Wednesday, February 29, 2012

bees fly from her mouth

My last two faces for the 29 faces challenge will have to be posted later today...
That was hard to keep up with but fun! I actually have a plan for something to do with all my ACEO's from this but i don't want to mention it yet in case i can't quite work it out.

Here's my entry to the butterfly effect for "the wild side". Not sure if i show my wild side much but the ladies i paint do, they are free and happy and don't care much for conventional rules and restraints.



I did this with another challenge in mind too, at inpiration avenue the theme is Bottecelli's primavera. I seem to be drawn to the nymph, Chlora, or the goddess of flowers. you should go there and check out the painting. I started this months ago then put it away and just finished it this week. I had meant to have flowers coming out of her mouth but when i got this far it didn't seem to fit anymore.

She also reminds me of  paintings i just loved by kit williams... i can't find the exact one but i think my favorite was one with bees coming out of her mouth...

I had all his books and would stare at the art forever, studying how he did them, years ago. I just googled him to see what the name of that painting was and i found an interview where he said he was very influenced by botticelli, which makes sense now seeing both.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Day 26 and 27

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Darla Paterson, she's Dex's Mom. She keeps herself very busy with a job at the library, and her etsy shop selling flowers she makes from the pages of discarded books and dryer sheets. She promised to show me how to make them soon.
She's still in love with an Irishman named Shane McCollumn. Unfortunately he's a family man with a wife and 5 children. He's been married 15 years and has 4 strong boys, not a redhead among them, and one redhaired daughter. His daughter's hair flows to her waist, thin and fine. She has down syndrome and a sweet smile.
Darla and Shane met at the bakery in Dublin where she went every morning to get her coffee and Shane would be there getting his daughter a cranberry muffin. They started with small talk and hellos and moved to sitting together and sharing personal stories. They shared 28 days together once they realized they were in love. Even when her company ended her stay in ireland she coulnd't get over her 68 days, and even now doesn't bother to look at other men.
There is one man in her life and that's Dex. Dex's father was Johnathan Blake, the son of a preacher man. He was 18 when she was 22 and he was one of those gorgeous boys with tousled hair, tan skin and a smile that was way too white and confident. He put no effort into his looks or appeal as he didn't need to. His look melted the hearts of all the school girls and Darla should have been smarter when he brought her that bouquet of little blue flowers. She'd even seen him strolling down dirt roads in his jeans on the way to visit various farmer's daughters. She found out she was pregnant with Dex at the same time her best friend, Pammy confided in her that she'd been seeing johnathan and was worried she might be pregnant. They raised there kids together after moving to the city, and are still friends today except Pammy has married the perfect man and has less time for Darla now.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Here's Jody Peeze in green, I drew this 2 inch sketch of her in 4 minutes in my car on my lunch.
She's a 20 something tax accountant who of course is VERY busy right now. She loves tuna sandwhiches with potato chips in them and lemon cupcakes with confetti frosting. She can play the piano and the panflute, and loves guided meditation CD's. She just got engaged to Bob, a construction worker who does get called Bob, the builder on a daily basis.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Day 23 and 24

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
This is Lettie, she's Tuesday Blue's Grandma, and she's supportiong Chrissy and Tuesday by herself ever since her husband passed away 5 years ago. He choked while having dinner with another woman who didn't know CPR. Lettie's very good at CPR. She works in the business office of the local hospital, but wasn't there when they brought her husband in, even though it was too late to save him. He was eatting steak, and she hasn't touched a piece of steak since.

She WAS there when Tuesday was born though, and got to hear her first cry. She let out one big yell and then quited down and looked around at her surroundings. Lettie knew right away that Tuesday will be gifted, she felt it deep inside her, she just doesn't know how yet so she buys her every musical instrument she can, searching for what it will be. It will be as a healer though, and Tuesday will never be able to hold a note on any of those instruments!

Next is Dex, Lettie's neighbor. He loves Tuesday and all babies and comes over to visit and help Lettie make her peas and carrots. He's a big help entertaining Tuesday but he's angry today because his Mom won't let him go to Letties so early. She feels Lettie needs time alone in the morning but the truth is she could use Dex's help. Chrissy still sleeps in and Lettie doesn't want to wake her up and deal with her morning crabbiness. Mornings used to be so peaceful and a whiney 17 year old is no help in entertaining Tueday and getting her dressed. She waits until she's almost ready to head out the door before getting Chrissy up and giving her her list of "to do's" for the day.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Share the joy and Day 22 and 23

Let's see... I've lost track but I think I'm on day 22 for the 29 faces challenge still one day behind...sorry the photo is again bad, just not enough light this early.... it's just a 3 minute scribble with a red ball point....



This is Shawnee in red... She's a park ranger at a small state park in NY called Stonybrook. She's totally the outdoor nature lover type but if you're playing trivia she's the one you want to pick first for your team as well. She happens to be in love with a man named Frank from pennsylvania, but they only get to see each other weekends due to the distance. He is currently searching for a job closer to NY. Right now he's doing freelance tree cutting and landscaping. They met at an Uncle Kracker concert.



Plus I wanted to share a magical moment this week for Share the Joy, the photo doesn't do the moment justice... It was one of those little moments that just happen and don't really mean anything and not a lot really happens but somehow they're memorable and stay with you for years. I think this was one of those little moments. I was on my way to work and the light was just right, early morning sun through the clouds, with a patch of blue sky ahead, the birch trees looked so white and special, The Band Perry's song, 'walk me down the middle' was playing and I drove into a tiny little snow storm! The kind with big softly falling flakes! And 2 seconds later I drove right out of it, it was maybe 30 yards long, I'm not good with distance but I could look in my rear view mirror and still see it falling just in that one spot, like there was a giant hollywood snow making machine above the clouds churning out big soft snow for a movie set.

Then I drove into another one that lasted just about as long, three more tiny little storms on and off as I went down the road. I was still smiling and replaying that same song in the CD player when the sun went behind clouds, the birches started looking muddy, the snow turned to rain and I ran over an already dead bunny. Yuk! It still didn't take away that magical feeling though and I was still smiling when I got to work!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Still catching up

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
This is Chrissy, she's 17 and a teen mom. She's still sort of surprised when she looks at her daughter that this is her life. The dad moved to california with the girl who played clarinet in the band two weeks after Tuesday Blue was born. chrissy's now working at the pizza parlor, and working on her GED from home.

Tuesday Blue is the sweetest little baby girl, starting to walk already and loving her soft baby doll's silk skirt, dragging it everywhere..

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Catching up

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
These girls are having a day of fun at the lake... They both love the buffalo fries there at the concession stand and they are about to build sand mermaids on the beach. One is a swimmer and one is not. One loves cute cuddly pets, one does not.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Diva and doodles, and links to all sorts of places...

Here's face 17 for 29 faces ....Izzy Plum
She's an attorney and she's the DIVA of the court room. She carries a pistol on weekends and she has a huge belly laugh that has gotten her into trouble more than a few times. She is not afraid of the dark but she is afraid of squirrels.

I'm submitting this to InspirationAvenue as their theme is Divas this week.

And here's a few doodles in my Book of Days where i've been trying to write things that make me happy, small pleasures, things I'm thankful for ... if I end up writing something negative I cover over it,.... some things I was thankful for this week...

chocolate covered strawberries
red lobster crab legs
a quiet evening
sweet walter red
not having to testify
and zentangles...







This last one was for a challenge to add the four diamonds logo to your zentangle over at this site. Go and read her story about this fundraiser...
I zentangled till I ran out of pens,

And I did some blind contour drawings from Carla sonheim's book, Cameron at paint myself pretty is working through the book and inviting us all to join so here's my blind contour drawings. This is hard not to look at your page or your hand, and only at your subject.... but fun anyway...



 then here is the mandala I made last week, I didn't finish one this week...




and BE HAPPY!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Lady in blue

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
My first for 29 faces that is not an ACEO, it's in the Natasha's sketchbook for the Commy project, and will be mailed out today hopefully. I like how she turned out, she's blue, literally, but not sad, thoughtful but not depressed, bogged down in worry but not always, still thinking about what she has to be thankful for!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Day 15 and IF

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
This is Preet, her parents started that nickname as a baby and can't even remember why, but it stuck. She's mean and judgmental, but she can sing soft and sweet. She's one of the popular girls and she hasn't learned to give up the drama yet.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Day 13 and 14

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Caught up and close up...

Andrea,
fate smiled and destiny laughed as she came to her cradle, know this child will be able, laughed as her body she lifted, know this child will be gifted with love and patience and with faith, she'll make her way.... Oh wait, that's a song....
So anyway... She loves necco wafers, magic, dappled woods, sparkly things, rock cairns and norah jones on rainy days.

The second is a special boy who the gods and goddesses watched over, a shaman, a wounded healer, sent here to be the king of kings, destined for amazements!

Monday, February 13, 2012

day11 and 12 even though it's Day13

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Sorry i'm late but here's 2 more....
Cindy Lee, her grandaddy on her papa's side still makes moonshine and she's developed a taste for it. Her grandma on her mother's side is a wise woman from France. She has taught Cindy all about the healing herbs she loves.
Then there is Steph Chadwick, she is sneaky and catfooted, she wears costumes all the time for no reason at all, usually cat ears or devils horns! She's an artist, and if you look close at her paintings you'll see she hides a painted turtle in each and every one.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Day 10 PLUS


My face for 29 faces...sorry about the shadows...


Ella Cinders....
She was adopted out after her parents died when she was 3  years old, and just this year she located her sister who was 2 years older than her and had been adopted by a different family. They now spend every minute together and have discovered they both hate icecream and they both would rather knit than just about anything else.



And here's my first ever entry to the divas challenge... at her zentangle site! with the tangle; Sanibelle that I put in with my haiku.
I so love all PritiLisa's and Kim Mailhot's Haiku for Recuerdo mi corazon that I wanted to try one too.
Lots of inspirational stuff to be seen over there!
And since it worked out well that Inspiration Avenue is having the wonderful theme of the return of the light, here comes the sun or imbloc, however you want to look at it, that I wanted to enter their challenge too! so... here it is...


It's cold inside me
I want to be somewhere warm
Red sun on my face




Plus here's 2 zentangle birds from my book. And...
I also finished another mandala but forgot to bring it home to photograph it.
and I've been working in the sketchbook I just received for the Commy project...




and I just thought I might share this... so many of you commented after last fridays post about how much time I must have and since I REALLY don't, I  thought I'd share how I manage to find time for art. Since those of you who stop by often know I have 4 kids... 3 older (but only one of the 3 is off to college right now) and the youngest is 9 and autistic. I also work full time and am the last to get home in the evening, usually after dark... at least during this time of the year. Any....way........I just said all THAT to show I have to be creative finding time for ART.

I guess the main thing is that I did away with any extra stuff like spending time getting ready in the morning, it now takes me 15 minutes to shower, comb hair and dress, so that after getting my youngest around in the morning and sending him on the bus I have 20 minutes to myself! Yeah. So I spend it either making a blog post or sometimes I even find a guided meditaion of the ipad and do that.

Then at  work I get breaks and a 1 hr. lunch. Not that I'm totally antisocial but I'd rather spend them going for a half hour walk then painting, than going out to lunch with someone. At least most days that is. So even on my breaks I pull out art to do. That's the main reason I like sketching, or now, zentangles and even the watercolors. Because those, you can start with no preparation time, just pull it out, do it, then in 15 minutes put it away, no messy clean up or anything. I'd love to have time to do a big painting with a space to do it but  it's just not in my life right now, no time for a palette and mixing colors most days. Maybe once in awhile on weekends I might get lucky and have time for something more complicated, but not usually.

Then as my son likes me to sit with him while he's pacing nearby or watching TV in the evenings, I sit with him but I really don't watch TV anymore (well except 'Dual Survival' when they have a new episode or, 'the walking dead".... I know some of you are thinking "seriously?" but my family talked me into watching that and the characters suck you in even if you hate zombies and blood!). Anyway, as I've seen 'WAAB, the grizzly king' , and 'one mans's wilderness', and 'walking with dinosaurs' at least 100 times each I either sketch near him or watch all those art videos I mentioned on my ipad. 

Well that's about it. off to work. Happy paint party friday!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Day 9

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
This is Li Su Goldwater.... She's a yoga and meditation coach. As she lives in a home with 6 sisters there's always sooooo much noise she has needed to learn to be still amidst chaos.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Day 8

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Gweneth is smart, sincere but often lonely.... She lives with her aunt and uncle off the grid. She helps Gram in the garden and with canning and baking breads. She's known to be a bit jumpy, but the breads she bakes have a reputation for calming the souls of those who eat them.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Day7

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Kenny is a large warrior woman. She's fiercely proud and wears ribbons in her dreads. She's on the "wild women bowling team" and nobody messes with her! She has 3 little boys, ages 3,4, and 6. They love to call her crazy mommy!

Monday, February 6, 2012

Day 6

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Maeve Moon

She loves Ravens, blackbirds, and magpies. She reads 3 books a week, her favorite is Probable Future by Alice Hoffman. Maeve wears striped tights every friday....

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Day 5

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.
Faeries gladeye, named because she's always so pleased with all she sees! The best gatherer in her clan. She loves raspberries and almonds!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

This is Gwenny. She's only 5'1" but seems taller. Everyone thinks she's younger than she really is, she's very quiet and hardly ever talks in crowds. She can beat anyone around in hearts  and euchre.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Day 3 and the TONS of art I promised...

For those of you who haven't been following the 29 faces over at Ilike2paint... here's my 3rd of 29 faces, one a day in February. This is Thistle. She's tall, she's lanky and good at ice skating and soccer. She doesn't like to read but is a huge movie buff. Hoosiers is her all time favorite.

and... if you saw my post on tuesday you know I promised a ton of art due to 2 new obsessions...







I've known about zentangles before, it's hard not to, they're everywhere on line but I hadn't really checked it all out completely. Once you do you are addicted. I love the look, I love the relaxing way they just sort of flow out of your pen. I love that all the little patterns have names, and you can sort of collect little cards with the patterns on them for when you need inspiration, or you can make up your own. I did both. The book I did these in is great! I won it through the sketchbook challenge and the paper is so thick that my sharpie didn't even bleed through to the back, and it took watercolors too. I wish I knew where to get more. Here's  some of the sites I've been watching videos on and /or checking out for patterns...

the creators
a great site for patterns

 and on to my second new obsession: Mandalas



Sorry my photos of these aren't the best, not enough light... I watched a free mandala video here,just love making them!
And another big surprise to me but will be a shock to noone else: there are hundreds of mandala art videos on you-tube. I had only ever watched music videos on you-tube but there are just sooooo many great art tutorials. I know, I'm so slow to catch on. I thought it was my own original idea to combine the two: zentangles and mandalas  in my latest piece, but NO, I found tons of them online after I did it and even a whole book devoted to the two! Once you start you just want to make more....

then on to my book of days...



I haven't even finished writing in my lists of small pleasures in the last page yet. I'm running out of time or I'd give you the links to about 4 sites that offer free art journaling videos each week.... next week I will
Happy paint party friday and you know you need to go check out some of these sites and some videos!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

day 2

I've decided I'll do all 29 faces in ACEO size. They're quick and fun....this is Zendara.
She loves pickles and riding horses and hugging trees!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

day 1

photo.JPG by lelloavengers
photo.JPG, a photo by lelloavengers on Flickr.

I have joined Martha at I love2paint's 29 faces challenge, we're doing a face a day, and here's my first of 29!