Today's Sketches

Today I've enjoyed sketching - simple sketches of teapots, pitchers, etc. that I photographed one day at the local antique shop.  I have these photos on my digital frame and just pause the photo and sketch it and then go to the next. I like this method of sketching, particularly during these rather blah winter months.

What do you enjoy sketching the most, especially during gray days?

Random journal pages and Review of American Journey Watercolor Sticks

First Journal Pages of the New Year:


On the pages above I used Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watercolor crayons - beautiful, saturated color! Soft buttery crayons. Love them!  Also the teapot was drawn with a Sharpie Liquid Graphite pencil I bought yesterday!  Not bad - it writes similar to a pen, very smoothly - but it erases.  I still like the old-fashioned scratchy feel of a wood-encased pencil though.

Trying out more new toys.

Disappointed in AJ watercolor sticks.

I'm exchanging them for the Schmincke Horadam 12 pan watercolor set that is now on sale at cheapjoes.com under clearance and overstock for $50.40!!!  This is high-quality, expensive watercolor and so this sale is incredible!  I am mailing my watercolor sticks back today.  As you can see, the colors are very light and you can't get a good saturation.



1-1-11 (First Post of New Year)

A sketch with my Design Ebony Pencil - the way the light was hitting the couch with the cushions scattered on it kept whispering "sketch" to me until it got so loud I had no choice but to obey. It felt so good to just DRAW - no pressure, simplicity... I call this "waiting". This is my husband's spot on the couch and I sat in my usual spot across the room on the loveseat waiting for him to come home from a week of working out of town. The couch seemed to be waiting with me.

A Christmas gift from my husband - a gift card to Cheap Joe's - here are my purchases! They got here just two days after I placed the order. Amazing! These are the new American Journey watercolor sticks. I can't wait to give them a whirl today! Also a ten sheet pack of 22 x 30 Kilimanjaro watercolor paper. This was such a hard decision for me - what to get with my gift card. But in the end I think I decided well.

As a member of the yahoo group Blissfully Art Journaling, I have been thinking long and hard about my Word of Intent for 2011.  It's a word that sort of sets the tone of what you want to accomplish or focus on in 2011.  I thought of many words, like "purpose", "consistency", "growth", "focus", etc.  Words that evoked a sense of needing to do something.  Words that to me sort of put the pressure on to be more, do more, achieve more...Words like this, goals, resolutions tend to put too much pressure on me, especially this year it seems.  When I put too much pressure on myself (which I tend to do on a regular basis) I feel overwhelmed, tired, and a bit rebellious.  So this year, my word of intent came to me right after I woke up from a long, much-needed nap after over-thinking the subject for a couple of days... my word... Celebration!

Doesn't that sound liberating, refreshing, and fun!

This year I will celebrate...
...life itself.
...all my achievements and all the bad habits and unhealthy patterns I'm overcoming.
...the fact that I have so many beautiful journals and sketchbooks to fill, a seemingly endless amount of art supplies, pens, etc., with which to fill them.
...my marriage - though not perfect, I will celebrate how far it's come and where it's headed by the Grace of God.
...all God is doing in me, in my life - all the blessings he has in store for me as I trust and obey Him.
...my family. I'll celebrate my mama and daddy and all they mean to me by visiting them as often as I can, and by accepting them just as they are.  I'll celebrate my immediate family, my extended family, everyone who is so important to me.
...my friends. God has blessed me with several very close, precious friends. My church friends, work friends, artsy online friends, facebook friends...  Girlfriends are just so precious in our lives as women.  I want to celebrate and cherish those friendships this year by spending time with these wonderful ladies!
...my work. God has blessed me with a job that I absolutely love.  And even with the changes that are taking place, I will celebrate the fact that God is in control, and I am blessed at work! I will trust God to place the person in the position of Director that He will use in the lives of all those at the training center to further His purposes.  Separation of church and state?  I don't think so...God is working in all and through all to accomplish something great!

So there you have it - my only New Year's Resolution is Celebration!  Life is a celebration.  I will celebrate through art and music and reading and relationships and work and play!  Let us all celebrate this art-filled, wonderful life we've been blessed with!

Happy New Year!

A Very Special Christmas Gift - to my sweet niece

You can see the very first humble beginnings of this idea at the bottom of a previous post of November 14
http://daloweartist.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-post.html

A gift to my beautiful niece featuring her two amazing children - Trevin, 8 and Reagan, 3.

Here it is in stages, from my studio easel to the "grand opening":

It was a huge success and worth every minute of effort - she cried :-)

This Year's Good Intentions - Christmas Cards 2010

I had good intentions, I usually do

But Christmas came too fast and left me in a stew

So many cards to send, handmaking each one

Left me tired and frustrated; it just couldn't be done.

So I sent what I could and gave up on the rest

Merry Christmas to all and may you all be blest!

Here's a sample of what I did get done.

Front
Inside
Back

I bought the gel pens above at the grocery store of all places! A friend at work had them on her desk to use to sign Christmas cards.  They looked so yummy, I had to have some!  I just happened to be going to the grocery store that night and found them!  They are actually much better than the more expensive ones I've bought.  They don't skip and they are bright and smooth - as yummy as they look!  The brand is Academix - check your local grocer to see if they carry them.



Review of “The Pirate Queen” by Patricia Hickman

A journal spread in response to the book "The Pirate Queen" by Patricia Hickman
completed December 19-20, 2010 in my Hand-Book Journal
mixed media collage

Please click here and rank this book review. Many thanks to Water Brook Multnomah for providing me a free copy of this book to review!
This story is a tapestry woven of fine linen threads in brilliant colors, each thread coming together in intricate patterns to complete the picture. All the threads come together at the end like a quilt, a tapestry, or a piece of art – a thing of beauty. At the end the reader is left satisfied, satiated. So many unexpected things happen; I devoured the book and savored it at the same time.

Why is the protagonist, Saphora Warren, referred to as the “Pirate Queen”? Because, throughout the book the theme is that Saphora is finding buried treasures - loving the unlovable and unlovely, seeing good in places other people can’t find it, redeeming love like God’s love flows from Saphora. I find myself wanting to be more like Saphora, who without even trying, just naturally gives and loves without resentment, but freely. She learns to see people without judgment and condemnation. And her life is made richer because of it.

I could relate to the struggles in Saphora’s marriage; only she takes forgiveness to a level I only hope I can someday reach. Her character is real; I didn’t find myself resenting her for being “too perfect” and this novel didn’t feel like a “Christian” work of fiction. Nothing seemed contrived to me. It was a real story and I was absolutely engrossed in it. I want to read more of this author’s work!

Please rank this review below. Thank you!

Sometimes It's Fun and Sometimes It's Tough -- Life at Work

Do I have fun at work, or what!
This is a little area in my office with a huge window on the right of the table. I can create art for events that we have on campus or for the individuals who live here. I have shared the work area with one or two of the individuals here, teaching them to paint and play and express themselves.

Below are cards for a Lions Club event tomorrow. What fun!



This is a journal page I did at lunch today in my Handbook Journal.



I used the Pelikan gouache set below. I HIGHLY recommend this set. It's available from Dick Blick http://www.dickblick.com.

I love the brightness of the colors and their opacity!



The Director here at the state facility where I work is transferring to another center in the state. I am his Administrative Assistant and work closely with him. He and I have a fantastic working relationship, and I am rather devastated by this change. Working with him has been the best experience of my career so far. I handle change very well, so I'm sure I'll be fine, but right now it's very emotional and hard.

The phrase from Nehemiah 8:10 came to my mind yesterday and that is what is carrying me through these tough days. "...the joy of the LORD is your strength." Truly our joy comes from the LORD and He never changes! That is what today's journal page expresses.

Not much time for anything but quick sketches and journal entries lately... I am working on my Christmas cards. I should have something to show you soon.
I've also been buying lots of new art supplies/toys lately! So many sales with Christmas nearing! Will share some of that in upcoming posts.





I hope to reformat my blog in the next couple of months. I'm bored with the layout, look and content. I have two blogs now (see http://deborah-heartsongs.blogspot.com/), but it's overwhelming to keep up with two, for me. I have joined Blogging for Books http://www.bloggingforbooks.org and I want to incorporate the book reviews into this original
"Making a Splash..." blog. After all, "Making a Splash..." is about the things I'm passionate about, and reading is certainly high on the list. I want to include more than just art in this blog, but I don't want to lose readers. I would love your comments. What do you think? Any ideas on how I could organize my blog so that it is more readable and interesting to you?

Art Project Central

I've been busy, busy, busy!
Inspired this year to make all my Christmas cards, even though in prior years I haven't even gotten any out at all.  This year I'm feeling Christmas in my bones and wanting to savor every minute before it flies past us and turns into January. I feel as if time is flying and I can't catch it.  The urge to create this past week has been overwhelming. I wake up with plans to make art and mulling over the ideas and I go to bed with the same thoughts. It's been all-consuming. I knew I must answer the call I felt this week. So having Thursday off as a holiday anyway, I took Friday as well and I have spent four glorious days in the kitchen/studio making the most delightful creative mess you can imagine! Nothing is complete yet, but the juices are still flowing, so I hope to bring the project to fruition.

I started out by drawing a star and using it as a pattern to draw stars on this textured yellow fabric that a friend had picked up for me at Goodwill. I cut them out and painted them gold and silver (Liquitex acrylic, soft and heavy body paints). Some I stamped using needlepoint plastic that I picked up at Walmart dipped in white paint.  I don't really know what it's called, but it does make great texture, which is why I bought it.

Christmas Cards in Progress:

Step 1 - "My stars and garters!" - a phrase my mother used to say :-)



Glued background and stars on the cards with Mod Podge and hung them up to dry. I've used stamping with various objects for texture - bubble wrap, the needlepoint plastic sheet, macrame beads, you name it. I also used Modeling Paste (Liquitex flexible) for the first time.

A close up of a card awaiting text and blending with charcoal





Big sheet for cutting out backgrounds for remaining stars. I've used sheets from a music book, slinging paint, cheesecloth, modeling paste, bubble wrap, direct painting with acrylic - I've used anything to make layers of texture. It was too bright, so I painted over it with a very thin layer of white acrylic paint - very watered down.  This is a full sheet of Stonehenge paper as the support.

 

A glorious, creative MESS!

 

Almost finished cards (waiting for text) drying amid the creative mess!


Some more fun - paintings in progress:

Line drawing from my imagination

Color added but still not finished - obviously this is me surrounded by the books I love and of course a cup of coffee or tea (spiced chai I think)!



Sketching out an acrylic painting - see below for next step.

 


Step 2, the background color of what is to be a Christmas gift - acrylic on canvas

 



Painting 12 in 100

Autumn!
11" x 14"
Watercolor