A Puzzler

Did you know that January is national puzzle month?

I have completed one 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle with Happy Buttons:

And I am working on a second one with Houseplants:

Sometimes my weird birds start out like a puzzle:

I started this trio in watercolor. Then I added a little paper collage:

Next, some details with color pencils:

And finished with pencil shading:

What kind of puzzles do YOU like to work on?

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Jingle Jangle

Two little birds flew in to jingle jangle their bells last night…

Hoping your holidays are a delight!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Friends!

Cheers! 🙂

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks…

What are you thankful for?

I am thankful for many things, especially “nature” and its ability to soothe my soul in all four seasons in the Pacific Northwest where I live.

I try to get outside for some fresh air each day, even if it’s just a walk to the mailbox.

My cat, Jack walks around the backyard with me on the days when the sun is shinning.

I recently created an autumn themed mandala in watercolor using some leaves from my yard as inspiration. I also added iridescent watercolor for some sparkle.

I finished my piece with color pencils. I think I will frame this one!

Many thanks to each of you for your likes and kind comments on my blog this year.

Wishing you a day filled with Giving Thanks!

Cheers! 🙂

Spreading JOY

I am so proud of my nephew, Jerred Mace!

He is a design student at University of Washington and has created coffee sleeves with positive messages to spread JOY!

Check out his website: wjoyproject.com

Jerred is a very talented young man. He wrote a book of poetry that he self-published in High School. You can purchase a copy of it if you are interested, on his website.

If you are ever in Edmonds, WA on a Wednesday, please stop by Walnut Street Coffee for a cup of JOY!

Cheers! 🙂

A Pajama Party

You have heard of a cat’s pajamas, right?

Why not a bird’s pajamas?!

I got ideas from this book for their outfits:

What animal would YOU invite to a pajama party?

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

Stuffed Animals

I created this drawing based on the words from the assignment I told you about in my last post, “This might be impossible to read but it was fun to make.”

I had so much FUN drawing the stuffed animals and hiding the words.

Here is a close-up of the animals and words so you can read them.

Sometimes I don’t try ideas because I think they may be impossible to do! I’m glad I gave this one a try because I discovered stuffed animals are really quite easy to draw.

What would you like to learn to draw or paint if you didn’t have any obstacles in your way?

I hope you give your ideas a try!

Cheers! 🙂

Pie Birds

‘Tis the season for…

PIE!!

These three Pie Birds are a slice of happiness, don’t you agree?!

What is YOUR favorite kind of pie?

Happy Weird Bird Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

November Square-A-Day – Landscapes

I created landscapes from my imagination for my November Square-A-Day project.

Using a variety of art supplies, I explored simplicity with Copic markers, color pencils, watercolor, Gelli-plate prints and Pan Pastels.

“The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but having new eyes.” Marcel Proust

I thought this quote summed up this month’s project perfectly!

Cheers! 🙂

A Weird Bug?

I interrupt this blogging break…

To show you this strange bug that appeared in my art journal:

Wednesday’s can be about weird birds…

And weird bugs!

One never knows what creative bug will land in my sketchbook next…

Happy Weird “Bug” Wednesday!

Cheers! 🙂

A Bird Shape?

I tried to paint a Hummingbird in watercolor for today’s post but it ended up in the trash! Oh, don’t worry, this happens sometimes. 😉

So I went back to the basics – painting patterns in watercolor and getting comfortable with my brushes and trying different color combinations:

And look! A bird shape showed up!

When I haven’t painted in watercolor for awhile, I have to slow down and just PAINT without thinking about outcome.

I added pen on top of my watercolor in black Micron pen with a little white and gold gel pens. I like how the ink gives it some pizzazz!

I now have a page of patterns I can color copy and use in my collages.

What do YOU do when your art takes a different turn than you envisioned?

Happy Friday!

Cheers! 🙂