Quilling!

Boy oh boy, have I caught the paper craft bug! After all that experience this summer with paper flowers I just couldn't stop so I moved on to this. Here's a link to a youtube video showing how to do that glorious large snowflake on the left - large snowflake 

Quilling is an art form that has always fascinated me. If you google images you will find some incredible pieces of artwork.

To make it easy here's a few samples by artist Sena Runa and a link to her website: https://www.senaruna.com/

I want to be able to do this when I grow up.

I borrowed a couple of quilling books from the library and for only $15 bought a quilling start up set on Amazon. Here's one of the books I borrowed "Quilling Art", along with what $15 bought me 

(there was also a little glue bottle that didn't make it into the photo):

By the way, "Quilling Art" has the instructions for the other type of snowflake at the top of the page.

I'm also planning to try my hand at some book making. Today I'll be throwing acrylics around to make some decorative papers used in that process. 

I haven't stopped painting. The following piece was another study that I shared here several weeks ago. Like last week's post, I decided to finish this one up too. No sense in having a bunch of studies hanging around my studio staring at me. (Literally in this case).

Mardi Gras Vase - 12"x18" acrylic on illustration board.

See you next Wednesday!

Flori Isabella (again)

8"x10" oil on canvas

In 2013 my step-daughter and her then fiancé shared their love of travel with the family and invited us to a destination wedding in Florence, Italy. It was one of the most amazing and inspiring weeks of my life! I took a ton of photos that I've been using over the last five years and, including my 2"x3" miniature paintings, I've done over 20 pieces! 

One of the first ones I did was Flori Isabella:

It remains one of my all time favorites. It was 16"x 20" (I think). I'm both happy and sad to say that it sold back in 2014. 

Before I painted it I did a small 8"x10" acrylic study that looked like this:

It has been hanging around my studio, not polished enough (in my opinion) to sell, but too nice to throw away. A couple of weeks ago I started doing something about that. I began applying oil paints over the top and here's what it looked like after the first day:

And after a couple more days:

I kept going a little here and there until I ended up with the image at the top of the page. So, I now have a framed copy (smaller version) of it back on my wall!

Pinocchio and Friend

5"x7" oil on clayboard

A 5"x7" is so much more fun for me than large pieces.  I wanted to set up a quick composition with these two masks (souvenirs from Italy) and paint from life with no photo reference but I chose to be looking straight down on them and it was difficult to paint from that angle. Not to mention the fact that it was a dark room with one spotlight light source. So, this ended up being painted (mostly) from my photo reference.

Here's the first step, in acrylics:

And one more step after I began to apply the oils:

I'm still working on the mask I started making of my son, but I'm so happy with the way it's turning out that I think he's getting it for Christmas. Haha! I'll share the results after the holidays. 

Happy October!

My favorite month of the year!

I have skipped two weeks on my blog. (Shame on me, shame on me.) However, I have not been lazy. (Well, okay, a little lazy but not entirely, worthlessly lazy.) I switched gears for a while and concentrated on a short story idea. The first draft is done and marinating in a dark drawer for a few weeks before I get it out and edit it to shreds, then, hopefully, end up with something really cool. 

I finished my Halloween tree! I ended up covering the styrofoam cone with artificial leaves from an old garland that had seen better days. I pinned on my homemade paper flowers and then some buttons and baubles from JoAnn Fabrics. Here's what it looks like on my mantle:

I also pulled back out my manuscript for "Serenity" (a children's book idea that I've been working on little by little for quite some time) and played around some more.

I went from this - a digital piece done over a year ago:

to this - done in acrylic:

I wanted Serenity to be more of a toddler, and when I finally do this thing (putting the book together) I want the freshness and energy of real paint. I think my final composition lies somewhere between these two pieces. In the meantime, I'll keep on sketching and working it out.

By the way - the pumpkin at the top of the page is an oil painting from my Serenity file.

I'm also still working on the mask of my son, I started another 5"x7" oil painting, and I'm trying to learn the art of quilling. If you're not familiar with quilling, stay in touch. I may have something to show you before the end of the month.

See! I've been doin' stuff.

Sometimes I just get lost.

Isn't this a nice sentiment? I found it on a stamp at Hobby Lobby.

Update 2023: quote by Elsie de Wolfe

     Every once in a while, even when things are going great in my studio, I begin to doubt myself and second guess everything I've chosen to do. This problem may be why artists are sometimes a little "out there," struggling with their emotions, dealing with addictions, and cutting off their ears.

     I'm currently working on two relatively large oil paintings. Larger paintings take me forever and often become tedious and sit in my studio unfinished for years. Why am I working large? I don't know. 

     I'm also currently working on a short story that was inspired by my experience with Absinthe. (See my old Absinthe blog for that). I'm over 3,000 words in and I don't have any idea if it's any good. If I give it to the right person to read they may sing my praises and swear it's a wonderful example of fiction and they're proud to know me. Another right person might say "well . . . I think you spelled everything correctly."

     The trick is to keep enjoying what I do. I refer back to the words at the top of this page. I make something pretty. I express my self doubt to my husband and he says . . . "Tracy, I think you should just keep doing your art 'til you die. You were born to be an artist." Support like that is not easy to come by. I am blessed.

     Below are a couple of the things I'm working on to keep it all fun.

A mask, still a work in progress, that I may use as a prop for one of my large paintings. I'm still trying to work out what exactly I want it to look like.

On my son's 25th birthday this year I talked him into this. What a trooper.

Below are the supplies I used.

Here's my model all vaselined up.

Strips being applied.

Finished with the application, I began to pray that this wasn't a horrible mistake, and that I'd be able to get my son safely out from under all of this.

A few struggles around the hairline and his mustache, but (thank you, God) he made it outta there. 

Here's one more fun project in the works:

I guess I'm not done making paper flowers. I saw something like this at JoAnn Fabrics when I was shopping with a couple of girlfriends last weekend. I bought myself a styrofoam cone and some more glitter and woohoo! Look at me making everything around me beautiful.

Before I go - here's the girlfriends I was shopping with (I'm on the right). 

We've been friends since elementary school - another of my many blessings.

Where do ideas come from?

     Where do ideas come from? (Or to be grammatically correct: From where do ideas come?).

If you're me, today, they come from your awesome new idea board! This is the same board that I used to decorate the reveal party backdrop (see my post 2 weeks ago). It's an insulation panel that I purchased from Lowes. A coat of white paint killed the green color, and I then covered it with inexpensive muslin, wrapping the material around the sides and pushing short nails into it to keep it in place. That easy. The insulation material is perfect for thumbtacks, pins, and small nails. No hammers needed. 

      Where do the ideas come from that I have pinned? Some of them are pieces I've done in the past that I've always felt I could do better. Some were saved in a large, Russell Stovers candy box (chocolates gone a long time ago), a shoebox, a recipe box, sketchbooks, drawers, and old photo albums. Ideas have come from thin air when I wasn't expecting them. They've come from reading, watching movies, flipping through magazines, noticing the way sunlight catches an object. They've come from paying attention. 

     When they come to you, capture them! Write them down on a piece of paper! Do a quick sketch! Record a note to yourself on your phone! 

     Then, someday, go around collecting all those things you've saved, weed through them, and buy yourself a piece of insulation board.