Bargains! And Some Weekend Decorating

I'm finding many outlets for my creativity lately other than my usual two dimensional art.  This weekend was filled with yard sale and auction sale purchases and arranging cozy spaces in my home. The rocking chair below was $22.50 at an auction sale - it's beautiful, comfortable and solid wood. The little magazine/book stand beside it was from a prior auction sale. The small lamp was only a buck! I got two for $2.00!  By the way - the lamp is sitting on a monitor heater (eyesore). We now have central heat and air, so I covered the monitor with a pretty scarf of fabric I bought at a flea market or yard sale several years ago.

My favorite, long awaited purchase is this corner bookshelf for my bedroom.  I had to pay $65 for it, but I have wanted a bookshelf forEVER and this one was absolutely perfect for this corner and so I kept bidding until I got it.  The rocking chair in front of the bookshelf was from a prior auction sale for $5!



 The shelf below was only $8 at a yard sale, and now holds almost all my art supplies and lets them be out and visible. I need that for inspiration. I got so tired of those plastic rolling carts with drawers. 1.) I couldn't see my supplies, and 2.) I was forever opening the wrong drawer, so I spent most of my art time opening and shutting those drawers looking for the right thing. Arrgh! But happily, problem solved for only $8.

And then there was this great unexpected purchase: I got two chairs just alike (pictured at right) for $1.00 each! The pair for $2.00. No one was bidding on them, so I thought why not! I love the pattern and colors on this and much to my delight they are extremely sturdy and comfortable!

I spent too much money, but I got all the things I've been wanting and thinking about, and at great prices!

I loved creating these cozy spaces throughout my home, and can't wait to enjoy them.  I can see me playing musical chairs not knowing which one I like best :-)

Recent Hand-Book Journal Pages

Today's lunchtime page above



And Sunday's trip to the lake resulted in the above sketch; more notetaking than sketching actually, as I had to do this in about 5 seconds (the line drawing I mean). My hand was very unsteady because the waves were extremely choppy due to a busy Memorial Day weekend with lots of boats on the water. The watercolor I could take more time on. ( My 9-year-old nephew looked at the beginnings of this attempt and said, "You could draw that better if the water wasn't so choppy, couldn't you?" - From the mouths of babes :-) )

Fun in the sun with family - pure joy!

JOY!

Sometimes I get stuck and start questioning why I make art, what is the purpose?

I get it when I actually put the brush in the paint and push those colors around.

It's about colors and playing and expressing the joy in life. Pure joy!

Zephaniah 3:17 says that our Sovereign God - who created this universe - will take delight in me with gladness, will calm all my fears with his love, and will rejoice over me with joyful songs!!!! Think of that! And paint!

More Splashing

I can see this becoming a nightly routine. So soothing, my evening art therapy session... night all.

Sometimes...Ya Just Gotta Make a Splash

And so I did. In my handbook journal with an Escoda sable brush and my Yarka St. Petersburg watercolor palette.  What fun.  Good stress reliever.  Love that quinacridone rose.  I freely drew the flowers with a short stubby woodless graphite pencil.  Felt good to play. Think I'll do it again tomorrow.  I might just fill up the whole book!

Best Intentions

You know, sometimes our best intentions go awry. I was all excited about ED in May and after the first two days, my wrist gave out on me. See the computer keyboard...I've been a secretary and typed all day long for 23 years. So they say it's a pinched nerve. Maybe carpal tunnel? Not sure yet, but this brace must stay on for 2 weeks and then back to the doctor. Now all my hobbies except reading, involve the use of my right hand. I can barely write, and certainly not without pain, and as you can see from EDM 3 I tried below, I'm not quite as adept at drawing with the brace. It might have had something to do with motivation as well :-)

So in saying all that...



I was off to a brilliant start, but alas, I will bow out of the EDinMay challenge so as not to put undue pressure and guilt upon myself, not to mention pain. I will be reading everyone's posts and getting my dose of inspiration so that when the wrist improves I'll be back at it. Until then, blessings to everyone!

Every Day in May Challenge 102–May 2

 

Every Day in May Challenge # 101–May 1

 (click image to enlarge)

I cannot believe how refreshed and excited I am about these challenges.  I needed this swift kick in the artistic pants to get me going again!  Spring fever has hit me as of today!
A Bar of Soap never looked so good – this is the good old Ivory basic soap in a very colorful Southern Living Brio dish.

Not Your Traditional Easter Sunday

What could be more satisfying than family art fun?! On Easter Sunday after church, I set up a table full of art supplies and played while my daughter spent some time in the sun - "tanning" - which of course meant burning, but that's a whole other story...

I didn't want to leave home to visit my family so I called them to come see me.  And they did.  Above is my niece and her two kids - Reagan, 3 and Trevin, 8.  My pleasure was indescribable when my niece sat down and began to play with the Inktense pencils!  So much fun!

It was Reagan's first time painting with real watercolors and quality paper below.  She made lots of mud, much to my chagrin, but she had fun!  

Below are my results of the day - done before the company arrived :-)



All in a Day's Work

This seems to be all I have time or energy for these days - a quick sketch of a coffee cup belonging to one of the members present in a teleconference this morning. I was taking minutes, and during a a lull in the action, I got in this quick sketch and finished it up with colored pencil and COFFEE in my office. Literally. A cold cup of leftover coffee from the morning (or maybe the day before) caught my eye and I thought, hmmm... The Pilot G2 pen I used was water soluble...so I dipped a brush in the coffee and went right to work :-) Not bad I think :-) All in a day's work...sometimes you just have to seize the moment.