#190 Featured Today - Greenpeck

As soon as I clicked on #190 Greenpeck
I fell in love with the first entry. How beautiful this painting is and I love the way she has prepared it beforehand with all the square pieces. I definitely recommend you go check out her blog and see the entire process from beginning to end. I think this is one process I may just check out myself and see what I can come up with. Thank you Greenpeck.blogspot.com for sharing your talent and for inspiring us all!
Please leave comments as to what you think about her work here too so I can read your thoughts as well.
Happy Creating everyone!

Portrait Study

Here are a few portraits I have drawn of some of the members on Julia Kay's Portrait Party on Flickr. I love drawing faces but I rarely can draw them to an exact likeness of the people I draw... I have a lot to learn. I am enjoying the learning process though. I blacked out the backgrounds in these for the effect. There is a lot of talented artists out there, especially those who can draw portraits to such a likeness that it is difficult to tell the portrait from the photo - I admire that.

Well, Happy creating everyone and God bless you.

Another Wonderful Find Through Carol Mead #170

#170 Carol Mead is my special find today while I was blog hopping through all of you talented artists. She has painted a fabulous landscape painting that I really had to look twice at to see if it was an actual painting or a photograph. Wow, to have such talent is an amazing blessing isn't it. Maybe one day we will all be this talented. Thank you Carol for your awesome talent and for sharing it with the blog world, I am certain that the couple who is to receive this for their wedding will be truly blessed by it!

Happy Creating Everyone. I hope that you are all enjoying the blog hop as much as I am! Now I have to find some time to create myself! Hugs to you all and thanks for stopping by my blog and for all of your wonderful comments - I appreciate every one of them.

How To Draw Lifelike Portraits

I have joined a portrait study group on flickr called Julia Kay's Portrait Party and that got me thinking. I pulled out some of my old art books on drawing portraits and one in particular called... "How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs" by Lee Hammond. Inside was something called The Puzzle Piece Theory: A Guide to Seeing Shapes... I have seen this before but have not paid much attention to it before though something made me take a second look and I completed this graph puzzle. I found it very interesting how this puzzle had me drawing the picture upside down without even knowing it! When I finished I was pleasantly surprised and I understood why the author had me doing this ~ it actually did help me to realize that there are different ways to draw portraits by looking at things in a new way.
I really need to discover ways to see things differently as I have always been a black/white thinker when it comes to portrait drawing. I really need my eyes opened and this book is helping me to do just that.
It was a very good find for me as I purchased it at Chapters for $5.00 and it regularily goes for $27.50 Canadian.
I have always loved drawing faces... I guess I can thank my oldest sister for that as I started drawing because she did, so thank you Kathy!
So yet again, another book I can recommend.
Happy Creating everyone.

#108 Janine - Touching Painting

I recommend #108 Janines blog as the above painting, which is not only gorgeous, but has a really touching story attached to it. Obviously Janine has a warm heart to paint such an amazing painting that will hopefully touch many for a very important cause. Go check it out and you will not be disappointed! So many artists are banning together in their art for this cause and it is wonderful to see!
Happy Creating Everyone!

#94 - Rebecca Anthony - WOW THE TALENT!!!

Another MUST feature #94 Rebecca Anthony! As I was blog hopping yesterday I meant to feature this lovely lady and her amazing talent! Her blog is called Daisydolls Studio Art Blog and it is awesome! A definite must see as I can guarantee that you will get inspired! Thank you Rebecca for sharing your talent with the blog world!
I am having a blast working my way through all of the links to other artists - talk about inspiration! I think I have to write down all the wonderful ideas I am seeing as I think my brain is in overload (but creative overload is always fun!)
I hope that everyone else is having as much fun as I am!
Happy Creating everyone!

Featuring #91 Jacqueline

Todays finds I am featuring #91 Jacqueline. I fell in love with her painting of this lady posing behind the tree. The face is captivating and romantic. I also love the way she has distressed the overall painting. This is the type of painting I love staring at and imagining her life in my mind... what is she thinking? who is she posing for? Is she in love? what is her life like? etc. Jacqueline you have done a wonderful job in this painting! Thanks for sharing it with the world. I can't wait to see more of your work. For those of you working through the blogs go take a look at her blog - it's wonderful!
Hugs to everyone, Happy Creating!

Another Fabulous Find through Phoenix Peacock #83

See... through this blog hopping I have found some wonderful giveaways through #83 Phoenix Peacock, she is sponsoring a giveaway for CSN Shops. I have personally never heard of them before but they have some great home decor items and well, all sorts of items from outdoor patio furniture to shoes! She also lists a giveaway for a vintage apron through Kat's Kitchen who is sponsoring the giveaway for Annie through Annie's Apron's and Bags. I love finding sites like these and these aprons are super cute! I have never seen aprons as cute as these before!

Keep working your way through and share what you find on your blog so others can see your fabulous finds and inspiration!

Happy Creating Everyone!

As I was Art Blog Hopping....

It is so much fun blog hopping around the list of Artists! For example:

I came across Peggy's blog and I am loving it! The above painting is one of her latest. Isn't it beautiful! (I hope you don't mind that I put it up on my blog ~ I love it and I wanted to show the world what I found on your blog).

So let's go blog hopping and see what else we can find. I may post more lovely things I find if I get a chance.

Happy Creating, Happy Blog Hopping!

Very Cool MAIL ART From My Friend Shelley

So last week I received some amazing mail art from my girlfriend Shelley in Winnipeg. Two single records cut and joined to make a cover to her letter! What a cool idea! My kids and hubbub laughed when they saw it! How cool is that???? I am not that creative but this girl - wow - ya she's got it! She is an awesome penpal. She started writing me when I posted earlier this year or last year that I had pneumonia for two months. We have been sending wacky mail art back and forth ever since, and she is hilarious! What a joy it has been to receive her letters! Some people are just gifted for things such as this and she is one of them.
I decided that I would send her a bunch of different things in her letter back, so far I have sent her 5 different journal spreads, postcards stickers, sudoku games and fun little doo-dads I find. I did this last journal spread for her lastnight of a woman's face. I love writing over top of the faces, some people call me brave for writing over my drawings I just think I am completing them! LOL.
Thanks Shelley for the fun mail art! You are so wonderful to me!
Hugs
Happy Creating Everyone!
Don't forget to add your link to the Blog Hop before June 30th and copy and paste it onto your blog to continue adding more links. By the end we should end up with a couple hundred links to other artists throughout the world - I am so looking forward to it!

Artist Blog Hop

It's working! Finally! Just copy and paste link into your "html as a widget" and the artist links should appear as a post on your blog. Let me know if you have trouble seeing it.

Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils

So last Friday I left you with a cliffhanger... I was on my way to an art store to find some Pan Pastels... well...
I didn't buy what I thought I was going to... I managed to buy some more Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils and a watercolor brush that has water right in the end of the brush. I remembered that I already had a set of 12 of these pencils, though this new set was a set of 23 and it was onsale for 50% off (probably because it was missing 1 pencil and it wasn't in a box). I do not mind these things because I don't keep them in the box anyway.

So that night and on the weekend I played and played with these new little goodies. I forgot how much I love them.

I prepped a journal page with first Distress Ink Pads in three shades, then using the Derwent Inktense Markers I colored in different shapes, highlighted the edges, then went over everything with a black pen. I like the way this page turned out. It will be part of a letter I am writing to my pen pal in Winnipeg. I hope she doesn't see this entry! lol.

So... this in it's entirety was the outcome of my exploits to the art store this week. I will post again tomorrow. Until then... Have a fabulous day and Happy Creating Everyone!

Journaling on Chronic Pain Information

I picked up some new watercolors and went to work on two new journal pages. I was originally looking for a watercolor brush that had water in it and ended up instead buying some watercolor paints. I experimented with the backgrounds and then simply drew lines over top and flowers then journaled the pages in. I tried to use a technique I saw in the book "Journal Spilling" of using gel pens and watercolor resist but it didn't really show up. So I went over those lines with black (as my usual seems to be)...

My hubby found this wonderful video series on dealing with chronic pain, as most of you know I have fibromyalgia and have been experiencing chronic pain for awhile now. I can't remember having a pain free day in a long time (well actually Arizona was pretty painfree laying in the sun). Anyway, this time I'm not talking about Arizona (my favorite place of all time)...! This series is put on by the Calgary Health Region and explains in detail how our bodies process pain and send out pain signals from our brains... it is very informative and helpful if you have been experiencing Chronic Pain. I was rather pleased with the information I was able to extract from it and have already used many of their helpful hints to alleve some pain.

Maybe you too can find it helpful. Click on Calgary Health Region for further information.

I hope you all have a fabulous week. Happy Creating Everyone!

Fridays With Kelly - Take 3

Sharing our awesome finds!

Well, since last week I have had a special delivery and wow have I enjoyed it, so much so that I must share with you what I received.

I placed an order for two books: The first is called: Journal Spilling by Diana Trout. It is packed full of ideas and techniques that help to inspire and spark your creativity. I spent last weekend mulling over the entire book from cover to cover. A funny little coincidence occurred right before I received the book... my son asked me how people tie-dye t-shirts and guess what one technique she showed? Not tie-dying t-shirts but fold-dying paper... however, this helped me to show Ben how this whole tie-dying thing happens. Boy did this technique wet my appetite for creating beautiful dyed papers! Now I just have to find the time to do it! Click here to find her book. It is definitely a great one for ideas.

The second book: 1000 Artist Journal Pages by Dawn DeVries Sokol
I have heard of this book many times before and I was very intrigued wanting to get my hands on a copy. Finally I sat down and ordered it! From the moment I opened it I was captivated by all the talent, all the many artist's pages that spoke to me in color and words and thoughts and feelings... it was lovely! You know that feeling when you get a brand new art journal, all the pages are white and clean and you just can't wait to begin spilling your art onto the pages... well, this is the feeling I got when I opened this book, but in this case I couldn't wait to dive into other artist's pages and explore their talents like a kid in a candy store! I have shown only a snippet of a few pages I fell in love with... I don't want to spoil it for anyone - YOU MUST HAVE THIS BOOK! I used masking tape to mark the pages that I ABSOLUTELY love, though as I continue to read through I think I may have to put tape on every page! You will love it! I am so inspired to get started... though... once again... I need to find the time to do so! lol.

So this weekend I will continue my drooling expedition as I make my way through these books yet again. Do you have certain books that have inspired you in your art? Please share them with me as I am always looking for new inspiration. In fact, I think I spend more time getting inspired than actually creating! Hmmmmm... that's not good, but let me know regardless! LOL. I am a book fanatic!!!!

I will post some of my art later on... for now... I'm off to the art store to find some pan-pastels! Sounds like fun to me!!!!

Happy Creating everyone!

Fridays With Kelly - Take 2

Fridays With Kelly - I am really loving this day and I look forward to it throughout the week. A day where I can share with my friends my inspirations throughout the week. My goal is to inspire others into their creativity!
I have been thinking a lot about my niece Destiny and that is what the first page is about. She is a sweet little 9 year old and I am having so much fun communicating back and forth through mail and on facebook. We live one Province away from each other. I am going to have her for one week this summer and I look so forward to have some girlie time.
The next pictures are of some journal time I was able to get in at work while it was slow. I have been prepping pages in the morning and taking them to work to work on.
I prepared a page on my all time favorite verses in the bible PSALM 139. It creates such a clear picture of how God knows us and loves us completely. In the flower I wrote, "God knows that I love to wear flowers in my hair!" because it is a fact about me that God knows. I have so many hair bands with flowers attached to them and that is just me. God instilled the love of flowers in me. He is such a beautiful Creator.
The "Friends" page I had a lot of fun doing, especially the lettering because I had to layer and layer it to make it pop out more. My hubby noticed that my drawings of the girls looked a little different than I usually do... and they do, I was looking through some sites and alot of drawings show girls with long necks and so I gave it a try.
The mail art "God Bless You" I wanted to do some mail art that was feminine and pretty and with a godly message too! I have tried to master drawing women's face and I enjoy doing it.. I don't really know why. I think God's creation is so beautiful and the female face is well... feminine in it's lines and contours of the eyes. It is peaceful to draw. That and I don't know how to draw a male face - lol.
So... this is my inspiration for this Friday... look around you and see if you can capture the feminine around you. Look at the differences between the male and female gender and put it on a page...
When you have done this, send me a link to your post and I would love to see what you come up with.
Hugs to you all.
Happy Creating.
Have a very inspirational day!

FRIDAYS WITH KELLY

Over in my Sketchbook Project Yahoo Group there is a lovely lady named Rita who has a post every Tuesday called "Tuesday's with Rita". I love receiving her posts and I thought to myself... I have an art day all to myself once per week... so why not have "Friday's With Kelly"????
I love my Friday's! I wake up and the house is quiet, outside the birds are chirping and fortunately for me today, the sun is shining brightly. If you follow my blog closely you will know that I thrive in the sunshine, every day that it is shining I thank God for I know it will be a fabulous day! When I moved to Calgary, Alberta just over 8 years ago the skies were bright and clear and I could not get over it! Coming from Coquitlam, British Columbia where it rained the majority of the days... I was in awe of the beautiful bright skies. Even when it was -30 degrees outside, the sky was still bright which made the cold more bareable. However, now I do not know what is happening to our weather patterns here! We have had some crazy, crazy winters where I have had to runaway in the Spring to Arizona for some much needed warm sunny therapy! I LOVE escaping to Arizona but I wish that our winters were still as bright as they once were. I am very much looking forward to summer and have rather high expectations for the weather!
Now on to my FRIDAYS WITH KELLY project...
I am enraptured with the idea of mail art! It has consumed my thinking and my spare time these past few weeks. I do believe that I love to make people smile and therefore love this idea of sending a bit of sunshine to unsuspecting individuals.
These two pieces have yet to be claimed in my mind as to whom I shall be sending them to... I am certain I will think of the perfect individual soon. Who knows... it may be you! If you would like a piece of mail art feel free to send me your address and you just might be the lucky recipient of some mail art from Kelly.
Well, I do hope you have a fabulously creative day. I am off to bask in the sunshine of my back yard!
Happy Creating everyone!