Joy to the World!

Hope you are having a blessed holiday season.

This year's Christmas card from the Holdermans.

'Tis the Season

Gus decided to decorate the cave 

so he collected the greenery and asked Crow to help.

Time to bring on the festivities!

We Bare Bears...my new obsession

OK I am a tad smitten with these guys.

If you have not yet seen We Bare Bears,

and you do like kid's shows,

then watch the episode Tote Life.

It's good for a little break from reality.

Next class-all things Disney

The next iPad class I will be teaching is

"All things Disney".  

Should be a fun one!

The Owl and the Pussycat

 And it is a wrap.

Just finished "Illustrating Children's Books"

with Lilla Rogers MATS.

I chose "The Owl and the Pussycat",

But gave this tale an updated version.

 My characters took their pets along with them on their voyage.

 We explored expressions...

 and poses...

 and met some side kicks along the way.

I also envisioned this as a children's board book 

with pop up tabs, counting, colors and more.

Here is a spread that I envisioned as their pea green boat

landed in the "Land of Bong" at nighttime.

The greeting committee came out to meet them.  

Great class and now to work on some stories I have rolling around in my head.

Anything Goes-Within Reason Opening

Art Opening tomorrow night 6-7:30

Blakely Hall, The Issaquah Highlands

featuring my painting "Triumvirate"

with three crows, three spirit birds and three pots

Little Red Riding Hood Popup Cards

My students never cease to amaze me with their creativity. 

I love how they each interpret the story differently 

and don't copy each other. 

That is such a gift in this copycat world.

We drew on our iPads,

then emailed each layer to me,

I printed them out,

and we snipped and glued and created cards.

Voila!

TGIF

Make it a great one!

Hello

Popping in to say,

"Have a wonderful Wednesday!"

tweet, tweet

Garden Doodling

A garden doodle to make you smile.

Sometimes I wish I could reach for the sky,

with my feet firmly rooted in the warm soil,

and twist and dance and bask in the sun,

and show my full glory to everyone I encounter.

I hope you will try to do the same today.

an evening with iPad art

I will be teaching:

iPad Art

Saturday, September 24, 6:30–9pm, artEAST, Issaquah, WA

Join me for a fun evening learning the basics of digital drawing on the iPad in a relaxed environment.  Bring a friend and spend the evening learning how fun and easy it is to create and manipulate art digitally.  We will have refreshments and lots to talk about.

This class is designed for beginners and traditional artists looking to expand their abilities while still having fun.  I will share work by other artists, demonstrate how to use this tool for preliminary sketches and changes to help your traditional art become even better, create with layers, show how to manipulate your painting into an entirely different piece of art using digital draw overs, replay some of my sketches from start to finish to show you the process, show you the difference between several apps, and finally we will draw on the "Brushes Redux" or "Brushes XP" app.

http://arteast.org/2016/07/ipad-art/

to fly or stay put

To fly or stay put...

Isn't that always the question?

This little bird is enjoying the scenery

but his mind is elsewhere-

up in the heavens soaring through clouds

and breathing in all the scenery down below.

Laugh, Love, Bloom

Have a day filled with laughter, friendship and bouquets of sweetness!

Tea time Adventure with Global Talent Search Entry

Just finished this entry for Lilla Roger's Global Talent Search.

This year's theme was tea cups and I just had to interject some humor.

My cat makes an appearance and I suppose the young woman is a much younger version of me.

But I still feel that young.  

And of course I needed a thirsty crow.

My goal was to show the lighter side of tea.  

Tea can bring out the dreamer in us and take our imaginations on table top adventures. 

Yes it could happen...

Beets!

First pickings from the garden!

Lille Rogers Make Art That Sells Bootcamp

5 months of Bootcamp is over.

What a wonderful fun ride!

I learned so much and enjoyed each assignment.

Now onto more classes,

some card designs, 

a show in the fall and one more week of teaching.

The above prompts included (from bottom right to top left):

-1920's coloring book

-lumberjack Christmas ornament

-female St. Francis

-Vicuna children's book illustration

-floral notebook cover

The Language of Flowers

Five months have passed and I have loved every minute

of MATS Bootcamp.

Here is my final assignment,

a notebook cover with lettering.

I just may need to get these made

and try one out.

Hope you are having a great summer filled 

with bouquets of flowers 

and bird song.

iPad Art Class coming to artEAST

I am excited to be teaching

at artEAST this fall.

You can learn the intro to drawing on your iPad

AND

drink wine at the same time.

What could be better than learning something new, 

sipping wine, 

talking with new friends 

and I promise we will laugh.

all info HERE.

Vicuna makes Friends

Matteo the vicuna quickly discovered

that friends come in all different shapes, 

sizes, colors, textures, smells and even noises.

A children's book prompt-

now I may need to write the rest of the story.

More Doodling

more iPad doodling...

iPad Doodling

random iPad doodles...

Bloom or Fly

Bloom where you are planted...

or move on so you can.

My newest digital piece for 

Make Art that Sells Bootcamp.

She was inspired by St. Francis.

Walking in a Flower Forest

I have been rather prolific the past week.

I finished three assignments for MATS.

I love being able to draw on my iPad when I don't feel like getting messy.

It's the perfect art tool you can take anywhere.

I am off to teach my elementary kids how to use it today too.

I teach at two schools and I am always amazed how quickly they learn.  

Most of them grasp layers after a couple of lessons;

Even the kindergarteners ;)

It keeps me learning and on my toes so to speak.

If you look closely you will see that the dictionary page is the definition of uppercase.

It made me laugh and some days, well everyday,

that is a good thing.

Dress for Joy self portrait

Why is it we don't dress for ourselves-

to make each of us smile and feel the joy 

and love that would help us just get through the day?

Usually the simplest outfit is thrown on as an after thought most days.

I love this outfit so I may need to get out the patches and needlework 

and sew these pants.

Now I just need a crow to visit the studio and allow me to dress her in lace.

It could happen.

This was created on my iPad for a prompt 

from UPPERCASE Magazine and Make Art That Sells.

I decided to continue the prompt so

I envisioned my granddaughter playing with my cat

in an outfit I designed for her too.

Do you think my cat would let me dress him? 

 I will need to think on that...

85 degrees in Seattle and I am drawing Winter Snow Globes

Meet Wilbur.  

His friend Pierre sent him the snow globe as a reminder of their adventures last winter. 

Wilbur is busy cozying up his den for the long winter rest.

It is 85 degrees in Seattle and breaking all records for the hottest day ever in April.  

And it was the same yesterday.

I am drawing on my iPad for MATs Bootcamp.  
The assignment was holiday ornaments and mine morphed into a snow globe.  
Now to work on MATS A & B next.  

I think iced tea is in order while I sing Christmas carols.  

Art Show closing soon

My show "What if..." closes Tuesday. 

Stop by Blakely Hall in the Issaquah Highlands on a weekday to catch the last glimpse of it. 

After that, several pieces move to the window of artEAST next month.

 Spring finds me watching flowers pop in the yard and...

 drawing on my iPad.

What are you doing?

Opening Night Photos

What a fun evening-

I sold seven paintings! 

Solo Art Show

It's happening!

I set up my solo show today and it is now open 

though April 20 on weekdays.

I would love to see you at the opening

this Thursday March 17, 6-8pm.

Blakely Hall, Issaquah, WA.

What if...

my solo show!

It's getting closer.

March 17 6-8 pm

Blakely Hall

Issaquah, WA

Photo Time!

Photo Time for my upcoming solo show!

In the Palm of my Hands

Learning the Adobe Sketch app.

Love the watercolor effects.

Rain...

Sometimes rain can be pretty...

Happy Valentine's Day a little late

Better late than never...

Hope it was a good one!

Solo Show Next Month!

The sun is shining and there is hope that spring is right around the corner.  My solo show is fast approaching too!  The opening is set for March 17 6-8 pm at Blakely Hall in the Highlands, Issaquah, WA.  I would love to see you there.  It will run until April 24 and then part of it will be in the front window of artEAST for the following month.  I have painted the past 10 months and there will be about 12 new pieces plus some of my favorites from my own collection.   These three paintings will be there along with others which I will feature next newsletter.  Birds of a Feather is the newest and is 2'x4'.  It features lots of paint layers as well as a Shoe-billed stork which happens to be my favorite bird (after crows of course) and a ghost fish too.

Acme #2000 art pouch-for the artist on the go-with optional nest pocket (model not included) is the next closeup.   This one makes me laugh and can happily live in my studio.  I would love to carry my art supplies wherever I go...along with a couple of crows ;)  There is an optional nest pouch featured and many more art filled pouches not shown in this view.  You have to see it all! And finally we have Babel which is raw canvas covered in collage, stitching, buttons, vintage papers, stamps, and glitter.  Can you tell I teach elementary students?  One can never have too much glitter. I will share more later, but enjoy for now.

mark making

Today's mark making...