Coloring pages - Cat

New kitty cat to color. Send me a picture of your finished art work! To print, download image and print as a full page photo. Happy Coloring! Find more pages here. #AdultColoringPage

Coloring Pages

I belong to the Color Pencil Society of America and our chapter is participating in a project to provide coloring books for adults undergoing chemotherapy, to give them something to concentrate on while they are receiving their treatment. Creating line drawings like these is something I've never done before but liked immensely. I will probably create more, but I wanted to share the ones I've drawn for the book. Please feel free to print them out for yourself or anyone else who wants to color and send me pics of the results! To print, download image and print as a full page photo. Happy Coloring! #AdultColoringPages

The Latest art work

It's hard to believe that it has been over two years since my last post, but to my credit, I moved, had a kid and wrote two or three novels, so I haven't been idle. Only recently have I started drawing in earnest again and here are some of the finished products.

Title: Frozen Fairy Dreams (Colored Pencil on 100% Cotton Paper) Click to see the full image.

Title: Pink Kaleidoscope Spring (Colored Pencil on 100% Cotton Paper)

I’m still alive!

I know, it’s been a while, but I have a good excuse. See, in among all the excitement of the last post from mid-November, I also found out I was pregnant. Now there are some women who are great at being pregnant. I am not one of those. Between three bouts of colds/flu and several months of morning sickness, I am simply glad that I was able to hold my place in life, meaning the house is still standing, no one starved and no irreparable damage was done. Now that I am starting to have good days again, it is amazing to me how many dreams and ambitions have returned. I hope that I can always remember how it feels to be in bad health and be thankful for the good days even if I don’t get anything accomplished. Anyway, I won’t give you any more details about the last three months because I am SOoooo tired of being sick, talking about being sick and thinking about sick.

            Even though I’ve have been mostly out of commission and BooBear has decided that naps are not her thing anymore, I have managed a get few things done. I am taking a figure drawing class with Lisa Semerad at the Torpedo Factory. It is a great class and I’m learning quite a bit, but I wish I could take a day time class. By 7pm, I am usually settling in for the night and it’s tough to keep up the interest after a long day with the toddler. I also have created a few crafty things, including 2 bracelets, earrings, necklace charm, and plaque and name cards for the sister-in-law’s wedding. I also edited 1.5 chapters of the novel. When I write it out like that, it doesn’t seem like much, but when I start to feel like that I have to remind myself that I also grew about 5 months worth of new human being. The due date is July 9 but I am hoping for a 7-6-13 birthday just because the numbers are cool. Oh yeah, I’ve been working more on my ice dragon. Here is the comparison. Lisa (from the art class I’m taking) suggested a darker background behind the dragon and it looks fantastic!

            Now that I have come back to life, so to speak, I have a lot of things I want to do, but I am going to prioritize a few. 1) Keep editing the novel. 2) Write a pitch for the upcoming Nano contest and hope I win their little lotto so I can get some free professional critiques. 3) Paint some picture matts for friends. 4) Prepare for the new baby and possible move. There are several other projects that I would like to work on, but they are pretty ambitious and maybe not the best focus, but… since I’m enthusiastic about them, I might not wait for a more prudent time. 1) Create a tree on the wall in Sabrina’s room for family photos. (Reason for not starting: we might move.) 2) Put some effort in a comic/blog and get it off the ground. (Reason against: should focus on the other stuff). 3) Paint pretty designs on Boo Bear’s furniture. (Reason against: Need someone to add another coat of paint before I can do decorative painting because I am supposed to stay away from paint fumes. 

Victory and Courage to Quit

So, November has been a very eventful month and it is only half over. As I often mention around this time of year, November is NationalNovel Writing Month and this year I was more prepared than I've ever been. This showed in my first week word count of about 2000 words per day, when previously I've struggled to get to the minimum of 1,667 words. Then week two came along and I began to struggle with one of the story tracks. Words would fly out on the other, but it was agonizing going for the problem track. Around this time, I got very sick, my cat died and a few other things came up and I fell behind. I would rally and catch up or catch up enough to make success still possible, but then fall behind again when I was too sick to write or my daughter wouldn't nap. Finally, I came to realize that I was walking a fine line between sanity and pushing myself to reach this goal that no one but myself cared about. In other words I was just making myself sicker and not dealing with the grief I felt over my cat. I contemplated quitting, but the reality was that I could have pushed myself through to achieve this goal of 50,000 words so I wouldn't have to admit to myself that I was a quitter. Here’s the thing -  people always celebrate the person who pushes through to achieve the impossible goal no matter what the cost and ostracize the person who quits, but I think it takes even more courage to quit than to keep going. At least I have always found it to be so. I feel as if I have let everyone down, let myself down and in general created a big void of disappointment. I would be easier to bottle up my own feelings than to disappoint and justify. Quitting is not easy for me and it was not easy this time, but in the long term, I will be better in regards to my mental and physical health and the novel I am writing will be better. I will have time to figure out what is wrong with the story instead of just pouring out bad drivel to get a word count. And I will finish this story. I always do. Each Nano novel I have written has been completed much later and is another 30-40K longer than the 50K nano goal. So, I am taking the pressure off and taking a break to feel better.

            However, it’s not all sad news from this quarter. My Fairy-kissed Acorns made it into the Small Works art show at the Torpedo factory. Victory is mine! I’m over the moon! Unfortunately, the reception fell right at the beginning of my cold and I couldn't rally myself to attend, make new acquaintances and spread my plague to as many as possible. I was extremely disappointed, but as if to make up for it, I received a nice letter in the mail from an admirer of my drawing. How often does that happen? I won’t copy the whole note here, even though I am tempted, but will mention that the words “luxury, beautiful and vibrant colors” were used in the letter. So nice!!!! I’m going to keep the note forever in my little art scrap book! So, if you are ever impressed with someone’s creation, please do not be afraid to tell them. I promise they will appreciate it. :)

            In conclusion, it has been a memorable month and will probably continue to be so. Keep tuned for whatever comes next. 

Fairy-Kissed Acorns

While walking at a local park, I came across acorns that were not the traditional brown or even the premature green, but a myriad of fall colors. Like a magpie, I collected pockets full. To prove the acorns were really this color, I took several photos, but I wanted to draw them from a still life. I had to get cracking before they turned to common brown acorns. Here is the result. This will be my next entry into the art league show and possibly into an online show. Except for some framing work, I am done with art for a while so I can participate in Nanowrimo.

                                                               Fairy-Kissed Acorns 

Butterfly of the week

Took longer than I thought, but here is the latest butterfly.

Art and rejection

 Today I was rejected from another show. To be fair there was about a 20% chance my art would be accepted based on the number of entries/space. I know fantastical art is not enthusiastically received at everyday galleries, but I decided to start trying again. For this first show, I didn’t enter my best work even though that is the rule. My best work is unframed, unfinished or in another show. I entered two pieces that I drew over ten years ago in hopes they would be accepted and sell so I wouldn’t have to move them around anymore. Again, I had little hope they would be accepted, but I was more disappointed by their rejection than I anticipated. While pondering why I should still feel so acutely for something that I drew over 10 years ago and that I knew was not my best work anymore, I came to a realization that those pieces of art work have become anchors weighing me down.

Allure of the Spinners

            How can I move forward with art work while I have all these pieces hanging about reminding me that I am not good enough yet? I can make all the excuses in the world such as the little exposure they have had and not finding the right art lover, but no matter what they really are, to me they have come to represent failure. They served their purpose to me while I was drawing them, but I should have moved them out of my life the minute I finished them, because now, after all these years have passed, I somehow feel as if I should be ashamed of them. Even though, when I look at them, I can still see past their faults into the beautiful bits and the joy I had in drawing them, but as soon as I stop looking at them they become the drawing that no one else likes. Since they are an extension of me, it becomes the part of me that no one else likes and then soon becomes a ridiculous declaration rattling around in my head that, “No one likes me.” All the while, the reality is that I have had many complements on them and people like me just fine independent of my art work. Still since they have become symbolic of failure instead of what they really are, the work of a young inexperienced artist, they must go. “Allure of the Spinners” will go to my mother and I will find a good and loving home for “In the Dust.” This show was the last chance for these two drawings.

In the Dust

But the thought of giving a drawing away is heart rending in its own way. All my drawings are my children and it is very hard to part with them sometimes. I’ve given others away, but I’ve given them to people who will appreciate them and treasure them. Unfortunately, there are a few drawings that I can’t imagine anyone liking enough to hang in their home and “In the Dust” is one of those. It is easier to imagine a stranger wanting to buy it than to figure out which friend will treasure it. What if I offer it to someone and they don’t like it? They might accept it out of politeness, look at it in horror and only hang it when I come for a visit. What if it ends up in the dumpster someday or is donated as one of those sad Goodwill pictures? How can I give it away when this might be its fate? I’d rather sell it to a stranger than risk giving it to a friend, because by paying the money for it the stranger has proved he wants to own it and love it, but I have yet to find that stranger. So, you see how I have chained myself to these ten year old drawings. I love them and they make me feel rejected all at the same time, but in the end they have to go. Good bye, little pieces of me. 

A Million Blue Butterflies

A couple months ago, I painted some blue butterflies and I liked them so much I've decided to paint a million more of them. So I have my start with a score of mini canvases to paint and here is my first butterfly.

Here is my work table covered in canvases in varying degrees of sky, cloud and so on..

Oil painting class projects

So here are a few paintings in varying degrees of completion from the class I took on color and oil painting. 

This is my first portrait with oils and even though it has problems, I am quite happy with it. BTW, she isn't angry. That is just the neutral face of a model that has to sit for 3 hrs while beginners squint at her from behind their easels. 

All in al, the class was a fun and interesting experience even though no one talked. 

Art and Color

I'm taking a painting class, all about color. It's half way through and while I feel as if I am learning new concepts, it hasn't answered in the social department. No one talks and there are times where I feel like screaming out at them, "I talk to a toddler all day. Please say something." But I don't and instead, I hand out candy in hope of making friends. Oh well. I'll have to buy friends with candy somewhere else. Here are the fruits of my labor. I liked the white urn, but please no more monochromatic stills.

And here is the ice dragon. I thought I would be done by now, but it is lacking that little something that makes it finished. So, I am putting it away for a while in hopes that the finishing touch will pop into my head. 

Eleven Floors of Art

Yesterday, I went to visit the Artomatic in Arlinginton, VA. This is an event where an old office building is filled with art before it is torn down. In this case, the 11 story building housed over 1,300 artists. Imagining that each artist presented 10 pieces, that is over 13,000 pieces of art. I confess; I didn’t see it all. We visited about 3.5 floors before I experienced art burnout. I wish I hadn’t waiting until the last day to go, but had planned several days so that I had a chance to experience and savor all the art.

Well, maybe not all the art. One of the wonderful things about artomatic is there is no gate keeper. There is no juror inflicting his particular taste on the show. There is no austere woman telling artists they are not good enough. On the other hand, one of the bad things about the Artomatic is that there is no gatekeeper saying that someone might need to practice a little more before they try to show some work. Everyone and anyone can exhibit. This lack of a gatekeeper creates quite the diverse experience.

What I came to realize while wandering through is that I don’t appreciate most art. I don’t get it. I don’t think it’s beautiful. I could do without it. That said, I don’t believe my opinion on should make a difference to anyone except me (and maybe my husband who might be inspired to buy me artwork). I’ve often wondered what other people saw in the art they decided to hang in their homes. I have no love of pastoral landscapes or elephants working in India. I don’t want to continually look at scenes from city streets or people at work or play. I don’t want to take the time to delve into the meaning of a piece of art. I want to see it and have everything it is conveyed to me in a blast of wonder. Then maybe I’ll be interested in what the artist was thinking. As I wandered through the Artomatic, I felt like I was just walking through rooms of noise with the occasional moment of silence when I found the art that spoke to me. These tended to be macro-photographs of nature, serene natural or abstract paintings, trees of any kind and anything with beautiful lines or bold colors. In other words, art that felt soothing. I hate to confess it, but I also walked out being amazed at how much bad art there was in the world. That is a secret, mean thought, so please don’t tell anyone. However, whenever I have mean thoughts, I am rarely content to let them stand unassailed. I must investigate and break them down to their primal elements. After ruminating over this thought for a day or so, I finally came to an epiphany. Art is about taste. I know, that ‘s boring and unoriginal, but here come the original part. My artistic taste reflects my preference for how I live my life. I love being in nature and often long for the childhood days where I could be out in the world and never hear the sound of mankind. I love the quiet wind in the trees. I love the small changes that happen every day from the bursting of a flower to the sprouting of a fungal castle on a rotting log. Art is supposed to inspire emotion and I hate being riled up, sad or riddled with angst. I want to be soothed or humored. So of course I am not going to appreciate art depicting riotous crowds on city streets or profound political messages. However, I realize as an introvert, I am in the minority preferring to be away from people and the riot of life. The type of life I enjoy is directly reflected in the type of art I enjoy. And for other people, I am absolutely positive this is true as well. So people who love mankind and civilization are going to love art based on it. I am sure many of those people walk into the rooms where I linger and walk right back out again because they are bored out of their mind. That’s OK. More solitude for me. So, I am so glad I went to Artomatic for the sole reason that it allowed me to reach this realization. Without seeing so much art in one place, I doubt I would have muddled it out. The new look on art will also have bearing on the perception of my own art. When I show my art to people, everyone seems to love it, but few people want to buy it. I won’t deny there was a little sting in that. For many years, I have tried to bend my subject matter to more mainstream subjects, with the hope that I would make some sales, but I could never really get there. I don’t think I could paint a bowl of fruit if my life depended on it. The few mainstream pieces I have painted, I got through solely on the challenge of the work, not inspiration from the subject matter. My recent epiphany has led me to the conclusion that I shouldn’t try to change. There are people out there for me. They are just a smaller set of the population than the fruit and barn lovers and it will take longer for us to find each other. Thanks Artomatic for giving all those artists a chance to reach their people and for leading me to a new way of looking at art.

 Also, just a quick promo of the artists I know who displayed art at the Artomatic.

Jennifer Stone – Definitely one of my people
Blair Jackson – Not for me, but I could easily knock off 75% of my Christmas list in her art store.
Lisa M. – Her art makes me smile.

Rose Solar light

I made a solar rose using milk jugs. I am pretty stoked about it. Here's how to make your own.

Supplies: Cheap Solar light, Tape, White Spray Paint (not Krylon), Scissors, 1-2 cleaned milk jugs, Hot glue gun, Spare Hot glue gun (in case the first one explodes in a fiery death), Glue sticks, wooden skewer or chopstick, and extra fingers to replace the burned ones. 

 Disassemble the light. Keep the stake for gardening or other craft projects. For this project you only need the part that houses the light.

 Cover the light bulb and the solar panel with tape. Spray paint until coated in white. I used Krylon white and it came out a little tacky. Hopefully you will have better luck with a different brand.

For the very center of the rose I used a piece of the handle from a 1/2 gallon and started gluing petals from there. Use the skewer to press the petals in place until the glue hardens so you don't burn your fingers.

 If your glue starts smoking and the glue comes out yellow, please throw it out before it explodes.*

*Note that the glue stick in the barrel has turned black.
*In other news, I now know that when facing a ball of fire, I do not scream like a baby, but curse like a sailor. Hopefully my toddler never learns this fact about me.

Tip 1 - Use a sharp pencil to etch your line into the milk jug and then you won't have to worry about the line of say a marker showing on your petals.

Tip 1 - It helps to have a curve on attachment point of the petal. They sit in place better.

Tip 2 - The inner petals should be smaller, but the outer petals can all be cut from the same pattern.

And here is your finished rose.

Now, I have some ideas about what I could do with my rose. The important thing is to be aware of how light will charge your rose. The solar panel has to get some light.

1) Flip it over during the day to charge and then use it like a tea light at night. 

2) Cut a loop (see below) to glue around the light and hang it in a window, sun room or on a tree outside for a floating, glowing rose. 

3) Make more and more and more of them to great a hanging, spiraling rose chandelier! 

If you have ideas for where to put them, please comment below. Happy Up-cycling!

Art brain

I don’t want to edit anymore. I want to paint and draw, so why fight it. Here’s a picture of the background progress on my Ice Dragon. I like it! It looks like velvet. It’s slow work, but also very zen.

I also got a book called Perspective by David Chelsea (recommended by RuthLampi at Balticon). It's an awesome book and is totally blowing my mind. I have wanted to learn to paint distant landscapes and cityscapes forever. A few years ago, I took an art class for just such a purpose, but it turned out to be useless. I have been really discouraged about it since. None of the books seemed to have what I was looking for. They all seemed to talk about fading into the distance and all. I understood, but it never looked right when I tried it. This book is teaching me why and I love it. It feels like I have been given the keys to the kingdom of art or something and I am only a third of the way through the book! I think all this time I have been looking for a class on perspective, but that's not something they teach in community art classes.  I used to figure out perspective slow way - with trial and error, but now I’ve been given rules and tools to use. Watch out world! Anyway, I love learning new things! Here is a sketch I did last night while learning the rules. It’s not much, but you can see the beginnings of a city block and it doesn’t look wonky! 

These are some flags I designed  on a whim for the novel I am writing. They are just design sketches, but they make me happy!

Blue Butterflies

Working on some butterfly paintings for Sabrina's room. These are my first ones. They are pretty small - practice ones really for the larger canvases, but I am having fun with them too.

Ice Dragon Project

In between writing, I have been painting away on my ice dragon. I know it is not perfect and has flaws, but I love it and am really enjoying the process. Here are a few pictures...

The Dragon


Practice piece for the frame


Start on the frame details

Autumn Wreath

I got inspired by all the autumn goodies lying about the sidewalk and made this fall wreath for my friend Diane. I hope she isn't reading my blog these days because it will ruin the surprise. (Act surprised if you read this Diane. :D)

You'll need a wreath, oak leaves, acorns (both parts), marbles, decorative wire, and a hot glue gun.

Acorns can be wrapped in wire or glued back into the cupule.

Alternatively, you can glue marbles in to the cupules.

Then go wild with the glue gun! Happy gluing and wiring!

Updates

It has been over a year since I posted here and what a year it has been. My excuse is that I had a baby and raised her all by myself for 6 months while my husband was deployed. I think that is a pretty good reason to take a hiatus. However, during that time I was only taking a break from my blog, not from writing and art. I taught several drawing classes and really enjoyed that. I will be looking for future opportunities to share my knowledge with more people. I have worked on a few different art projects, but have been concentrating on the ice dragon. Here is a sample of the technique I am using to paint his wings. So far he is delicious (yes, I have been watch too much Sesame street with Sabrina) and I can't wait until he is done to show you all.

I have been writing too, but I feel pretty eclectic with this. I attempted Nanowrimo last year, but did not make it. My daughter was born Nov 12th and I was just not able to write a 50K novel in 11 days. I continued to work the novel over the last couple months, but I feel there is something missing and until I figure out what that is, I think this novel will be on the shelf for a while. I also have been inundated with nonfiction writing ideas lately, but I have just been writing some notes rather than full articles.

This last weekend I had a table at Fantasci in Chesapeake, VA. I found out 2 days before that I would be able to do it and so had little time for preparation. However, this was the best show I have done to date. I talked to so many people and sold some prints. Even better, I recognized a few people that I have seen at other conventions. That was a first and it made me feel like I belonged. :)

I am moving to the Washington DC area in August and I am excited about this for many reasons. I think that DC will be great to explore and can't wait to spend some time in Museums being inspired. Also, there are so many writing and art groups that I can join and I have already started looking.

Art Madness

Despite the lack of posts in the last 6 months, I have been busy. Here are a few of the paintings that I have finished recently.

Three Piece Installation
Straight Mist, In the Mist, and Mystic Spirals Now looking for a good home at the Harbor Gallery!! :D

Autumn Haze Now waiting for acceptance into the Mid-Atlantic Art Show. (crosses fingers)

Another art project was to submit a portfolio to a card company. Here is a new one and my favorite from the portfolio.

Orange Poppy Curves

And last but not least, my current project... I am trying to be better about planning my work before execution, so this is a sketch of the drawing. I am going to change a few things and do this in color next. I am supposed to do a color study first, but I am just too eager to wait.

Hope you enjoy!