Being Crafty

All of these crafty creations involved much time, though every minute meditative. For me, it was putting together a puzzle without the original picture. I love this kind of creating!

Walking through one of the shops I frequent, I spot a stitched shoulder bag and said, "I want to try that!" Right now it is stretched over a canvas frame that I used while stitching the shapes and the herringbone design. It may be sewn into a pillow or a shoulder bag or...we will see!

This project reminds me of a patch quilt or a curiosity cabinet. The piece below is my daughter's creation!


 

The mosaic mirror had begun many years ago at "Beach Day" during the winter season! It patiently waited to be finished this summer!
All of the fragments are from our own broken dishes and contains many memories.

When I'm Looking the Other Way...

While painting, we often use a paper plate or a piece of wood for the painter's palette. These images appeared in the middle of painting the Dots series.

A New Look

 

This toy box was once a honey wood color painted white when it arrived at my home. After sitting in the garage for months patiently waiting for a new look, I chose some leftover "Persian Blue" paint from another project and spray paint in two tones of gray. The herringbone theme is still going strong!

Dragon

On Saturday, Enzo asked to have a dragon painted on his face. Together, we looked online for different dragon images, some were scary, some were just right. This is the one he chose.

Nature Morte

 

This collection has been delicately collected over the years on walks in the woods, from the North Shore and around the neighborhood. 

While passing by, one piece of the collection will catch my eye and draw me in quickly to meditate on the wonder of nature or the enchantment of rusted iron.

Blooming Sunshine

 

This is the first year I noticed the delicate budding of the Black Eyed Susan. Usually they appear from one day to the next and this year they took their good ole time!

En Plein Air

I've been waiting for good weather and the flowers to bloom so we can take inspiration from one of my favorite American artists, Georgia O'Keeffe. 

I'm so excited that this day in June became the perfect day for it...sketching and painting outdoors with dear friends! The flower garden was at its peek for peony, Japanese iris, poppy and blue flax. We all found a flower that spoke to us, sketched it and began painting. All the paintings spoke beautifully of the strength of the delicate petals and the boldness of color.

Japanese Iris

Budding Peony

This one was painted by Mila and hours later when everyone was headed home, we noticed the bud, had flowered!

Fruit Bowl

I finished the Japanese Iris painting over the next couple days and while I was painting, Enzo took a canvas and painted Fruit Bowl.

Georgia O'Keeffe: http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/natural-and-still-life-forms.html

Dots

A rainy day was spent with dear friends painting and chatting around a large wooden table with brushes filled with many colors transforming the gray day into a creative colorful experience.

Blue Whale

 Sting Ray

 Fox Long Ears

The following beauties painted by my daughter, Mila.

Flowers

Circles

Pink Splash

Painting à la American artist, Vance Kirkland was not only meditative, it reminded me of the hours upon hours filling in multiple images in the coloring books of many years ago.

The process began with a painted layer of different colors, followed by a splatter of color and then for the relaxing part, placing dots close together to create additional varied shapes.  As I was covering the canvas with dots, I noticed images begin to emerge and was compelled to accentuate them as the titles suggest. 
I would like to add that the bubble gum pink in the first three painting were perfectly inspired by the sweetest three year old girl sitting next to me.

Also, the "splash" in the last art work, painted by my daughter, reminds me of the David Hockney painting, A Bigger Splash. 

  

Take a peek at Vance Kirkland art: http://www.kirklandmuseum.org/pages/collections/main.php?page=vanceKirk

Also, David Hockney, The Bigger Splash, 1967. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hockney-a-bigger-splash-t03254