Signs Of Spring

I saw a Quail in my yard the other day poking around underneath a fir tree.

Our snow is melting and lately we are having warmer temperatures in the 40’s. It felt like signs of Spring and inspired me to create this mixed media collage in my sketchbook:

I know the male Quail has the top plume but I couldn’t resist giving him a dress! I drew the Quail’s head and feet.

I was also inspired by the collage artist, Katherine Streeter. I hope you check out her art at KatherineStreeter.com She is also on Instagram. She has a playful style that I really enjoy. She helped me “think outside the box.”

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

May you be inspired to create something different today!

Cheers! 😃

Wild Background

I like to sketch REAL birds every now and then…

These quick sketches inspired today’s hat wearing weird bird:

I like how the wild background makes the pencil sketch stand out.

What do you think?

On a sad note, I recently had to say goodbye to my sweet kitty, Jack who I have blogged about in several posts.

This picture shows Jack lying on the dried Catmint in our yard. One of his favorite spots to soak up the sunshine!

Jack is no longer in pain but I miss him a great deal. Always hard to loose a furry friend.

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

An Amazing Day

I have been enjoying the free online art class:

“The Layered Page” with Kellee Wynne Studios! I discovered it on Instagram. You can find it at KelleeWynneStudios.com

I have been creating larger pages with acrylic paint and stencils that will become mini books. Kellee shows you how to do this in her videos.

This led to experimenting in my sketchbook with marks and bubble wrap:

And creating smaller cards that are 5.5 x 3.5 inches:

I decided to make positive affirmation cards with some of the smaller cards:

And I created my own layered pages with paper collage in my art journal:

Perhaps my art will inspire you to create art you enjoy!

I hope you have an amazing day!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S. I have decided to take a blogging break so I can focus on creating art. There are some awesome free online art classes right now that I want to take advantage of!

If you are needing some additional creative inspiration, Carla Sonheim is offering a free pdf with 22 artists sharing their ideas. You can find it at CarlaSonheim.com Great ideas for all ages!

Have fun and stay safe! 🙂

First Blooms

The Buttercups are in bloom!!

My husband picked these flowers from the forest near our home.

The arrival of sweet, golden Buttercups must mean Spring is on its way in the Pacific Northwest. Hurrah!

I wrote this haiku to celebrate these first blooms in my art journal:

Golden petals show,

Announcing Spring’s arrival,

A forest treasure.

Next, I added quick mini collages. I enjoy experimenting with color combinations, texture and balance.

I was able to get outside and take two short walks this weekend. My hip is doing great!

I hope you are all staying well.

Cheers! 🙂

Creative Play

Sometimes creative play in an art journal can be quite fulfilling.

I am discovering the joy of adding collage papers and marks without a outcome in mind.

This page I used a greeting card of a Ladybug that someone sent me. I altered it a little with my whole punch:

I had fun exploring funky flower shapes in this one and black and white stems:

My last one is a work in progress. As you can see, it involves BUGS!

I will show my completed page to you next week!

I encourage you to make time for creative play in your art making.

Happy Friday!

Cheers! 🙂

Learning To Fly…

Learning to fly..

Is never easy!

A silly little drawing to give you a smile today!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Clown Fish

I REELED in some creative fun yesterday…

And used a few neglected art supplies (rubber stamps) to create this Clown Fish in my sketchbook:

Perhaps you remember the funny fish I previously posted on Friday’s? If not, you can find them under my art categories on the top right side of this post as FUNny Fish Fry-days!

I won’t be creating a fish every Friday but I thought it might give you a smile when I do!

Happy Fishing!

Cheers! 🙂

Whoa! Who Turned Up The Freezer?

Yesterday, it was unusually cold in the Pacific Northwest where I live…19 degrees Fahrenheit! Brrr!

It inspired me to create this silly weird bird drawing in my sketchbook:

I added color with Tombow and Copic markers:

Whoa! Who turned up the freezer? I sure wish Mother Nature would turn up the thermostat!

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Printing Imperfections

I haven’t printed with my Gelli-plate in awhile so I decided to take out my 5×7 inch plate the other day.

I wanted to experiment combining colored inks with fluid acrylics. I also added an acrylic glazing liquid.

I recorded my colors in my art journal with a pencil drawing of my paint and ink containers:

I started by printing some Ginko leaves. I normally add the paints directly to the Gelli-plate and mix them with my brayer but it wasn’t working so well with the inks so I started using a paper plate to mix them.

When the brand name logo of the paper plate started showing up on my leaf prints as you can see in the photo above, I decided to use a plastic paint palette.

The paint palette had left over acrylic paint on it but I discovered the uneven surface gave an amazing print:

It is always fun when printing imperfections lead to wonderful new ideas!

I took a 3/4 inch square punch of each of my prints and glued them in my art journal:

Now I have an idea for my October Square-A-Day project! I can’t wait to show you.

Cheers! 🙂

A Spiny Family

I enjoy giving myself little challenges when drawing… and learning more about my subjects.

Painting different colors of watercolor in my art journal helped add color to a blank page…

I then challenged myself to use mostly black pens – each pen a different variety – to draw Cactus; from the book I showed you in this post: Drawing Cactus and Succulents

According to Dictionary.com; Cactus (noun) and plural can be cacti, cactuses and cactus!  

As a definition:  Any numerous succulent plants of the family Cactaceae, of warm, arid regions, having fleshy, leafless, usually spiny stems and typically having solitary, showy flowers.

I never really thought about a “cactus” being a succulent plant!

I challenged myself to create these “succulents” with a variety of green pens:

Succulent (noun):  A succulent plant as a sedum or cactus… and as (adjective):  Of a plant – having fleshy or juicy tissues.

What I learned from this challenge for myself:

• Calligraphy pens are great to draw with…
• Going outside the color “square” is OK!
• I really do have eight green pens.
• Creating challenges makes drawing fun!
• I enjoyed learning the names of plants… must be a weird bird idea in there somewhere!

Do you give yourself challenges when you are creating?  I’d love to hear what you do!

Cheers! 🙂