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! 🙂

Flower Magic

Yesterday, I experimented with Ecoline liquid watercolors.  I just love how vibrant these colors are right out of the jar.  It was fun to wet my watercolor paper first and then drop in color with an eye dropper.

I learned some of these techniques from the online class, Flower Magic hosted by Ivy Newport.

I added F&W acrylic ink in gold on top of this flower.  I also added salt over the wet paint but it was extremely slow drying.

My next flower, I added Inktense pencil by sanding the pencil over the wet paint.  I like the look of the fine granules.

And my last flower I added Ecoline gold.  It didn’t spread as well as the F&W Acrylic gold ink.  I also added Inktense pencil shavings in two different colors.

There is little control in this method of painting with an eye dropper.  It definitely felt like flower magic as each flower took shape.

Do you have a favorite color combination?  I hope you share it with me.

Cheers! 🙂

The Guests

In case you haven’t heard, Charlie at Doodlewash is hosting a dinner party this month!  It is a Doodlewash dinner party where you are invited to bring your paintbrush and draw your dinner or drink and share it on your blog.

Not too much has been shared about the guests who have started to arrive, so let’s go see who they are, shall we?!  (Oh, and I almost forgot, each one has brought a recipe to share with you!)

Josh arrives with a broken arm – Oh, no!!  He broke it while playing basketball with his son.  So Josh needed to bring this easy appetizer, Parmesan Cheese Spread.  “Be sure to use REAL Parmesan cheese and not the fake stuff on the shelf,” advises Josh, “It will make a huge difference.”

Rowdy Rob comes dancing in the door carrying his popular Party Veggie Salad.  Rob still wears his hair in a 70’s style and thinks he’s a hit with the ladies…

Next two people to arrive are Cindy Lou and her Aunt Betty Lou.  Cindy brings her zippy Meatloaf Strata.

And Aunt Betty who is a bit nutty but sweet, brings her Butterscotch Nut Bars.

Doris arrives unexpectedly with her cat, Fluffy who makes Charlie’s dog go crazy!  Luckily, Philippe comes to the rescue and puts Phineas in the bedroom and closes the door.  Doris who seems a little aloof to the whole situation presents her Upside Down Popover Pizza while Fluffy settles upside down on the couch…

Eccentric Midge saunters in carrying her famous Chocolate Julep Cheesecake.  One bite of her divine dessert and no one minds that she owns 10 cats.

Let’s hope Charlie has some wine open to get this dinner party started while MORE guests arrive…. (To be continued…)

All characters were created randomly with a brush of black acrylic ink and my imagination.

I hope I gave you a smile today and maybe a recipe or two to try?!

Happy Creating!  🙂

A Heart of Gratitude

I was playing in my sketchbook after a long day.

I added this favorite quote by Melody Beattie:

It says:  “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life!

It turns what we have into enough, and more –

It can turn a meal into a feast,

A house into a home,

A stranger into a friend.”

May you find gratitude in the simple joys of your life!  🌈

Happy Creating!  😊🎨

Keeping A Daily Sketchbook

I started an online class this week with Cat Bennett, hosted by Carla Sonheim called, “Sketchbooks: Making Art A Practice.”  You can find out more about it here.  It is a six-week course.

I started keeping a daily art journal this year but then felt stuck so I haven’t kept one up.  So far, I am really enjoying the class and I’m creating in my sketchbook each day!  YAY!

I thought you may enjoy seeing some of my pages.

Here is one color in watercolor:

Two colors in watercolor:

Soft pastels – no limit on color:

Neocolor wax pastels:

Mixed media – watercolor, Neocolors, acrylic ink:

Watercolor, ink, Neocolors:

Watercolor, acrylic ink and Neocolors and a little bubble wrap:

I’m enjoying the process of making marks without trying to create a finished product.

Do you have a favorite?  I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Creating!  🙂

Sunny Face – Part 2

Below is the abstract sunflower that I showed you yesterday:

I added some black pen to it today:

And finished it by adding some Prismacolor pencils:

It looks like it is waving “hello!”

I found this quote on the internet:                                                                           Happiness blossoms where seeds of kindness have been thoughtfully planted.

Happy Creating!  🙂