I started Orange, I thought I had learned something with Red, like not to make the under-painting too dark. This time I saved a picture of the completed under-painting. When I started glazing on the colour things just kept going wrong. I had to give up and start over with a fresh one and decided to skip the under-painting and go straight to colour. There was still some struggle with it, but I think it turned out ok.

Charms

2008-03-30T10:27:00.003-05:00

I had bought a pack of three charms that you can put a picture inside. I thought at first that I would just print something for them, but then I decided to challenge myself by painting small pictures. It isn't easy to paint that small, and nearly impossible to actually draw. The bear was first and I wasn't sure if it would turn out, but I think it looks ok. I decided then that landscapes are better suited to this size, so I did the cabin scene next. Then I did the waterfall but I'm not sure if I'm completely pleased with that one. I think I was getting tired of dealing with the tiny size by then. They are each 1.4 x 1.8 cm.

I also painted two new ATCs lately, a loon and mallards. I was a little worried about the feathers on the loon and the female duck, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. Of course at that size, things have to be simplified quite a bit.

Happy Easter 2008

2008-03-24T11:29:00.004-05:00

I have three new pictures to post. One is an 8x10 painting of a daisy which I gave to my aunt and uncle as a thank you for all the driving they did for me when I was sick.

I also painted a blank card which I will give to the other nurse who also came in on a weekend for me. The image comes from wetcanvas and was part of the Different Strokes project in acrylics.

And I painted four wooden eggs for Easter, three of which my Mom already bought.

Bookmark exchange

2008-03-07T15:56:00.002-06:00

In September 2007 I did some digital work for a bookmark project. Part of it was that each artist taking part would receive back another bookmark from one of the other participants. I have received mine, created by Jan Hall from Thompson MB. It is a "fabric manipulation experiment". Lovely.

Still life and jewelry

2008-03-03T15:19:00.005-06:00

I recently finished a still life painting, 8 1/2 x 11", and will be giving it to a nurse who came in to work on many weekends for me, even though the clinic here is only open on weekdays.

I also made some jewelry for myself. The red and green stuff was made from one of those triple packs of beads, and I used every bead in it. I also made a simple pair of earrings with purple crackle and iridescent clear beads. It's nice to be doing some crafting again.

I currently have another gift painting on the go and will post when it is done.

Fantasy Mural completed

2008-02-09T14:15:00.001-06:00

I have been painting like crazy lately, often painting for 5 or more hours a day, which is a lot for me. I have been very eager to get this mural done, partly just to see how it would turn out, and also so that I can get to other projects and paintings. I spent about 112 hours on this and I'm glad to be done. The finished painting is posted in my webshots album.

Back again

2008-01-08T11:08:00.001-06:00

It has a been a few months since I last wrote here, and I haven't done much crafting either. To make a long story short, in October I was having some stomach pains. I went to see a doctor and ended up being admitted and they took out my appendix and told me I have Crohn's disease. After a few day I went home but was in a lot of pain. A week later I went back with an infection where the incision was. They had to drain it and then I stayed in the hospital for another week. When I went home again, I still had an open wound there and every day had to go to the local clinic, and sometimes into the city on weekends, and get the dressing changed. They have to pack the opening to make sure it doesn't close from the top first. It hasn't been painful since the infection was drained, but healing has been very slow because of the Crohn's and I still have a small hole. I hope it will close up soon. I am also on medication for the Crohn's and it seems to be under control.

For a while I couldn't do much of anything but over the last few months I did do a little painting and have started making art trading cards (ATCs). So far I have four done but still haven't put them online. I will make a page soon and then I hope to find other artists and crafters to trade with. I also did a quick little Christmas picture on the computer, just for fun. And I painted an old guitar.

And, the other day I started working again on a mural which I had started in October. It's actually on masonite because I think that's safer than putting all that work on a wall. But I'm still calling it a mural. It is 6x3 feet. I started putting work in progress pictures in a webshots account.

Coffee pot

2007-09-29T11:28:00.002-05:00

One day my Mom and I were in an old house where a friend of hers used to live, now long abandoned. We found an old coffee pot inside, and my Mom gave it to me to paint. So, of course, I knew I would make it a gift for her. After some thinking, I decided I would put a pink rose on it. And then it just happened that the September "Different Strokes" project in the acrylic section at wetcanvas.com was a picture of a pink rose. It was just what I needed and I painted the pot and gave it to my Mom to thank her for all the help she has given me this year.

Also, the voting was done for the Dragon Project at wetcanvas, and my spiral dragon won for most unusual.

Long time, no post

2007-09-05T10:51:00.001-05:00

Finally, an update. I was very busy with packing, then painting, then moving, then trying to settle in. This house is supposed to be bigger than the last, but I'm having a hard time finding a place for everything.

I have done a little painting since moving in. I did two 8x10s, but they will be part of a series and I will post them when it is all done. But I had to put that aside for now.

I also did some digital work last week for a bookmark project being held by the Manitoba Arts council, where you submit 3 bookmarks, then each artist will receive one back from another artist, and the other two will tour libraries and then be sold to raise funds for the arts in Manitoba.

Spiral Dragon

2007-06-09T10:08:00.002-05:00

I haven't had much time for artwork lately. I haven't even been cross stitching because I've been playing Final Fantasy 12 in the evenings. I thought I had lots of time because we were supposed to take possession of our house on July 14, but now we get it on June 26. So I guess I will be busy with packing and stuff, and then painting the new house. All I have done lately is this Spiral Dragon, just for fun. Drawn with pen, then scanned and played with in photoshop.

Pencil attempts

2007-05-27T13:17:00.001-05:00

For practice I did this bird one afternoon from a picture from the Birds and Blooms calendar. This bird was just begging to be drawn. I did the outline without a grid, I just compared proportions, and it came out pretty close.

Then I spent a few afternoons on a Ukrainian still life, well, about 5 hours all together. I drew from the actual objects set up on my table. I used a ruler to hold up and measure things, but I still had a hard time. The designs are off in places, and in the end I decided to skip a lot of the design on the candy dish. I guess any time I really need to be accurate, I need to use a photo and the grid method. I'm not sure what I will do with this drawing. I may paint it over on the computer later.

Squirrel

2007-05-21T21:10:00.001-05:00

Over the last couple of weeks I worked on a painting of a squirrel. It was a bit challenging because the background in the photo was very blurry but I didn't want to paint it that way. I also haven't done very many animals, but I like the way it turned out. You can see it on my website. http://www.forest-of-dreams.com/squirrel.html

Now I plan to spend some time with my pencils. Perhaps I will do something for the Ukrainian festival in pencil this year.

Thai Eggplants-Flemish technique

2007-05-02T10:25:00.001-05:00

Imprimatura (mid-tone wash)

Umber layer

Opaque highlights

Dead layer

Colour layer

These are the steps involved with the Flemish technique. This was really interesting for me and I enjoyed most of it, except for that jug.

Thank you to Maverick at wetcanvas.com for showing us this, and to 'mprince' for the photo.

Painting Dragon and Snowmelt

2007-04-27T16:18:00.001-05:00

Two new digital paintings are done, including my dragon which you can see at my website.

I also completed the painting posted here, Snowmelt. It was an experiment in painting digitally all on one layer. I almost did it, exept that I had started by outlining the main trees, and I needed to copy those outlines to a new layer where the water is so that I could paint under them. I don't know if I would ever want to try one layer again, but it was an interesting experience. I think I picked a good subject for it, and I would have hated painting this picture with acrylics. Even on the computer I was starting to get a little tired of trees. It took about 28 hours to do.

Now I am working on a small acrylic piece. I have been doing a lot of reading at wetcanvas.com and one member is teaching others the Flemish technique, so this week I started following along. The painting will be a Mother's Day gift along with photos of the stages involved, which I will post here when it is done.

As for the house, we're not buying it after all, and we're not sure what we're going to do at this moment.

New tablet!

2007-04-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

I finally got a new tablet on the weekend and have gotten back to work on my latest digital dragon picture. In the meantime, I had done a little doodling with coloured pencils. I just have some cheap ones right now though.

Feeling a little stressed out about the house. We don't know what will happen until the appraisal is done. And if it does go through, a lot of work will have to be done to bring the house up to code. I'm starting to think that we should have just built a new one. Oh well, what's meant to be will be.

The roller coaster ride continues

2007-03-24T15:18:00.001-05:00

I still don't have a new tablet. I was hoping to get one when we traveled up to Thompson, but Staples never heard of one and I don't think there was any other store there that would have one. On the bright side, I finished my second sock while traveling.

I also attempted painting on fabric again. I'm not completely happy with this one. I like the flower, but I made some mistakes for the background. I will probably donate it anyway.

And I tried doing more work on my picture with the mouse, but I think I need a new tablet before I can finish it. I'm not sure what I'll do in the meanitme. Maybe something for Easter. I'm also feeling tempted to try coloured pencil again.

Things are kind of uncertain with the house now. Our banker finally looked into all the policies for this kind of thing, and now they need to appraise the house first. The whole thing is really dampening my motivation to do anything.

Ups and downs

2007-03-16T10:17:00.000-05:00

I was just thinking yesterday morning that if anything happened to my tablet I would cry. Well, I didn't cry but I am very upset. I was working on my latest picture on the computer yesterday and one time when I picked up my tablet, with it being so dry and 'staticy' lately, I got a big shock when I touched the top of it. I think that did something to it because after that it didn't work properly anymore. And knowing the wonders of modern technology, it probably can't be fixed. We really can't afford extra expenses right now so I guess I will have to try to finish my picture with the mouse.

On the brighter side, the first sock that I knitted turned out pretty good. I think it took me almost a week to make but I hope the second one will go faster now that I know what to do.

We also got approved for buying a house. It's an older house, but newer and bigger than ours. We will be moving it here and demolishing this old one. So that means I have to get everything packed for storage. Not an easy job with the two of us being pack rats. Gee, I remember when most of my craft supplies fit into a big box. Now I have a room full.

Painted fabric

2007-03-06T10:06:00.001-06:00

I have tried painting on fabric and enjoyed it. I think I liked it because the textile medium thinned the paint and that made it easier to use. I have to try thinning the paint more the next time I paint on masonite. This square will be donated for a group quilt for charity. I'm not sure where I'll go next with fabric painting. I was thinking I would like to so something with beads. But for now I have started on a new dragon picture on the computer.

I have also been knitting and I'm almost done my little afghan. I didn't think I would ever reach the point where I could knit and watch tv at the same time. After this I want to try making a pair of socks. Then I can go back to cross stitching, but I should start a couple more birth announcements before I go back to the house pictures.

Cross stitching done

2007-02-18T13:51:00.001-06:00

I don't know when I started this picture, but it has been a few years. It was always being set aside for other projects and it wasn't an easy picture to do. I might try to do some knitting again now, at least make a small afghan for my pets. Then I will start the next picture in that book of cross stitch patterns. There are still three that I haven't done.

I also finished some polymer eggs this week.

Clay Valentine

2007-02-15T13:42:00.001-06:00

I spent all day Monday making a Valentine's gift for my husband. It was one of those days when nothing goes right. My plan was to put a heart shaped photo on a circle of clay and decorate it. I tried laminating the photo with iron on stuff, but it turned out all bubbly, twice. And then the clay circle that I made with a mixture of red and black turned out really nice, until I broke a piece off it. I thought about patching it, but in the end decided to cut a heart out of it, and stick it on a black circle with a heart cut out of the middle, and I stuck another photo on the heart, which got ruined in the oven. So finally a fourth photo was used and I finished decorating in the evening with sparkle paint and pre-baked clay hearts. I haven't given it to him yet because he is away at work, but I sure hope he likes it.

Catterflies

2007-02-08T16:42:00.001-06:00

Here are the two thank you gifts I painted for friends in the Creative Home Arts Club. I had been wanting to create butterfly wings for a while, and when I thought about what kind of bodies I would give them, I decided on cats since I love them so much. So the gifts were a good opportunity to try this idea out. I'm sure I'll do more someday.

Catching up

2007-02-08T11:22:00.000-06:00

I didn't even realize how long it had been since I last posted here. Well, Christmas was good. I did some drawings for a short story I wrote last year and got a new scanner for Christmas, so I was able to colour them. I posted the story and pictures on my MSN group.

Christmas also supported my gaming addiction, and I have already played Destroy All Humans 2 (fun!) and Shadow of the Colossus (ok). In between I painted two 5x7 pictures for thank you gifts, which I still have to get online. This week I'm doing some stained glass suncatchers for gifts eventually. And I have been doing quite a bit of cross stitching. Unfortunately I haven't done much drawing lately, and I really need to get back to that.

A few pictures

2006-12-17T16:43:00.001-06:00

I did bake some cookies that day, but I burned half of them and the rest flattened out too much and are too breakable. They still taste good though.

I fixed Kira's wings and halo. She's not too thrilled with wearing them, but she looks cute.

The ornament wreath is hanging in my bathroom.

And the slipcover for the couch is done. I was wishing someone could come and finish it for me when it came to fitting it around the arms, but I managed.

A few bumps on the Christmas road

2006-12-14T11:25:00.000-06:00

I have crossed a lot off my list, though nothing seems to be going exactly like it should. Nearly everything I do ends up with some problem or flaw. Like the ornament wreath. I filled in the gap with bows, and then started gluing some of the ornaments together to keep them bunched, but one side didn't turn out quite right.

I made a halo and wings for my dog with wire and white garland, and attached them to her harness, then realized that I put them on backwards.

I started cutting fabric pieces for my couch cover, then realized I didn't have enough. I got some more of a different pattern but I'm not sure when I will get back to that project.

I also drew a picture and I was going to scan it and paint it on the computer, but my scanner suddenly quit working.

At least my first batch of cookies turned out good. I think I will do another batch today.

It's looking a lot like Christmas

2006-12-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

Over the last few days I have done my Christmas decorating. I do quite a bit and my collection grows every year. All that's left is to finish the ornament wreath I started making. I didn't have enough ornaments to go around the base I have, so I will probably look for some ribbons to fill the gap. I also have an idea using a wine glass and glass pebbles.

I still want to make a couch cover with Christmas fabric. I gave up on trying to make a pattern and bought one. There are quite a few things I want to do for Christmas. I had to make a list yesterday because I would keep forgetting what those things are. I don't know how much I'll actually get done. The days are going by so fast I haven't even done any drawing lately. But at least I got around to trying an eggnog muffin recipe yesterday, which turned out quite yummy.

I have an album online of my decorations.
http://www.forest-of-dreams.com/Christmas.html

Getting ready for Christmas

2006-11-28T13:01:00.000-06:00

I haven't had much to post about, but I have been busy making some gifts. I'm making fabric coasters for some family members, which are all done. I made 7 sets of 8, but most of them I will be giving away next year instead, so for a bunch of people on my list I'll be set.

There have been other things that I've been working on, but I can't mention them here because the people who will be receiving them do have internet.

And for today, I have shovelled some of the foot deep snow that fell last night, and we will be celebrating my husband's birthday when he gets home.

Otherwise, I am excited to start turning on Christmas lights, and to decorate the house, but I refuse to start before Dec.1.

Feeling kind of down

2006-11-20T09:55:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I have phases where I don't know where the time goes or what I have done with it. I guess I have cross stitched quite a bit, though the picture I am working on feels like it will take forever to finish. I also tried making a few little beaded stars last week, but I think they are too small for ornaments and will probably use them as gift embellishments.

On Saturday there was another craft sale, but all I sold was one card. It was really disappointing and makes me wonder why I try. My mom took a few ornaments though, and will pay me in perogies. Yum.

But now I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time with all the crafting. Maybe I should just stick with making things for myself or for gifts, and spend more time on painting. But I haven't been able to seel many of those either. Am I doomed to not have any success until after I'm dead?

Well, I need to get focused again. Christmas is coming and there are a few gifts I want to make, so I should get started on those.

Halloween is over

2006-11-01T09:51:00.001-06:00

I only added one picture to the Halloween album in my MSN group. Not much else was new this year except the body.

I also posted the story I wrote and I made a little illustration to go with it. It took me a while to draw because I had no reference. I kept it simple, outlined with pen then scanned and painted in photoshop in one layer, with the outline on a separate layer on top.

Well, now I should get back to the drawing exercises I was doing before getting into all the Halloween stuff. I have a book from the library on drawing people that I started going through but have neglected lately. I have also been working on a new dragon picture. I think I have finally drawn the dragon the way I want it, now I have to work on the rest of the picture.

And, I have wanted to try making a fitted cover for my couch so maybe now is the time to start on that.

More Halloween projects done

2006-10-27T12:09:00.000-05:00

I finished my ghouls and a fake body for the porch. I started a Silent Hill hospital theme last year and I have pictures in my MSN group. I will be updating with this year's pictures soon.
http://groups.msn.com/LavenderFrost

I have also written a short story for Halloween, but I still need to go over it again. So, I have been busy with Halloween projects and decorating. And in the evenings I relax with my cross stitching.

Halloween is coming

2006-10-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

And it's time for some Halloween crafts. This week I started making a few little trick or treating ghouls out of clay. They still need some finishing touches. I also decorated a small artificial pumpkin with wire and beads. And on the gory side, I tried using spray paint to make an old hose look like intestines, but I don't think it's working. And I think I sprayed way too much at once and it will probably never dry.

I have some more crafting ideas for this Halloween yet.

A busy Thanksgiving weekend

2006-10-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

Well, I have nothing to post about, but I thought I should post why I have nothing to post about. It was a very busy weekend with putting laminate flooring in our living room. We have a lot of stuff and furniture, so more time was spent moving things out of the way than actually putting the flooring in. I still have to finish putting the room back in order. But the room looks much nicer now, and after seeing all the dust under the carpet and underlay, I don't know if I ever want carpet again.

We also rearranged the yard a bit. We moved the little stone wall that I started building around the vegetable garden, and we moved our apple tree. I hope it lives.

We also had supper at my parents', visited with friends a bit, and watched a movie.

Fall Leaves are Finished

2006-10-04T14:23:00.001-05:00

Well, I finally finished playing Empire Earth the other day. Now that that's out of my system, I can get back to work.

I spent about 11 hours on the fall leaves picture. I'm afraid the scan didn't pick up the metallic sheen on it, which is more noticable from an angle. The metallic paints are very transparent, just as I thought, so it was a good thing I painted it in acrylics first. I might try to do something with them alone one of these days. But for now I think I want to spend some time just working on my drawing skills.

Coloured pencils

2006-09-24T11:54:00.000-05:00

Here's the picture I did in coloured pencil.

I worked on my leaf picture some more yesterday and got everything filled in with a layer of paint. And I finished cross stitching the birth announcement border. Next I'll be starting another one.

Leaf crazy

2006-09-23T09:58:00.000-05:00

Thursday I cut a few branches off my Amur maple to bring into the house to use as a reference. Then I drew leaves on an 8x10" piece of masonite. When I was about halfway done I realized that if I was smart I would have drawn them bigger, and fewer. But I kept going and covered most of the board with leaf outlines.

Yesterday I started to paint the leaves with watered down acrylics. I still want to do it metallics but I thought it would be better to do the first layer with regular paint. All I did was outline the leaves with burgundy and brown, and paint the branches and stems, and that took me 2 hours.

Not much accomplished

2006-09-21T10:52:00.000-05:00

Well, I didn't finish that picture on Tuesday because I ran out of patience. I did finish it yesterday, I think. It turned out ok for a first try. I think if I do more with coloured pencil it will be a matter of choosing the right subject, and better paper. Or maybe I would like it better in combination with acrylics.

I'm not sure what I'll do next. Something fall-ish I think. I picked up a bunch of metallic acrylics a while ago and have been wanting to see what it would be like to paint something all in metallics. I'm in a experimenting mood these days.

I am happy to say that I have already inspired someone to start her own blog. Pixie is a very talented and creative lady.

Lazy days

2006-09-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

I will just admit it right now... I am lazy. I wish I wasn't, but it just happens. Lately, though, I blame the weather. We had quite a few gloomy, rainy days and it was hard to concentrate on anything. I did start drawing a picture of a bridge last week. Another thing I had been meaning to do for a long time. It's an old bridge that can be seen from the highway. A nostalgic local attraction. On Friday I started colouring it with coloured pencils, but didn't get very far. I haven't really done anything with coloured pencils yet, but I have already discovered that it is hard to use them for very long.

Then I started playing Empire Earth, which I've had for a long time but hadn't played it yet. I played it a lot over the weekend and finished the Greek campaign. I also did some necessary household chores. And I did some cross stitching. Whenever there is a new baby in the family I cross stitch a birth announcement with a Ukrainian border, and that is what I have been working on since there is one coming soon.

I finally went back to that picture yesterday, but only for a little while. My goal this afternoon is to finish it.

So maybe my house isn't sparkling and my yard looks half finished all the time, but I do get things done sometimes. I can't do everything so my priorities are with my art. And maybe I have a bit of a gaming addiction, but there are worse things to be addicted to.

Introduction

2006-09-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

Starting a blog has been on the list of things to do in my head for quite a while. Maybe it would help write down this list, but I never seem to get around to it. Here I plan to write about my creative projects. I don't know if anyone will even read this, but at the very least it may make a good incentive to get things done so that I have something to write about.

First, a little background. I have always been interested in arts and crafts, though as a child it didn't amount to much. I did learn to make Ukrainian Easter eggs from my grandmother when I was very young. She also taught me needlepoint, embroidery, and crocheting. And I taught myself tatting and, recently, knitting. Though I haven't gotten very far with the knitting yet.

I do all kinds of crafts. I make jewelry and Christmas ornaments out of different things. I have started sewing a bit, and I recently started getting into polymer clay. I'm always looking for ideas and I like to try something new once in a while.

As for my art, I had a few lessons when I was young and dreamed of being an artist. I had tried pencil and watercolours, but was never really happy with what I did. I had given up completely but in 1997 I was so inspired by the fall colours, that I had to try again. I took out my craft paints and painted a picture that I was actually pretty satisfied with. So I have kept painting since, always learning as I go. I have mostly worked with the acrylics, but have just started trying colour pencil. And I have discovered the joy of painting on the computer.