Lover of all things creative.
We have had a lot of changes in the last year. Last fall I went to Italy with my friend Shara Reiner and we taught at Franca Marzi’s. It was a first time for me, and I enjoyed seeing some of the sites in Italy but mostly I enjoyed making new painting friends.
One morning after my devotions I looked over at this project that was in the May issue of the Pixelated Pallette and as I looked at the mermaid the words Wave after Wave came to mind.
I have always enjoyed flowers. My mother always had big beds of flowers and now my husband keeps me in paradise, as he likes to say, by planting lots of beautiful flowers in our yard.
As an artist I have enjoyed painting flowers and I am drawn to a loose style. I also love to decorate my home with my art as well as other peoples art. I recently discovered C Brooke Ring’s art on Pinterest. At the time she had many paintings for sale and I bought this one for my family room:
Here is a time lapsed picture of her painting “my painting”. I love seeing all the layers and details as they are added.
Recently Brooke has offered painting classes. They are about two hours and you can paint along with her. They are a Zoom class so you can ask questions during the class. Once the class is over she posts them on YouTube. If you are having trouble keeping up you can go back and paint and pause at your own pace.
You can find the classes here: https://cbrookering.com/collections/workshops
I took the two flower classes and I am thinking about taking the other two. I also have a feeling that she will be posting more in the future,
The first flower class I had sign up for was after the Zoom class went live so I just painted it using YouTube. I thought I would show you how it went for me.
This is how my under painting looked after the first hour of class.
After the second hour of class this is how my painting looked:
The next day I went back and worked a little more:
I set it on the mantle in our family room and kept looking at it. So I made a few adjustments. I would still like to keep working on it, maybe even paint it again.
The second class I was able to do it through Zoom. So here is my painting after the first day of class:
The next day I made some adjustments. I would like to do a little more with it as well. I think adding a few more layers makes a difference. Also taking a break and just looking at it helps. It is not so much about making my painting look like Brooke’s, but it is about me being happy with what I am doing and finding my own style in the process.
Please note these classes are for your own practice and enjoyment, and are not to be recreated for sale or distribution.
Brooke is a very generous artist and offers many tutorials and videos on her YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIJI_65DmDZPXWEwWp05IrQ
I do not work very much with tube acrylics, but I enjoyed the classes and learned a lot. I encourage you to check out her classes. They are a lot of fun.
Hugs,
Jane
Ps. Here is another picture of my painting on my mantle. Notice the same picture in front of it. I got it from Bethany Joy. I definitely like happy colors.
During these scary times we don’t know where to turn, but I have turned to God’s word and pray Psalm 91, the Psalm of protection, over myself, my family and friends, my neighborhood, my church, my town, my county, my state, my country and my world. Continue reading “Psalm 91” →
In the evenings I like to sit with my husband and watch a little TV. Probably like most creatives it is hard to just sit there, so I need something to do with my hands. I wanted to find something that would keep my hands busy but not over stimulate my brain and keep me from being able to sleep.
I admire Michele Palmer’s art work and am friends with her on Facebook. She was advertising a punch needle class that she was teaching in Mumford, NY. I immediately loved the projects because she took her designs and use of color and turned them into punch needle designs. I convinced my husband that this would be a perfect birthday gift for me and how far could Mumford, NY be from Harrisburg, PA, anyway?
Not too long ago we talked about keeping a sketchbook which is an invaluable tool for an artist to keep quick sketches of ideas, resources, and to just practice. Another thing that I do is keep a photo reference file. I tear out pictures from magazines, and sales catalogues that inspire me. I organize them into folders so they are easy for me to find when inspiration strikes.
I always enjoy spending time with creative friends. These times usually involve food and catching up with what’s going on in our lives. Some of the things I really about being with my creative friends is sharing ideas and creative brainstorming. My creative friends help fill my well when it is dry, they encourage, and they get/keep me excited about my art. Sometimes we have so many ideas I think my head will explode…and I love it!
The other day I was with my creative friend Glenda Payne and she suggested each of us do a large floral canvas. One thing lead to another and we decided to do 10 floral canvases and hold each other accountable.
Do you keep a sketch book? I have been keeping one for years. When I finish one I put it on a shelf with the other finished ones and start a new one. I take it with me almost all the time. Even if we are going around town I have it with me. You never know when an idea will pop in your head and you need to document it.
If you are like me you make resolutions each year and many times they are similar to the previous year. One of mine is that I always want to improve and grow in my art. This year I realize there are two things that I have to do first if I want to grow in my art.
Well it is hard to believe Christmas is almost here again. Normally I would be giving you a tour of my house, but I realize that my home doesn’t look much different than other years.
Yes, every year I try to bring out different trees and decorate them a little differently, but I find I keep going back to my favorite things. So I thought I would give you a little peak into my home, a couple of new things (or at least arranged differently) and those favorites.
Words are powerful. They can encourage, inspire, and help us to believe in ourselves. So why not put those words on a Christmas Ornament where they can be seen over and over.
During the holidays there are lots of little parties and events that we get invited to where we would like to take a little gift to the hostess. To be prepared I like to keep a few of my favorite things on hand so that I am ready when I need a little gift. These can also work great for those little gifts you need for teachers, co-workers, and personal service providers, i.e., mailman, hairdresser, or massage therapist.
Do you know someone who is having a hard time this holiday season? Maybe they are having health problems, experienced a loss, are not able to get out, or are away from family and friends for the holidays. I think we all know someone who could use a little extra love this year….maybe even someone we don’t know.
Getting away with other like minded creative women is not only good for your heart, mind and soul but also a great boost to your creativity.
I was just with a group of fellow decorative painters. We were talking about painting and creating and how they like to change colors and different elements in a project moving things around from the original pattern or even combine two different patterns. They then said they could never design….but isn’t that the beginning of designing?
Today is the SECOND day of the Ornament Exchange Blog Hop.
I think some people are confused by what we are doing. We have a group of 12 artist who also have a blog. Each of them have designed an ornament and have put the instructions on their blog so that you can create the ornament.
For my second Fall Glitter house I had visions of an orange house with a black button roof and pumpkins on the doorstep.
This was the last week of our living with art classes. For this class we would be painting a canvas using tube acrylics.
This week we painted on wood and I wanted to do something that would be fun for the kids to paint. I bought these fish from St Lawrence River Decoys. The fish are sanded and ready to paint. They also come with the glass eyes. My husband drilled a hole in the bottom of the fish and added the dowel and base.
This week for our living with art class we painted on fabric (find out more here about living with art). As we have been doing the projects I tried to find things that my students can use. For the fabric painting I found this messenger bag from Darice. I thought it would be great for them to carry their art journal and painting supplies in along with the paper mache pencil case.
As I shared previously about my summer art class with my kids I wanted to show them different surfaces and mediums that they could use to create. (See more here – “Living with Art” Classes). This week we created a necklace using Shrinky Dinks and colored pencils.
Continue reading “Living with Art – Shrinky Dinks Jewelry” →
For our third week of living with art we painted paper mache. Our first project was a pencil box for them to keep their pencils and other small supplies in. I let them paint whatever they would like using DecoArt Americana acrylics.
Our class is 2 hours and they had a half an hour left so I gave them a second project – a small paper Mache jewelry box.
If you have been following along, you know that I have been teaching some kid classes this summer where we are painting on different surfaces and using different mediums. (find out more here). The first week we created an art journal with watercolors that they will be able to work on all summer. (find out more here).
This summer I offered to have some art classes with some young ladies 8-9 years old. They all love art and love to create. Since they are younger, I did not want to weigh them down with drawing or painting classes. I wanted for them to just enjoy “art”, but I also wanted them to see how art is a part of everyday life.
So each week we will be doing art on a different surface and using different products.
The different surfaces we will be painting/creating on are:
And in the process we will be using these mediums:
And we will be making things that we live with, use and give as gifts.
Each week we will be doing a different project and I will be sharing with you what we are doing. I would love for you to be following along and creating with us and/or teaching someone else the joy of creating.
When I teach kids I have three rules:
I love teaching kids. They are always so happy with what they do, so each week they will be painting their own designs. I might give some suggestions but find that they have great ideas themselves.
I know not all of us feel that confident so I will also be creating some step by step projects throughout the summer that relate to the projects we are doing and I will do them as separate posts.
I do have another class of older student that I taught drawing and painting to last year. They will be doing the same projects, but I might be giving them a few extra things.
In this class I want my students to just enjoy creating. I hope that they will be able to see art in the things around them. But most of all I hope to give them a foundation and confidence to enjoy art for the rest of their lives.
I hope you will join us for this artful journey this summer.
Happy Creating,
Jane
“Isn’t it funny how you can start something and it just keeps growing. That is what happened for me with these frog pins.
One year my chapter was having a pin exchange and I came up with the idea to make these frog pins. I called them my Jump 4 Joy frogs, because my frogs were so happy that they wanted to jump for joy. As I thought about them I thought it would be fun to give them names. Fun names like “Cute Carol”, “Awesome Al”, “Sweet Sarah”, etc. Every one loved them and selected them because of their names. Continue reading “Froggy Pins Fun-raiser” →
Earlier this year I spent some time in Palm Springs, CA. It was fun to ride around and check out the homes of some of the stars that were there when Palm Springs was in its heyday. One of the big entertainers was Liberace. He had four homes there and also bought one for his mother….good son.
Do you ever find that you have an idea in your head and when you start working on it you are just so disappointed you feel like giving up….throwing it in the trash, never to try to do something similar again. This can also happen when you are trying to paint someone else’s design.