Art at Vintage Park

I am so super excited to announce that I have donated two pieces for auction to help support the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Houston.  It's a really awesome event called Art at Vintage Park. 

The TWRC is a really cool place that rehabs injured wild animals in the Houston area.  So, that bird that has a broken wing hopping around the yard, yup, they take them and nurse them back to health in hopes of releasing them back into the wild.  If they cannot, they might use the animal as an educational animal to teach people/children about local wildlife.  I have heard that they also do an amazing summer camp for kids. 

So, when presented with the opportunity I did two pieces to donate.  The first one is called, "Backyard Birding."  These are three feathers that I found in my yard. 

I'm not 100% sure what the feather on the left is, I am guessing either a dove or mockingbird, the center feather is a blue jay and the one on the right is a cardinal.

I used the same technique that I have been developing where I am woodburning and painting with wood dyes. 

"Backyard Birding," is on a raised basswood panel that is 12x12 inches.  I love it and hope you do too. 

The next piece I donated is, "Blue Morpho Butterfly."

This piece is an 8x8 inch woodburning on a curly maple panel and framed. 

I love curly maple.  It gives such a cool illusion.  If you have never seen/worked with it, I highly recommend it.

So, if you are in the Houston area and want to help out a good cause while buying some cool artwork, stop on by Vintage Park this Saturday night.  I know I will be there!  If you come, please come introduce yourself.

How To: Messy Line Drawings

I love, Love, LOVE messy line drawings.  I have been working on perfecting my technique for this and have found such an EASY way to get this look and I will show you how.

First, with either a Cricut, Silhouette, Cuttlebug, etc...start with a die cut.  I have been working on trying to catch up in my scrapbooking and I needed a train, so that's what I used.  Aside from a die cut, you will also need a marker.  I used a 03 (which is approximately 0.35mm thick) prismacolor art pen.  I have done this with fine point sharpies too, but you would need a larger die cut since it creates a thicker line.

Look at your die cut and think about the shapes.  Everything can be broken down into shapes and lines.  Then start with one outline.

When you start drawing your shape/outline again, it doesn't have to be perfect.  The more imperfect it is, the better it looks. 

Keep repeating this same process all over your die cut and once you are done, you have a perfectly messy line drawing that you are going to love!

Throw Paint

I came across this quote and decided to start throwing some paint on watercolor paper.  Which, I then photographed, uploaded, edited and then photoshopped with the quote on it just for you!  Enjoy!

And if you really want to see the kids and I throwing paint around, check out the Jackson Pollock that we did a while ago.  They still love it and it's still hanging in their room!  

Showing this off at:
Sugar Bee Crafts: Take-A-Look Tuesday

Creative Exercise: Monsters

I have been crawling out of a creative funk and it feels GOOOOOOD!  I started with cleaning up and rearranging my craft/art room.  I have set forth a few creative goals.  I also just want to start drawing and painting for no real purpose other than to do it because, it makes me feel relaxed.

Today I decided to do a creative exercise.  I asked Colton what I should draw/paint and he said monsters.  Monsters it is!

I started out with a stack of ATC (Artist trading cards).  They are small pieces of art paper that are 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

I heisted the sticky googly eyes from the kids craft box.  I randomly stuck them on the ATC's.

From here, I took an artist pen and drew my monsters.  The inspiration for each monster was all about the eyes.

I then grabbed my watercolor paints and a few markers and brought my monsters to life with color.

I love all my monsters.  It was so much fun and relaxing to make these little monsters.

Does anyone want a monster?  I am willing to mail out monsters to the first six people who comment.  I will e-mail the first six for their addresses, so please make sure I have an e-mail address to contact you with.

Sharing this over at:
Tatertots and Jello:  Weekend Wrap Up Party 
So I Married A Craft Blogger:  Man Up Link Up XII

My favorites of 2012

I did a whole lot of creating in 2012.  I have compiled my top 5 6 (I couldn't narrow it down to 5) to share with you, in case you missed any of them.

In no particular order:

READ ME Bookcase

An awesome project creation that I made for my son's preschool auction.  I bought it back, I was so happy and proud of it that I just couldn't let it go.  It was also the perfect bookshelf to hold all the odd shaped kids books we have.

Bird Feeder

This has been my only craft to really go viral.  It's been pinned thousands of times, ripped off and posted in more languages than I can recognize and also received the most scrutiny (apparently I am making squirrels obese with it).  Either way, I love it, I get to see some of my local wildlife, squirrels realized quickly that their success rate in getting into the feeder was not high enough and I haven't had a squirrel in there in about 5 months.  I've made a few as gifts for others that love watching/feeding the birds as much as I do.  It's funny to think that my 15 minutes of crafting fame is  a bird feeder made from cheap melamine plates I bought on clearance at Target.

Continuous Shooting and Animation

I have been doing lots of free online tutorials to better myself in Photoshop.  Even after 14 years experience using the program, there is still a lot more to learn about it.

Stone Patio

This was definitely the year to improve our back yard.  This stone patio was the major undertaking and I am still very pleased with it.  Now if we could only figure out a really good way to get rid of mosquitoes and we would be all set.

Test Tube Vase

(Tutorial)

This was created for SYTYC.  It was the first piece I created that felt like fine art to me.  I love how it turned out and I was able to play with a few new techniques (like dying wood). 

Arts and Crafts Stained Glass Mirror

 This was my finale piece for the SYTYC competition.  It is still hanging in my entry way and I love it just as much today as when I first completed it.  It holds a serious sense of pride for me.  I cannot believe that I built it in 4 days!  I also am elated that it was the piece that got me first place in the competition.

Blast From The Past: Self Portrait

I can't believe I haven't shared this on my blog.  This self portrait of myself was the first time I felt I really proved that I could stand behind my work, defend it, and just truly love it. 

I was a senior in high school when I did this print.  Can you believe the stamps were made out of cardboard?  The process was quite simple, but labor intensive. 

The photo I used, my senior portrait.

Scan a photo into Photoshop and break it into 3 layers.  Print those out, grid out your cardboard and printout, then free hand draw your self portrait using the grid as your guide.  Cut out all those pieces and glue them on another piece of cardboard that has a grid (to make sure it all lines up properly).  Then roll on your paint to the first layer and print, complete with subsequent layers until done.

Very labor intensive.  Oh, did I mention, this piece is approximately 2 feet by 3 feet?!?  Huge!

The reason I stated earlier that I defended this piece is my art teacher did not want to submit my piece into a local art show.  It had to be sponsored by an art teacher to be entered.  He didn't believe it was good enough.  I thought it was and approached another art teacher in the school and sold him on submitting it.  I'm so glad that I did, because it took first place!!!  I won Best of Show, 2D Design, Ontario County, NY. 

Blast From the Past: Stained Glass Man

I have been pretty well immersed in doing stained glass lately.  I wish I could show you more than just 71 pieces of cut glass, but I am still grinding and fitting them.  A very tedious process.  I am working on window...to be revealed at a later date.  But, it did get me thinking of a painting that I did back in college that I called, Stained Glass Man.

My friend Joe is the man in the painting.  We were assigned in our illustration class to paint a silhouette.  I loved that illustration class, each painting that we did were based on a theme that frequents illustrations.  It left much of the creativity up to us. 

The stained glass window behind Joe is from the Crouse College building located at Syracuse University.  Such a beautiful building with an amazing pipe organ located within it.  Even though this was the furthest building for me to get to, I never really minded because of it's beauty.

Source: here

Just a little FYI for everyone, Crouse College housed the first College for Fine Arts in the United States.

A Glimpse of my Weekend

This weekend was filled with a lot of fun.  I took the kids to a street art festival called Via Colori and the whole family went to the Texas Renaissance Festival. 

Via Colori is such a fun festival.  Lots of artists come together to raise money for the Center for Hearing and Speech.  They do this by blocking off streets and chalking their own space.  I took the kids on Saturday and got to see the artists just starting their works of art...too bad I couldn't be at two places at once and see the finished pieces on Sunday.  There was also some fun kid activities, like making sand art.

Maben had such a great time.  Colton was rather indifferent about the experience, until I let him run loose in Sam Houston Park.  Here he is standing on the stairs of the San Felipe House, all decorated for the upcoming holidays.  Too bad I couldn't get a good photo of both the kids together...then I would have my Christmas card!

Oh and I can't forget to show you the artists at work.  Too bad most of them were far from done when the kids were done and wanting to go home.  I really would have loved to see the finished product.  I guess I will have to go next year...and maybe sign up for my own spot! 

On the way back to the car, Maben just had to see "the gooey rocks!"  This is actually called In Minds, by sculptor Tony Cragg.

All the fun above happened on Saturday and Sunday is when we hit up the Renaissance Festival.  We started off with watching some jousting. 

Watched the elephants give rides.  How Colton wanted to ride...maybe when I believe you won't jump off the side of the elephant. 

Food...lots of food.  You can't go to the Renaissance Festival without eating something on a stick, which we did.  But, we also had to have some ice cream because it has still been in the 80's here.  Definitely does not feel like Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

We also watched the Birds of Prey show.  They had an impressive selection of birds and I learned quite a bit.  I also got to see a species that I never had seen before.  The King Vulture.  Isn't she beautiful?  That's the prettiest vulture I have ever seen.

We also got to see the largest of all owls, the Eagle Owl.  I love his "ears."  Not sure what those tufts of feathers are, but they kinda look like ears.

And on the way out, the kids were mesmerized by this woman playing the violin.  She was playing a lot of beautiful music and I think my kids could have sat and listened to her play for hours.

International Quilt Festival: Houston

I mentioned earlier that I ventured out to International Quilt Festival in Houston.  I am so thrilled to be living in the suburbs of a large city.  I feel like I have the ability to take in so much art and try to take advantage of it on occasion.  I wish I could have experienced more of the Quilt Festival, but I came down with a nasty bug of some sort that hit me like a ton of bricks while I was walking the floor of the George R. Brown Convention Center.

The Quilt Festival is huge!  Like, seriously, HUGE!  I have never seen more Rascal scooters in my life.  They have a spot where they rent them out there.  I wish I had worn my pedometer.  The main floor (which is where I kept to) is 639,000 square feet.  You better pack your walking shoes! 

The right half was all quilts being displayed.  Oh and a small Husband's lounge.  It was really called that and it was equipped with recliners and flat screens tuned to sports.  It was full.  The left side of that map (all those tiny boxes) were all vendors.  The far far left was ridiculously overpriced food and where you could rent motorized scooters.  If you ever plan to come, don't expect to get out in an hour or two.  You won't.

On to the quilts.  What an amazing display of craftsmanship, ingenuity, artistry and talent.  It is truly inspirational to see the quilts that are produced.  For a total newbie to quilting like myself, it is almost overwhelming.  I hope you enjoy the quilts I chose to share.  I wish I could have taken photos of more, but some were off limits to photography.

With any great art, you can find a personal connection and relate.  These first two quilts I definitely found a personal connection.  The first one was produced by a mother as an homage to her son who proudly serves in the military.  I look at that quilt and remember my time as a military wife. 

Discipline by Cheryl L. Lennox

I fell in love with this next quilt.  What a beautiful moment to capture.  A mother and her baby sleeping.  I look at that fondly and remember when Maben use to curl up next to me on the couch and want to take a nap with me.

Dreaming by Sonia Bardella

There were many quilts that celebrated the whimsy and fun.

Good Onya Sonya Onya Bike! by Helen C. Godden

California Dreaming by Susan E. Slesinger

Another Whimsical Garden by Tina Curran

The geometric quilts had me mesmerized.  There is a lot of math going into getting those just perfect.

The Hues of Amber by Karlyn Bue Lohrenz

Vortex in Variation by Nora Ronningen

There were political statements made.

Beyond the Horizon by Judy Holley and the Peaceful Quilters of Baton Rouge, Louisiana

There were true works of art.  These were some of my favorites.

Wish I was There by Barbara A. Daniel

Manipulation #3, Pinocchio by Bente Vold Klausen

Copley Square, Boston, Massachusetts by Bobbie Sullivan and the Coastal Quilts Artists

And my favorite award winner.  This one took in one of the top prizes at the Quilt Festival.

Harmony Within by Sue McCarty

The one thing that struck me as a whole about the show, was just how many ways you can manipulate fabric and really the only limitation to what you can do is yourself.  It makes me want to try more and sew more.  Now if I could get over this bug that I have, I might try something new, but for now...I am going to curl back up on the couch and hope that the kids will be nice.