A Hand-Made Paper Wreath

Remember this “handala” mandala from last week?

Well, I finished it this week…

I used a flower stencil, a black Micron .01 pen and a new 2-inch circle punch:

Creating a Hand-made Paper Wreath:

And I used hand-painted papers for my circles…

I encourage you to try your “hand” at making a paper wreath!

Cheers! 🙂

Special Delivery

This Fan “male” bird arrived special delivery yesterday…

Just in time for Weird Bird Wednesday!

I hope you handle your day with care!

Cheers! 🙂

A New Art Journal

I LOVE starting a new art journal…  Just think of the possibilities!! 😃

A friend I met in the beginning of my WordPress journey – Laura @createarteveryday – who is now posting only on Instagram, told me about this journal from Ranger/Dina Wakley:

I purchased the 8×10 inch size journal at Amazon.  It has about 3-4 different surfaces in it, one of them being burlap which I have never journaled on… I’m curious to see what happens with it!

Laura says that Dina Wakley has several mixed media art videos available on YouTube using this journal.  I look forward to checking them out!  🙂

My first page, I started with a stencil of my hand…

And before I knew it, the wheels of my imagination started turning…

I added color with Ink Tense Blocks, Neocolors, Ecoline watercolor (the pink swirls of color), Gesso on the hand and for the flowers, fluid acrylics and stencils finishing with a black Micron pen and white gel pen.  Basically, a little of this and that!  Lol! 😉

It is busy and colorful and FUN!!

I look forward to exploring MORE mixed media with this new art journal!

Cheers! 🙂

The Power Of Touch

I do not believe we can ever understand the depth of love…

And the power of touch!

I started my two hands in watercolor last week, if you recall:

And added the finishing “touches” in ink over the weekend.

Two people who “touched” my life with love recently passed.  One a family member and the other the mother of a friend.  Both ladies were 95 years old.

It has made me think more about how others touch my life and how I have the power to touch others with love.

Cheers! 🙂

E, F and G

I have been adding collage to finish some of my watercolor alphabet journal pages from the month of July.

I thought you might enjoy seeing them – before and after collage photos:

Letter “E” is for eyes:

For the collaged “hair,” I colored Swedish tracing paper with Derwent Ink Tense Blocks, added water to blend the colors and let dry.  I then sewed them to my paper with a light gray thread.  Her eyes were a little more sultry than I intended!  😉

Letter “F” is for Fridays, frogs, flowers and ferns:

I stapled my handpainted collage papers to my watercolor paper.  I then covered the staples by gluing a circle over them.  The black letter “f” is a sticker.

Letter “G” is for mixing greens:

I attached the collage paper with a flower brad, glued a paper scrap with a square on top and added the “good” fortune:  You will hear good news today!

I hope to finish letters, “H” and “I” next week!

Happy Friday! Cheers! 🙂

A Hand-Drawn Mandala

I recently purchased this book on Mandala Art from Amazon:

Since I am exploring art with my hand this week, I decided to try a hand-drawn mandala:

First, I drew my hand and then reduced its size on a copier.  Next, I started with my flower pattern in the center, moving outwards, something I learned from the book.

Note:  It helped to copy my reduced image of my hand on card stock for a stencil.

I used my stenciled hand to create a pattern on the rough grain, 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.  I used a purchased stencil for the heart and tulip.  I drew the diamonds and swirls free-hand as you can see above.

Experimenting with Ecoline liquid watercolors, I used yellow, red and green directly from the bottle without diluting it.

WOWZA!  That red is so vibrant!! ❤️

I used Winsor & Newton Watercolor in Pernament Magenta for the flower petals in the center and Colbalt Turquoise Light for the tulip shapes – that I diluted with water.   Interestingly, the yellow Ecoline color bled when I applied the turquoise color on top but not when I applied the Ecoline red undiluted on top of the yellow.)

After the paint dried, I outlined my pencil lines with a .05 Micron black pen for definition:

I’m not sure that I am done so I will let it rest a few days…

Have you ever created a Mandala?

Cheers! 🙂

A Knit-Capped Crane

One never knows when they will spot a Knit-Capped Crane in the fresh water of a marsh:

This weird bird is related to the “Hooded” Crane…

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday! 

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. Can you find the hidden hand in the bird’s body?

Two Hands

I experimented yesterday with tracing both hands with a black Micron pen:

My right hand on top of my left hand… Then adding watercolor to both:

I used watercolor paper by Daler Rowney, Langton Prestige in rough grain for my above experiment.  I love how a pinch of salt into the wet paint gives a nice texture.

I also experimented on Arches, 140 lb hot press watercolor paper with a different paint color palette:

The smooth texture doesn’t react to the salt or the watercolor in the same way as the rough grain:

Yet, it gives my two hands a different dimension.  I plan to doodle on this one as it is much easier to draw on with ink.

I like the first painting for its simplicity and the second one for its complexity of layers.  How about you?

Cheers! 🙂

My Hand…

Do you remember tracing around your hand when you were in elementary school?

This is how my hand doodle started with a simple tracing…

Next, I started adding flowers and dots and swirl patterns and before I knew it, I had created this:

If I was to read my hand, I’d say that a new doodle series may be in my future! 😉

Happy Creating with your hands!

Cheers! 🙂

Rocking It…

OK, I agree, my title is a bit punny for one of the last five watercolors I did in July:

Next, I decided to expand my horizons (so to speak) and painted this landscape:

Not a subject I normally paint, so I was pleased with it… below is my reference photo I used from a photo I took of a nearby creek:

We recently had a full moon that inspired these summer stars:

I enjoyed playing with a dagger brush and different color combinations for them.

Time was short so I experimented to create this fantastic feather:

I used a straw to blow wet pools of watercolor paint and gold acrylic ink to give it some pizazz!  The collaged letter, “F” I created from one of my leftover watercolor circles from a previous project.

I ended my last painting for July with this door and quote:

I was ready to close the “door” on this project and start something new!

Thank you ALL for your encouragement on this month’s project, as always, I appreciate your kind comments and likes of support… it means so much to me!

Cheers! 🙂