Justifying Art Supplies - Gel Print Napkins

 My husband doesn't give me too much grief about my ridiculous stash of art supplies most of the time.  But when he bravely steps foot into my creative space he is usually aghast at all of the stuff I have.  I tend to feel compelled to justify it.  This project puts my gel plate and acrylic paints firmly in the yes-I-DO-need-all-this-stuff camp.

I had some fabric paint in my stash, but not much, so I used a fabric medium that made regular acrylic paint work on fabric to be washed.  I'm so happy with the way these turned out.  Too bad about the whole pandemic thing...no dinner parties any time soon...

Happy Creating!

Fun little Halloween card

 I was sending out some ATCs for a swap and decided to make a fun haunted house card to go with it.

Happy Halloween!

Creepy Pumpkin Home Decor

So my artsy endeavors have taken a turn towards the dark side.  I DO love Halloween and inspiration struck last weekend.  I now have a creepy light switch plate!

Too bad it's too late to add Halloween stuff to the Elves In The Attic.  I'll  save some for next year...

Happy Halloween!

"Hey, Little Boy" Canvas

 Here I am again with another 6"x6" canvas.  I think I've told this story here before, but it's an important part of this canvas's story.  

A friend of mine has four amazing sons.  When her oldest was 11 (about the time of the Ferguson riots) she made a comment about the discussions she has to have with her boys starting when they are very young; they are an African American family.  I was shocked.  It had never occured to me to have those discussion with my two caucasian sons.  It was an eye-opener and game-changer for me.  This is a great family - they are kind, compassionate, intelligent, thoughtful people  pillar of the community types.  Over the past seven months she has shared some of the experiences her sons have had out in public with people being blatantly racist, hostile and rude.  I don't know why I continue to be shocked that some people feel it's okay to treat others this way; we live in the Pacific NW, not the deep south.  

Anyway, I thought of her boys a lot as I finished this piece (this is not what I started out to make).  I thought of other kids who come from families that struggle economically, socially, and with other issues.  This quote, from The Help by Sue Monk Kidd, felt like a perfect fit.  I wish every child had someone whispering this in their ear each day.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings.  😃

I'm still alive!

 Wow.  It has been a really long time since I've posted.  Part of the reason is that several months ago I read somewhere that blogs are becoming a thing of the past as people use social media platforms like instagram, twitter, etc. more to share their art.  It made me sad.  I love roaming around people's blogs and it feels less frenetic than frantically trying to keep up with my social media feeds.  I thought about giving up on my blog...I did give up on my blog.  But this morning I decided that it doesn't matter if anyone actually stops by.  At least this provides me with a place to document what I've been doing with a little more space to write about it... so here goes.

Back in July I took a virtual class with Deb Weiers.  LOVE her art; it's very whimsical and goofy.  I was totally inspired and when my friend, Angeli, told me about a local art fundraiser looking for donations I thought it would be a perfect excuse to get busy creating. 

This is really different for me.  In the past I used a lot of stamped images and created with them as a focus.  This art is very different though and stems from my own messy brain.  I made four  6"x6" piece canvases for the auction...and they all sold.  Cool!

The first one is "Bill Loves the Ladies".  Growing up my parents had a friend named Bill.  He was short and bald and quite the flirt.  I see Bill every time I look at this picture.

This is "Nose of A Boxer, Heart of A Poet".  When I'm making these I start with random scribbling, splattering, etc and then look for an image to emerge from the chaos.  This poor guy had a pretty bumpy nose, but his eyes looked kind of melancholy and thoughtful to me.  His hair was a pain in the ass, but sometimes art is that way, am I right? 

"She Was A Dreamer" was a struggle to complete.  I had her almost finished but the background and her schnoz were giving me trouble.  I can't tell you how many times I stared at her and then set her aside waiting for inspiration to strike.

"Sunday Morning Blues" was the first one to be finished. I love the crazy hair and bright colors on this guy.  His bleary eyes made me think of somebody who partied a little too much on Saturday night.  Ha ha!

These are so much fun to make and they take me days to finish.  I have to set them aside and come back to them over and over again but it's a real feeling of satisfaction when one is done.  Now I need to get busy and make some more because the family asked why we don't have any...

If anyone is out there and stopping by thank you for checking in!