I've been busy trying to keep up with all of my lessons. I signed up for a wonderful watercolor journaling class and I am having a ball with it. I also signed up for an Inspirational Journaling class at the same time. My lessons with Traditions are caught up for now, and the picture posted is a recent lesson I've done. It is a Telemark design. When I first saw what we were going to be painting, I wasn't too excited about it. It would not be something I would normally paint for myself. As I worked through the lesson though, I found myself liking it more and more. I love stroke work and this lesson was full of it! It takes a lot of time and patience, but learning brush control is what it is all about.

I will post more tomorrow with some of my journal photos. I am so enjoying this and learning to "let go" and just paint....it is such fun!

Collage From Paulette Insalls' Faces Class

I just loved taking this class and learned so much. This isn't quite finished yet...will add somemore media to it and some words that I have chosen for it. I will post the final results once it is done. This is the same face on both paintings, but with different eyes and hair. I think I like the blond one the best of the two!

We had to draw the faces and then paint them. I've got somemore collages started and will add them here as I get them done!

The Christmas Holidays

Today, we woke up so a strong northeast wind, light snow and very cold temperatures! UGH!! Guess that winter is here for sure. I would someday love to move to a warmer climate and get away from this cold, cold weather. Our spring, summer and fall aren't bad....but sure do hate winter time. The only good thing I can say about it is that it gives me more time for my artwork. That is a good thing!
Our holidays are going to be a bit different this year. We only have one son close by, so it will be quiet. The other children aren't going to be able to travel here this year. Our holidays with all the kids and grandkids in the years past have been kind of hectic and I will probably miss that, but a quiet Christmas isn't all bad. We have ordered a big old prime rib for the two of us and will cook that and eat ourselves into oblivion!!! LOL!! Ho Ho Ho!!!
Shopping is almost taken care of so I am stressless this year. Feels pretty good. I think I will spend the rest of today getting somemore decorations out and make the house look a little more like Christmas.
Merry Christmas one and all!

This is another recent painting I did this week. It is another lesson and perfect for the season. I used a sterling silver plate that was my Mothers'. It had years of scratches and pits on it and it was really ugly. I spray painting it with automotive primer and then painted this Christmas scene on it. Now, it is a keepsake that I can hang up every Christmas.

The Gatherers

A new lesson that I painted. I loved this lesson and having it hanging on my wall! It looks so nice and it was a joy to paint.

Happy Turkey Day~!

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday with your families and friends. We had kind of a quiet one this year, but actually, it was nice. For the first time in years, we had an ADULT dinner!! LOL!! I've got 7 grandkids and they range in ages from 12 down to 6. So, when we all get together, it is quite a busy time. My eldest child, a daughter moved away to St. Joseph, Mo with her hubby and four kids. My middle son, lives close by, but they had other plans this year. He has one daughter, and four step-sons. Whew!! My youngest son, lives in Texas with his wife and 2 daughters and they couldn't make it home this year either. Maybe we'll all be able to get together for Christmas instead.
I cooked a turkey and had all the fixins' and we had hubby's sister and hubby over for dinner. It was nice...peaceful and adult conversation!!
I have many things I need to get posted here on my blog, and will work at it this week to get up to date. I've painted quite a few more items that I want to add.

I hope to get more time to paint this next week. Will post more then....see ya then!

Working on New Stuff Recently

I've been painting up a storm recently and having a ball. I find my time spent in my studio so rewarding and I just get lost in time. I finished to two collages I was working on for Paulette Insalls' class~Organic Dimension. I had so much fun taking this class and learned so much. If you ever have the chance to take a class from her, don't hesitate. She has a wonderful way of teaching and as I said, I learned so much.
I am in the middle of taking her classs~All about Faces. We just finished Lesson two and already, I can see that I making HUGE gains in my drawing talents. Now, if I can just get the painting part down. But, as she says, practice, practice, practice!!!
I'll post my finished collages here today and I'm sure that there will be many more in the future. I just love this media and it has freed up my imagination beyond my wildest dreams!
Also, I have been reading "Taking Flight" by Kelly Rae Roberts. It is a very special book and I am so glad that I found out about it. It is about mixed media collage, but also so much more. She is so inspirational and reading her book makes you feel like it is written just for you. Amazon carries it and I highly recommend it.
Go to Etsy.com and check out her work. It is awesome!