A Study in Portraiture

Hello friends!
I have finally gotten back to my painting lessons after quite a long break. I was going to take just a little time off from my Traditions lessons, but that time just kind of stretched out to months. I was glad to get my paintbrush wet again. Although, it did take me a little time to get my hands trained again.
This turned out pretty good, although the subject matter isn't my choice. I did learn a lot from this lesson and I am glad that I am through with it. We started with just an outline of a face, then shaded it all with burnt umber for shadows and highlights. Then we applied the skin tones, based in the hat, coat and hair. Then layers were built up to darken the shadows and lighten the highlights on the face. We used a black and white copy to get a good look at the value changes and used that to define the face.
I do like the way his eyes turned out. He looks a little mischievous with that twinkle in his eye. So now it is on to the next lesson, which is a Flemish Floral arrangement. I think I will like painting this one much better. After I finish that painting, I have one more left which is a landscape and it is beautiful. A scene with ships, water, and an old windmill. Then I will be done with my painting lessons.....42 paintings done, and months and months of learning. Now I will have to apply it to my OWN artwork.
Have a lovely day! I'm off to my sewing machine to play for awhile!!
hugs, Sue K

New Year~New Projects!

Hello Friends!

I have started some new projects now that the holidays are over and behind us. I have been doing a lot of hand work and having so much fun with it. Years ago, I was lucky enough to find a class locally where the teacher taught her students how to quilt. It wasn't just any quilting class, but a very special one. She taught us how to quilt by "hand". A lost art! Although it is much easier to quilt on the machine, I love to hand stitch, so this was right up my alley. This is going to be a pillow top when it is done. I've got the top all done now...all by hand.


I don't know if you can see it or not from my photos (dark cloudy day today), but the rose in the center and a couple other parts are hand quilted to give it some dimension. I added lace and then hand stitched the tiny pearls to hold the lace down. I am still trying to decide it I want to put lace around the outside of the pillow when I put it together. What do you think? Too much?
This definitely won't be a pillow to lay your head down on with the little pearls, but would look pretty on someones' bed to embellish it.



For Christmas this year, I made six wall hangings for gifts. Do you think I took any pictures of them before sending them off? NOT!!! I was trying to get them all done and each one had to be mailed some distance, so they got packaged up and sent. Then I thought....darn, I didn't take any photos of them!!! I also made one for another gal to gift for Christmas and it was so pretty! It was a sea shore theme and it even had a real sand dollar in the center of it. I might make another one of those because it was just gorgeous.
I have some other items made up and I will take photos of them to show here. I am hoping for a sunny day to get the photos done.
I have been collecting all kinds of old vintage jewelry and also some gorgeous fabrics. I was lucky enough to find (ebay) a seller that was offering scraps of all kinds of beautiful fabrics. I got two lots of it and it is beautiful. A combination of silks, velvets, brocades and organdy. A rainbow of colors to work with too. I loved what she sent me sooooo much, I sent her a big check and I've got a box full of over 500 mores scraps coming any day now. Thank God I've got a very understanding hubby that just smiles when the mailman keeps bringing all of these boxes of treasures to my door. I am well armed now with supplies!!! It would be a good idea if I quit ordering "stuff" and put some of it to use.
I'm still working on getting my second Etsy shop set up. I had a little problem with the set up because Etsy doesn't make it very easy, but I got it figured out with the help of a sweet blogger friend. Thank you Beth!!
Have a lovely day my friends! As soon as the sun shines here, I'll have more to show you. I might take a photo of my fabrics when they arrive sometime this week too. Pretty pretty!

Hugs, Sue