The Back Story

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

The Hog Haven

Today I'm going to share a sneak
peek of what's kept me so busy
the past week or so. 

Everything from cleaning house, exercising, 
doing laundry, and blogging fell to the wayside
 while I worked on this project. 

It's a house my husband built for
a 300lb baby hog that'll grow to be 600lbs!

I've been painting from sunrise to sunset
for the past 7 plus days in a row. 

It'll soon be headed to a wonderful
Farm Animal Sanctuary near our home. 


One of the greatest things about
this project was recognizing how
many times I thought to myself, 
"This is so much fun!"

That's saying something considering the fact
that I was working in an non air conditioned garage
in Phoenix, in the middle of summer!

The temperature was never less than 100 degrees,
but I was loving every minute. 

It feels good to be done. 

Now it's time to get to my household chores!

Thanks for stopping by.

Terri

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Mixed Media Drawing

I have a love hate relationship
with this drawing. 

I'm happy with the face, 
the basic design and the balance
of the drawing as a whole. 

The headdress is so flat
though. It bugs me. 

Even if I tried shading it, it 
wouldn't help. That part of 
the drawing is off. 


I call it Mardi Gras, because that's
what it reminds me of. 

Not that I've ever been, but it's what I'd
imagine seeing someone in a Mardi Gras
parade looking like. 

Well, I guess it's back to the "drawing" table for me.

Have a wonderful day.

Thanks for stopping by. 

Terri


Friday, July 7, 2017

Mixed Media Paper Quilt


I love to quilt and this
time I decided to put an 
artistic spin on it. 

The 12 main squares are
individual magazine collages. 

I took my time to make each
one as if it was it's own little
piece of art. 

Next I created an op art border.

I wanted to surround the colorful
centers with a black and white neutral design.

Small red squares were chosen to accent
the quilt. It's actually red duct tape
covered card stock. 

I used the zig zag setting on my machine
 to stitch it all together. 


It was fun to create and
the possibilities are endless. 

Thanks for visiting!

Happy creating.

Terri

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Folk Art Bird House 5

This bird house gave me a little
trouble at first. 

My initial idea for it (which I was
really excited about) bombed when 
I told my husband what I wanted to do. 

He told me how hard he worked
on certain features and I was going to cover
them up with my idea. I could see his point 
(after a long discussion) and I decided 
to move on to a plan B. 

By the way, after this incident, we made
the decision that he'll do his thing when it
comes to building, and I'll do my thing when
it comes to painting. Our team projects have been
harmonious ever since.

Back to plan B. .  . I had to come up with
a new idea, and instead I just sat and sat in
front of this thing, starting at it and 
wondering where to start. 

Ever been there yourself?

After a grueling amount of time passed I 
decided enough was enough. 

I set a timer for 20 minutes and started painting
a base design without thinking about it. 

"Just paint!" I told myself. 











After all was said and done,
I really liked the way it turned out. 

Sorry my pictures aren't the best.
I keep this bird house in my daughters
old room and the lighting isn't the best. 

I think the gist of it comes across though. 

Hope you have a fabulous day!

Happy Creating. 

Terri

Monday, July 3, 2017

Hearts, Flowers, and Cross Shrine

This was such a fun project to make.

Just looking at the picture inspires
me to want to make more of them. 

(In case you missed my other shrine posts
you may see them here and here.)

Everything was handmade from the
paper mache shrine box, to the 2 kinds 
of clay that I used. 

One was cold porcelain clay,
and the other one had a flour and glue base. 

For the candle wicks I
stripped a twist tie of it's paper
and used that to suspend the flames.

The cross, leaves, flowers, and candles
are made from the cold porcelain clay. 

The top center heart was made from the 
flour and glue based clay.

It was a little harder to shape
into specific designs, but it was
good for building up dimension. 

I also used some puff paint to add
some texture. It worked great. I was
a little unsure because I think it's mainly
used for fabrics. 



Now here's a behind the scenes
look at what usually goes
on when I'm trying to take a picture
of my work outside. 

"Maybelline! Move your head!"


She's always at the ready
to lend a helping hand paw. 


She loves being the center
of attention, so I thought
I'd give her that honor today. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Terri