The envelope please......

A highly anticipated arrival came yesterday with good news for me. I submitted to be in the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts that will happen in June. This will be my 3rd year and I am so excited!

Last year we didn't have to submit an application if we had been in the show before. This year it was different. The festival is growing and as the letter states artists are submitting work from as far away as Florida and Alabama. This year I will also be helping with hanging the art and other duties as a volunteer. I'm so looking forward to this and can't wait to get back home. In the meantime I better get to work!

Another WIP

Darling isn't she, hee, hee! This little witch will be finished by next week, I hope. :-)

Here's a close up of her toothy grin. She sits at home awaiting her finishing touches while I tend little darlings here at their home. It's time for me to track down Wesley. He was off on a mission to the bedroom, and who knows what mischief he will find when he gets there. Thank goodness Kelcie is still in the pre-crawling stage or I would be chasing both of them. Oh my I see the gate isn't on the stairs yet. Gotta go!!!!

Enchanted Makeovers WIP

I have a lot of ongoing projects that I'm trying to finish or getting going on. This is the first of a series of colored pencil drawings of women in different situations that will go on a collage titled INNER BEAUTY. This collage is for an event sponsored by Enchanted Makeovers, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating havens of hope out of women's shelters. Click on the name to learn more.
Why this setting for the first drawing? To me, a woman shows part of her inner beauty in the way she takes care of her family. Cooking delicious foods to delight our loved ones is a constant way of saying, "I love you and am willing to put in a little time to make something pleasing for you." After the twins go down for a nap I will start on my next scene. Hopefully it will be finished by tomorrow and I can share. Well, back to feeding the wee ones. They are snacking on graham crackers and have created quite a lovely mess....:-) If finger painting with grahams was an art form I would have two masterpieces!

Traveling Doll WIP for PWGL

The Prim & Whimsy Girls decided to create a traveling doll for charity so I signed up to be on the line up. I'm finding that dolls are a lot of fun to create! This doll came to me already put together and my part is to add the facial features and petals as she will be a flower head doll, plus paint those as well as the hands/arms and feet. I was so impressed with the body that Annie of Chickadee Primitives put together! Don't you just love the leaf hands? The next photo of my progress will show the boots with the curly toes.
I started my journey with this doll by mashing and spreading very wet paper clay onto the head. I did a thin layer so the clay would dry. Then to round out the head a bit I also added a piece of crumpled foil to the top and layered over more clay. This is the photo before the addition of clay on top so her head is still a little squat. I will share the next one soon. When this dries I will test for firmness and stability. If all seems good I will start adding the facial features. I think I will probably add one more layer of clay though before that just to make sure. Check back to see how this doll evolves.
Oh, the charity we chose was suggested by Pam Gracia. United Through Reading is an organization dedicated to to unite families facing physical separation by facilitating the bonding experience of reading aloud together. Thank you for stopping by today. :-)

Taking time out to try something new....

With all the fabric scraps I have sitting around my home I am always glad to find something new to do with them. Here are two different types of fabric roses, some out of vintage lace, and some out of fabric scraps. These were so fun to do and have a myriad of possibilities. I found the instructions for these at Everyday Chaos. These are so easy you can make a bunch in no time and now sewing skill needed.  Now I'm off to try another new technique. Have fun!

Outsider Art- My newest discovery

I have been wondering about the term "outsider" art for a long time. I stumble across the term as I look for selling venues for my art but never really knew what it was. Here's a definition I found that seems to match the modern idea of what "outsider" art is. Outsider art is the term commonly used to refer to creative works made by people with no formal art training who create work based on their inner experience, without reference to mainstream art practice. 
The piece above was done by a Texas butcher Charles A. A. Dellschau who lived from 1830 to 1923. He had a love of the idea of flight, which showed in his Jules Verne-style flying machines.

I was wondering what to do with that spool of crochet thread I have, but you know, I probably wouldn't do this... Another form of outsider art incorporates items such as you see here. I'm still learning about this form of art, but it appears that not all art labeled "outsider" art is true to the origins of this genre of art. For more information on outsider art Wikipedia has a fascinating page on this topic.  Here's to a creative day!

WIP Candy Cane Santa almost done....

Slow going here as my time has been really limited but I'm determined to get ahead and stay ahead. So here he is, a very fun, but difficult to paint Santa as trying to get around those curves is challenging. I still need to antique and seal him, but other than that, he is done! Whew! A quick but heartfelt thanks to all who stop by and comment. I really do appreciate your kind words. Have a great day!

Inner Beauty

Just as each blossom that springs forth from the earth in glorious beauty, we each have a divine mission to make the world a better place. I recently volunteered to create a piece of art for Enchanted Makeovers, a non-profit organization set up to "make over" women and children's shelters. Often times these places are on such a tight budget that they survive with the bare minimum of furniture and supplies to take care of women fleeing from abusive situations. Terry Grahl, founder of Enchanted Makeovers is a former abuse victim herself, and has seen first hand what women have to subsist in when going through the courageous struggle of breaking free from abuse. This is a subject that touches me deeply for reasons you can learn more about on my personal blog. If you would like to help Terry, and this is free, stop by my Simply Sheryl's blog to learn more.
So Terry asked me to portray Inner Beauty. As I pondered this I thought of the scriptures in Proverbs that talk about a virtuous woman and how she is priced above rubies. How to portray a woman that is loyal, trustworthy, industrious, moral, loving, kind, morally clean, a good friend and so on will be tough. I'm thinking of creating a collage of different images of women doing what they do best. In the center will be a face that shines with light and sweetness. This will be an interesting and perhaps difficult task. I pray I'm up to it and can do the theme of inner beauty justice. I ask for your prayers as well. So often, when I create something that is pleasing to God I can feel His hand guiding mine and I know that I didn't do it on my own.

WIP More Santa figures

I know it seems that I'm stuck in Santa mode way too early, but this year I want to get a jump on things. I have 2 galleries, Reasons to Believe and Missy's Uptown Art in Oregon that want a few of these so I'm trying to be better about having inventory when I need it. I really love creating Santas anyway and these take several steps before they are finished. I can take my gourds and supplies with me easily and when the babies go down for nap time I can get some work done. Today I added eyebrows and the tree as well as one mitten to the large Santa. I will add the other mitten when this step has dried. The ornament Santa gained his tall curly hat. When that is dry I will add another thin layer to give it strength, plus the rest of his hat. Then I will make sure all is smooth and ready to paint. I gesso before I paint.
I'm off to get some planting done while the sun is still out, and then I will head to my studio for some painting before hubby gets home. Have a great night!

What is folk art?

Mattie Lou O'Kelley

I was perusing a magazine from the 1980's that had an article asking the question, "What is folk art?". From what I gather in this article back then there was the start of a revolution in folk art. Up until this time it seems that folk art was considered art of the common man, created by craftspeople not educated towards art. Weather vanes, bird decoys, quilts and the like, if antique could bring prices of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Reverend Howard Finster

Take the case of the man who created a weather vane out of a pine board. He created it to replace one that had been stolen from his barn. After a few years it had weathered and worn to a nice patina. When he sold the farm antiques dealers approached the new owners and one eventually bought the 8 year old weather vane. As an antiques dealer himself he happened to be flipping through a trade magazine and spotted a photo of his weather vane up for sale. He contacted the dealer and found that the piece had been sold at an astounding $7,500 and that the dealer claimed the piece was  an early century piece. There were other examples sited with prices for such pieces of up to $200,000 for a duck decoy and so on. The article went on to point out though that new artists were coming out with work that resembled that of the past. To distinguish between the early American folk art, and the now "contemporary" folk art wasn't always easy and has become increasingly hard as people have become quite adept at reproductions.
Today you see a flood of folk art and primitives on the market, most of it newly made and reproductions. Is it of value? To some yes, and to those who create it of course. The value comes in what the consumer wants. When prices for something such as a carved indian statue went up to triple digit prices most collectors couldn't afford those prices so they started looking for less expensive, but equally well done pieces. Does that lessen the value of the originals and antiques? And is it folk art? I think in today's culture that has changed. What do you think?

WIP for Reasons to Believe

This Santa has been so fun to work on! I love the curly handle on the gourd which said "candy cane" to me the first time I laid my eyes on it. So his hat and the buttons will be peppermint striped when all done. I hope to finish him tonight, but the garden is also calling for my attention. It's all good! This Santa will be destined for Reasons to Believe when he is finished. I do have more of these gourds though thanks to my dear friend Ginny Diezel. Stop by her blog to see what she has been up to! She's been a great artist friend and I love the wisdom she shares.

Rooster

Do you ever just sit down and paint something just because you want to? Well this was one of those pieces. There have been times when I've seen little rooster paintings and told myself that I want to try one some day. So yesterday was the day. He was a fun little project to do.

 He will be one of my PFATT offerings for this month so Saturday will be his debut.  I'm loving getting back to painting so I will be doing more of this sort of thing.

WIP Tulips

More playing around today. Colored pencils are so fun to use! It's easy to pick up and start where you left off so I'm sneaking in a sketch or two between diaper changes, burpings, playing with babies, feedings and so on. I may try this in some form or another on canvas with acrylics. In the meantime this is my accomplishment for today.

WIP pen and ink

It's been quite awhile since I've played with pen and ink, but I was inspired by Michelle Palmer to get back to it. I'm a bit rusty, and haven't decided where I'm going with this, but it's been fun.

Inspired art....

I actually started this drawing yesterday while on the road to Arches National Park, but finished it today while listening to General Conference. Arches National Park is truly inspiring as it is evidence of God's handiwork in this beautiful world we live in. Even the park rangers said when giving their spiel on how they think the landscape was formed that what they were telling us was their best guess.

So I finished the pansies today while listening to our church leaders speak during our bi-annual conference. I then started and finished the rooster. The lighting in our motel room isn't the best so these didn't quite photograph true to color but you get the idea. Seeing God's handiwork, and listening to inspired and inspiring messages can really get the creative juices going. After all, where do our talents come from but from God?