Odds and Ends

I haven't been doing much art lately as I have been too busy with yard work and getting my flowers planted. Today was the first time in over 2 weeks that I picked up a brush and, of course, I painted another scene of the Creston Valley.

Cloudy Skies over the Valley - 7 x 10 watercolour

I haven't been completely without art in the last few weeks; I have done a few bits of quilling in my spare time. And, I gave a small Quilling Party on the weekend.

Mini hummer and flower with buds

an ATC with the mini quilling

more mini humming birds and a Canadian dollar coin (loony)

These mini quilling pieces were done with 1/16" paper strips and were VERY difficult to do! I started making them because my blogging friend Nelvia McGrath - Nelvia's Blog  - suggested swapping ATCs. I have a few ATCs made but thought the one I chose for the swap needed a bit extra to make it more interesting - thus the quilling. Then a friend asked me to make her one so I did a few more but I was more than happy to get back to normal sizes for the Quilling Party.

my quilled card

I always forget how long it takes beginners to get their fingers working when learning how to quill with 1/8" paper strips; maybe next time I will start them with the 1/4" paper. At any rate, we all managed to complete a card during the party and the ladies were so interested that they plan to come for regular lessons to learn more. Unfortunately, I was so busy I forgot to take photos of their cards - sigh, when will I learn to have the camera in the room with me!

I have a number of projects in mind for the next while and, hopefully, I will have the time and the energy to do them. Then I will share.

Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment as  I would love to hear from you!

Just Playing Around

The other day on a FB quilling group I belong to, someone asked 'what do you do with your quilled projects?'

I make mine to keep my hands busy and, of course, to sell. I have found that my ornaments and cards sell pretty well but the question got me thinking. What else can I make that might sell too?

I decided to scale down a few of my regular ornaments and make 'ornaments for houseplants'. So far I have one pattern for a hummingbird, two patterns for butterflies and one for dragonflies. They are made with 1/8" paper and sealed with a heavy coat of gloss medium. The wire is threaded through before sealing so it is pretty sturdy.

I find I have to pick unnatural colours so that the ornaments show up against the green of the plants. I mean really,  a mauve and pink hummingbird? Any way, I think they are cute and that they will make a nice addition to any houseplant or artificial arrangement. I hope others think the same - lol

Here is a comparison photo of the dragonflies although I really should have  a coin in the picture to give a really good idea of sizes. I will be making more of these designs and I think I will have to come up with a bee pattern too!

I enjoy reading your comments so please leave one! Thanks for visiting.

Thinking Christmas

It has been almost a month since my last post and I have been focused on making some quilled paper ornaments that I hope will sell at the Wynndel Christmas Craft Fair on Dec. 2. I have managed to do one mixed media piece with quilling and watercolour...

#1059 - Strutting his Stuff! 5 x 7 matted to 8 x 10

... but the rest? See for yourselves.

Rufous Hummingbird with glitter - 1/4" paper

Calliope Hummingbirds with glitter - 1/4" paper

Fantasy Hummingbirds - 1/4" paper

Gold Snowflakes with glitter and faux gems - 1/8" paper

Gold and White Snowflakes with glitter and faux gems - 1/8" paper

Mauve Angel with faux gem - 1/8" paper

My Rainbow of Angels - 1/8" paper

Christmas Traditions Ornaments - 1/4" paper

Well, I may not be painting but I am having FUN!!!

A Fabulous Fall

The weather has cooled down, leaves are falling and people are getting back to their fall/winter lives.

For me that means Painting Parties, lessons, workshops and thinking about Christmas Fairs.

Yesterday I held my second painting party of the season with five party-goers and we had a great time.

Everyone did two 5 x 7 paintings. Mary Mae brought her granddaughter up this summer for a 'mini' painting lesson and found out about the painting parties then.

 So far, Eileen has attended four of my parties - I guess that means she has been pleased every time.

Abby saw my posters at the recent Art Club Fall Show and left her name and contact info. When I got in touch she asked if there was room for her sisters; there was and they all came and had a good time.

All three girls chose to paint the scene with the Skimmerhorn mountains but Darcy also picked the Lake at Sunset picture. It is too bad that the photo doesn't show all of the colour because her sky is lovely.

Heidi chose the Winter Sunset scene as her second piece and it was fun to see her expression to the effect of salt on the wet paint. Again, it is too bad that many of the details do not show.

I haven't been doing much painting myself but I have been making some quilled ornaments as I am thinking about November's Christmas Craft Fair.

 So far I am just focusing on hummingbird ornaments as they are very popular and usually sell well.

I have added a few new patterns and I have started adding glitter on the neck of some of the pieces. Sigh - glitter really doesn't show up well in photos!

For the rest, my cataract surgery went well, I have started cleaning up my flower pots and gardens and I am enjoying the fall colours in the world around me - gotta remember to take some photos! My first classes of the fall start this week. Then, I will have my (possibly) final Painting Party of the season and the next weekend I will attend an acrylic workshop on Contrasts. There are other things on the list too but then, I like to be busy and all these things make this fall just fabulous!

Almost Over

It is so hard to believe that summer is almost over: the time seemed to speed by while at the same time it seemed to be crawling. The heat, the smoke, the lack of visitors to my home gallery and to the Summer Art Market have all contributed to the strangeness I have felt all summer.

I have been spending what leisure time I have had doing some quilled paper and watercolour pieces. I find both aspects soothing and relaxing.

#1050 - Filigree Flier

#1051 - Filigree Rufous

#1052 - Filigree Fantasy

#1054 - Filigree Fantasy #2

I have been sticking with hummingbirds as my subjects because they suit the lacy looking I am going for and they sell very well - everyone loves hummers! I have, however, been taking some liberties with my colours - at least I have never seen a purple and orange hummer - lol.

I have been thinking about my plans for the Fall and trying to get things organized for a few Watercolour Painting Parties. I am also hoping that some of my students will be coming back to continue their lessons but I expect I will have to wait for the weather to get cold before that happens. I was pleasantly surprised last week by an email from Cheryl asking if I could fit in a lesson on the weekend. I did of course and we both managed to finish a pretty decent painting. Here is mine!

#1053 Deep Fuchsia - 5 x 7 watercolour

On a non-art note, a few weeks ago I got a new camera as my old favourite finally gave up the ghost. The new one is a Canon PowerShot SX420 15 and it is working great! Although I mostly use the camera to take photos of my art, it works super taking pictures through the windows of the critters that visit our yard.

baby turkeys

deer and fawn in my back yard

fawn

These are some of the joys of living in the country in the middle of a forest - life is good!

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment.

Half Way Through

It is hard to believe that we are half way through the summer - where has July gone?

I look back and don't feel that I have accomplished much this month. I feel that I have been very busy although I am not sure with what! I have spent a fair bit of time taking care of my flowers because it has been so hot. I have also been busy with the Saturday Afternoon Summer Art Market; planning what to take, organizing other artists and artisans and trying to promote the venture.

I have painted a few more turkey feathers and figured out a couple of ways they can be displayed. And, here is a picture of one of the visitors who leaves feathers behind for me to paint.

The framed feather and the one in the stand are examples of how people can display the feathers - I think both look good.

I also managed to get a quilled piece done and was lucky enough to get a request for it the first day I posted it on Facebook. It will soon be making its way to Australia to a cousin-in-law.

#1045 - Pastel Hummingbird

The warm weather has really increased the fire hazard in our province and there are a number of fires burning although nothing too close to us. However, the smoke from fires hundreds of miles away still makes it way to our area. That, plus the threat of fire has, I believe, kept tourism down. I am keeping my fingers crossed that August will be a better month with more visitors and more sales - and cooler weather.

I would love to see your comments and how is your summer going?

Left Behind

The other day one of the wild turkeys that visit our yard left a gift behind. Now, turkeys often leave things behind and most of the time we do not appreciate the 'gift' and we have to watch were we walk - lol. But this time I was pleased.

There was a perfect tail feather on the lawn. Turkeys often leave the odd wing feather but the large tail feathers are not as common. Anyway, I picked it up but just couldn't throw it away. So, I painted on it!

Hummingbird and Morning Glory

I was so pleased that I went searching through my stash of feathers and found a few more that were large enough to paint.

Valley scene

Raccoon

I am hoping that these will sell well at the Saturday Afternoon Summer Art Market tomorrow. And, I am hoping that more feathers get left behind when the turkeys visit.

Definitely Crazy!

That's me, definitely crazy. As if I don't have enough to do with my Watercolour Painting Parties, my garden and flowers, and visitors to my home gallery - I just had to go and decide to do the 'Every Day in May' drawing/painting challenge.

May 1 to 4

Granted the paintings aren't large but they still take time. I took my smallest sketch book and divided the pages in four which limits the size and forces me to work small and quickly. The list for the challenge includes a number of things I would never consider painting so it is a double challenge. Have a look and see - maybe you will try it too.

This weekend I will be attending a 2 1/2 day watercolour workshop and I am looking forward to it. But, I still want to get a few more things made for the table I will be setting up for the Bird Festival. The quilled hummingbirds have been popular in the past  and so have my cards that feature hummingbirds so I hope to make a few of each.

This is one of the quilled ornaments I make using 1/4" paper strips and it is the 100th ornament I have made. As I hope to do a few Quilling Parties this year, I was pleased that I was able to time myself while doing this piece today. It took just over an hour to complete so my estimate that novices will be able to do two simple quilled projects in 3 1/2 hours sounds about right (I hope). It also means I will be able to get a number of quilled birds done by next Friday.

Oops! just remembered that I have to go close up the greenhouse. Thanks for stopping by!

This, That and the Other

Instead of sketching in the evenings lately, for a change of pace I have been doing some more quilling and adding the finished pieces to cards.

Quilled Rooster Card

I find most quilling to be relaxing and often do it while watching TV. Sometimes though, I pick a subject that is a bit tougher to do and it needs more control and concentration.

Filigree Hummingbird Card

This little hummingbird and flower seemed to take forever to do as I could only do a bit at a time while I waited for the glue to dry.

I have also been spending time figuring out my display for the up-coming Trade Show at our local rec centre. I mostly want to promote my Watercolour Painting Parties and my 20th "Anniversary as an Artist" Clearance Sale but I hope to make my display inclusive of all my work - thus the figuring.

This year I will be offering some new scenes for the Painting Parties. I am going to add 'A Building in Fog' as well as the 'Vignettes' and the 'Little Guys' parties.

Little Guys selection - paint two 5 x 7 pieces

Vignettes selection - paint one 10 x 14 scene

I don't have most of the scenes for the 'Building in the Fog' series ready yet but here is a sample;

#550 - Abandoned 

These scenes will be 10 x 14 and participants also get a 16 x 20 mat and a clearbag to protect their paintings.

I do have 'other' things happening but I think this blog is long enough, so I will leave the rest for an 'other' day - lol.

I invite readers to 'follow' my blog and leave a comment - let me know how I'm doing!