Sunflowers and Abstracts...

 Or is that abstracts and sunflowers? A long long time ago, in a land far away..... I started taking commercial art classes. One of the tips the professor gave us as artists was to build a file of favorite photos, so the sunflowers are an attempt at a pastel of sunflowers from a photo I've toted around for years.

I can sure tell the difference in papers I'm using. My textured, colored pastel papers are in Utah so I'm trying something else. The smooth surface isn't quite as fun to work with as the color wants to slide right off the paper. With each layer of sealer spray I've been able to build up some tooth though and the color is sticking better. This was a loose and easy painting, not too detailed as I wanted something fun to play around with and didn't really want to get bogged down in detail.
The abstract is just that, a fun textured painting that will look great framed. It's so nice to be getting some creative time in! Now, back to work.

Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts Success Story

 What an incredible show it was this year! I won a ribbon for the above piece, and it was one of the first pieces sold at the opening night reception Friday night. I was/am so tickled! I had a fun time Saturday as I was asked to demo my sculpting and textured art skills. The textured art demo was the most popular, with people of all ages watching and asking questions. One lady asked me if I considered what I do fine art or a crafty thing, and so I to pointed out to her that the above piece was accepted into the show and it is a fine art show.... she didn't ask any more questions after that, but I'm not sure what I could have said otherwise. The look on everyone's faces when she asked the question was funny, some shocked, some frowning, some with a wondering look, but when I answered they all nodded yes and smiled. I hope I wasn't too harsh as I said it gently, but firmly. The sculpting demo was fun as well and I was asked to join the quick draw next year to sculpt a piece with the idea that it would be sculpted to a finished stage, and painted later, with an example of what the finished piece would look like so folks bidding would know what they could expect. That will be quite a challenge as we have an hour and a half to finish a piece, so I had better settle on a theme and practice now.

 Sunday when I went to pick up my art, I found out that the same person who bought the one piece, bought my chicken as well, score! I hear she is a very nice person so I look forward to getting to know her.

To top everything off my silent auction piece sold as well, to a local chef, and this year half of the sale price goes to the artist, whoohoo!
All in all, it was a very good year for me, and I'm thrilled! After not working all year, and not really having much artistic time it was a sweet gift from above. I know where my blessings come from and I consider this such a blessing!

I'm still around, and here's a painting to prove it!

I was beginning to wonder if my blog would still be here when I checked in again. It's been a long process trying to recover from my physical fall apart, and I'm still on the mend, but thanks to modern medicine and prayer, I'm getting there. Silly me, I found out that I need to pray for myself as well. :-)
Anyhew, back a while ago I started this mixed media painting on a canvas board. I have only been able to work on painting when I'm at the apartment so this has been waiting for the final touches. We are in the middle of a dual move, some stuff going north, some stuff going east, but with me down it has been necessary for me to stay in town to see the doctors and go to PT twice a week. Our move deadline is looming so here I am, trying to pack and not throw my back out again. It takes some thought to get things sorted and organized, which I'm not right now so I'm glad you can't see the place, it's pure pandemonium. Trying to paint in chaos is not a strong point of mine, but I'm learning to change my way of doing things to live in the moment so to speak.
What does all that have to do with the actual finished piece, probably not much....lol. I used acrylics and stamps and various other items to create texture and design. It was rather freeing to play around with the different colors I had chosen for this. Have you tried a new technique or style lately for the fun of it?

Victorian Hair Art

Today I was supposed to go to DUP with my mother-in-law where they were sharing information about human hair art. We missed it because I can't drive right now due to medication induced fog to help me with pain. Thank goodness this is temporary as I don't like being foggy, but the meds are sure helping until I can get PT. I'm such a lightweight, but I digress.
DUP or Daughters of Utah Pioneers meet once a month to share history and information on all sorts of things related to their ancestors. Years ago my husband took his daughter and me to the Pioneer Museum where I was first exposed to hair art. It's amazing what folks will do to be creative or come up with ways to remember those who have gone before them. I was fascinated by this art form, as it, at least to me, was unique. Some of the flowers and such were quite intricate. Many were preserved under frames and glass. My husband shared with me that his dad's mom showed him some little vase like vessels made from family members hair, and she was able to tell him whose hair it was. No one knows where they went to after she passed away, but wouldn't that be an intriguing bit of family history and a unique memento to pass along?
At "The Constant Gatherer" blog by Katie Runnels, you can see some amazing images of this art, as well as glean more information. Have fun, and let me know what you think!

Virtue.... a finished WIP

I'm still in my jammies as I have been working on this and getting the photos and entry done, whew! I can go on vacation with peace of mind now. At 32 inches tall, she is the tallest/largest sculpt I've done to date. She is made from a total of 5 gourds, one for the body and two for each of the arms. No baby though. I had to remove the baby as it was looking more like a cocoon from outer space than a child, even a folk art one...lol. This is a bit different than I had planned for her dress as well, but sometimes things change as we go along. Now, to wait and see if I've been accepted.

Here's a closer look at her base. I tried to achieve a turquoise stone look to the panels on her dress. I hope that will show up in person. Photos are hard to take here.

Another one of my entries for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts. A mixed media abstract.

I know I've shared this before as well, but here's "Who's Chicken?" again. Now the waiting begins. Will I be accepted? I hope so as I'm supposed to demo my sculpting and I usually volunteer to help. I do enjoy this show, but will be looking for others to enter as well. They are great experiences and you can get good feedback on where you need to improve. If you haven't entered a juried show before I urge you to give it a try. You never know!

Large Gourd WIP continues She has hair!

 I finally got to the first layer of her hair yesterday and then had her baking in the warm car for most of the day. I added more bulk to her hair and have now stuck her head in the oven to dry. That can be a tricky thing, as she is very large, but it's working.

I'm still thinking she needs a tad more height to her hair to give her a balanced look. What do you think? I need to finish the sculpting and get her drying today as I have two days to sand and paint her. What do you think so far?

Manfred the Moon and Stars....

Manfred the Moon and Stars, is busy shining to win your heart. He's starry and bright, and loves the night. Won't you take a look and see if I'm right?  EBAY

Gourd Art doll WIP continues....

 I've been working away on this piece today so I'm getting much closer to having her ready to paint. I know, it doesn't appear that way, but trust me, there's more painting than sculpting in the future for her.

A bit rough here and there, and yes, she will have hair...lol. It helps to let each step dry a bit. So I'm off to prep dinner to take to hubby; he has a soccer game to supervise. I do need a break and then back at it. I have one week left to finish this...think I can do it?

A Santa a week....

A Santa a week keeps the blues away..... Well okay maybe that's a stretch, but you know, you can't have too many Santa figures in your collection can you? I think not! So, I'm on a mission to list a new Santa each week to entice you to add to that collection of handsome and jolly fellows. This gourd Santa is 13 inches tall and I've signed and dated him. True confession, I have a sweet buyer who has been so patient with me, and she knows who I'm talking about.... Somehow I let two pieces she's purchased get out the door without a signature on them, ugh! I will make it up to her though as she hasn't put up a fuss and deserves better. I promise this fella is signed though as I made sure before I listed him....lol.

So, if you are interested this handsome gentleman is listed here: ETSY

Mother and child WIP continues...

 I have a head now, yay! Not perfect yet, but on the way. I've discovered that the fore arms will have to be made of something other than gourds, they weren't working out, but hey, that's what the creative process involves, learning and changing an approach.

No, my house doesn't have stuff laying all over, the soup can props her body so she can dry over the air vent. See how big she is? I better get cracking here, she's still got a ways to go and I have two weeks to do this in.

My biggest sculpt yet...WIP

 It's time to finish my pieces for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts in Joseph, Oregon. Hubby says I should enter the chicken pastel I posted in my previous post so now I have two more to add. I am also adding one of my abstracts, but I'm going to do some touch up before I post that one, so now I'm working on a sculpt I've been wanting to do for a long time. I have a friend in Wallowa Valley that snagged some very cool and very large gourds, this one happens to be 26 inches tall. She offered to let me buy a couple as she has plans for the rest. I originally started on a Santa with this one, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it, so here I am, working on an Indian mother and child. I peeled off the face of the santa, which will need a new and very large gourd. :-) I'm using more than one gourd in this sculpt, the arms will be made up of two gourds each.

Here are the forearms. Look Mom, no hands! Actually, I have to wait for the top of the arms to dry before I add the forearms and since I'm not completely sure of the way the hands will go I am waiting until I attach these gourds and let the clay dry before working out the hands. For now I will work on the head and the baby that will be cradled in the mother's arms. The most exciting part of this will be the design I'm planning for the mother's dress. I'm working up a stylized version of Nez Perce designs to finish the piece off with. I only have a couple of weeks left so I'd better get to it! I'm hoping to have more pieces before the show, which is in June because they've asked me to demonstrate my sculpting so I want to have a variety to share. Gourds are so much fun to work with, the possibilities are endless don't you think?

Of Chickens and Things....

Chickens are funny creatures. They scratch and peck and bwaak bwaak their way around a yard, skittering here and there to catch a bug, or get out of the way if necessary. More and more folks are getting into raising chickens, and here in Utah there are communities that have passed ordinances allowing town folk to have a limited number on their property.
When we lived in North Pole we had several chickens, the white Cornish cross we would raise every year for eating. The year my ex and I split the second time I was left with about 30. They became my visitor greeters, surrounding any vehicle that came into our driveway, pecking at their tires and waiting for the "victim" to get out. I looked out my living room window one day to see a friend sitting on his bike with my little flock staring up at him. They even tried to go running with me and another friend one day. We took off down my drive and heard the skitter of tiny feet. As we looked back all my little hens were following us, trying to keep up.
We would like to raise laying hens some day, but for now, I will suffice with painting them. Here's a pastel I did yesterday. Do you have chickens?

An Apple a Day....

There are a multitude of reasons you should eat apples. Here's an article on 10 Reasons You Should Eat Apples.

Me, I like to paint apples as well as eat them so I always have models on hand. The above piece was done on Strathmore colored art paper. Just a study, and trial of what I can do with soft pastels. Am going to tackle some more this afternoon. 

The painting above is a pastel I did last night while sitting at the table. Hubby was serenading me with the dulcimer so we had a peaceful evening. I am heading back to the table to try my hand at more pastels. I have a couple of landscapes in mind, and need to get going on them as I have a deadline to meet for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts. Time to get painting!

An Interview on Artistically Speaking with Rebecca Parsons!

Artistically Speaking Talk Show with Rebecca Parsons

Although I'm draggin' tail right now I am excited to share some good news! Recently Rebecca Parsons of Artistically Speaking contacted me for an interview. Of course I said yes!  It will be fun to be on the other side of the mike as I am accustomed to being the interviewer as a former radio talk show host and producer. If you would like to join us, please tune in on Sunday at 6:30 PM EST Sunday March 11th. I've linked the banner so stop by and let's get together and chat!

This way or that way, what do you think?

I've had a lot of time to think about perspectives lately. I will share my thoughts on life perspectives later as this is an art post though. In creating an abstract there's a process of line and space and shape usage that you go through as you sort of feel your way through a piece. The image on the bottom is the way I had originally viewed the finished piece, but, on further study I'm wondering if there's a better way to hang this one. I'd like your opinion as I value you all as creative geniuses with a unique view of art. I can already see other ways of approaching this theme; isn't that the marvel of creativity? We start with one idea, and as we work it, the possibilities grow. I doodled last Sunday while listening to the talks in church, totally inspirational I might add, and have some future abstracts planned. I've found that even as I'm down on my knees in prayer in the morning little sparks of inspiration flash in my mind which can be startling as I'm not thinking of art at the time. I digress though.... :-)

Sooooooo top, middle or bottom, which way do you think this would look best?

Smiling Jack

Smiling Jack will talk no smack, he keeps on smiling, that's a fact!
I was going to say he grins from ear to ear, but that won't work, oh no my dear,
It doesn't matter, it's okay, if you need a smile he'll send one your way!

Smiling Jack is my newest listing on EBAY

Hagatha Dearly...a gourdeous witch...

 Hello my dearies, I'm so pleased to meet you! My pet and I would love to get to know you better....

I've got some mischief planned would you care to join me?

ebay

I was walking on the beach one day....

 I was walking on the beach one day, and much to my surprise...

 a piece of driftwood called to me, and looked me in the eye!

I saw a familiar face on it, and picked it up to see....
if that was really Santa, looking back at me.
As you can see he surely was, so home to work we went..
So you see that he's become that friendly jolly gent!

Santa at etsy

Spreading a little love for a collector....

Whew! Finally got a word in, and a photo or two. I don't understand why, but blogger and Firefox aren't compatible anymore, so here I am on Safari. No matter, I had a collector contact me about my giveaway ornament at the PFATT Valentine Giveaway and wanted something similar. She was willing to pay so why would I refuse...lol. I do think though, that you should stop by the giveaway because there are so many wonderful goodies, who knows, you may be a winner!

These 4 came about because of her request, in order to offer choices, and they are available if you are interested. They are reversible, a face on one side and the saying on the other. "Be Mine" and "True Love" are the sayings and these are very reasonable. If interested drop me a line.
Do I seem a bit scrambled here? Well I am, no sleep will do that to a person. My creative muse in writing has flown the coop as I lost it with the sleep I've lost all week. Thank goodness for the weekend!

PFATT BLOG VALENTINE GIVEAWAY!!!

 Starting tonight at midnight our PFATT ebay group is having a Valentine give away, just for you! Our PFATT sisters have gathered together to share their talents with loads of gifts you could win, so stop by and see what's happening and how you can participate. Below is my contribution, a Valentine ornie, hand sculpted and embellished with lots of love.

Here's hoping you will win at least one of the treats that will be available. Thank you for your support and continued encouragement.  PFATT BLOG Valentine Giveaway