Dog Tired

Here are two paintings that I just did today. Each is very different from the other. The first painting is a yellow lab that I did for my son's friend, who did some roofing work for us at a discount. I copied a painting called "Dog Tired" that was done in watercolors, but this one is in acrylics, and I changed some of the colors. The other painting was done to use up the paints that I had left over. The palette reminded me of the southwest, so I added a couple of more colors to spice it up and painted three small paintings on MDF scraps left over from our building project. I then painted a larger piece and mounted them on it. It feels nice to get back into painting. I've been doing a lot of other types of art lately, but I think I like painting the best.

New Painting

Every year, as a present, I paint a couple of new pictures for my husband's office. Several of them are scenes from our farm, because I know that he enjoys being at home, out in the country. This way, even though he is at work, he can still look at the scenery. This painting is of one of the benches on our patio, in the summer, with the flowers around it and the pond in the background. He hasn't seen it yet, so shhhh, keep it a secret. The photo was taken on the bench that is in the painting, bare of flowers because of winter. Oh, how I love summer.

New Collage

I did a little collage work today as I was relaxing on a chilly Saturday. This a a collage of my mother when she was about 2 years old. The background script is a letter that my great-grandfather wrote to his wife when he was a soldier in the Civil War. All of the center portion was combined on Photoshop, including the blue cut-out words. That was then glued to decorative papers and highlighted with oil pastels, stamps, hand drawn letters, and vintage buttons. The word "dream" is hand drawn. The yellow heart is a piece of broken tail light that I found in my driveway.
My next task is to curl up on the couch in front of the woodstove with a cup of hot tea and my new Quilting Arts magazine.

Home Construction

Here is what I have been doing for the past 3 or 4 weeks. Not much art work, but a lot of tile work. I put my skills that I have learned doing mosaics to practical use tiling the bathrooms and kitchen of a house that we are building in Murfreesboro. As you can see, there is still a lot to do. The outside photo was taken right after our stone work was completed. The roof is now cleaned up and we are getting ready to do the landscaping after all of the underground utilities are done. The photo of the kitchen shows the tile counters and backsplash that I just finished. We still have to do the trim work on the cabinets. My son Zach is the contractor and his website is www.avantgardehomesllc.com if you would like to check it out. Tiling was fun, but I'm glad to be back home into my regular routine. I'm trying to get back in the creative mode at home. I have at least 2 paintings and a mosaic game table planned to start on if I can drag myself away from the computer.

Sign Painting

Well...this is a little bit different kind of job than I usually do. I got referred to a man that wanted a mural. I was thinking some kind of scene or something, but it turned out to be this sign. I designed the logo for him and he liked it, so thus began my adventure. The sign is about 15 feet off of the ground so I had to use a scissor lift to get to it. For a person who doesn't like heights, that was a stretch. I was apprehensive about the height but once I got up there, I loved it. It was such a blast! So many curious people came by and talked to me about the sign. It was like an art performance with an audience passing by all day. These photos are in reverse order. The hand points to where the entrance for the small studios is. It is a little shiny because I took it with a flash before the paint dried. The finished photo was taken by Kim Huff, the owner of the art gallery in the building.
In addition to the gallery, the building houses a recording studio an, and several small studios that are rented by various creative people. The gallery owner, Kim Huff, may put some of my work in her studio. This is at 116 N. Walnut St. in Murfreesboro, TN. The gallery is scheduled to open at the beginning of December.

Flamingos

This is a flamingo themed blog. I just finished two flamingo projects and I read today that the factory that makes the classic flamingo is closing Nov. 1. Will they become collector's items? Anyway... mine are recycling projects. One is painted on an old window and the other is made out of an old golf club, nails, and metal washers. My daughter-in-law, Christina had the idea to make the golf club ones, so one of them is hers. The last photo is the designer of the original birds surrounded by his creations. I've been trying to get more in touch with my pink side lately.

Art Money

I think that this is an interesting concept. A man named Lars Kraemmer in Denmark came up with the idea of Art Money . Click on the link to read his story. People from around the world have created their own art money. You must send 3 of your money creations to the BIAM
(Bank of International Art Money) where they post examples of each artist's work. You can send them others which they will sell for you. Each art money starts out with a value of 20 Euros ($24 US) and increases 5 Euros per year for seven years. You can spend them with participating businesses for a percentage of your purchase or redeem them with hosts around the world for one night of lodging per art money. Sounds like fun. I couldn't resist. Here is the page with one of my art bills and my profile.

Submission to Artitude Zine

I submitted a piece to Artitude Zine for one of their challenges. I didn't make it into the zine but they published it on their website in the gallery. Artitude Zine It is a wooden book box that is collaged inside and out, so there are two photos of it. The theme was "Books" so it has words and art pertaining to books. On the inside is a picture of my son Zach when he was about 4 and he had fallen asleep with his book. The next challenge theme is "Trees" and is due November 7 so I think I may try to come up with something for that one.

New Jewelry

I got a couple of new art magazines the other day and that always inspires me to make something new. One was Quilting Arts, which is not anything like your grandmother's quilting. Every issue has amazing new techniques and pages of beautiful pieces made by their contributors. The other magazine was Step by Step Wire, which is about making wire jewelry. There was a beautiful bracelet on their gallery page by a women in Murfreesboro, TN, which inspired me to make my own similar bracelet. This photo is how it turned out. It took me about an hour and a half with materials that I had on hand. I think I'll make more of these.

Labor Day at the River

This is a collage of our weekend at the Tennessee River. The weather was cool and the river wasn't too crowded. It was good just to be together. I discovered a sign that read, "Tennessee River Art Village" I was totally intrigued but didn't have time to stop and check it out so when I got home I looked it up on the internet. This is what I found: Tennessee River Art Village
I am absolutely going to go there next time we are at the river.
Have a blessed day!

Launching a New Blog

I have just begun this new blog as a place to post my new art. My other blog is for my found art. Click here to check out that site. I will begin posting art this week.