A little while ago I share a mixed media project that I felt would be a good way to introduce others to art. You can see the blog post here. The beginning of the month some ladies from my painting chapter Penn’s Woods Painters and myself did this project at the Ronald McDonald house in our area. The project was open to patients and family members. These are the happy faces of our helpers.
Category: Art
Welcome Fall
I have been trying to decorate the outside of my home for a few weeks, but it seems many things are against me. First I bought mums that were late blooming, so that I could have them longer. The only thing is they are not blooming for my pictures. Then it started raining and kept up for days. So the one morning I got up it had stopped raining and even though it was cloudy I decided to take pictures. Well, that day the fountain pump broke. So next year I will have pictures of the fountain running…maybe.
The one thing I love this year is how lovely my annuals are looking for fall. The front walk way is lined with orange and pink lantanas.
Learning from others online
This weekend I was browsing through Pinterest and found the work of Karen Milstein http://www.fadedwest.com/. I loved her faces and saw that she offered online classes so without hesitation I signed up for the simply painting faces. I watched the videos and did the project with the supplies that I had on hand. This is my results:
Karen paints with gesso using pastels, water soluble pencils and crayons and some craft paints to add pigment. She adds lots of layers with the gesso. Her technique was new to me, yet I found with her instructions it was easy to do and I was pleased with my results. It was a fun relaxing project and I learned so many new things.
The wonderful thing about online classes is you can take them anytime and place and many of them give you unlimited access.
Happy Painting,
Jane
PS. I would love to hear about your favorite online classes.
Share the LOVE of ART
A while ago I was asked to do an artsy project for a bachelorette party, that would be reasonably priced and would suit someone who had not painted before or very little. Something to have fun together. I decided to incorporate mixed media elements into the piece and use stencils and scrapbook paper for the basic shapes. The project went well and everyone was happy with their ART. Many were amazed at themselves…what a fun way to introduce others to the LOVE of ART.
Since doing this my painting chapter is going to be doing a similar project for Ronald McDonald house and I will be leading a workshop at my church’s woman’s retreat. I thought you might also like to share this project with others.
There is no set way to do this project, you can add or eliminate steps. I will share with you my process. I started with a 9×12 canvas. Using Matt Medium or Deco-Page glued paper to the canvas. Using an old gift card I pushed the wrinkles out of the paper and then allowed it to dry. (to speed things up I like to have a hairdryer handy), I used Tim Holtz tissue papers on the background, but you could use book pages, sheet music or scrapbook papers. When working on this project adding a coat of medium between layers will make it easier to wipe away any mistakes. Continue reading “Share the LOVE of ART”
Still time to paint for fall
The days are getting cooler and I know that we are all anxious to get our homes decorated for fall. How can we not be with all the merchandise being out in the stores for what seems like months. In fact it makes us feel like we have already missed our window of opportunity. …but that is so not true. We even have time to start painting a new piece or two for this year. If you are looking for some great ideas you can find them in the new book Della presents
“Celebrating Fall with Friends”.
These are pictures of the projects in the book, I think you will enjoy them. Continue reading “Still time to paint for fall”
Making it yours…the beginning of designing
This weekend I was at a painting seminar at my local chapter with Amy Mogish. We had time to chat as we were prepping our pieces and one of the girls said that she just realized recently that she could make designs her own by changing things instead of making it exactly the way the teacher did hers.
When I thought about it I realize this is the beginning of designing. First we use a different surface, then a different color on a few elements. Next we are combining a few patterns to create a project…..and then we try our hand at making our own designs.
I had made some changes to Amy’s original design “Simple Goodness” which was placed on a tin cake stand. I wanted to place mine on a canvas because I was going to put it beside an antique cake stand that was my mothers.
Continue reading “Making it yours…the beginning of designing”
Packing up Christmas 2014
If you remember from my first house tour post I had an empty stable. Around the end of November I had mentioned to my husband that I might paint a nativity for the front yard. I had the wood cut a number of years ago. Before I knew it he build me a stable. I had finished painting it a few days before Christmas. Here is a picture of the whole yard with the nativity and also a close up.
Christmas House Tour 2014 – Part 2
Before I took you on a tour of my Living Room and Dinning Room, this week I thought I would show you the rest of my decorating. We will start in my living room and family room which is one large room. You can see by the colors in the room that I like to use red in my decorating here, but there are a few balls with pink on them. Can’t help myself. 🙂
This is a view from our family room into the kitchen.
Christmas House Tour 2014 – Part 1
Hello Everyone,
It has been a while since I posted on my blog. My husband Al and I have been busy decorating our house for Christmas and I thought you might enjoy a little tour. As some of you know pink is my favorite color. So Al being the good husband put pink and white lights outside. The little structure to the right of the front window is a manger that Al has built for me for a nativity that I am painting. I still have a lot of painting to do so I will update pictures of the nativity a little later. (not sure what year :))
Continue reading “Christmas House Tour 2014 – Part 1”