Moving Slowly on a Thursday Morning

Yesterday I spent the day with my friend Maggie, a wonderful collage artist. Deciding to depart from my recent frenzy for painting faces I chose making altered cigar boxes as our project. We each had our vintage cigar box in hand; I had a bag of goodies (stamps, magazine images, a book to tear up, etc.); and we were working in Maggie's studio chock full of marvelous papers of all colors, textures and design. I was in art heaven! Since collage is an art medium we have in common, it was only natural that we collage our boxes. Mine turned out to be in dreamy shades of blue and Mag's was in vibrant hues. (I wish I had a picture of hers to post.) After collaging the papers onto the box, I embellished with gel paints and rubberstamping.

Last night when I finally went to bed I started coughing and it was keeping me from going to sleep. I finally decided to take some cough medication. Well, it knocked me out! I slept until after 10 this morning and am still groggy and moving slowly, which is why I am doing something quiet and lowkey like blogging. But without very much prompting I could crawl back to bed and sleep another 3 or 4 hours.

Art for a Sunday Afternoon

While at church this morning I was inspired to do another painting. I did it in the style of Kelly Rae Roberts, she is a wonderful artist and I am a great fan of hers. She did a gal with inspiring affirmations, I wanted to do a similar one but using my Christian affirmations - messages I want to keep at the forefront of my mind. Although she has a bit of a crooked nose (they are still giving me trouble!), she is a sweetheart that wears a wonderful message. I found those lovely butterfly wings tucked away in a drawer. I worked all afternoon on her (over 4 hours). Now I am pooped and need a nap!

All About Faces

All About Faces, that's the name of the class I'm taking and I'm still drawing and painting as much as I can. Tonight I watched TV and sketched during commercials. I had a project in mind for one of the drawings so I came straight to my Art Studio after the 11pm news. I managed to wake myself up and now I have insomnia, but I got the project done! I drew a face and then colored it with colored pencils. I then cut it out and collaged it onto a watercolor background. It's the girl in bloom.....the other one I did a couple of days ago. As far as the painting class is concerned, we are now learning how to mix our paints and do shading. It is going to take a while to get the hang of it. Up to now I have been using pre-mixed acrylic craft paints, quite different from the tube acrylics that you mix yourself. It's going to take practice, practice, practice! So, looking at the earlier post where I posted the way I used to draw faces I can see a HUGE improvement! What do you think?

Painting Class is a Hit!

It's been two weeks since I started my online painting class, All About Faces, with Paulette Insall. My belief has been that I could not draw very well. I have made a few feeble attempts but it has been a real effort. I thought a person either had that talent or they didn't. I am learning, however, that it can be taught. It is all a matter of technique. I have always loved women in art and have longed to be able to draw them. The first class was learning how to sketch faces, and the 2nd one was painting backgrounds. I, however, forged ahead and have been practicing painting faces all this past week. I have done something I had not done before, which is paint every day! Practice makes a big difference! My paintings have ended up being mixed-media. I've used acrylic paints, markers, colored pencils, stamps and collage elements. I am very pleased with my progress so far and the exciting thing is that I still have 5 lessons to go! I love the way each of my girls has her own personality, but they all love to have doo-dads in their hair!

ART for MISSIONS

I have noticed that many artists sell their art on Etsy, so I know there is a market out there for art. Although I used to do arts and crafts shows to market my art, for the past several years I have chosen not to sell it. I have wanted to do art for the sole purpose of creating - it is a wonderful process and it brings me lots of joy. It is also wonderful therapy! I very often give my art away but I do keep alot of it and hang it in my home for my own enjoyment.



In cleaning out my art studio I have come across pieces of art that I had tucked away. It seems such a shame to me to have them hidden rather than enjoyed. I am also producing more art than I can display. So here is the idea I came up with: On flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/28175388@N03/sets/72157614631827507/ I have set up a folder called Available Art. It has all the art that is up for grabs. If you see a piece you like and would care to have it for your very own, just leave me a note saying so, I will immediately put it aside for you. I am not going to charge for my art, but rather ask that you donate whatever you think it is worth to the Missions Program at my church.



Here is how it will work: If you want a piece of my art, you can email me or drop me a note here or on flicker and let me know. You can then email me (plumrich3@aol.com) your address and I will send it to you along with an envelope addressed to my church. When you receive the art, simply put your donation in the envelope and mail it. I will never know if you sent anything, or how much you sent. I am going to let this be a "God thing". So pick out a piece of art you like and pass the word around.

Sunday, Sunday

Today is turning out to be a wonderful day. I woke up with the overwhelming fatigue that has been plaguing me lately and didn't think I could make it to church. But a dear friend, MaryAnn, called and encouraged me to get dressed and said she'd pick me up. I dragged through the service but afterwards she and I went out to lunch; between the food and the fellowship I perked up - thank God!!!! Once I got home I came straight to my art studio to continue to clean it up. I have been working on it all week in preparation for the art class I am starting tomorrow online. The class is "All About Faces" by Paulette Insall. I have been working on faces on my own for the longest time; I am soooooo happy to finally have the opportunity to take a class and learn some tips and techniques that will help me. I am posting a couple of pics I did this week as my "before" pictures. In a few weeks you all can see my "after" pictures and we can see how much I actually learn.