Cathie's Art and Stuff

New year 2012

2012-01-31T17:21:00.000-05:00

Work has been getting in the way of my fun, but, I will be back to more art SOON!

Arles, France

2011-11-22T11:34:00.000-05:00

I am trying to get back into the Daily Painting Routine!

So I am starting with this months, Virtual Paintout challenge, Arles, France. I am starting up slow so I did this in my Strathmore Journal with Sharpie & Colored Pencils.

Wildcat Lake, Banner Elk, North Carolina

2011-11-19T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Guys wanted to fish Wildcat Lake, so I let them have at it. The colors were awesome so I drew this picture using a sharpie and colored pencils. Daniel caught one of the largest Rainbow Trouts I have ever seen! Catch and Release.....

Banner Elk Park, North Carolina

2011-11-19T17:18:00.000-05:00

We took a trip up to Boone, North Carolina in October. The colors were just fantastic. The boys wanted to fish so we drove up to Banner Elk Park.

Daniel caught the first fish, a brown trout, very beautiful. He let it go!

Matt's Quilt "Arkansas Crossroads"

2011-10-07T21:27:00.001-04:00

For my son, Matt's 30th Birthday, I made him a King Sized quilt.
106 x 114 inches.
This is an "Arkansas Crossroads" pattern.
We are talking about a Kazzillion Points! :-))

Here is a close up of the pattern. Squares, on squares with crosses.
And did I mention, a Bazzillion Points to match.
Well anyway I think Matt really loves his Quilt.

Dragonfly Button Blanket

2011-07-18T16:42:00.000-04:00

Over the last few month I have been making a Dragonfly Button Blanket for my mother, Anne.
I presented it to her at our yearly women's retreat in California, she had no idea that I was making it for her so she was thoroughly surprised! I wrote up the journey of this blanket and you can read it here...Dragonfly Button Blanket.

Ball Game

2011-06-17T22:08:00.001-04:00

Went to a Baseball Game in March, came home with all the paper-stuff and made a Collage in my Journal of cource :-))!
Take me out to the Ball Game!

Inner Goddess

2011-06-17T22:06:00.003-04:00

Inner Goddess, Well this is me!
Yep Journal again!

Earhing

2011-06-17T22:02:00.002-04:00

I read this article in Heatlth & Spiriturality about Barefoot Healing I called it Earthing so I did this Journal entry.

Dragonfly Pin

2011-06-17T21:57:00.000-04:00

Rose sent me this beautiful Dragonfly pin for my Birthday, I made a page in my Journal so here it is. I know I haven't done much in the Journal this year but I am trying to improve!

Anwara Khatoon - Amma (Mother)

2011-04-08T15:39:00.004-04:00

My Friend Steffy Bushra Khan, sent me a photo of her mother -in-law, Anwara Khatoon, whom they call Amma, which means "Mother". A very beautiful and much loved person who lives in Bangledesh. I did my best to paint her, she is far more beautiful than my skill allowed.

Spring in my Medicine Garden

2011-04-07T12:34:00.005-04:00

This past winter was really hard on the plants in south Florida. We had so many below freezing nights in a row that I lost many of my perennials as well as small trees, like the baby Royal Poinciana I put in two years ago. So I cleaned everything up and cut back plants I thought would make it. I went to a local nursery and got a few new plants, while I wait a few weeks to see what survives and what I will have to replace. I will water and meditate and enjoy watching the new chutes of growth.

Fabric Lunch Bag and Place Mat

2011-04-07T12:04:00.010-04:00

I made this Fabric Lunch Bag and Place Mat for my friend Kathy. She always brought her lunch to work in an old paper bag so I thought she could now bring her lunch in style!

The Place Matt has a tab to hold napkin and utensils.

The bag has a reinforced bottom, inner pocket, and ties to keep drink bottles in place.

I even make my own design labels.

"Sounding Woman Designs"

I can't believe it is already February of 2011

2011-02-18T14:35:00.002-05:00

Work has definitely gotten in the way of my fun and my creative endeavors! I have started to clean up my studio to get ready for the next art work. So I will lovingly go through my art and sewing supplies and get myself organized. This might take a while! But I am itching to get working on art so I am hoping for the studio cleaning elves to show up this weekend!

Austin's Stocking

2010-11-30T17:15:00.004-05:00

I made Austin (my two year old Grandson) a Christmas Stocking. He loves baseball so did a baseball theme.

Austin's Pig

2010-11-26T12:48:00.008-05:00

I painted this ceramic Pig for my Grandson Austin's second Birthday. It is never too early to learn to save money!

Salmon Button Blanket

2010-11-03T12:03:00.003-04:00

I finally have finished the Salmon Button Blanket. I began this journey back in March and now the blanket is finished and has made its way to Laura in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada! You can read about this journey by clicking on this link: Salmon Button Blanket

Button Blanket – The Journey Begins

2010-08-11T11:03:00.009-04:00

Back in March my clan sister Laura (Desert Fire Hawk), had a request for me, to make a button Blanket for her. I was greatly honored by this request and started to do some research into this ceremonial art form. There is a great book about Button Blankets, "Robes of Power: Totem Poles on cloth" by Doreen Jensen and Polly Sargent. I also picked up a child's book, "the button blanket: Northwest coast Indian Art Activity Book" by Nan McNutt. And to further my understanding of Northwest art I found the book, "Northwest Coast Indian Art: an Analysis of Form" by Bill Holm to be very helpful. And then there is a short video on the web called Vistas: Button Blanket . After reading all about the process of making the Blanket, I started searching for the materials. I wanted Black wool Melton cloth and Red wool felt. I live in Florida so wool is not a big selling item here. I found a few good websites for the fabrics and ordered what I needed. I also needed Abalone Shell Buttons, so I found a website for that.

The most important part of the Blanket process was to come up with a design that would show Lauras Family ties and stories, so we had many Skype conversations, and I began to get an Idea for the main design element the crest.

My Annual Trek to Boise

2010-05-30T12:35:00.005-04:00

I made my annual trek to Boise to visit my BFF Susan! We hiked and did art projects, met with friends, went out for sushi (yum!), shopped and did I mention Hiking? Well in all we hiked about 25 miles in the week. The First hike was up Bob's trail, schlepping all our rain gear, just in case, (the humor of the Gods would be not to bring the gear and it would pour, bring the gear and sunny Sky), It did snow just as we got back to the house, very nice! We hiked Polecat Gulch twice, the second time going the full outer loop for 5.75 miles. Then we hiked Upper Hulls Gulch for 6.75 miles.

We did watercolor monotypes, this was new to me and very fun, see my efforts below. Also I wanted to learn to use Acrylic modeling paste so we had fun with that. I tried my hand at lynocut printing, hand registering each plate and using a Baren to make the print. We had a wonderful time. And as always the time goes by to fast then I have to go home!

Scorpion

2010-05-30T12:23:00.004-04:00

I wanted to learn how to use acrylic modeling paste so Susan showed me how! Why a scorpion you might ask? Well, we were talking of the old moral of the Scorpion and the Frog....The story is about a scorpion asking a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is afraid of being stung, but the scorpion reassures him that if it stung the frog, the frog would sink and the scorpion would drown as well. The frog then agrees, nevertheless, in mid-river, the scorpion stings him, dooming the two of them. When asked why, the scorpion explains, "I'm a scorpion; it's my nature."

Sightings

2010-05-30T12:18:00.003-04:00

This is an abstract as you can tell! Watercolor monotype, while in Boise visiting my BFF Susan, I was experimenting with new art forms. Ended up with a little pink alien, an ostritch head, peacock tail, and possibly the Flying Spaghetti Monster, maybe more!

Landscape

2010-05-30T12:14:00.003-04:00

Susan showed me how to make watercolor monotypes! Very fun.

Birds

2010-04-25T14:49:00.005-04:00

This is the current challenge for Studio Atelier, I just might have made the deadline on this one. due today! Smile. Sweet little birds on a metal fence.

Cathie's Journal

2010-04-14T13:48:00.002-04:00

I have been working in my Journal, trying out different mediums, collage, acrylic, pitt pen and watercolor. I was having a bit of writers block so I started with a few "thoughts for the day". Some have turned out OK, some not so OK. You can see the rest of my journal pages here. I am a bit behind on getting them onto my website but there you have it.

Calle del Monte las Vueltas, Tegueste, CN, España

2010-04-11T16:04:00.003-04:00

The Virtual Paintout challenge this month is the Canary Islands. So I did the virtual gadabout and found this road with flowers, cactus, village and mountains in the distance. Very Nice!

Saturday Night Jukebox

2010-04-11T15:59:00.004-04:00

Well, I did it again, I missed the deadline for the Rookie Painter submission! I was doing research for a different project and wow did the time slip by. I had fun painting this. Though the reference photo did not have great resolution so had to make it up as I went along.

The Kitchen Sink

2010-03-17T17:37:00.002-04:00

This was to be my submission to the rookiepainter challenge but I left it a bit late and missed the deadline. Drat, work got in the way of my fun. I tried gessoing heavy watercolor paper then using acrylic paint.

Malibu Fountain

2010-03-13T13:37:00.002-05:00

This is my submission for the Studio Atelier challenge for March. It is a picture of the fountain in the East Garden at the Getty Villa in Malibu. I tried using gel medium and glazing. I don't know how successful it was but it was fun!

56 Lokkeveien, Stavanger, Norway

2010-03-09T17:01:00.003-05:00

This is my submission for the Virtual Paintout. The Challenge this month is for Stavanger, Norway.

Sunshine Award

2010-02-20T11:02:00.015-05:00

I want to thank Ann Rogers for honoring me with this Sunshine Award! I am really excited about this. I didn’t know that my blog was award worthy. This will definitely spur me on to better blogging in the future. Thank you Ann.

The rules for accepting the award are:
Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
Link the nominees within your post.
Let the nominees know they received this award.
Link to the person from whom you received this award.
So I am passing this along to these 12 boggers that I follow and admire their work!

Susan Moore
Dominique Eichi
Reana
Carol Nelson
Gringo Zero
Linda Smith
Diane Morgan
Sally Tharp
William Cook
Barb Hillier
Nancy Tasker
Elaine Magliacane

Karin Jurick Thank You

2010-02-12T16:19:00.004-05:00

This is my submission for the Thank You Book for Karin Jurick.

In December 2009, Karin Jurick through her wonderful website "Different Strokes From Different Folks", mounted a portrait challenge. 180 people from around the world were to submit a head and shoulders photo of themselves to Karin so that some other person of the 180 would paint it. Painters painted each other anonymously and then Karin posted all of the wonderful paintings and drawings.

As a Thank You to Karin Jurick Tribute, 118 of the above 180 artists (those who could be located) painted a portrait of Karin from a photograph supplied to them by Jill Polsby. She created a link to the Picasa album for everyone to enjoy. Album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/polsby/The118FacesOfKarinJurickJanuary2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCLCMzN6K7LOCGg

Motel Capri-San Francisco

2010-02-07T15:35:00.003-05:00

This month’s challenge for the Virtual Paintout is San Francisco! I love San Francisco! One year my friend Susan and I went to the Empty Spools Quilting Seminar at Asilomar, then drove up to San Francisco and stayed at the Motel Capri. Susan and I had the best time, we walked everywhere or took busses, and we could get to everything from the Motel Capri at the corner of Greenwich St. and Buchanan St. Here is my painting from the Google street view of the motel.

Portrait of Kaylyn Munro

2010-01-04T21:33:00.004-05:00

Karin Jurick's DSDF December's challenge was a portrait exchange. I sent Karin a photo of myself and she paired me with this beautiful gal, Kaylyn Munro. Check out her blog to see the painting of me! I hope she likes my painting as much as I like the one she did of me.

Multiple Patch Quilt

2010-01-04T20:59:00.004-05:00

I made this multiple patch quilt for my son Jim. I have been saving scraps from quilts for years and had accumulated about three big bags of them. so I set out to use them in a quilt. Nine patch, log cabin, and made up designs. I am happy with how it turned out. Just in time for the cold weather to snuggle up with.

Sun Flowers and Vase ala Vincent Van Gough

2009-11-18T22:26:00.003-05:00

Well I did procrastinate and did not get this done until the eleventh hour. The post for Following the Masters was due today. I really have a hard time with putting that much paint on the canvas. I have tried this a few times before, check the archives! I like the bright colors and found changing up the direction of the brush strokes, well it did not come naturally to me! but here it is. I posted to late to get it on the web challenge but at least I am trying. :-)

St Mary's Cathedral and Old Burial Grounds In Halifax, NS, Canada

2009-11-16T10:33:00.003-05:00

This months Virtual Paintout challenge is of Nova Scotia, Canada. I love the Google street gadabout, to find interesting images! This is of St. Mary's Cathedral and the Old Burial Grounds on Barrington St in Halifax.

Airport Travelers

2009-11-13T13:41:00.004-05:00

This is my submission for the current DSDF challenge! I can't say I ever tried to draw or paint from this "looking down on" perspective before. Looking at the negative spaces was the saving grace for me, that way I at least got close to the ball park!

San Francisco Roof Tops

2009-11-13T13:37:00.003-05:00

This was going to be my submission for the last DSDF challenge, but work got in the way of my fun and I didn't get it done on time. But I did persevere and finish it.

8 Knockbracken Rd S, Castlereagh, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom

2009-10-30T21:45:00.004-04:00

This is my submission for the October Virtual Paintout. The challenge was to use Google Street maps in Belfast, North Ireland. I followed a road out of Belfast and found this really cool pastoral scene with old barns, hedges, and open greenbelts.

Anne's Car Journal

2009-10-27T12:50:00.004-04:00

My mom is voluntarily hanging up the car keys at the young age of 86. So I made her a journal so that she can write and sketch about the process of stepping into a car-less life. I found car fabric and used nice watercolor paper, with ribbon place keepers and elastic to keep journal closed and to hold a pen. I learn something new every time a make a journal and I find that very exciting.

Sarah's Elvis Quilt

2009-10-20T14:13:00.003-04:00

My daughter in law, Sarah, gave me this Elvis fabric and said to make anything I would like. So I made a quilt for her Birthday, today 10/20/09. I used some of the techniques that I learned in a quilting class with Sandi Cummings, at one of the Empty Spools seminars in beautiful Asylomar, California.

Jungle Journals

2009-10-14T14:48:00.002-04:00

I got a small book press and a book on bookbinding and waded in. For these two journals I used USPS flat rate boxes for the book boards, fabrics for the overall cover and nice heavyweight watercolor paper inside. I gave the best one, the elephant to my Art Guru Susan. I am really happy with the way they turned out!

Praça do Comércio, Lisbon, Portugal

2009-09-29T14:53:00.002-04:00

This is my submission for this month's Virtual Paintout. Praça do Comércio, Lisbon, Portugal. I saw these colorful seats with trees growing in them and thought this might be fun. Well there is a plethora of blue! Water, sky, oh my! In addition, I guess I have never really tried to do clouds before. Well I did learn a lot, not that happy with the outcome, but there you have it!

EDM116 Draw Something Green as in Iguana

2009-09-25T14:51:00.005-04:00

I had this really weird dream about large green iguanas. I think that qualifies for Draw Something Green!

EDM17 Draw a musical Instrument

2009-09-23T12:09:00.003-04:00

This is my old friend, a 1973 Alvarez Yairi. Back in the day I taught classical guitar at a music studio and studied with Celine Romero at San Diego State.

Rylie Ann Quilt

2009-09-22T14:35:00.003-04:00

A friend is having a baby girl next week, so I made a baby quilt. I have three boys, one grandson, so quilting for a girl is a lot of fun for me. This is a log cabin design that takes 26 different fabrics.

EDM239 Draw something that has scared you

2009-09-22T14:32:00.003-04:00

What scares me is Falling! I used to ride horses until I got bucked off going over a four foot fence and broke my back. I have to be very careful with my back now, I can't do anything with impact, but walking is your friend. So now I do artwork, quilting, and gardening.

Josh in New Mexico

2009-09-07T19:28:00.004-04:00

Josh In New Mexico. My sister Barbara went on a road trip with her son Joshua, in the summer of 2008. They drove from Irvine, California to New Mexico, Arizona and back. Kudos to them! Barbara gave me this photo of Josh with a New Mexico sunset and I thought I would use this to hone my skills at silhouettes, man are they hard! Then the painting had dark areas and that was hard to photograph. Geez! This is the best I could do on the photography end. I really think this does not give the painting justice, but there you have it.

EDM236 Draw My Left Palm

2009-09-07T19:18:00.003-04:00

Zentangles

2009-09-07T19:01:00.008-04:00

I found this website on Zentangle, so I tried it. I find that it is somewhat like doodling with a purpose. The white 3.5” square did not talk to me at first, and then I remembered that: what do I do when I am on the phone for an extended period. I doodle. Yes, it is mostly stars, squares, and curly-cues…but that, as far as I can tell, is what Zentangle is about. Zen, well we all kind of know what that is, and tangle is a pattern. So you let loose and make patterns in spaces as you go along. Real easy, eh? No. You have to try it than tell me that it is easy to make REAL art of it…

Blue Dragonflies

2009-09-04T17:21:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday evening, when my kid was off to work and my DH was watching the Little League Championships; I had a few peaceful moments to myself. I went to the porch of the cottage, to be with my garden. The thunder beings started rumbling, lightening flashed, and as I sat watching, a flight of dragonfly swarmed and swooped over my garden. The dragonfly antics always make me smile. Then all of a sudden all the dragonflies flew into the palms. There is a beautiful five-foot ponytail palm just outside of the circle of my medicine garden and near the porch, and the biggest blue dragonflies alit on the lower fronds. I went to the end of the porch closest to the ponytail palm and I could see their beautiful markings. Then it came to me, why were all the flyers finding shelter in the leaves of the garden? Then the lightening flashed and the thunder beings roared, and the rain came down in sheets. The big blue dragonflies were totally out of the rain, sheltered by the palm fronds. How beautiful! The dragonflies are so much more in touch with nature and creation; they knew when to wait out the storm, just Amazing. As quickly as the storm came, after fifteen minutes it was gone, and the dragonflies, took flight!

EDM235 Draw a Butterfly

2009-08-28T17:07:00.007-04:00

I saw a photo of this Butterfly in a Magazine on Endangered Flora and Fauna that I get because I support things like the national resources defense council. I thought I would try covering an open spread in my journal using crayons as a resist, and watercolors and micron pens. I am pretty happy with the results, though I need more practice with watercolors.

Colorado River Drought

2009-08-28T16:55:00.006-04:00

I am trying to get back into writing in my journal, so here is one of my first attempts. I saw this article on how the Colorado River supplies delivered to Southern California have been reduced by as much as half because of the record dry conditions for eight of the last nine years! I tried a new way of doing this, I put the watercolor down first and when it was dry I went back and added the details with Micron Pens.

Sun Flowers

2009-08-20T17:43:00.008-04:00

My sister Barbara came to visit me in Florida and we did art. We had a great time setting up our still lifes and getting the lighting just so. We got new Hand-Book Travelogue Journals at Jerry's Artarama along with a new travel watercolor kit for me! :-) Cathie's Sun Flowers

Barbara's sunflowers

Feathers

2009-08-20T17:38:00.008-04:00

My Sister Barbara Came to visit me here in Florida and I got her to do some are with me! The First Painting is mine, the second painting is hers.

Cathies Feathers

Barbara's feathers

Sanaiy Carpets, Chelsea, London

2009-08-14T23:40:00.003-04:00

This is my submission for the Virtual Paintout challenge. This is very cool! The city this month was London, England. You go to Google Maps and let the little yellow guy walk you through the streets until you find something interesting. So there you have it. Sanaiy Carpets caught my eye because of the lady looking in the window with the stroller, and the Starbucks Coffee with people sitting street side enjoying café. I went to Jerry’s Artarama and got new Watercolor paints, and gave it my best shot. I know I need more practice!

San Francisco Street

2009-08-10T11:46:00.004-04:00

July was not a great month for art for me. So I decided to start small with the current DSDF challenge of a of San Francisco street scene. I have been working mostly with acrylics lately so I got out an old watercolor set. It was so old that the tubes were harder than hockey pucks, so I squeezed out what I could and mixed what colors I could. I believe a trip to Jerry’s Artarama is in order! I have never been very comfortable with watercolors they are SO unforgiving! But I think I will get a basic set and try my hand at it again. I looked at some of the work by Danny Gregory and got inspired. Hope it rubs off on my Journal. :-)

Travels to Boone

2009-07-30T14:12:00.005-04:00

I went to Boone North Carolina for three weeks vacation. Again I thought I would sketch lots, but intentions as you know don’t always materialize into reality. We did take a lovely drive up to Beech Mountain (one of the highest points on the east coast) and went to Buckeye Lake. My DH was fishing so I tried out some colored pencils. I haven’t done many sketches with reflections so that is what I tried to get in perspective. The sketch is so-so but the Lake and afternoon were spectacular. On the back deck of the cabin where we stayed were table and chairs to enjoy the wonderful cool afternoons. I got a beautiful pot of posies so did try to draw those using colored markers. Done very fast. I didn't do the posies justice but there you have it...

Travels to San Diego

2009-07-30T13:35:00.040-04:00

I went to San Diego for a mountain retreat up in the mountains around Julian. I was very busy, and had planned to sketch in the journal more, but for all my intentions I only made a few quick sketches. There were about fourteen women and we had great conversations, ceremonies, and hikes. We stayed at a lovely house with a fantastic view of the mountains.

The house, “Corgi’s Castle”, as we called it had a lovely vegetable garden.

One of the exercises we did was an art project. We wrote questions on the back side of the paper, mixed them up so we didn’t know which was which then started answering the questions with collage and paint. These are mine. And it was amazing how the art answered the correct question. Synchronicity!

The Sweat...

The Bee Goddess...

Desert Fire Hawk

2009-06-23T14:50:00.000-04:00

A birthday gift for Laura.

Golden Fire Eagle

2009-06-23T14:48:00.001-04:00

A birthday gift for Marilyn

Shining Turtle

2009-06-23T14:46:00.000-04:00

A birthday gift for Dina

Owl Dreamer

2009-06-23T14:44:00.002-04:00

A birthday gift for Ciny A

Lotus Flower

2009-06-23T14:42:00.001-04:00

A Birthday gift for my sister Barbara.

Summer Veg

2009-06-04T22:58:00.001-04:00

This is the current challenge from the DSDF blog, Georgia grown summer vegetables, corn, tomatoes and onion, lots of color and a fresh look. I hope I have achieved that!

Pennsylvania Farmland

2009-05-25T17:53:00.002-04:00

This is my submission for the DSDF challenge. We were to take a black and white photo of a farm scene in Pennsylvania and give our own color take on it.

La Bonne Franquette

2009-05-25T17:45:00.002-04:00

Susan turned me on to a new challenge! The Virtual Paintout! This month’s challenge was of Paris. We were to peruse the Google street views of Paris and choose a scene and paint that. I chose a tavern in the Montmartre district. This is a very cool challenge. I spent a week in Paris with my sister Barbara and my son Daniel in September 2003. This brought back really nice memories!

Moon and Stars

2009-05-21T16:31:00.002-04:00

Well since the last painting ala Vincent didn’t go quite so well, Susan and I decided to try again, this time of moon and stars with clouds. I did manage to get the paint on really thick. I tried using a pallet knife, and I have never used a pallet knife like this before. The color combinations are better this time, and I feel that the brush strokes were better. The stars are a bit out of proportion to the moon, but this is a learning experience after all.

Grand Canyon

2009-05-21T16:28:00.002-04:00

Susan and I had a challenge to paint the Grand Canyon ala Vincent Van Gogh. This is my attempt. I think I need to study Van Gogh more carefully. I have a really hard time putting paint on the canvas really thick. I got the paint on there but I am not sure of the color combinations or the brush strokes. But hey, I did give it a good try!

New York City Street

2009-05-10T17:41:00.004-04:00

This is my attempt at the current DSDF challenge. I cannot remember doing a street scene before this. I have only been to NYC once and that was way back in the summer of 1981, when I went to visit my sister Barbara who lived in Manhattan. To help get a feeling of tall buildings I chose a 6x12 canvas. Then just started sketching and found that getting the perspective right was really hard for me. Then the photo was just too busy so I simplified. I am pleased with the outcome though.

Cathie visits Boise Idaho!

2009-05-10T16:55:00.018-04:00

I made my annual pilgrimage to Boise Idaho April 16-26. Susan and I have been friends since elementary school and “Brownies”. I know I am one of the lucky ones in life to have a long and fast friendship, like the one that Susan and I share, that has lasted through getting married, having kids and moving to different states. This friendship is a true treasure and a blessing.

This vacation we hiked the foothills around Boise, picked out roses for the garden, Cooked, painted and a real treat for me, camping! In Florida, camping reeks of bug spray and bugs, heat, humidity, sand, and did I mention Bugs! So camping in cool, dry and a new place for me was great! We camped in the Craters of the Moon National Preserve.
Susan is a great art teacher, or as affectionately call her, Oh Art Guru! I got to try a new technique for me, glazing. We set up a still life of a green cast iron tea pot and cup, carefully marking where the cup and tea pot were situated as to be able to drink the tea as we worked. The first painting in each pair is mine, then Susan’.

Next we drew from an image from Wet Canvas of a flower pot on a shelf. This time we started with black gessoed canvas and the goal was to save some of the black to define the image. This was great fun. I really liked this style.

The last set of paintings is from a photo I took of a very happy Susan resting after great hiking in front of her new trailer.

A nymph and her hound

2009-04-14T21:39:00.005-04:00

The latest challenge from the DSDF blog was a marble sculpture of one of the goddess Diana's companions, a nymph and her hound. We had to include the entire statue. Boy, this was a hard challenge for me. I started by saying “nope, not gonna do it”, and then started to paint an abstract of the statue. But then Susan said I shouldn’t bail, just because this wasn’t in my comfort zone. So here it is.

Autumn Lane

2009-04-01T14:51:00.001-04:00

In Florida we just do not have fall colors that you can speak of. So when I saw a photo of fall colors on a street in Boise, that my friend Susan gave me, I had to try to paint it. With lots of artistic license, I think it turned out darker than I wanted but I did learn a lot.

Garden Fairy

2009-03-31T16:46:00.001-04:00

I found this statue at the local garden center and couldn’t resist bringing her home. Besides the fact that I need all the help I can get with my not so green thumb. So I painted her to give her life! Now she will bring good gardening luck and oversee all the garden activities.

Beach Family

2009-03-20T20:05:00.002-04:00

The latest DSDF challenge was “Beach Family”. I opened Pandora Radio on Line and typed in “Surf Safari” and started painting. Having grown up in San Diego, and basically learned to swim and body surf on Ocean Beach. This was pretty much “memory lane” for me.

Two Vases

2009-03-19T14:24:00.001-04:00

Susan chose the photo for our latest challenge, Two Vases. The smaller vase, I have painted before so it was like getting to know an old friend. In painting, the reflection in the glass was one of the hardest parts for me, but I feel that all in all it was quite successful. In photographing my art, taking a picture of a dark and shinny painting is really hard. I wasn’t as successful at that as I would like to be. But there you have it.

Daniel on Grandfather Mountain

2009-03-14T13:17:00.003-04:00

Last summer we went to Boone, North Carolina. Just west of Boone near Banner Elk is Grandfather Mountain. Daniel and I went to the top and crossed the suspension bridge where on an outcropping of rocks I took this picture. You can see the Smokey Mountains in the distance, truly a 360o panoramic view. And the Weather was spectacular.

Sushi

2009-03-05T20:06:00.002-05:00

The latest DSDF challenge is “Sushi”. I only like sushi when I go with Susan; she knows the best things to order and what sauces are the best. And after one or two sake’s, sushi doesn’t just look good it tastes good as well. As long as there are no eyes looking balefully at you as you try to swallow the stuff.

Mannequins and Wigs

2009-02-28T17:07:00.002-05:00

This is my submission for this week’s challenge for the DSDF Blog. I thought it was an interesting photo, and chose to do just a part of it. I like the colors I came up with and the style also.

Indiana Museum of Art

2009-02-22T17:56:00.002-05:00

My oldest and dearest friend Susan went to see the IMA and came home with great stories and photos. So we decided to challenge each other to do a painting. Here is my attempt.

Dixie the Guru

2009-02-16T17:22:00.002-05:00

I took a photo for the winter holidays of my dog Dixie (hence the red and green jester collar). When my friend, Susan (Art every Day blog) saw the photo she put out a challenge for both of us to paint a picture.
I call Dixie “the Guru” because she is so smart, and calm and peaceful.

California Trip

2009-02-08T19:24:00.005-05:00

I just came back from California to see my grandson Austin, who has been in the hospital. He finally got to come home! So waiting in the San Diego Airport for our flight back to Florida, I got out my sketchbook and drew the waiting area.

Then I drew the forward galley on the plane.

San Francisco

2009-01-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

I thought Oh Geez another building… DSDF Blog...But then I remembered the time that Susan and I went to Asilomar for a Quilting convention and then went to San Fran for a few days of “Down time”. We did such a Gadabout, the Warf, Coit Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and then Muir Woods. So I decided to incorporate all that into this painting. I am not sure of the painting but “memory lane” was GREAT!

Matt

2009-01-23T11:51:00.003-05:00

I have never successfully done a painting of Matt my oldest son. I think I did much better this time. Of course finding a Photo of him was the hard part. Matt doesn’t like to have pictures taken so I had to go back to 2004 to find this one!

James and Austin

2009-01-18T15:58:00.002-05:00

Austin was born early and only weighed 4lbs 15oz. While in the NICU the nursing staff taught James how to feed, swaddle and burp Austin. James is going to be a wonderful father. I took a photo of James learning how to burp Austin. So I thought I would try my hand at painting it.

Three Turnips

2009-01-17T17:42:00.001-05:00

Winter vegetables are so good. Nothing like Turnips and they are kind of pretty too!

Jefferson Memorial at Night

2009-01-16T15:38:00.006-05:00

I decided to attempt the challenge from the Different Strokes for Different Folks blog. I usually do not paint buildings but I figured why not? I am pretty happy with the result.

Just getting started!

2009-01-16T15:19:00.000-05:00

I am just getting started at this Blog thing so bear with me.