Happy New Year!!!

Doodling with Joanne Sharpe

Two more doodles from this online workshop.

Winter has just begun and I'm already thinking about sunshine and flowers!

One more class completed!

Wooden Ornaments

I incorporated what I've been doing in my classes and my art journal (acrylic paint, markers, papers, matt medium, doodles and collage) into these simple wooden ornaments.  They were so much fun to make!

Wooden ornaments bough at Michaels. 

I painted them with white acrylic paint and then used TOMBO markers to add some grey.

Printed paper cut-outs.

I pasted the cut-outs with Golden Matte Medium.

I originally removed the rope string they were meant to hang on before painting the ornaments.
I used this pretty red ribbon instead. I also used silver, 3-D fabric paint to embellish just a little bit.

So simple and so pretty!

Crafty Christmas Gift

Just a fun, crafty gift for my nieces and nephew...

Purchased at AC Moore

Small pads of printed paper $2.99 each.

Wooden cut outs $0.29 each.

3-D Glitter Glue in red, green, silver, and gold, $1.00 each.

Ribbon from my secret stash of crafty stuff. 

Now they can make there own paper ornaments. :)

Drawing II

My Drawing II class has come to an end. Here are some of the final drawings I made.

Colored Chalk Pastels

Colored Chalk Pastels

Charcoal: Portrait of My Hubby

More Doodles

Tea Time

Folk Art Acrylic Paint and Sharpie Markers

Joy to the World

Flare Pen and Copic Markers

Paper Ornaments

I love Christmastime and crafting! So, I dug out a pad of printed holiday papers and some ribbon I bought at Michael's a few years ago and decided to put them to use. These paper ornaments take some time to trace and cut out, but once you have all of your materials ready they are quite easy to assemble. I used printed card stock, but you can use construction paper, lighter weight printed papers and even wrapping paper to make these. 

3D Paper Ornament

Trace your ornament. I used a wooden ornament I bought at Michael's for $1.49.

Cut them out. I used four cut-outs for this ornament. 

Fold each one in half and then glue the backs together.

Before you glue the last one in place,
insert the ribbon at the center where they all meet.

Trim off any excess paper.

Hang on your tree.

I also tried 2D ornaments using holiday cookie cutters as stencils.
Just add ribbon to the center and glue the two shapes together.

These are quite simple but you can embellish with
glitter, 3D paint, stitching, buttons, ... if you wish.

This batch is for my nephew and his second grade classmates :)

Christmastime

It's taking me a long time to get anything up on the living room and dining room walls, which can make our home look quite bare. But, at Christmastime, the greenery, the lights, the red and white ornaments... they really make the place feel so warm and inviting.

Greenery, candy canes and red garland.

A favorite ornament, a gift from my niece and nephew.

Ornaments collected over the past five years from a variety of shops.

A cozy nook that seems to have been made for this tree.

JOY!

Paris Sketchbook

Beautiful watercolor and pencil sketches in Paris Sketchbook by Mary Kelly, Fabrice Moireau (Illustrator).

A New Sketch and Some Embroidery

This is supposed to be an onion. Not my favorite sketch...

but I like it like this as a spread.

Last year, I thought I would embroider two holiday hand towels for the bathroom. I only managed to finish one. So, I'm getting started a bit earlier this year in the hopes that the two can hang together :)

Last year's towel completed.

This needs a little ironing.

Work in progress. 

I  used an embroidery transfer pen (which is water erasable) and a stencil (you can also use cookie cutters) to trace the mittens.

When you don't know where to begin...

There are so many wonderful resources for creative inspiration today; youtube tutorials, blogs, online workshops, pinterest... But, before I became better aware of social media as a resource, my go-to were books (I still prefer them to nooks, tablets, etc.). There's nothing like the visual and tactile experience of flipping through the pages of a book.

And so I share a few books that have pushed me along when I didn't know how or where to begin (or how to continue). They have also inspired some classroom work with my students.

Drawing Lab: for Mixed Media Artists
Art Lab for Kids
Water Paper Paint

Then step away from it all and remember that the greatest source of inspiration is your own life; the people, places and things that surround you :)

Perseverance

per·se·ver·ance

ˌpərsəˈvirəns/

noun

1. steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

My Drawing 

What I am striving for:

Pierre-Paul Prud'Hon
Standing female Nude Resting Her Arms On A Branch

Pierre-Paul Prud'Hon
Portrait of Constance Mayer

On the cover of my Strathmore drawing pad.

I'm forty now, and I'm hoping to have at least forty more years of drawing in my life... slow and steady.