‘Tis The Season

‘Tis the season…when elves start appearing!  🙂

Fun to play in my art journal today…drawing a face of an elf from my imagination.  And adding a little glitter for magic!

I think everyone that has freckles wishes they could look like this!  😉

I didn’t get my doodle painted from yesterday as I cleaned my art room and my house!  It is rare that I’m in the mooood!  Lol!

Cheers!  🙂

A Garden Fairy

One never knows when a “Garden Fairy” will appear!  It may start with an amazing sunset:

And a few wild daisies:

Perhaps some blue sky and almost ripe cherries…

And some colorful flowers in old bucket or two:

And then magically she appears…

With some fairy dust for you!

Wishing you a magical day!  🙂

Dragoman

An interpreter by day…

And a dragon by night!

Word of the Day:  Dragoman  [drag–uh-muh n]  noun                                                1. (in the Near East) a professional interpreter.

I realize this is a bit strange…  I created it late at night when I’d had a glass or two of wine!  LOL!

Hope it makes you smile!  🙂

HAPPY Friday!  Cheers!

It’s An Enchanting World

A friend let me borrow a book that was well-loved by her children, here is one of the illustrations:

It is very old.  It is called, “A Day In Fairyland,” illustrated by Ana Mae Segren and written by Sigrid Rahmas.  It was printed in Sweden.

Last year I took a drawing and painting fairy class from Val Webb and painted this fairy in gouache:

Her name is Ivy as she is peering out from the ivy!  I enjoyed painting her eyes especially.

This year, I took another painting class from Val Webb and painted this unicorn:

It is also using gouache.  I love the sky!

I enjoy painting the magical world of fairies and unicorns.  It is fun to use my imagination!

Happy Creating!  🙂

My Head In The Clouds – Part 1

When I was a child, I liked to lie on the soft green grass and look at the clouds in the sky.  It was fun to find images in the clouds with my friends.

This watercolor painting reminded me of those carefree childhood days.  It looks a little like the sun is breaking through the clouds, don’t you think?

I started to outline the color shapes with my black micron pen (size o2) and look what appeared:

A dragon!  Do you see the eye in the top left corner, inside the orange shape?  It looks like its mouth is open and smoke is coming out of it.

When I turned my paper:

I saw a strange looking Anteater with a bent nose.  Do you see its pink head in the upper right corner?  Its tongue is reaching out for an ant.  I looked up Anteaters online – boy, are they a strange looking creature (kind of like this one!)

I suppose it could be a map too!  What do you see?  I’d love to hear from you!

Wishing you a day of sunshine and fluffy clouds!   🙂

A Tree House?

I was taking photos with my camera this weekend and stumbled upon these fairy dwellings…

At least it LOOKED like a fairy could make their home in one of these trees!

Many generations of fairies –  old and young could be living in the twisted roots of the above trees.

One never knows where they could be hiding – just out of sight!

So I decided to create a collage of what a fairy home might look like:

And here is a poem I wrote to go with it:

View 4 without a door                                                                                                        By the tree, don’t you see?                                                                                                  A fancy ledge by the edge –                                                                                              It’s a swing of a sling!

Do you think – with a wink,                                                                                            The fairies go – yes, you know!                                                                                        To lay and gaze at stars ablaze,                                                                                      The Milky Way, light years away?

I wonder how you see it now –                                                                                       The magic here with eyes so clear?                                                                                   Could it be, the fairies wee                                                                                           Gave you a view – 4 you so few?

Note:  I started my collage with the scrap of sewing pattern tissue, “View 4” as my inspiration for this collage.  It got me thinking about a room with a view.  And then I just played with this idea.  This is what magically appeared!  🙂

I challenge you to start with a scrap piece of paper and create a collage from it!  Let your imagination play!

Wishing you a magical day!

238 Days…

I was singing a song of praise this morning with the rest of the congregation, when a young child – probably about the age of three, started pirouetting in the front of the church.

As the musicians played and we sat in our chairs, this child twirled around in a circle like a fairy trying out her new wings – a little off balance and yet so full of promise.

Her cotton white skirt filled with air as her budding arms arched over her pixie haircut and a slight joyful smile touched her innocent lips.  Every now and then she would give a short skipping jump with her soft leather shoes.

I envied her carefree spirit.  She wasn’t aware that she was the only one spinning in circles on this warm Spring day.  She was content dancing to her own rhythm.

I wished that I had the ability to dance or create art with so much freedom of expression!  And then I remembered that I do have that liberty – I am the one who chooses how to dance to this rhythm called life.  I have the ability to twirl and spin!  I can fling paint around on a canvas creating an abstract or delicately paint the magical wings of a fairy.  It is my choice!

And so I have decided to spread my fairy wings and fly high above the trees!  I choose to dip and dive into my paints and move beyond birds as my focus on my blog.

I have created a bird a day for 137 days this year and over 101 days in 2014.  This equals 238 days of flying feathers, colorful nests and real and imaginary birds!  I  want to continue creating art every day but widen my focus to the world around me.  I have learned a great deal about birds and will continue my study of them – just not every day.

Like creating this party outfit for Fairy Daisy:

Life is a celebration!  And I’m ready for a new dance!  I hope you will continue to join me on my artistic journey of discovery.

Cheers!

The Top of the Morning to Ye!

Having fun drawing Leprechauns for an online class I’m taking with Val Webb.

It is really fun to draw exaggerated features such as an extra large nose or big pointy ears.  Give it a try!  I’d love to know what you do!

I will post a bird later today!  🙂

The Meeting

DAY 5 – Writing 101 Exercise –  You stumble upon a random letter on the path. You read it. It affects you deeply, and you wish it could be returned to the person to which it’s addressed. Write a brief story about this encounter.

Here is my story in 100 words:

I saw them again today.  Under the ferns, by the old bridge.  I wasn’t going to tell you because I see the worry in your kind eyes.  I recognize the lines that tighten around your mouth as you look down at your hands.  Hands that once held mine, sweetly and confidently.

You shake your head slowly and sigh.  Your eyes pierce mine, searching for answers.  I want to shout; “I have seen the fairies!  They danced with me in the sunshine!”

I hope you meet me by the bridge, tomorrow at 7 a.m.  If you do not show, I understand.

Meet Fairy Isabella.  Gouache and color pencils on watercolor paper.

Horsefeathers

A friend of mine suggested this word for a blog post.

Since I have been learning to draw horses, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use this word.

I have been sketching horses for over a week to get to this drawing.  I’m taking a drawing and painting class from Val Webb.

I added a horn to make it a unicorn:

This would be a great place to interject the word, “horsefeathers!”  It means:   rubbish; nonsense; bunk (used to express contemptuous rejection).  It comes from 1925-30, Americanism; horse + feathers, as euphemism for horseshit

I know you are wondering about the feathers part…

So I colored one of my Zentangle feathers from the other day.

And photographed it on one of my recent gelli-prints.

Here is another photo from a different angle and background:

It is interesting how the colors of the feather changes depending on the background.

Sometimes we need a little nonsense in our life!  HAPPY Friday!