Introducing Junior

This is an Altered Cabinet Card. A cabinet card is one of those old time-y photos mounted on hard matboard, and usually had the photographers name or studio name on the front of the picture. They were popular, I believe, in the late 1800's. This one is from a collection I won on Ebay. They were called cabinet cards because they were mounted on such stiff backing, that you could prop them up in a cabinet, instead of hanging them on the wall. I belong to a Yahoo group that alters and then trades them. This one passed the time Friday night. It is not part of a trade set yet, but maybe I will find a theme to go along with it. It is painted with Lumiere paints, background stamps, gold spray webbing and some fun embellishments. "Introducing Junior"

Sailboat schmailboat!

Ok, first of all, let me tell you what I know about sailboats. Nothing, nada, zero! In fact, I can't even think about a sailboat without thinking about Bill Murray in "What About Bob"............ "I'm SAAAAAAIIIIIIILLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGG! " Gosh that movie is so funny! Anyways, here is the sailboat lesson. Ummm not too sure how I feel about this one. The background turned out to be harder than it looked in the book, (and that ain't right!) Then the mast rope thingy's didn't come out too straight...uh whatever. The lesson is done.

Barbed Wire and Fence Post

Painting wood, so that it actually looks like wood....really, really hard!! This one may even be a little overpainted, because it didn't look right unless I stood all the way across the room. Good thing you guys are all the way across cyberspace!!! Next lesson: sailboats!!

A Pair of...............????

So, after almost two weeks of my Muse doing her best to avoid me at all costs. I decided, if I was not going to have any inspiration, I would at least create. So, yep, you guessed it.......MORE WATERCOLORS!!!! Ok, Ok, I will get tired of it sooner or later, (probably not as fast as you guys!!hee hee) but I like that I can start and finish in just a few hours. Probably not from here on out though, because the lessons are looking PRETTY intimidating in that beginner book. Anyway, here is my study of pears. You know, "still life, bowl of fruit stuff." I like that it is a monochromatic scheme, though. Looks clean.

So those of you that have not already, check out my friend Rudy's blog, I have it posted under favorites. Also, my friend Dana just posted her first blog. You have GOT to check out her

jewelry. I have shown you a bit of her work here, but you gotta see her stuff. She is listed under Art by Dana, in favorites as well. Have a happy weekend.

Goodbye Ordinary

"Live like there's no tomorrow;
Love extravagantly;
Leave a light to be followed;
Goodbye ordinary,

Goodbye ordinary"
MercyMe-Goodbye Ordinary

This is a line from an amazing song that has suddenly taken on a new meaning. A very good friend of mine, and a remarkable man, was just diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. They have given him 9 months or so, but he is still about taking care of business and thinking of others. He gave me an awesome opportunity today to be of service to him. He wanted to start a blog to chronicle his journey and to reach out to others seeking experience, strength, hope and possibly some alternatives to what he may be going through. So I went over this afternoon to help him set up his blog, and give him a little instruction on how do do what he wanted to do. I was so honored that he asked me, and was only too happy to help.
This is a man, that over the 15 years or so that I have known him, has always had: someone sleeping on his couch, someone he was giving rides to, and in general, someone else's interest at heart. Now it is our turn.

Rudy, I love you, and I am praising God that He has drawn you close to Him, and is continuing to bless your life. So my friends, check out his blog, I have it listed under my favorites, and keep him in your prayers as he trudges the road ahead. Because even now, he chooses NOT to be ordinary. There is nothing ordinary about him, how he lives his life, or how he will, undoubtedly help someone else.

Black and Grey

So who knew that you don't use white in watercolor if the surface is white. Hmm, anyways. Didn't have any pressing projects this evening, so guess what!!! Yep, another watercolor. This one was black and grey only using different amounts of water with black to vary the color. I think it came out ok, but really need to get the shading technique down.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone!! Hope you all had a great holiday. Ours was pretty quiet here, if you don't count the screams of frustration as Connor and I try to master the world of Super Mario Galaxy on his new Wii that Santa brought him. It is pretty fun.

This is an ATC I made for a swap on ATC_World. The theme is Bird Body Zetti, meaning the body has to be a bird and the rest made into zetti. For those of you not familiar with the term "zetti", it is an art style of Teesha Moore, an amazing artist. Check out http://www.zettiology.com/ for more details.

This one is my favorite from the set I made, and I am gonna keep it. I finally got into the habit of making an extra one every time I do a set for trade. Duh!

An Inch of Art

Ok, so these little babies are called inchies. Some crazy art form guaranteed to make your eyes cross and your fingers cramp. They are 1"x1" and include an image and a word(s). The idea was conceived by artist Julie O'Neill, and it has become an obsession, apparently. People are doing hundreds of them and swapping them with other artists. There is a great article in the Nov/Dec issues of Somerset Studio Paper and Mixed Media, by Angela Cartwright, where she talks about the idea and the art. Here is my little attempt. Very fun, very fast and very addictive!!

IN This House

This is from Angela Cartwright's "In This House" An amazing book full of great inspiration. This piece is called "Choose" The man is agonizing over which girl to choose. Is it love, will he make the right choice? It is paint, pastels, rub ons, pages from an old book, and copies of cabinet cards that I won on Ebay. Fun!

Again with the watercolors

Ok, somebody stop me!!! I can't help myself. I can't stop with the watercolor lessons in this book. I think this one may be my favorite. Wait, didn't I say that about the last one? Oh well, anyway, I do like how this one turned out. I feel like I am in 9th grade art class. Or 6th grade.....or something. Mine is on the left.