A Puzzler

I love to experiment with color and patterns, as you may already know! I find it very meditating.

I recently completed this doodle:

One of the things I did differently with this doodle was I added three flowers on top of my doodle that I printed on deli paper using my Gelli plate and a stencil.

What is really fun about printing on deli paper with fluid acrylics is that the pattern is transparent when you glue it down to your paper. You don’t see the deli paper. I printed my flowers in a light red color.

This time I took my experiment a step further and glued it over my doodle (with a glue stick). I next added further details with Copic markers and color pencils on top of the deli printed flowers. I didn’t know I could do that!

I also experimented creating patterns with color pencils in my doodle and coloring Copic markers over them.

Another great thing about creating a colorful doodle is making copies to use as collage. The colors came out exceptionally bright with the Copic markers.

And behold! I found a rabbit:

And a bird (think swan–like):

The journal is for my online class I’m taking with Carla Sonheim, The Year of the Rabbit. I added some postage stamps from other countries to add interest to my pages.

I hope you have fun doing some art experiments today! I’d love to hear what you are working on.

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Winging It

I have been hand stitching and beading two wings for a second bird for an online class I’m taking with Kelli May Krenz.

These two wings are for my Wide Winged Bird:

I still have to complete the body but I just love how the wings turned out so I had to show you!

And speaking of bird wings, did you know there are 4 general wing shapes for flying birds?

According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, these wing shapes are:

Passive soaring wings – These wings have long primary feathers that spread out, creating “slots” that allow the bird to catch vertical columns of hot air called “thermals” and rise higher in the air. Examples of birds with this wing type include eagles, most hawks and storks.

Active soaring wings – These wings are long and narrow, allowing the birds to soar, or fly without flapping their wings, for a long time. However, these birds are much more dependent on wind currents than passive soaring birds. Examples of birds with this wing type are albatrosses, gulls and gannets.

Elliptical wings – These wings are good for short bursts of high speed. They allow fast take offs and tight maneuvering. While they allow high speed, the speed cannot be maintained. Examples of birds with this wing type are crows, ravens, blackbirds, sparrows and thrushes (such as the American Robin).

High-speed wings – These wings are long and thin, but not nearly as long as birds with active soaring wings. As the name suggests, birds with this wing type are incredibly fast, but unlike those with elliptical wings, these birds can maintain their speed for awhile. Examples of birds that have this wing type are swifts, ducks, falcons, terns and sandpipers.

I hope you enjoyed this little lesson about bird wing shapes!

Spread your wings and soar today!

Note: Still more stitching and beading of the bird’s body so stay tuned for a future post!

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Rabbits, Balloons and A Feather

You will be seeing a lot of rabbits and bunnies from me this year!

Carla Sonheim’s year-long online class is The Year of the Rabbit.

It is my goal to spend 10 minutes each day, drawing a rabbit!

Hot Air Balloons:

I recently completed this 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. I just love how colorful it is!

A feather I doodled with black Micron pens:

I kind of messed up on the top so I glued a piece of paper over it! Ha! And drew on top of the paper.

I like how the pencil shading adds dimension:

Do you have any creative goals this year? I hope you will share them with me!

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

A Little Shimmer

I recently painted this Hummingbird in watercolor then added black ink with a thin brush and white gel pen:

I used this cardboard Hummingbird (I made several years ago) for my model:

I started with a quick sketch:

And then applied my regular watercolors before I added a little shimmer with iridescent watercolors:

This is the iridescent watercolor brand I used:

It really added a nice shimmer don’t you think?

I love holiday ornaments that give a little sparkle and shimmer to the tree!

How about you? What kind of ornaments adorn your tree?

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

Bird Watchers

I discovered two weird bird watchers when I was watching birds at the lake last weekend…

One was high on a branch with his binoculars close by:

The other was well hidden and appeared to be wearing a disguise!

At least he had his camera ready!

I saw several “normal” birds too! All in one day…

2 Rufous Hummingbirds

4 Blue Jays

4 geese and their fuzzy goslings

1 Cooper’s Hawk

It was a successful bird watching day, I’d say!

Happy Weird Bird Watching Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

P.S. I’d love to hear what birds you see today!

The Map Of A Feather

I have been Gelli-Plate printing on old travel maps with fluid acrylics.

Today, I am sharing a feather from a weird bird!

I thought you might want to see my creative process for my feather.

First, I cut out 2 shapes from a Gelli-printed map and glued them into my journal. (I’m using an old map of Seattle, Washington)

Next, I used tracing paper to create a pattern and draw the shape of my feather:

I cut out the individual pieces of tracing paper and used other Gelli-printed papers to make my feather shape.

I positioned the pieces in my journal before I glued them to my paper.

I wonder what kind of weird bird has this feather, any guesses?

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers!

Bird On A Tin

I have collected many (TOO MANY) things…

So I decided to have a garage sale.

This has proven to be a very exhausting endeavor. I am looking forward to being done in two weeks!

A side note: Above is a photo of the dolls, Ken and Barbie which I think you are familiar with but do you remember, “Nurse Julia?” She is on the right, from the TV show in 1969? I know I am dating myself here! Lol! (She is retired so she is not wearing her nurse outfit… haha)

All this cleaning has left me with no room in my brain for art at the moment.

So I leave you this bird on a tin from one of my MANY thrift store finds:

Wishing you a happy Wednesday free of clutter!

Cheers! 😃

Poodles On Parade

My neighbor recently got a poodle in “party” colors (black and white) that inspired me to create a whimsical series in acrylic paint and watercolor.

I started by making random marks on a 22″x30″ sheet of hot press watercolor paper. I used golden fluid acrylics and permanent black ink with different size brushes.

Note: This is a great way to get over the fear of a white sheet of paper!

Next, I cut my large sheet of paper into smaller sizes. I had a total of 18 pieces of paper to creat my drawings.

Here are a five of my favorites:

I drew my poodles in pencil first and then used a permanent black pen. I used the marks on the paper to help me draw my poodles so they turned out a bit wonky! I finished them with watercolor.

Do you have a favorite?

One idea leads to another…

I made this birthday card for a friend:

And a weird bird showed up with a poodle do:

Dog gone it! I hope you have a happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Squeeze The Day!

I saw some cute paper napkins with lemons at the grocery store yesterday…

It was my inspiration for today’s weird bird:

Squeeze the day!

Something silly to brighten your day!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃

A Little Of This And That

I started a doodle painting recently for an online class I’m taking with Jennifer Mercedes. It is on 24″ x 24″ gessoboard.

It does have a bird in it, although not terribly weird! Can you find it?

I’m not sure about these colors… what do you think? I’m painting with acrylics.

I will add some other colors this week and show you my progress next week.

I wanted to show you a little of this and that I have been doing this last week.

A turtle jigsaw puzzle I recently completed:

It was a challenging puzzle but fun!

And a view of the lake in the winter:

Happy Wednesday!

Cheers! 😃