And we thought spring was here!

Yesterday was so cold. I barely made it from my car to the

grocery store before turning into an icicle. I didn't want to

have to go through that again so I bought a knit hat from the

rack of leftover winter stuff at the grocery store in order

to get back to my car in the parking lot. So glad they had leftovers!

I made a few backgrounds using watercolor paper, watercolors,

and "cling wrap". Here are the backgrounds and how I

used them in greetings cards.

and one more card

and here is my journal from Saturday's mixed media class.

Thanks to Kristin and Eva artists around the world

can exhibit their latest works right at Paint Party Friday.

A Week of Letting Go of Things

I am taking the challenge of deleting excess belongings

during the 40 days of Lent this year. Yesterday I took 2 tightly

 stuffed bags to Salvation Army. They were filled with household 

goods and with clothes I can no longer wear. Letting go 

of some old favorites was hard to do. I even threw out stuff 

besides gathering usable items for charity. I cut

 a painting off a tee shirt my sister gave me in '88. It was the 

 most comfy one I've ever worn. But I had already repaired

 the neckband, the sleeve hems and the bottom hem because 

of fraying. It was tough to get rid of b/c my sister had painted the
image on it. So what did I do, I cut off the image and kept it.

Letting go is hard to do. Check out this link
to what I posted yesterday.

The only art I did this last week is seen below:

 pencil phone doodle

 pencil phone doodle

pencil phone doodle

birthday card for my 100 year old aunt

 This was my Saturday's project in mixed media class, a WIP.

We painted and wrote on the pages, then lay down masks,

which we painted white over. Next Saturday we will

finish this up, I think. This is my entry for Paint Party Friday.

I also did a quick watercolor late Thursday.

 I also got this from an ad on FB. I loved it as a former

math teacher. I don't remember how to solve most of

these functions now but I appreciate the humor.

And lastly for a bit of humor all can enjoy:

Let's be peaceful...

Paint Party Friday has always been a place of accord.

Let's put away our divisions and play nicely together.

Spring - at least for a few days

I love this beautiful website where I get to visit

every week with some fabulous artists. I know

that we are not all aligned philosophically,

politically, or geographically. In sharing our art

we also share a little bit of ourselves, opening up

to new ideas and a broader look at our world. 

Thanks to Kristin and Eva for hosting this

weekly art exhibit called: Paint Party Friday.

Thanks for all the good wishes and prayers.

I think my mouth is healing well from the

tooth extraction and implant.

The daffodils that my dh had planted in the woods are

blooming like crazy. So good to be able to see them

and remember the fun but tiring times when they were planted.

I tried to paint a tulip from a screen shot of my niece's

beautiful flower, but we all know that the "light" colors

are not the same as the paint or ink colors on paper.

My watercolor class had a choice of what to paint.

I chose to paint the weathered posts and water.

I played around with watercolors and did this strange looking woman.

I cut up part of the silhouette reeds painting

and made a sympathy card with it.

and finally I am showing an activity I will

be doing with children at church. They are

studying Zacchaeus (Luke 19:3).

Lots of Painted Papers

In Saturday's class we did a community painted paper sheet .

Then the teacher cut it into pieces to divide among us.

The following pieces have a little of me as I added my touch.

Then I did one on my own, see below:

In watercolor class Monday the heron was the class project.

I finished early and also did the other two paintings.

And lastly I am showing a card I made using a die cut made
from the beautiful Tim Holtz die. Entering all of these in

PAINT PARTY FRIDAY.

A Week of Ups and Downs

Last Thursday I went to the dentist to have a crown replaced.

An X-Ray revealed that the crowned and root "canaled" tooth
was cracked. Friday I went in for an extraction and tooth
implant procedure. This week has been one of antibiotics
and sleepiness and some art.
(Mouth still hurts a little. I guess that's normal.)

Here is the watercolor class project we did on Monday.

Here is a new painted paper I made at home this week.

I used acrylic paints and metallic Gelatos.
I wish you could see the shimmer.

Here is a thank you card I made for my ex-neighbors who

remembered me on Valentine's Day with jams and preserves.

Here are two painted papers made in the Saturday mixed media class.

Here is a sympathy card made from one of the paintings I

have shown here before.

And lastly, a rerun of my Li'l Redhead, who I

invented 25 or so years ago, based on my 

beloved red haired granddaughter.

Thanks so much to Eva and Kristin for all

the hard work they do to host this fabulous art show each week,

Paint Party Friday.

Painted Papers

Mixed media class was cancelled Saturday so I did

some painted paper on craft paper with acrylic paints at home.

My watercolor class project this week was a pair of bluebirds.

And here is a phone doodle and how I

colored it in Photoshop Elements.

And lastly a Valentines Day card because we can

use a whole lot more love in this world.

Thanks to Eva and Kristin, who so generously

spend time arranging for artists to show off

their latest works on Paint Party Friday.

Hello to February

Our watercolor lesson this past Monday was the scene below.

The first was done in class; the second was done at home.

I did a portrait of my granddaughter who lives in California,

using a candid photo I had of her. This is sort of an age

progression since she is in her late 20s. This looks a lot

like her mother at this age.

And in the mixed media class Saturday we made painted papers

that we can use later on in journals and other projects.

The first two were connected into a long skinny piece.

And this one was almost a square. I showed it 2 weeks
ago when it was a WIP. Now it has white and black writing.

The writing on the painted papers was done using FineLine

containers filled with thin acrylic paint. I bought two,  

one for white and one I filled with black.  I have now

ordered some more of these liners. They are wonderful

for writing in journals, on mixed media projects, etc.

For an exciting trip through a digital "art gallery",

visit Paint Party Friday, hosted by Eva and Kristin.