A Fanciful Feather

Feathers have many symbols…

What do they mean to YOU?

Yesterday, I made this fanciful feather from my imagination:

I created my feather with paper collage, color pencils and a white gel pen.

I’d like to give it a symbol of gratitude since I will be celebrating Thanksgiving next week in the US.

I created these other fanciful feathers in 2014:

I am grateful for many things such as my art and YOU, my blogging friend!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers!

PS. And Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate! 😃

Red, White and Blue

Today is Memorial Day in the United States when we proudly wave our American flag to thank ALL who have served our country so we can live in freedom!

Hoorah for the red, white and blue!!

On a side note, it has been a windy, rainy and cool weekend at the lake.  We have spent much of it indoors; reading, napping and eating! 😉

What have you been doing over the weekend to relax?

Cheers! 🙂

Feeling Thankful

Hearts possessing,

With thy blessing…

Giving Thanks!

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to express my gratitude to YOU!

 Thank you for all your likes and comments on my blog!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday and Thanksgiving for those celebrating!

Cheers! 🙂

Save Room For Pie!

Even if you aren’t celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday…

I hope you have a slice of pie!  🙂

What is your favorite kind of pie?

Here is a list of my favorites – not in any order:

1. Chocolate cream
2. Key Lime
3. Huckleberry
4. Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake (it is kind of a pie!) 😉
5. Pumpkin
6. Cherry
7. Apple
8. Mixed Berry

I hope you “share” your favorite with me!

Cheers! 🙂

Nature’s Confetti

I took these photos, last Saturday when I took A Walk In The Park

I hope to paint some of these trees in watercolor but work has been extra busy this week …

So for now, I wrote a haiku to share with these photos:

Things are looking up!

Fall leaves scatter unaware…

Nature’s confetti

Isn’t it wonderful how nature helps us notice the simple pleasures in life and celebrate its beauty?!

Cheers! 🙂

A Coloful Surprise!

I was so excited to see a package on my front porch last week from Royal Talens North America.  And I couldn’t wait to open it!

(Who is Royal Talens you may be asking?  I signed up for their FREE newsletter  to discover more about them.  They have some great ideas I can’t wait to try!)

Inside was a very generous set of Rembrandt Artist Quality Watercolor tubes in 16 colors!!  AND they are BIG tubes too – 20 ml size!  I couldn’t believe my eyes!  🙂

I squeezed out these juicy watercolor paints onto my palette and made a color chart. They come in a complete range of 80 colors BTW!  WHOOT!!

BUT WAIT!  There was more in the box from Royal Talens – they also included 3 – 30 ml bottles of their Ecoline Liquid Watercolor.  We are talking LIQUID watercolors!!  They come in 46 transparent colors and 2 opaque colors (white and gold).

I will definitely be using these liquid watercolors in an online calligraphy class from Ivy Newport called, “Letters to Words.”   I liked how vibrant and transparent the colors were straight from the bottle.

And they are very versatile.  I painted the background of this sample below using a brush – they blend just like watercolor paints with water.  I added black ink with a micron pen afterwards… how many weird creatures can you find on the right?!

I was also excited to see 3 Ecoline Brush Markers and a blender too! I didn’t know I could get watercolor in a brush!  Oh, the possibilities!!  (I used a blue marker in the sample above).

I experimented using the Ecoline markers and the Rembrandt watercolor in this doodle:

It was super fun to watch the brush markers blend with the watercolor paints – you can see it better in this photo:

And of course I had to try the blue Ecoline Brush Marker for a face!   I used it as an outline to separate her head and shoulders from the background.  I then softened it with a water brush:

I have more creative experiments to show you but will save them for another day!

THANK YOU Charlie at Doodlewash.com for creating #WorldWatercolorMonth in July!   It is such a JOY to receive and experiment with these FREE supplies!!

Happy Painting!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S.  I’m not being paid by Royal Talens North America for a review of their products.  🙂

Dreaming in Color

Do you ever dream in color?

Charlie at Doodlewash.com loves to paint AND dream in color…

And what a wonderful dream it is!!  He is encouraging everyone not only to paint every day with watercolor for #WorldWatercolorMonth but also give financially to the Dreaming Zebra Foundation to help children have the opportunity to create art or explore music! 🙂

Here is more information about how the Dreaming Zebra Foundation got its name!

About Dreaming Zebra™

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation is a (501)(c)(3) charity providing support so that children and young adults are given an equal opportunity to explore and develop their creativity in the arts.

How did Dreaming Zebra™ get its name?

The answer is that every zebra is unique, just as every child is one of a kind! Zebras are black, with white stripes that are as individual as fingerprints. At Dreaming Zebra, our mission is to encourage children to embrace their individuality, to express themselves creatively, and to follow their artistic dreams. Hence the name, Dreaming Zebra!

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation was incorporated in Portland, Oregon in the interest of promoting greater access to the arts for children and young adults. Our founders recognized a pressing need in many communities for the promotion of charitable donations of art and music supplies to support individuals, schools, and other nonprofit organizations serving youth and the arts.

Core to our identity is the belief that all children, regardless of their financial circumstances, should have access to art education. As a public charity powered by volunteers, this belief drives all that we do.

The Dreaming Zebra Foundation’s supporters share a common passion for education, the environment, and community, and as such, we are able to connect the synergies between those who support the arts and those in need.

I am so thankful to have ART to express my creative JOY!

I hope you join me in sharing this gift of expression by giving to the Dreaming Zebra Foundation.

All it takes is one dream to make a difference!!

Cheers!  🙂

Do You Remember?

I was recently struggling on how to paint this rose, do you remember?  Well, I decided to take this photo on a cloudy day so I had less shadows:

This helped me to see the STAR of the show – the rose and not the leaves, as Debi Riley so kindly suggested to me.  Thanks Debi!  🙂

I also appreciated the idea from Judith at Artistcoveries to do a value study first.  So I did this with my computer by printing my image in color and then in black and white:

Drawing the rose shape with a black pen on top of the black and white image also helped me see my subject better.

Next, I decided to use a stencil of my rose to create these studies in my turquoise journal that I previously shared with you:

The rose image on the left is from a stencil like I did here and the image on the right is a gelli-print like I did here.

Today, I started a watercolor painting on Aquabord inspired by Laura at Create Art Everyday who has been experimenting on this surface:

It is only the beginning of my painting but I wanted to share it with you.  I hope to experiment with adding collage too!

I just wanted you to know that I remember ALL your kind comments and encouragement in my art journey!!  🙂

I don’t always have the time to comment on your art like I wish I could but please know I appreciate YOU!

Thanks Friends!!  🙂

Yes We Can

I was feeling a little like this “stuffed bird” after our Thanksgiving meal today:

This got me thinking about how thankful I am for everything!

After going without heat and electricity for 5 days, I am so much more aware of what I have and often take for granted.

This got me thinking how I can give back to those who are struggling to make ends meet – especially around the holidays. I don’t know about you but I sometimes get overwhelmed by all the ways I could help others so I wanted to do something simple.

I have decided that every time I go to the grocery store, I will buy one extra CAN of food to give to my local food bank.  I challenge you to do the same!

I believe that together we CAN make a difference!  😊

 

Feeling Thankful

I found this quote on the internet the other day:

It says, “It is not happy people who are thankful…  It is thankful people who are HAPPY!  😊

it was a good reminder to me.  I hope you like it too!  ❤️

Giving THANKS for all of you today.  Thank you for your encouragement,  friendship and JOY you give to me!

EnJOY your day!  🌈