Catching up and finally back to art…

It’s been an interesting past few months… I’ve done some traveling to Tangle U in Florida plus additional time to explore and visit Norm’s mom, a family vacation at an amazing ranch in Arizona, and Southern Utah while my dad had surgery. We also moved our youngest daughter to a new place to live while at college, and dealt with a scary health situation that my husband had. Norm is still recovering, and hopefully he will be completely healed soon. 

Needless to say, besides the Tangle U portion (WHICH WAS AWESOME) of my traveling, I haven’t had a lot of time to create. The past couple of weeks I’ve been starting to steal bits of time here and there and it. feels. so. good! Here are some photos from some of these adventures… (I promise there is art in this post... just scroll quickly past these photos!)

Lovely location of this year's Tangle U

We enjoyed staying here!

A beautiful sunset to welcome us

Wonderful dinner out in Naples... Stone Crab!!!

Alligators near the road in the Everglades. HUGE!!

Lovely time together with relatives.

Celebrating Norm's birthday and enjoying dim sum.

Seeing a Perfect Circle at the Hollywood Bowl.

Family vacation in Arizona

We had such a wonderful time together!

Leila bravely holding the DEAD rattlesnake!

Cami and roommates

They're so much fun to be around!

Weekend in Santa Barbara. Celebrate Leila's birthday and see Boston at the Santa Barbara Bowl.

I love the scenery of my hometown. Southern Utah.

Lovely morning walk with my mom.

Another walk to see the petroglyphs...

They always leave me in awe...

More than a thousand years old. 

My furry son, Clark, turns 7.

Norm's poor leg... Blood infection/cellulitis. Definitely. not. fun. 

You made it! Now time for the art!

Last week I had the opportunity to perform my civic duty and wait ALL day at the courthouse to see if I would be called as a juror. I was prepared… I brought my sketchbook and pens/pencils. It was a lovely day! Uninterrupted art time is a pretty rare commodity! I played with Eni Oken’s technique for twisted ropes for the first time. I LOVED it! Twisty ropes are so organic. I enjoyed adding some mooka weaving in and out of it.

This week’s diva challenge #324 by guest blogger, Jessica Davies, is “Tangled Hearts.” I decided to explore the twisted ropes a bit more with a very loose heart shape and some additional mooka vines. I thought about my journey as I worked on this tile… about how your heart guides you in the direction you should take, yet many times you have distractions or pretty shiny things that mislead you towards a path that may direct you away from the truth of your heart. This is my “hearts journey," a reminder to focus on my path and stay true to my self/heart.

"Hearts Journey" Diva Challenge 324

My Inner Light girl has been patiently waiting for me to finish her for months. I was stuck for awhile as I considered how I could express/paint her inner glow and show her values/goals/mantras. I think I was a little afraid of finishing it and it not being what I had visualized in my mind. I finally forced myself past that barrier and started gluing the dimensional pieces down and added additional layers of color/shading/details… and then it happened… I had that moment when I looked at it and said… it’s done. Here she is preparing for her photo shoot in my lightbox. 

It’s wonderful to be back in this space, inspired by so many, and creating art.

Mixed heART...

I've been busy working on a mixed media piece for the past week or so... I'm putting lots of thoughts and intention into it as I incorporate several ideas/prompts/goals for the coming year. Here are a few progress shots as I work on my Inner Light girl... 

I just cut out these suns and spirals that I drew and they were resting while I contemplate placing and how I will paint and add my words to them. I loved how she looked in the sun and shadows so I had to take a photo... it almost captures the glow that I'm trying to create and have emanate from her. I still have quite a bit to do: more layering in the hair, shading, highlights, etc.

I couldn't let the week go by without participating in the diva challenge 304. This week the tangle to use is the new tangle from Zentangle® "waybop." Well... it happens that I used this tangle for my valentangle last week! I wanted to try something a bit different so decided to test out starting with the seeds of the tangle, MI2, in graph format versus the circle start of waybop. I then started connecting the lines in a combination of Huggins/MI2 style. As a throwback to my tile last week it seemed right to add a lone heART. I loved the simple line art once again, so decided to just add rounding and shading. Rounding always brings such a calm, zen feeling. It was another very enjoyable challenge! This piece is titled, "heART link."

Diva Challenge 304 Waybop : "heART link"

Thanks so much for visiting... and especially to all those who kindly leave a comment. I will be sure to leave a comment back... I know how much I enjoy receiving them, and once I complete my tile for the week, I start viewing and commenting on submissions. I strive for 5 to 10 a day. 😊 Who doesn't love a kind word?! 

I hope you have a wonderful, art filled week!

More Inspiration...

Yesterday I completed a mixed media piece inspired by Inspiration Wednesday, one of Donna Downey's wonderful art exploration workshops. 

I enjoyed creating a couple of stencils using my Silhouette Cameo. I then used modeling paste to add dimension. My favorite part of this project is the paintbrush that I attached with wire to the page. It has very special meaning to me... it was one of my grandpa's brushes. He was an amazing person and artist that I so admired and aspire to be like. I included the words "inspiration 2017" on the brush. 

As an aside I looked up the Sketchbook Skool daily prompt for the day and saw that it was... aspiration. It was definitely a serendipitous moment! 

I appreciate all who visit, and am always grateful for any comments. Have a wonderful, art filled day!

Habits... make good art...

Okay... now 2017 can officially begin! 

I finally completed my Intention piece... I've layered lots of thoughts, celebrations, goals, and dreams into the final project. I began this piece by writing about things I wanted to celebrate and do in the coming year. I wrote about my word of the year and I admitted fears to help me release them. I then started painting over this layer... adding and removing color as felt right. As I mentioned in my last post, I am drawn to spiral shapes and LOVE to draw them as well. I decided to draw a large printemp and cut it out to include on my page. I was thrilled when the interior spiral sort of "sprung" out. I knew I had to use it in my piece! It was perfect... representing to me that by sticking to my word of the year it would help me spring to what I want to be/accomplish.

WIP : With spring released...

WIP : With spring flattened...

After placing and carefully gluing my printemps/spirals so that the spring could also lay flat when I wanted it to, I figured out how I wanted to add my word of the year... I initially thought I'd collage a little paper over part of the symbol and then write over it. It didn't feel right. It didn't represent my word. So... as I do whenever I am stuck, I walked away for a little while. Eureka! I knew what to do... I got out my gelly roll clear glaze pen and wrote my word, "habits," around and around the Printemps, it would show the words in a certain light and it would add a little dimension. I adore how you can see it... it's there... it's important... yet it disappears if you're not paying attention. It reminds me that I need to be vigilant to stay on track to make actions into habits. 

I wanted to add in my intention/goal for the year that was supported by my word of the year. This has become a mantra that means so much to me. I first watched this speech by Neil Gaiman last year... it inspired me and I watch it again when I need to relight my fire. I have written down quite a few things from this speech that resonate with me... but I'll stick to some of his words that are the thoughts behind my goal. 

"When things get tough... this is what you should do... 
Make Good Art.

Do what only you can do best... 
Make Good Art. 

Make it on the bad days, make it on the good days too."

Sooooo... my goal for the year is to simply make. good. art. How do I do this? I make art on my good days, and my bad days... I make a habit of creating. 

My next challenge in this piece was how did I want to convey it... Simply writing it wasn't going to give me the Oomph! I needed it to have. I decided to create and cut out my own stencil. I then used modeling paste to create a dimensional phrase. Yay! Just the effect I had hoped for. 

I continued with glazing and adding a bit more color before using a dip pen to add some printemps and swirls. I used Dr. Ph Martin's lovely iridescent ink in black sparkle to continue the theme of seeing things differently depending on the light and angle. After a bit more messing around with it, I am now calling it finished. I feel so satisfied with my intentions and goals... all put onto a piece of watercolor paper. 

This demonstrates that "habits" is invisible...

With a slight shift of the angle "habits" become visible. 

Detail shot...

More details... you can see the raised mantra. 

I liked how the shadow showed dimension here. 

I keep a bullet journal... this is the page where I kept track of what I used for this project. 

I am so happy to be participating in Life Book and Our Tangled Lives again this year. The inspiration and opportunity to learn from other artists is priceless! 

It's time to start the next project!

I so appreciate all who visit, and am always grateful for any comments! Have a wonderful, art filled day! 

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Day 45 : 02-14-12

Day 45 : 02-14-12, a photo by ha! designs on Flickr.

A gift for my sweetheart... in progress.

My sweetheart didn't want me to use this photo for my photo of the day... He was voting for me to use the photo I took of the individual Double Stuff Oreo Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes I made. {Post and recipe coming soon!} Or maybe the photo of the "little blue box" he gave me today. He didn't want me to take his "soul." {He always balks at getting his photo taken, and uses this reasoning... I think it's really to make me crazy!} Well... at first I was going to listen to him and then I thought... that dessert and "little blue box" {although EXTREMELY thoughtful AND lovely} doesn't represent the love I feel and the celebration of it on this day. I also figured that since these are photos already taken I am not doing any further damage to his soul... {hopefully!}

A little about the project:

I selected photos of us from when we first started dating {22 plus years ago!} to one within the last few months... It stirred my heart to look at them and remember the times and experiences we've had together over this life we share. We've been through lots of challenges and some triumphs... I wouldn't change a moment, it's who we are. It's just something you can't take for granted. I love my husband and family with my whole being. 

The next thing I did was to create a little plaque with my handwritten (my handwriting font!) thought on photoshop. I printed out all the elements on to tissue paper. I did this by cutting tissue paper to letter size paper and using tape to attach it to the copy paper at the leading edge going into the printer. This makes it easier for the printer to load the tissue paper and print. 

Now this is where it got a little tricky for me... I have an inkjet printer... I think this project would be much more successful with a laser printer. {I am going to try another technique though to see if it works better! If so, I'll update with a tutorial post!} I used a foam brush and "painted" the canvas with mod podge and carefully began placing my images. My images ran slightly. It still looks ok... but not nearly as clear as I'd like. I painted around mine and added embellishments to hide this a little... Although the project didn't end up quite as nicely as I wanted it to, it was the thought that counted... and Norm LOVED it! :) He REALLY does love me!  {I will be trying this technique again, hopefully with better luck if I make a couple adjustments... Keep posted!}

Here is the, less than perfect, finished canvas:

I hope you had a wonderful celebration of your loved ones too!

LOVE-ly Inspiration

I was inspired...
Pin It

A couple of weeks ago I saw an illuminated LOVE canvas on Pinterest. It captured my imagination and I found myself gathering supplies... I was so excited to make my own version. I HAD to get it done before Valentine's Day! Sooo... on Sunday I got to it! 

Supplies I used:
16 x 20 canvas
K & C Company Specialty Papers (Valentine's Themed) or whatever papers you like!
The Ultimate Glue
Hot Glue Gun
X-Acto Knife
Scissors
1 strand of 35 Rice-Style Lights (I found mine on Amazon, 3 strands - ready for more projects!)
Pencil

I had started formatting my letters and calculating the sizes earlier in the week on my Silhouette Studio software, I was ready to cut! Do you have a Silhouette? If you like how I've made my letters... it's your lucky day! Download all four files and you have a head start! :) All files are in Silhouette Studio format.

File 1 : L for LOVE Project

File 2 : {Heart} for LOVE Project

File 3 : V for LOVE Project

File 4 : E for LOVE Project

(Please do me the little favor of leaving me a comment, if you download... It's that validation thing I have a weakness for! I also want to make sure the file download worked like it should. Enjoy!)

Did I mention I LOOOVVVEE my Silhouette Cameo!!! I haven't even scratched the surface of what it can do! Here's the gorgeous paper loading into the miracle machine.

Once all the letters are cut out, place them as you would like on your canvas. Now trace around the interior light holes. This will make placing your letters back down super easy.

Then glue them down! I initially ran my letters through my Xyron, however they didn't seem to have a permanent bond to the canvas. I ended up having to lift them up and apply the Ultimate Glue. Now they are PERMANENTLY attached! :)

Once your glue has dried, it's time to pull out that X-Acto knife. (I am not responsible for any injuries... so be CAREFUL!) Cut out each of the 35 light holes. I used scissors to cut the last little flap off of the circle. This really made it a lot easier AND safer! You know... there is nothing funny about safety... Oh, I digress... 

Get that light strand out... Now this is where it gets a little tricky. You need to make sure that your lights are going to reach all your little placement holes. If you are using my letters/layout it will work fine... if not make sure you take this into consideration prior to cutting out your light spacers. 

Turn over your canvas and decide where you want your cord end to plug in out of. I wanted mine to be at the "E." I knew where I was going to put it in the house and the plug would be easier to reach from that side of the canvas. I started with the light nearest the plug and the lowest hole in the "E," did a little measuring to make sure the lights would reach easily from hole to hole, then created a dot to dot! I numbered the holes in pencil so that when I started gluing I wouldn't make a mistake and end up having to start over! I went from the "E" up to the "Heart" down to the "L" and up to the "V." Figure out what works best for you! 

Time to glue! Yippee! Get that hot glue gun plugged in... (Also, test your light strand BEFORE gluing them in!) Now, you and I both know that when lights are plugged in they can create some warmth... so hot glue alone would not be good for this, you are using the hot glue to hold the light in while you wait for the Ultimate Glue to do it's job and dry and hold the whole thing in place... also if you feel your lights get too warm, don't leave unattended! (I have had mine plugged in for hours and it hasn't been an issue.)

I had a method to my madness here... I would hot glue 5 to 7 lights at a time and then go around them with the Ultimate glue, then move on to the next set. It makes it easier to get a good seal of glue all the way around them. 

Here's what the lights look like from the side:

Finished! It looks great unlit too!

A fun and simply LOVE-ly (couldn't resist!) project!