I am having a really hard time not posting pictures of things I am making for Christmas presents, so today I am just uploading a preview of part of a painting I am working on. I am still enjoying painting on wood and trying different ways to create textures. So far in this one I have used the extremely technical skill of fingerpainting along with some fun scraping and stamping using cardboard. I don't think I've used a paintbrush yet on this one! One of my goals for 2013 is to have a new solo art show, since it has been too long, so I am trying to post regularly as a way to make sure I am staying on track and create constantly. That brings me to my overall goal for this year (I like 'goals' better than 'resolutions' because I feel more likely to achieve them if they aren't things I have to do, rather things I can aim for.) Last year my goal was to have more patience in terms of all aspects of my life. I think that is still a work in progress for me:) This year, as I was writing 13 goals for 2013 (which easily became 14 and counting) I realized that an overall theme for me this year is consistency. I mean that in terms of all aspects of my life again, but certainly in terms of my creating art and keeping this website updated. I think 'consistency' is a better goal than say "lose 10 lbs" or "make more money". Right?? Hopefully. I recently became addicted to an awesome blog called A Beautiful Mess and Elsie and Emma post more than once per day so its always exciting to check up on and read about all the projects they are doing. I am pretty much interested in everything they post so if you're anything like me you'd like the site. You'll probably see that some of my projects have been inspired from their ideas! What are YOUR personal or artistic goals for 2013? Please share!
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Finally I got to do some Christmas crafts! An easy project -- stockings made of old Christmas sweaters. I only had to sew a few seams if I used the armpit seam of the sweater to form the angle to the foot. I was able to make two stockings out of one sweater if it was big enough. I used the sleeve as the tall part of the stockings so the size of the stockings depended on the size of the sweaters (I used some adult and some kids sized shirts.) For the 'garland' I just braided three different blue yarns, doubled, and added big red beads here and there. The dog one is for Tlell, the dog! Aaron Geeraert is awesome and talented and skilled! You should all check out his other digital artworks by clicking on his name to access his Facebook artist's page. He's created some pretty neat stuff!! All I had to do was sit in a chair for awhile, and later I was shown this amazing wood-elf version of myself! I wish I looked like this in real life, even with the ears. Thanks Aaron, you rule!
My friends Jen and David had the cutest little baby girl last month! Her name is Scarlett and she is ridiculously adorable. I made her three small canvases so she can eventually learn her ABC's...or just her A, B, and C. A is for aliens, B is for bugs, and C is for crows. I took the photo with my iPhone so you can't see much detail, but perhaps I will add it to the "Artwork" tab so you can see it bigger later. Congrats to Jen and David for creating a beautiful new human being!
This was instead of the usual name + date + place writing in the sand on a beach. Australia gets a bear! (That's a bear, by the way.) Holloway's beach in Cairns.
I spent a good four hours outside in the sun a couple of weeks ago painting this fire hydrant beside the Safeway Gas Bar in Terrace, B.C. as part of the 1st Annual Summer Arts Festival. This festival was put on by the Terrace and District Arts Council (TDAC). It was fun painting in public, especially because I had company and live music provided by a friend and talented musician Mykee Laird. There are many newly painted fire hydrants around town, so if you are in the area, be sure to check them all out! I'll talk a bit about the design for my fire hydrant. As you can imagine, painting on the irregular, curved surface of the fire hydrant was a different experience than painting on a flat canvas, paper, or board, as I usually do. So as I decided what to paint ahead of time, I knew I wanted to create an overall design rather than a scene or image that used the form of the hydrant as part of the design. I started with my favourite shape -- the circle -- and created different sizes that overlapped covering the hydrant so they look somewhat like bubbles or water droplets. In a way, they refer to what's inside! I recently developed a fun style of drawing trees in a one-line irregular zig-zag kind of way, so I included these trees and parts of these trees inside some of the bubbles. Of course having fun with the paint I added a few more lines and they ended up looking a bit like snow-laden trees. In the end, despite my original sketch having a few more colours, the fire hydrant looks very wintery to me. Perhaps this represents the long winter we all just endured or my longing for some cooler weather while I was outside sweating all day soaking in the sun. Either way, it represents to me a part of Northern BC in all its freshness and beauty. However, if your dogs mark it as their territory I won't be offended. My wonderful cousin Chris got married to his beautiful bride Jen just over a week ago in Victoria, and I gave them this painting as a wedding gift. Its acrylic on board and the size is one foot by two feet. I tried to come up with a title for it for hours with the help of family and friends but nothing stuck. Instead, I wrote on the back that it is about purity, open space , and paths...or something. I can't remember everything I wrote now and I didn't take a picture of the back. Anyway I am open to suggestions for titles so please share your ideas! Oh, and the two squiggly black things are trees, but are open to interpretation as well. Decided to do some chalkboard art after showing some shadows and highlights on trees the other day in class. Chalk is fun. I drew this based on a photograph by Ben Plewes, found in a Black and White Photography magazine.
Well I decided its done, and here it is! A (very amateur) silkscreen created in memory of my amazing Gran and Grandpa. The eagle represents my Grandpa and the lavender, my Gran. I picked two items of natural beauty that will always remind me of these two wonderful and important people I was so lucky to have in my life. This was also a Happy Mother's Day gift to my mom! XOXO
About a year after being asked to, I made a Jesiahsaurus for my friend Jesiah. Jesiahsaurus plays guitar, jumps on his trampoline, and climbs trees. Soon this will be a bumper sticker!
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AuthorPassionate for creating, I record my artistic projects and ideas for the joy of sharing with you and challenging myself to continually grow as an artist. Categories
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