neldaream

Leaving on a Jet Plane

 

I really didn't mean to be absent an entire week, but the days slipped by so quickly.  I was in the studio, cleaning and organizing.  It feels so good to be able to walk in there again.  I found some things under all the piles that had been forgotten.

Here are some things I rediscovered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am flying to Arizona tomorrow and will return on July 9 so I won't be able to post for awhile.  My daughter has just had her baby, Ethan David.  I am so excited to see him and all the other grandbabies, and, of course, mom and dad too.  Hope you have a great week.  Get ready to see lots of baby pictures when I return. 

Pretty Pears in a Row

 

Sometimes I do have a bit of fear about working on a large canvas.  So this one was a compromise; it is 8x24".  Done with acrylics and collage on canvas.

 

I placed it on the kitchen counter and John said, "You should keep that one there."  When I started to hang it he protested saying that he wanted it just propped against the counter so he could see it,   otherwise he is too tall to see it underneath the kitchen cabinets. 

I thought, "He likes it.  He really likes it."

Then he said, "Can I eat the pears now?"

Ah...gotta love that man.

Regrouping

 

You know how one thing leads to another.  Well, this area of the kitchen has been "bugging" me almost as much as that pile of ornaments that I wrote about last time.  So, with the good feeling of having conquered that pile, I tackled this bothersome corner.

Actually, there was nothing wrong with the corner, other than the half inch of dust on the top cabinets, but for some reason all that stuff just bothered me.  So I began with the obvious; out with the fake greenery.  Out with the dust.  Out with the pasta jar on view.

 

After about twenty trips up and down the ladder, I finally came to the "Ah..." moment.  Much better.  Now, my mind is clear to concentrate on creating art.  I will show you that next time.

A Tough Assignment

 

Today was the day.  I decided that the big stack of Christmas ornaments had to be dealt with TODAY. 

I had moved that mountain of glitz into the living room from the garage intending to create wreaths from all those vintage ornaments.  However, the stack has been lurking in the corner for weeks, untouched.  I began asking myself why I was procrastinating about doing the project.  Three years is way too long to save something for a project.  Finally, I came to the conclusion; "I just don't want to do it.  I don't really have to do it.  The earth will not tremble and shake if I don't do it."  So I decided not to do it.  But, now I had this huge stack of ornaments to deal with in another way.  The obvious answer was to just throw them away...or something like that.  The problem was...I got them out and looked at them.

 

Then I thought; "I can't do this.  They are just too pretty.   But keeping them is crazy.  I can't use all of them here at home."  It sounds silly, doesn't it?  But I was so overwhelmed with that pile of pretties.  Finally, I decided to just start sorting them to see what was there.  

 

That did it.  As the boxes slowly came together by type and size, it seemed they were not so personal anymore.  Seeing them sorted, I knew they had to be used by someone.  So I am happy to report that most of the collection is going to GoodWill.  The rest will be sold at the flea market.  Ah....a happy ending.  It feels so good.  

One More

 

Instead of doing errands today, I worked hard in the studio trying to get just one more thing done to put in the package to Stampington.  I finished some hand painted cards to add to the mix.  Now, if I rush to the post office and send it by Priority Mail, my package should arrive in time to meet the deadline.  Whew!  I'm ready to get back to painting canvases.

Christmas in June

 

Can you believe it is time to think of holiday projects?  All week long I have been working on some ideas to submit to Stampington before the deadline of June 15.

 

The work table is a mess.

 

All day long today I asked myself, "Why, oh why, do I procrastinate so?"

 

However, some things are coming together, but I can't show you yet because it's a secret.  Later I will tell all.  Wish me luck. 

Tagged

 

Catherine Witherell of Happy Day Art has a fun game going on her blog right now.  She says,

"If you were going to write down the things you were about at this particular moment, or day in time, what would they be?"

 

Okay, since I have been tagged, here is a list:

 

birds nests...always

acrylic painting

Quinocridone Nickel Azo Yellow Gold

Yello Green

Orange

Aqua

Shiny Gold

Black Gesso...love that stuff

 

 

Angels

Folk Art

Painted Papers

Birds

MDF board

Journaling

Flax Clothing

Wolky shoes, especially in orange

Vanilla icecream or frozen yogurt

Smoothe Jazz

Jazz Guitar

Reading Blogs

Funny emails

Online Friends

 

What are you all about right now?  Be sure to check out the game on Catherine's blog.

 

 

 

 

Another First

 

Today was another first in the studio; my first still life painting.  It is 9x12 done with acrylic on board.

You were right, PJ, I love that stuff.

 

keturah

 

Yesterday a First Time thing happened as I was painting this angel.  I had no intention of making this face but as I was painting the canvas just presented it.  It's like the painting had a direction it wanted to go which was completely different than what I wanted.  Luckily I followed the prompting and ended up with a face I am pleased with.

 

The photo is not showing the colors as dark as they truly are.  After it was finished I realized that this angel looks like a lovely woman who was behind the check out counter the last time I went to WalMart.  We had a nice conversation about her name, Keturah.  It is a Bible name and it means "sweet incense".  As we were talking I kept thinking about how strikingly beautiful she was and what a wonderful angel she would be.  I suppose my subconcious couldn't leave that thought alone.

Have you ever had a similar experience while creating?

Constance

 

When I finished this angel yesterday I thought; "Even an angel can have a bad hair day."

 

I'm thinking of changing the wing shape on this one.  And I don't know how it happened, but her eyes follow you even if you view her from a different angle.  I'm not sure I like that.  What do you think?