The Lederhosen Bird

This weird bird is a little late to the party…

Oktoberfest was celebrated in Munich between September 17 and October 3 this year!

But The Lederhosen bird is always ready to celebrate!

Did you know that lederhosen or “leather breeches” were worn as traditional garments in some regions of German-speaking countries? Formerly, they were worn for hard work but today are mostly worn as leisurewear.

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

And Happy Fall! The leaves are changing amazing colors and the days have been extra sunny and warm in the Pacific Northwest where I live.

I have been spending as much time as possible outdoors… before the days get colder.

Do you have a favorite season? I hope you share it with me! 😃

October Square-A-Day Project

As I wait for the doorbell to ring and costume-clothed kiddos arrive with pillow cases or plastic buckets to be filled with sweet treats, I review my October square-a-day project.

This month I tried to stick to a theme. Nature was my inspiration. Simple squares. Gelli-plate printed backgrounds. What do you think of having a nature theme?

I left my 5×7 inch Gelli-plate out on my art table for the entire month of October. This led to some wonderful explorations with acrylic ink and fluid acrylics. I also enjoyed printing on old book pages.

Below are some of my favorite squares:

I believe I am now supplied with as many prints as the kids whose buckets were overflowing with Halloween candy! 😉 Sweet!!

I look forward to hearing which squares you like!

Happy November! Cheers! 🙂

More Fun With Fungus!

After my exploration of collage and drawing a pair of Rosy Bonnet mushrooms on Monday, I decided to try an ink doodle with Micron pens:

Next, I made a stencil of the mushroom from my pencil drawing. I wanted to use it in my Gelli-plate printing.

I decided to make a stencil of each shape with card stock and a plastic material (it is made for creating quilt patterns but I thought it might work):

Both worked for these fungus prints but I liked the results with the card stock the best. It was less slippery on the Gelli-plate and left less lines around the stencil on the prints:

It was fun trying both positive and negative shapes on deli paper and vellum paper:

I can even use the leftover card stock stencil in my art journal…

But that is fun with fungus for another day!

I hope I inspired you to explore mixed media in a subject you enjoy.

Cheers! 🙂

Leaves Falling

I was out in my yard yesterday and noticed the birds leaves falling…

After all, it is FALL!

Several birds were in a tree and it got me thinking about my weird birds.

There is such a variety of leaf shapes much like birds!

Perhaps there is a leaf bird? Have you seen any lately?!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

A Marvelous Maple

The maple tree in our yard is turning many marvelous colors!

I took these photos on Wednesday when we had our first SNOW of the season…

It was a shock to many trees in our area that still have their leaves…

Many people woke-up to fallen branches and trees in their yards as the branches could not hold the weight of this unexpected snow. Always so sad to lose a lovely tree!

I experimented with my Gelli-plate a little more. This time I printed on a couple of garden magazine pages.

I will use the negative and positive shapes of this oak leaf in my art journal:

May you have a marvelous weekend!

Cheers! 🙂

Autumn Inspiration

I recently purchased a few Autumn decorations for my husband’s business as Hobby Lobby, a local arts and crafts store was having a sale.

They had pumpkins in many shapes, patterns and materials!

It gave me inspiration to create these watercolor pages in my art journal:

Pumpkins on the left and leaves are on the right. I was experimenting in color. 😉

I will doodle or add collage to my watercolor shapes and show you my progress next week.

Creating challenges like this one inspires my creativity.

What inspires you to create? I hope you share your ideas with me.

Cheers! 🙂

Autumn Color Explorations

Sometimes it is relaxing to explore different watercolor paint combinations without creating a masterpiece!

I was inspired by the colors in a Pier 1 Autumn catalog I recently received in the mail.

Although I’m not ready for Autumn yet in temperature…

I did enjoy looking at the colors in this advertisement!

I read somewhere that magazine covers are good inspiration for exploring color combinations because the editors want you to buy their magazines. Let their research in color explorations work for you!

I especially liked the colors on this page:

I didn’t try to duplicate the colors exactly. Just experiment!

Adding plastic wrap to the wet watercolor gave it great texture:

I had fun mixing colors of paint and letting the colors mingle on my paper. It helped me to slow down and enjoy the process.

I’m not done with my exploration but I thought you might enjoy seeing my process.

Happy color explorations!

Cheers! 🙂

Blushing Betty

With Thanksgiving here next week in the States, it is time to start planning the Turkey dinner!

I purchased this old Betty Crocker cookbook from a thrift store.  I use it for collage.  It is filled with stains and comments on the pages… it makes me wonder whose family enjoyed it. 😉

I have been drawing a lot of pears lately so it seems fitting that a pear-shaped weird bird would appear…

Blushing Betty is a variation of the photographed recipe above for Quick Brown Betty. 

I wonder is Betty blushing because she painted her toenails?

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Learning Color Pencil

I am taking an online class from Kelly Hoernig called, “Art and Nature in Color Pencil,” at JeanneOliver.com

I purchased Kelly’s book a few years ago.  I liked her idea of combining this art medium with collage:

Yet, learning color pencil seemed like a difficult subject to me.  It reminded me of watercolor in that you start light and add layers to get deeper values.

Taking an online class is helping me get more comfortable with color pencil:

(YES, I realize it is CRABapple not CRAPapple…) Lol! 😉

It helps me to get feedback from my teacher, Kelly and learn from my classmates.

Writing down the colors I use in my sketchbook creates a guide for future subjects I study further.

I am learning color pencil slowly and hope to add collage soon!

What subject would YOU like to learn more about?  I encourage you to take a class!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Feeling Off Balance

Dear Friends,

I’ve been dealing with health issues from a car accident over a year ago…

It affects many aspects of my life.

I have not mentioned it because I want to keep my blog positive.  Yet, I am having a hard time keeping up with my blog and reading your blogs.

Please know I appreciate all your comments and likes on my blog.  I will try to comment on your blogs when I can. 🙂

I may not be posting as often as I need more time to rest.  Thank you for your understanding.

Cheers! 🙂