New Art: Sunflower

I have been studying the paper painting technique of Elizabeth Nelson.  Just a little different approach than what I have been doing in my work.  I decided to try out her process on this sunflower.  Sunflower inspiration comes from my travels to Wyoming last week.  Miles and miles of roadside sunflowers, weeds of the prairie!

Purge Quilt

I did a serious purge of art, craft, and sewing supplies this summer!  I could not bear to throw/give away some of the accumulated fat quarters.  But I was running out of space....how could I shop for more stash!   So my big fabric purge resulted in this quilt of many colors.  Hubby, son, and daughter had a part in this project!

A few t-shirts made it in.

I asked for help.  They jumped right in!
The raw edge clipping got done in record time.
I will remember this family activity for years to come!

Just fun bright colors.  I tried not to think to much about placements of the squares.

 

Maddie claimed it for her dorm bed as soon as it came out of the wash!

Experimenting with a Gelli Plate!

Saw a tutorial on Pinterst, and an article in Art Journaling magazine on using a Gelli Plate to do monoprinting as backgrounds in art journals.  Had to find one!  Thought I was going to have to order one until I came across a new shop!  I stumbled upon Donna Downey Studio in Huntersville, NC.  Oh, I can't believe this place has been in my own back yard and I am just now discovering this fantastic shop!

 Go Get a Gelli Plate! I had hours of fun playing with this product!  I have several new journal pages out of the experimenting.

I used cheap craft paints, rubber stamps, and stencils to get the layered effects in these pages.

I have also been trying out the washi tapes lately.  They are way to easy for adding a bit of pattern really quickly.

 Donna's shop is a store, gallery, and classroom!  Well worth a stop if you live in the Charlotte or surrounding areas in NC!

Trying out watercolors and white ink!

Decorating a Grad Pad!

 My son is starting graduate school at the University of Wyoming in percussion performance.  I am normally blogging about dorm room decorating about this time.  This year, I have gotten a chance to do a Grad Pad!  My son spent all four years of undergraduate school in a shared dorm room.  He is thrilled to have a small studio apartment by himself for graduate school.

His apartment is in this old victorian mansion in the middle of a prairie.
The house is divided into several small studio spaces.
Each tenant has access to a common kitchen, several bathrooms, and a laundry room.

Jesse has the largest space in the house, ground floor, with the turret room.

 Good Space and a blank neutral space to work with!  We planned everything for his space basically sight unseen.  All we had to go on were a few bad pictures on the rental website, and the room's measurements.  We packed every percussion instrument he owned, all of his cloths and the minimal furniture pieces into an ABF shipping trailer and sent it on its way to Wyoming a week before we were to arrive.

We used two Ikea Expedite bookcases to divide the space into bedroom and living areas.

Our biggest obstacle was no closet.
The book cases helped to hide the free standing cloths rack.

Two clocks: Wyoming time and one for NC time.

The turret room is his office area.

He was pleased and proud when we finished.  We made sure he had plenty of old things from home to feel like "home" and a few new things to round it out.  Big step up from a dorm room!

He can sit in that big green leather chair and look out the door at this view every night!

Magic Shoes In the South

We have a published author and illustrator in the family!

Magic Shoes In the South is now available on Amazon!

Did you have a favorite pair of shoes when you were a kid?  Shoes that you made sure you were wearing on all your playtime adventures?  Shoes that made you run faster and jump higher?  My daughter Maddie started a story line four years ago in high school about a purple pair of high top tennis shoes that could take her on the most amazing adventures.  Magic shoes has developed from a simple digital project for a high school graphic communication class to a full 32 page illustrated book available to purchase on Amazon.

Magic Shoes In the South will speak to anyone that has ever lived south of the Mason Dixon Line...fishing with a cane pole, picking peaches, drinking sweet tea, etc.  Knobby knees, a bandaid, and a purple pair of chucks grace the illustrated pages of familiar southern places, and experiences.  The reading is aimed toward the younger child but even the oldest southerner will smile at the walk down memory lane.

Maddie is a go getter!  She makes things happen for herself!  She uses her 20 Seconds of courage every single day and great things are happening!