and fall arrived while we were gone! The tree colors are outstanding and so varied. The burning bushes are burning brightly. The sun is shining and after a day of Indian Summer (warm!) it is pleasantly cool and October-like today.
We had a great time in Portland, staying at a beach house in Manzanita the first weekend, Pacific ocean sunsets and walks on the beach; hikes, shopping, brew-pubbing, art galleries in Portland and a Tracey Grammer concert!, the Chinese Gardens in the rain , just hanging out with Abby, David and kids. Abby was a wonderful "tour guide." We loved spending time with Thilo and Cian...such nice/interesting/fun/loving/hugging kids! Abby is a wonderful stepmother to them.
On our last Sunday there I attended a workshop with Judy Wiseat Art and Soul. It was called "Mix It Up with Wax" and was an introduction to encaustic wax painting and hands-on creation of our own paintings. It was fun and informative and I was moderately happy with my collage/wax piece. I didn't try the propane torch or the amber shellacking over the finished work, but did do several layers of collage and wax and copy transfers, embedding, etc. Not sure if I really want to "get into" the whole (ball of) wax thing on my own. Even though I would like to have another go at correcting/perfecting my waxing skills, it seems like there are too many hazards with the melted wax, the expense of the wax, etc. etc. But, you never know.
a pile of dollies (previously destined for Ebay or Etsy)
It's just plain crazy. Instead of focusing on one craft project, I keep switching to a different one. Knitting. Crocheting. Painting. Journal Making. Arrrggh. And the sad thing is I'm doing a sloppy job on all of them. Case in point: I've been making my art journals for the last several years and I still end up with holes spaced unevenly on the spine, pages too big to fit in the covers (even though I thought I had measured and cut carefully,) gloppy paint and glue on the front and back covers. AND, I should be outside taking care of fall garden tasks OR starting to get ready for our trip to Portland at the end of this upcoming week.
Girl Standing in Sunflowers watercolor on paper 11x14 (too big to fit on scanner--had to scan it in two parts.) I couldn't get accurate colors, even adjusting in photo shop. The sunflower leaves are actually green and there is more orange on flowers themselves.
Ghostly Girl (gouache on canvas board 5x7) She is actually not quite this pale.
Double Feature Guy (acrylic on canvas 9x11) I'll probably keep working on this a bit.
Dancers
Some more water color paintings on paper ( Dancers)
I've always loved children's "fashion" magazines, especially those with beautiful, interesting and sometimes quirky photography and art. (O.K. I liked Highlights for Children (Goofus and Gallant!!!) when I was a child --always read it in the dentist/doctor office-- andRanger Rick when my kids were little and of course Cricket Magazine.)
When I worked in "advertising" I loved Child magazine. I think Cookie tried to replace that. Both gone.
So here are the children's online magazines I like now...(thank you decor8blog.com)
Squirkworld Lots of knitting, crocheting, and general craftiness along with interesting musings on a number of things including migraines and music! (Squirky also happens to be my daughter.)
Crazy Aunt Purl More knitting, cats, and general hilarity. This was the first blog I ever read. (I had googled roll- brim knit hat.)
The Pioneer Woman The second blog I ever read. I don't follow it as frequently as I used to, but do check in every once in awhile. Evidently there is a movie in the works based on this woman's blog/life. Ranch life, cooking, home decor, kids, and homeschooling. She's also very funny.
And artist's blogs I follow. Beautiful photos, artwork, lifestyles.
I keep meaning to share my favorite blogs/websites. I have my blogroll that I go through everyday--usually in a certain order. A lot of women artists and crafty people, and a few other non-artist sites as well. But for today, here are a few of my favorite home decor sites.
how not to decorate
Lonny Magazine An online decorating lifestyle magazine. I especially like the current issue.
Decor 8 Blog
A blog that features gorgeous photos of everything decor inspired: magazines, shops, products, photography and photo stylists portfolios.
Apartment Therapy
I'm totally addicted to the home tours on this one.
Next time I'll share some of my other favorite blogs.
as if they were in my art journal. I need to make a new art journal, but in the meantime, I'm just grabbing whatever paper I can and drawing/painting/collaging away. The thing is, this "Acquerello" watercolor booklet is 9x4.5" and doesn't fit on the scanner to show the whole piece (as I painted it.) So here they are, slightly cropped.
For some reason, I don't consider my previous paintings in my art journal pages "real art." So I had to go out and buy some tiny canvasses to paint on. That should make it real enough. And here they are! Yep, there is no difference except I can hang them on a wall. And if I paint a bigger "stretched" canvas that will make it even morel like "real art." Or not. I just like to "do" art. Since I can't figure out how to had a caption to these pictures, I will put them here: upper left painting is acrylic on a 3x5 canvas " Purple Dress Girl." Upper right is a tiny stretched canvas, 2x3 "Grey Nude" watercolor. The last is a 5x7 canvas painted with gouache (which I love) called "Flowered Girl." It's so interesting and so much fun to try different arts/crafts/painting/knitting/crocheting/doll making/not to mention gardening/cooking/baking/sewing/. I guess I really like the "art" of being a homemaker/artist/retired person.
They are all on watercolor "postcards" from a booklet that I have had for a very long time. Too bad the water causes the paper to wrinkle. I put them under a stack of heavy books because I want to straighten them out and maybe frame them.
It never fails...as soon as all the sunflowers are at their peak, a big storm comes along and smashes them to the ground. Yes, we badly needed the rain, so I guess I shouldn't complain.
