Updating This Blog

Our recent move has been completed and we are finally-well almost-settled into our new home.  We are loving the new location, which is central to the whole valley and closer to most of our friends.  We have changed a number of things over the past few months, downsized a whole lot and I'm able to devote more time to my beloved passion of painting.  I have started a new "Open Studio" paint group at the Taylorsville Senior Center on Plymouth View recently and it has been well accepted by the community.  Each Friday AM we have a small group of artists get together, but the group will be growing as the word spreads that there's a new paint group opened for seniors to join.  You don't have to live in Taylorsville to use the beautiful facilities, but you will have to be a member of at least one local senior center.
We recently went up to the canyon to grab some pics of the amazing fall colors.  This is a shot of Bonnie getting a shot of our darling hubbies taking a break in the shade.  An interesting photo, the shadow from the trees looks cave like.  There were so many people that we ended up parking in a no parking zone and of course, anticipating the outrageous crowds of illegal parkers, the state raked in the bucks from all the tickets that were issued!  Probably met their whole yearly budget!  LOL!  Seriously though, the parking needs improvement! 
We ended our day by having the experience of watching a D-box movie: "The Maze Runner".  If you have not had the experience of a D-box movie, save your money!  The chairs were the most uncomfortable chairs ever in a theater!  They were suppose to move, but ours rarely did.  They actually kept me awake the entire movie though.  I liked the movie but you can tell there will be a sequel because it leaves you guessing about what's next. 
I will be updating and working on this blog again in the near future.  I also will be participating in a new blog hop in October, so I hope you will follow the blog to get updated as the fun approaches.  I will have a stencil tutorial to share with you and there will be a blog giveaway!  Add your email in the sidebar to follow....

Carving Stamps

Are you a Pinterest Addict?  I sure am!  I had to set a daily, limited, time allowance so that I can actually get things done each day.  One of my boards is for hand carved stamp patterns, which is an art project I love to do, especially when I see the end results.  A couple of weeks ago I carved a few small stamps to use for my other addiction---art journals.  I had to experiment with adding color to these stamped images, so I decided to use watercolor.  I stamped the image on a Strathmore "Toned Tan" sketch paper first, then I painted an area with cobalt turquoise and stamped again.  I have to say I like the painted background image the best.  It's more dramatic!

Paint It

 

I think this book would be a welcome addition to any child's (young or old) library.  While it is clearly designed for the beginning artists who want to explore the many options afforded by mixed media, it carries some of the projects into an intermediate level, but still remains doable for all ages.  At first I was skeptical only because I am an experienced mixed media artist, but the further I investigated the projects shown in the book, the more inspired I became.  The book is full of useful information, inspirational projects and easy to follow instructions.  Published by: Capstone Young Readers publishing company, it is precise in its instructions, has great photos for guidance and I am impressed with all of the information this one compact book supplies.   The mixed media projects include: Creating "Color Fields"-(which are modern day abstracts), making your own scratchboards (I remember these from elementary school and I loved creating designs by scratching off the black surface), indirect & direct painting with oils, and Chinese Brush work.  This book touches a bit on surrealism, plein air (outdoor painting), mosaics and so much more.
I'll be adding this book to my Granddaughters library for Christmas.  I'm going to love doing these projects with her.  Share your time, share your art. 
PS.  If you do art journaling and want to learn about a variety of supplies and techniques, this is a beginners book that would help you incorporate many forms of mixed media into your journals.  From: watercolor, to oil pastels, to acrylics and applying textures, this book covers what you need to get started. 

Please note-I am an affiliate of Amazon and I do receive a few pennies for every book you purchase via the link.  It adds up and allows me to purchase a book or two each year.  So thanks for clicking on....

Assignment 4

If you haven't been following Milliande through this journey of self discovery, it's not too late to join in the fun.  We are only at Assignment 4 and the previous assignments can be done in just a few minutes-maybe an hour.  Developing a pattern from shapes which is this assignment, took the longest.  I call this: "Three Sisters of St. Mary's". 

Cleaning House

Actually I'm de-cluttering, de-hoarding my studio-workspace.  It is extremely time consuming since I have so much crammed into such a tiny space, that it is near impossible to remember where everything is.  Shelves and shelves of supplies hidden away in chipboard shoe boxes.  Not any more!  I replaced those shoe boxes with see-through shoe boxes so that I can see at a glance, where everything is.  The clutter is still there, but better organized. 




So, I also hoard cardboard, chipboard and a variety of vintage papers that I need to dispose of, so I am going to make art journals from these recycled materials.  Using my digital software and the custom shape tools, I can create some interesting journals, which I love to use.  (I hoard these little journal beauties too!) 

Carving Stamps

I decided to do something fun and dragged out my carving tools to create some "Harvest" tags for a swap we are doing over at the LatestTrendsinMixedMedia yahoo group (Link should be in the sidebar).  Here are the tags I made and a greeting card fashioned after a screen saver I did for Halloween.  This time of year always seems to get me motivated to do some challenging art.  So quick and easy to do with SpeedyKut by: Speedball and available at most craft stores.  This stuff cuts like butter!  Great for hands with arthritis or carpal tunnel issues.