Wedding Card

Yesterdays project was to make

a wedding card for a friend of ours

who recently got married. 

It's fun making my own cards. They're

usually drawings and doodles. 

Sometimes I'll make mixed media cards 

which can be pretty elaborate. 

I carefully consider the recipient before deciding

how much work to put into each one. 

I hate the thought of spending 3 hours

making a card and have it wind up in the trash

the next day. In that case, I'd rather buy a card 

from the dollar store. 

Hopefully it'll bring a smile to their faces. 

Thanks for visiting!

Terri

Sharpie Art

I decided to put my work out here

whether I like it or not. 

 Even if I think it's awful and I'm 

cringing as I hit the publish button,

I'm sharing it.

The reason?

Because every artist has to 

start somewhere and I still consider

myself a beginner.

Like I've mentioned before,

eventually I want to see some progression. 

If people knew how hard I worked to get my 

mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful after all. 

~Michelangelo

His sentiment gives me hope

even as I cringe and hit publish. 

Thanks for stopping by and

thank you to those who've served our 

country on this Memorial Day.

Terri

Sign Inspiration Drawing

Today's drawing was

inspired by a picture of a sign

my friend had posted from her travels. 

It caught my eye and I decided to 

draw my own version of it. 

I used pitt pens and pencils on Bristol paper. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Terri

Mini Bear & Blue Bird Diorama

I made this mini diorama

out of a tuna can and a cardboard frame

that I drew and cut out. 

The whole thing was covered with paper mache

and then painted before I added the little scene

in the center. 

I made some cold porcelain roses

and glued them on with E6000 for

a cute finishing touch. 

I discovered that coloring

cold porcelain clay with Sharpies

(as opposed to paint) is less messy,

but it dries them out completely.

I wouldn't do that again. 

A little mess to clean up is better

than having to toss my Sharpies. 

Because of the frame design,

it sits at just the right angle. 

I coated the whole thing

with a gloss gel prior to affixing the

inside scene. 

The only thing left

to do is sign it!

Thanks for stopping by. 

Terri

Blue Hair ~ Tangled Portrait

I love mixing portraiture with

tangled patterns. 

This type of drawing is very therapeutic for me. 

Here I'm trying out some new pens I picked up at Michaels. 

I'm not sure why I tend to gravitate

toward unnatural colors, but it's okay with me. 

After all, this is my own little world. 

Todays plan is to work on painting 

a dog house my husband finished over the weekend. 

I'll post pictures of that when I finish. 

Happy Monday!

Thanks for stopping by.

Terri

Pink Castle Bird House

I'd love to share some pictures

of our pink castle bird house. 

I say "our" because my husband and I

collaborate on our bird houses. 

He builds, and I paint.

We work well together because

I let him do his thing, and 

he let's me do my thing.

Originally my intention was to have a 

pink stand for the castle. 

When it was time to place it 

on the stand, I happened to have

this brown based stand ready at the

same time. 

The brown based stand ended up being the right fit. 

I made a beaded chain with thin gage wire for the draw bridge. 

Inside on the back wall is a surprise not visible in the pictures.

There's a mini cow skull with a halo of colorful 

cold pressed clay flowers. 

Every surface is decorated so you

can see the folk art design from all angles.

Please excuse the "background noise" in my pictures.

The stand and birdhouse are affixed 

to one another and it's not the easiest piece to move. 

I did use all exterior house paint and

finished it with a marine spar varnish.

It'll be safe in the elements, but for now I keep

it in our spare bedroom until it sells. 

 Thanks for stopping by! 

Terri

Tangled Portrait

I've only done the drawing part

on this piece. I still need to work 

on some shading. 

I love the sunflowers on her cheeks. 

Today I'll be working on my art journal.

I'm finding the process is getting 

easier and easier with each page. 

Wishing you a blessed day.

Terri

Folk Art Mixed Media No. 3

This piece started out with a cool

moon and starry sky behind her. 

I really liked it, but thought it needed something else.

It was missing an oomph of some sort. 

Well, one thing led to another and the background

I started out with has now vanished. 

I'm kind of sad that I didn't take a picture

at that earlier stage.  C'est la vie. 

It still doesn't have any type of top coat on it. 

I'm leery of the beeswax and I don't have any self

leveling gel, nor have I ever used it before.

I need to figure something out in that regard. 

Other than that, I call her finished. 

Now that number 3 is behind me, I can

say I'm learning not to take the process

too seriously. 

If I make a mistake or somehow ruin it, so what?!

I'll take note of what I learned from the mistake, put

it behind me, and move on!

Thanks for stopping by!

Terri

Folk Art Mixed Media

This is my second try at mixed media. 

I wanted to paint over her face and start over

so many times, but I promised myself

beforehand that I was choosing volume

of work over perfection. 

This is what she looks like before beeswax.

The following is after the beeswax. 

Grrr. . ruined another piece. 

It'd be easy to insert a snarky 

remark here, but I'll refrain.

I want and need to allow myself grace throughout

this season of learning. 

Well, it's back to the drawing board.

Happy Mother's Day if it applies to you.  

Peace, Love and Joy

Terri

My Very First Acrylic Portrait

 She had an old fashioned charm

about her that I adored. 

I found her tiny picture in an

old Victoria magazine. 

She'd be the subject of 

my first portrait painting. 

I have a bad habit of wanting

anything I'm learning to be perfect right 

from the start, but I'm fighting it. 

There was a lot of work and reworking,

and it still wasn't quite right. 

Then there came a point when I had 

to say she was finished. 

Even as I look at her now, I see

things I want to fix and change. 

But I've decided to leave her just as

she is, perfectly imperfect. 

She's my first stepping stone, and 

I'm off to my next one. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing you peace, love and joy.

Terri

Mixed Media Failure

My first time experimenting 

with this genre of mixed media ended

up in a failure. 

There were some things I wanted to change

as the project progressed, but I kept pressing

forward, wanting to get my first piece completed.

I made her head too big, messed up the neck area,

the outlining was not subtle enough, . . and on and on . . .

All of that I thought I could live with until

it came to the fiasco with the hot wax.

Apparently I didn't get enough coverage on

her face with the colored pencils before

I poured the hot wax.

Gray spots rose up from underneath. Ugh. 

The point of no return. 

I'm not going to let it get me down.

I've learned a lot and will carry that knew

found knowledge in to my next piece.

No one starts out as an expert in anything. 

As my Dad used to say, "Repetition is the Mother of skill."

Wishing you peace, love and joy.

Terri

Funky Paper Towel Dispenser

My husband and I were in the

food service industry for over 30 years.

You could say we're hyper sensitive to germs. 

I love the idea of disposable towels

in the bathroom~even more so if they're covered 

and protected from germs. (I wasn't kidding earlier).

Why not use a commercial dispenser in the bathroom?

Being an artsy person, I couldn't leave it unadorned. 

The surface was shiny metal and the sides were plastic.

I found Sharpies and Sharpie Paint Markers worked the best.  

There're several composition notebooks lying around

my house, filled some of my favorite quotes.

This particular quote was found in an old Victoria Magazine.

I was saving it for a special project for the bathroom, 

excuse me, lavatory. 

Now maybe it's time to make one for the kitchen. . . 

Terri

Playing with Markers

I've been working on my first art journal. 

I told myself beforehand that I wasn't going to rip

any pages out no matter how they turned out. 

Becoming better at ones craft is an evolution. 

I wanted to see the progression of my work 

from page 1 to page 50, or however many pages there are. 

Well, I broke my own rule on the first page yesterday.

I'd coated the finished page with a gloss super heavy 

gel that started to stick and pull apart

the finished inside cover of my journal.

Yikes!

I weighed my options and decided to start fresh

again with my rule now reenacted.

Live and learn. . . 

The following picture is one of my

drawings I made while playing with markers. 

PEACE~LOVE~JOY

Terri

Wood Cut Drawing

Wood cut prints always catch my eye. 

Their contrast, details, variation in style and intricacy

are so appealing to me. 

My drawing is calling out to be carved. 

I've only had a small amount of experience in 

school with wood cutting, but I remember it

being a lot of fun. 

Not having all the materials at this time, 

this'll get relegated to the "unfinished" box for now.

So many projects, so little time!

Thanks for stopping by.

Wishing you peace, love and joy.

Terri