A Keeldeer Bird

Perhaps you have seen a “Killdeer Bird” on a sandy beach?

Well, here is its cousin, a Keeldeer Bird…

The Keeldeer is also a shoreline bird but a bit shy.  Its beak is the shape of a boat “keel” hence its name.

Let me know if you see one at the beach this summer…

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday! 

Cheers!  🙂

A First Layer

I was able to get a first layer of collage images glued to my canvas on Saturday for the online art class I’m taking from Anne Marie Grgich, that I shared with you in my last post.

The canvas is 18 x 24 inches:

This is the first of MANY layers glued with liquid matte gel medium.

I used an old credit card to smooth my papers down but still got several air bubbles…

So I decided to try a second collage on cradled wood board, this one is 11 x 14 inches:

The air bubbles still showed up but drying overnight helped many of them to disappear.  The rest of the bubbles I will need to pop with an exacto knife and add more glue and smooth with my fingers.  

I learned that the first layer of glue needs to be completely dry BEFORE adding the gel medium on top of my papers.

I did like working on the surface of the cradled wood board better than the canvas as  the surface was more even.

Someone in the class recommended “Yes” glue as it has less water in it than the gel medium.  I think I will try this in the future.

I will show you my collages as they progress…

Hope your Monday has very few wrinkles or crinkles (as in crinkly foreheads…)

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. Thank you all for your concern about my right eye.  It has almost completely healed, yay! 👀

 

 

A Poke In The Eye

Somehow I irritated my right eye…

I don’t know if I got something in it or if I scratched my eyeball.  I’m going to an eye doctor this morning to find out.

It just reminds me how wonderful it is to SEE colors and EVERYTHING!  I am so blessed.

I’m very excited about this new online class I just started, hosted by Carla Sonheim – go to CarlaSonheim.com to learn more about the online art classes she offers.

The name of this class is The College Techniques of Anne Marie Grgich.

Check out Anne Marie’s art on Pinterest  if you’d like to see her AMAZING detailed collages!

I found a few more books at a different thrift store yesterday to add to my collection and I got the Senior Discount!  Yes, there is a plus to being 55 years old and older! Lol! 🤣

I figure what images I don’t use in collage, I could use as references to paint! ☺️

Sorry to report, I did not see any Nancy Drew mystery books at this store but I did find a great book on container gardening for only $1.00 – YAY!

Anne Marie Grgich’s collages are very detailed with MANY layers of images.  One of the things that inspired me to take this class was to learn how to create more transparent layers in my own collages.  Plus, what a bonus to watch videos of another artist’s process!  I’m learning so much and the class has just started!

So back to the process of cutting and sorting images by color for this class…

It is much more fun than a poke in the eye!

Cheers! 🙂

Nancy Drew And Dapper Dan

I decided to add a little mystery to my post today…

I was at a thrift store yesterday, buying old books for a collage class I’m taking…

I’ll share more about the online class in Thursday’s post! 😉

I found several old Nancy Drew books, like this one:

I remember reading the book series as a young girl.  How about you?

This book was only $1.00 so I bought it, thinking it might be fun to read again!  😃  And possibly, include a page or two into one of my weird birds!

Which brings me to today’s post… Dapper Dan:

Dapper Dan almost turned into Dapper Damn when I was creating the hand lettering for his name and messed up!  Ugh! 😬

Thank goodness for white pens (much like white-out!)

Apparently, the “Old Maid” card game was subconsciously on my mind… Do you remember these cards?

Funny how one memory leads to another one…

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

May it bring you happy memories of your childhood…

Cheers!  🙂

A Smiley Face

When someone smiles at me, I can’t help but return a smile, how about you?

I didn’t know that Harvey Ross Ball was the creator of THE smiley face, did you?

Amazing how such a simple image can bring so much sunshine to others! 🙂

I created this circle fun in my art journal in January and was saving it for the right time to post it…

Today seems like a perfect day!

Cheers! 🙂

 

I Don’t Know…

Sometimes, I don’t know what to blog about…

Does this ever happen to you?

Or do you find yourself not knowing what to create?

I had another busy weekend with not much time to create art.

The new fridge was delivered on Saturday so we spent a greater part of the day cleaning inside and under the old fridge… before the new one could be installed.  (We moved the old fridge to the garage.)

One has to wonder why they have so many bottles of half used condiments just sitting around on a shelf, taking up space in the refrigerator.  😉

There was also those unexpected surprises, like the moldy cheese in an ugly shade of blue hiding in the corner or the lime that is no longer green.  (Oh, that’s what that was!)

The new fridge did get installed but the water hose leaked to the ice maker.  Luckily, my hubby was able to buy a part and fix it himself.  Fingers crossed that it is fixed! :-0

So back to creating art, I realize I got a bit off track…

I spent my evenings finishing this doodle of squares and circles with pencil shading:

I don’t know what month I will use it for my project… I’m finding planning ahead does have its advantages!  Like cleaning out under the fridge more than every 20 years…

Happy Monday!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Finding Balance

I started this drawing of squares and circles recently with a Micron black pen:

I was thinking of using a drawing for one of my monthly Square Projects;  you can read more about my project here: February’s Square Project

I think we all struggle with finding balance in one or two areas of our lives.  I know I do! 😉

Sometimes I wish life was as easy as balancing lights and darks like this collage:

The collage is still waaay too busy for me, much like life is some times… and yet cutting up the original collage and rearranging the pieces helped me to focus on the whole picture, not just the annoying parts!

It also helped me create balance in this drawing:

Creating art teaches me a lot about finding balance in my life.  How about you?

My drawing is almost complete, next I will add pencil shading.

Cheers! 🙂

 

A Cinch

This weird bird was A Cinch to make:

According to Wikipedia, Cinch is an American trick-taking card game primarily played by four players.  Developed in Denver, Colorado in the 1880’s the card game went out of fashion with the rise of Auction Bridge.

The word, cinch has several meanings in the dictionary, such as easy and having a tight grip.

I thought it made the perfect subject for today’s weird bird!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

 

Art As Meditation

I find creating art can be a form of meditation, especially watercolor.

I started this experiment drawing random circles and squares using Stabilo water-soluble pencils and Faber-Castel watercolor pencils.  I then drew a circular pattern with a number 2 pencil to add interest.  I’m using 140 lb cold press watercolor paper.

Next, I started filling in the outlined shapes with watercolor.

I find this is a good exercise to learn how to control my brush, experiment with color mixing and the ratio of water to paint.

Progress is slow yet steady…

Taking photos of my progress, helps me to create balance, rhythm and interest.  In the two photos above, I discovered after viewing the photo on the left, I needed to add brighter red and yellow in some areas to make them pop, as shown in the photo on the right.

This is still a work in progress, but I’m enjoying the journey of discovery…

Happy Art Making!  Cheers! 🙂

 

Every New Beginning…

I had a busy weekend… still fridge shopping.  I think we have it narrowed down to the one we want!  Hoorah! 😉

We made a slight detour to a furniture store on Saturday and I got the bargain of the century!  Score! 🙂 I think everyone likes a good bargain, I know I do!

I got this table that is counter height, includes 4 chairs for $230.00 – all because it had a slight dent in one corner.

I am very excited because the middle of the table has a lazy susan that spins.  It will be the perfect table for my art space!  And it has storage in the middle section of its base, which you really can’t see in this photo.

I have been looking for a table that is counter height and was thrilled to find one. 🙂

I am in the process of selling my “formal” living furniture and changing it into a creative art space.  More on that later…

I thought this quote was fitting, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca

Do you have a creative space where you create?  I’d love to hear more about it!

Cheers! 🙂