Hello

Well it has been awhile since I have posted anything on the blog.  I have still been creating though!  I am currently taking a class called Around the World Through Art.  I haven’t had much time to do all the lessons that have been posted so far but am so happy I signed up for it.  It has some wonderful artists giving lessons using their techniques and it’s all inspired by the various places they live.  I did manage to finish this Spanish lady painting recently.  It was created based on a lesson given by Emma Petitt.  I love Emma’s colorful, expressive portrait paintings and was so thrilled to do this lesson.

Happy Friday!

Debbie

Abstracts and Art Journaling

I took a little break from blogging and really enjoyed the summer.  It was a busy one but I still made time for art.  I painted a number of  new abstracts on paper.  The two above were one painting that I cut into two 5 x 7″ pieces and mounted onto wood panels.

I bought a new art journal in June when I went on my annual trip to Nashville Indiana.  I certainly didn’t need another journal but it was calling my name.  I have been playing in it quite a bit.  It’s a Dylusions journal and I really like the paper.  I’ll share some of the pages that I am working on in another post.

Happy Fall!

Getting My Way

I was wanting to create a painting similar to a previous painting that I had done.  The face didn’t have a lot of detail in it and that was my plan for this painting.  It didn’t go as planned.

I just kept adding paint.  At one point I did not like her eyes at all and repainted them.  I would like how it was coming along, and then I wouldn’t.

I get irritated sometimes because I have these ideas of what I want to create and then I just can’t make it happen.  I guess my muse has other ideas.

My daughter says she looks edgy.  I can understand why.  That is the way I felt most of the time I was painting her.

I did end up liking how she turned out but decided to add the triangle tattoo to her face just because it was on the other painting.  At least I got my way a little bit.  🙂

 

Colors of Summer

I’ve been enjoying the wonderful weather we have had this past week.  I decided to paint something bright and summery.  Coral is one of my favorite colors.  Pair it with yellow and, to me, it just screams summer.

This painting is on a 16 x 20″ canvas.  I painted the entire canvas with a yellow acrylic paint and then added some corals, pinks and oranges to it.  I used bubble wrap and white acrylic paint to help transition the two color sections.  Next I added a vintage butterfly picture and painted the sides black.

Have a wonderful summer!

Debbie

Everything Will Be Ok

I painted this girl for my cousin.  She’s been going through a very stressful time in her life.  She has always been so complimentary of my art and has a number of my girl paintings.  When I first started doing art and showed it to her, she was so excited about what I had created.  Her compliments and excitement gave me the confidence to keep moving forward with creating art.  I am so grateful to her for that.

As I was finishing up the painting, I wasn’t sure what words I wanted to add.  I keep small scraps of papers and other ephemera that have inspiring words, phrases and quotes stuck in a little flower frog on my art counter.  I went over to thumb through those scraps and found a card that read “Everything will be ok”.  I knew that was just what needed to go on the painting and I know that everything will work out for her and it will be ok.

 

 

Only a Reflection

 

This is another You Tube inspired painting.  The video was posted by Nika Rouss.   I ordered a couple of the stencils she had used and, once I received them, I got busy painting.  Here is the video link:  Nika in Wonderland.  I really enjoy watching her videos!

 

 

You Tube Inspired

One of the ways I seek inspiration is to watch You Tube videos of art tutorials.  I recently watched a video by Jenny Niemi.   That video inspired me to finish a painting that I had put aside a while ago because I couldn’t decide how I wanted to finish it.

I had stenciled, stamped and painted a lot of different colors and patterns onto a 12 x 12 inch art panel.  When I saw the You Tube video, I thought of the panel and decided to give it ago.

I sketched in the girl and painted her face.  I added the waves in her hair with a Stabilo pencil and lightly activated the pencil with a damp brush.  I gave her dress a collar using pieces I had torn off of a paper doily.  I then painted around the girl with white paint allowing a bit of the colors below to show through.  Next I stenciled on some words and then lifted off some of the paint by dabbing it with a baby wipe so that the words were not legible.  I also added some texture by brushing some drywall tape with blue paint and stamping that onto the panel.

Happy to have gotten another one out of my “what to do with” pile and finished up.

Have a great weekend!

 

Well Hello

Can’t believe it has been a month since I last posted.  I have been busy but at least some of that busyness included art making.  I finished this abstract painting, along with a few others,  since my last post.   This painting is on a 12 x 16 inch canvas with the painting extended onto the sides.   I used mica flakes to add some glimmer.  I like the texture the flakes add to the painting in addition to the glimmer.  When I look at it, it makes me think of a formal evening gown so I decided to name it The Gala.

I’ll try to get pictures of the other two paintings and post them before another month goes by.

Debbie

 

 

A Bit of Gold

I’ve been away on a wonderful trip with my daughter and granddaughter for the past week.  We went to Walt Disney World in Florida and then on a Disney cruise and had such a great time.   It was a very busy week though and I am happy to get back home and back to creating.

I finished a couple of abstract paintings shortly before leaving on the trip.  They were inspired by a gold leaf painting I had seen on Pinterest.  The first painting (above) is on an 8 x 10 inch wood panel.  I started by gluing down some tissue paper that had a map print on it.  After that I applied wall paint in white mint and aqua using a palette knife.  I also added some white paint letting it mix with the wall paint.  I kept building the layers and scratching into the paint.  I used a sea sponge to randomly had bits of the darker blue color onto the bottom portion of the panel.  Next I added collage medium in spots across the panel and added the gold leaf over the medium.  I also added little bits of gold leaf in other areas on the painting.  I painted the sides in the white mint color.

After I completed the smaller one, I decided to go bigger.  The painting below is on a 20 x 24 inch canvas with the sides painted and gold leaf added there as well.  It looks very similar to the first only much bigger.

Have a wonderful week!

Debbie

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find What Sparks a Light in You

This painting was created based off a lesson in the Layers of Light course I am taking given by Laly Mille.   I love her teaching style and her beautiful light filled art.  If you haven’t taken her class, I would strongly recommend it.  The price is very good and you get so much out of even just one lesson.  She gives six lessons in the course.  So far I have completed two.  Here is the first painting I created from one of the lessons.

I added a few quotes to this painting.  One of them was by Oprah that reads – You have to find what sparks a light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world.   The inspiration I received from Lally’s lessons definitely sparked a light in me and I hope to create many more light filled paintings.

The flowers at the bottom were created with alcohol inks dropped onto the canvas.  I have never cared for alcohol inks much and very seldom use them.  Laly really likes using them so I thought I would give them another try.  Once I got the first few drops down, I rather liked the way it looked.  You can tell I got a little carried away but it was fun!

I hope you all have found or will soon find what sparks a light in you!

Debbie