Portrait #4 Week 1

Hi...y'all getting bored yet? Well, this class runs for six weeks and you'll probably be seeing

many more faces before it's over. Next week we do full face again...but this time we'll be painting onto our drawing. Subsequent weeks will have us drawing and painting and (later) adding collage to our work. So far, I'm pretty pleased with how it's going...for me and for everone else in the class (we're up to 81 now...and growing). Then, in late February, I'll be boring you with stories of my adventures in wonderland at Art and Soul...here in Las Vegas for the first time. Yes...and I'll be posting more artwork from that. So Exciting...I can hardly stay on an even keel even with the thought of being able to attend, much less doing two all-day workshops. That's all I have to say for now. Time for bed soon...I'm starting to yawn.

Another Class Begins

Fabulous Faces....that's what the new workshop is called. First session (PDF & Video) was up today...so, of course, I watched and read, took a few notes on materials, and started drawing. I haven't done many faces lately because I've been doing MailArt and trades with a couple of other groups to which I belong...so I've gotten a little rusty. The first attempt was OK...not great, but OK. I think that I got more graphite on my hands and fingers than I did on the paper. I had to really wash my hands before I could even begin to erase all of the smudges on the paper. For #2 I decided that I'd get a better result if I used better quality paper and got control of my pencil-work. None of this starting with a heavy hand and a 2B graphite crayon right off the bat. I started with a very light touch and built up the layers of shading....and I'm pretty happy with the result. Off to bed now. Tomorrow: more drawing, dentist appt., and more drawing. There's no way to be unhappy when you're making art. I'm convinced that art and music heal the soul and bring you to a peaceful place in this chaotic world. Got a little philosophical there, didn't I? Well...G'night all.

And The Pen Just Keeps Filling Squares

Here are my Daily Drawing Pages....as far as I've gotten, anyway. Tomorrow hasn't happened yet so what you see here is through today. Makes sense? Every day I seem to be able to come up with something new...all to amuse myself. Hey, one day someone might thumb through this little book and try to figure out what it's meaning or purpose was. I can save them the trouble and tell them right now that the only purpose it has is to keep me drawing. And as far as meaning...I can explain every 3x3 square...but to figure out what they all mean...even I can't tell you that.

Doin' What Comes Naturally

I've often wondered why, when I make art, I can't seem to settle on a certain style of art that says ME. I guess I'ts probably a good thing that I do what I feel at any given moment. I've started a Daily Drawing Pages ...which is quite cartoon like. I saw something like it in Teesha Moore's Blog...she calls hers Daily Drawing Diary...and her divisions are bigger than the 3x3 size which I chose for mine....takes less time to fill a 3x3 square. It's all in black ink on white drawing paper and even though it tells about my day...I don't know how clear my telling of the day's events (or the day's most important event)will be to the viewer. The main goal is to draw...daily...and if I don't get going, I'll be working on today's and tomorrow's....tomorrow. So that might be something to draw about. Procrastination. Then there's the piece in the middle...a kind of a dreamy, girly piece that I did recently...in a kind of dreamy, girly style. Who is the real me? Probably all of them and then some. Confusion usually reigns supreme in my mind. And surprisingly, I'm quite comfortable with that. ......and just take a look at's what below Dream-Girl here.....

Saved the 'best' (?) for last...... I made a piece of MailArt today that is almost Dali-esque...I don't even understand from where in my head it came. Will the real me please stand up?

A Little MailArt

Been keeping busy today creating a little MailArt that will be off tomorrow. One is going to Canada and the other to Japan...both in envelopes that I made by hand from an old map and scrapbooking paper. Mail is so much more fun to get when the envelope says something besides To: and From:

I haven't decided which of these are going where yet. That decision will have to wait until morning.

We had the most beautiful sunset here today....the sky turned all salmon and turquoise and lit up the inside of the house with a kind of magical, rosy glow....WOW! is all I have to say about that. Ain't life grand? And then there are those occasional sunsets or sunrises or flowers that bloom unexpectedly...or even something like noticing the beautiful, liquid gold color in the dog's eyes...which, in Mopsy's case could be a clear, sparkly blue...and life suddenly gets grander.

Hey! It's 2010!

Here we go again! A new year! I refuse to make any resolutions....because I never seem to be able to stick to them. I'm looking forward to the year ahead...lots of exciting happenings for me. First...there's a new on-line art class that I've signed up for. Portraits again...but this one is being taught by Tam LaPorte..."Willowing and Artist Friends" is the NING site. She's teaching the how-to's of full face, 3/4 face and face in profile. Should be a great class! Another exciting happening for me....I'm signed up for two workshops at "Art and Soul"! To get to A & S has been a dream of mine for years. At one time the event was only in Portland, OR. This year it's come to Las Vegas! As soon as I found out about it....I had my little Pay-Pal thing ready to go. So, in February I'll be in an all day Encaustic Painting workshop...and, on the following day, all day...an Junk/Art Journal class. Basically it's using junk-mail as a substrate for art journal pages.....my gesso is ready to go! More exciting stuff....our little piece of land in the deep North woods now has it's very own well! Soon there will be a pump, etc, etc,...and maybe, before long....a real house! In the meantime...the cabin is getting more and more comfortable at two rooms, sleeping loft, wonderful wood burning stove and....a huge covered porch on which to sit and dream. Cool! Also exciting....and almost beyond my imagination...is that we'll be going to Turkey for a wedding in the summer! For someone who's hardly ever gone anywhere....to travel to places like Istanbul and Ankara (where the wedding is going to be) is blowing out the circuits in my brain. Just the thought of it gets my imagination spinning. I think this is going to be a memorable year....and isn't anticipation a thrill-and-a-half ? If I have any resolutions at all for this or any other year.....it's that I make the most of every moment of my life. I wish this for all who read this.....take joy in living. There's beauty to be found everywhere...you just have to open your heart. Talk to you all later. xoxo