LAKE RIDE TO FARMER'S MARKET & WIP...I'M ALMOST DONE!

Hi friends! Let me take you on a lake ride with me and my hubby to our farmer's market!  We live on the lake, and enjoy taking a ride into town and thought I'd bring you along. 

amazing mushrooms that look like flowers!

and throughout town are fabulous outdoor sculptures...this is a favorite of mine!

I found a new business in town that I'd never seen before!  It's a store called The Oilerie that sells olive oils are blended in many different flavors!  They just opened about a week ago and get their oils from Italy.  They are kept in cannisters in the store and are freshly bottled for you right there! 

And then on to one of our favorite places to go for lunch in town.....Boulangerie.  They have fabulous sandwiches, fresh breads, desserts, etc.  We just got a cup of coffee and a fresh baguette, which we sliced and put cheese, cilantro and tomato slices on when coming home.  And I will show you my piece I'm working on now...I'm not done, but hope to be later today.  I'm just posting the top part of it right now, as I'm pretty much done with that area. Do you like her so far?

DRAGONFLIES ALL AROUND ME...

I wanted to share with you some of the amazing beauty I saw in the garden yesterday! I went out to feel the warmth of the sun.  As an artist, sometimes you feel you are missing out when it's a beautiful day and you are in a room with just a lamp over your head to illuminate your work. Anyway, there were dozens and dozens of dragonflies flying all around me!  It was so cool.  I ran in to grab my camera.  They were so fast that I had to wait until they landed to capture some pictures of them.

I love the transparency of his wings.

and the lavendar....ahhhh, I just love the smell of lavendar! Right now it's the bees turn to love it.  After they have their fill, it's my turn to cut some and bring it in the house.  Even the dragonflies love it!

IT'S WINTER!

Well, I ended up using both the glitter AND the little plasticy things on her cloak!  I first just put the glitter on the snowflakes in the background and really liked it (although it doesn't show well in this shot).  I took this picture indoors during the day and close to a window.  I also took some pics outside, but this shows the actual color the best without my adjusting it. This is so fresh, that the medium isn't even dry yet, so it'll probably change just a bit more by those areas being clearer instead of milky on her cloak. But I just couldn't wait to show you.  I put some of the plastic things on her cloak on the top of her head first, and really liked it. It reminded me of the muff I had as a kid to wear to church.

These close ups show a bit of the magical dusting of glitter...

Sorry for the fuzziness of this close up...

And thought you'd like to see the easel I use if my inspiration comes from a sheet of paper, etc...

my old remington!  It holds it upright nicely.

Let me know what you think of  "Winter"! Now I need to find an inspiration piece for Fall!

WINTER IN JULY...

She's WINTER!  I know winter in July?  It's just what she told me she was...and when I decided she was winter, I thought that I would do one for each season!  How fun that will be!  I used one of the sheets of Paintables that I got at that fabulous yard sale a few posts ago for the background...

I am also using from the yard sale (I don't think I even showed that I had bought this...) glitter on the snowflakes.  I had purchased this big container of glitter for $1 there also. I have my hand showing in the picture to show just how big the container is...

I had also purchased this container of what I thought was fake snow...but at closer inspection it's more like little plastic pieces.  Has anyone ever seen this before? I know that I'm going to used more snow on her shoulders and/or cloak, but am not sure if I'm going to use these plastic flakes or glitter.  They are rather stiff.

This container is even bigger than the glitter one, so that's a lot of whatever it is!

                                                                               

I'd love to know if anyone has seen and/or used this stuff? It looks cool and really different.  I'm just thinking I'd have to put quite a lot of medium down to have it stay on.  I will post again when I am finished...

WIP...the start of my latest creation...

Here's the start of my latest piece...the paper/background is actually white.  I took the picture indoors, and at night, so it has a yellow cast to it.  I actually like it yellow too.  It makes it look vintage...but as white it looks good too. It's also a bit fuzzy..  My sister, Dolly, sent me a page from an old Victoria magazine that she said looked like a girl that I would paint.  It was laying on my art table for a few days...and then spoke to me.  I had a vision.  And I think you might be surprised as it progresses which way it'll turn.  I get these visions of things completed sometimes...and this is one of them.  I'm very excited about it!

I should have more posted tomorrow...and you'll see how she transforms!

FLOWER POWER...

This was sitting on the back burner for quite a while...partially done.  While walking by my side yard and having the roses calling my name, I thought...it's time.

I really love the colors...even the greys of the table.

SUMMER...IT GOES BY WAY TOO FAST...

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time~ John Lubbock

In my opinion, summer goes way too fast!  It seems you just settle into it, and you only have a month left.

Summer, to me, is a time to relax.  To not have to get the kids up early for school...to not have to ask if they did their homework...

it's farmer's markets, concerts in the park, flyiing kites, and time spent on the beach...

to finally wear shorts, short sleeves, and flip flops...warm nights with dinner outside...

              to see the colors that the sun makes everything around me...so much brighter and intense...

ENJOY the rest of the summer...it goes way too fast.

What does summer mean to you?

NARROW IS THE ROAD...

I finally finished my latest painting!  It hasn't taken me so long because I spent so much time on it...it's taken me so long because I haven't HAD the time to spend on it!

and then, of course, there was all the tweaking...even after I thought I was done.  Even after I was putting it on the blog!  The image goes on the screen, and I think...I didn't see that!  Now I have to tweak it yet again! 

I used two master paintings as inspiration...and kind of melded them together.  Let me know what you think!

YARD SALE CRAFT PURCHASES...TIPS WELCOME!

I went back to a yard sale and really looked this time, as I knew the owner was a crafter.  Here's what I picked up...adirondack inks...I've never used them before, and have looked on youtube videos to see how they are used.  It looks really interesting, and I'm excited to try!  This set was $1 and they came with the opalite pigment inks in the pic underneath.  The adirondack inks are all full...some of the opalites are, some are patially used.

Then I bought this roll of textured paper which I am sooo excited to use in my paintings!  I also bought this large sample pad of Paintable papers---each sheet is a different pattern.  The roll and pad were $1.50.

And I bought these two burners with many tips.  They came in a box with this big bag of pieces of wax or glue (like glue sticks maybe?)...Looking at the labels on the burners and looking online I saw that they are woodburners...but that you can used them on many surfaces...including wax.  I don't know if this is wax in the bag or not, as there were glue sticks in the box too.  I got this box full for $3.

These vials are filled with little crystal type balls...some very fine, some a bit bigger.  They aren't beads.  Wondering how I'll use them...but for $1 I took them and will figure something out.

And I bought an assortment of craft books for 50 cents each.

I bought lots of other things there...and am thinking now that I wish I would've gone back again.  There were boxes and boxes of things.  Oh, and I bought Sizzex embossing tool sets with a little machine and a paddle stamp set, as well.  I need to research the use of that as well!  If any of you have used any of these and could give me tips, I would love it!