Follow Your Heart

First I have to say, today has been so much fun! It was a girls day, my mom, me and miss K. Kaelyn had a photo shoot at 11:00 with a special promotion that Posh Tales and Designer Genes Photography were putting on at the Hampton Inn. (Kaelyn's aunt Amy is the talented photographer for Designer Genes and her sister runs an adorable children's boutique.) I was totally unsure how this was going to go... if you know K she can't sit still for long and trying to get a good picture of her looking at the camera (forget the posing) is VERY difficult. Well when we first walked in a 5yr old girl was having her photos done and was the perfect model. She was so good at posing, being still... listening! The good thing was that Kaelyn was mesmerized by her so when it came to her turn she did awesome!!! Yay! I can't wait to see the photos. Oh, I forgot to mention that Posh Tales let you try their clothes on and model them for the pictures. It was ADORABLE! After that we went to my favorite Italian restaurant and hit a couple thrift stores. So fun and such a nice getaway from all the work projects!

Ok, so on to yesterdays art project I completed for my GYPO class. I tried some new things with this one. The original has a little more of a yellowish tinge to it that my computer doesn't seem to be picking up. I'm just letting you know because viewing it from here looks like most of it is just a drawing but in reality most of it is acrylic paint. I had never painted a "scene" on paper before so decided to try it. I almost trashed it after the first coat of paint since my first layer of gesso was not smooth and really showed steaks from the brush... but since I was short on time I kept going and was pretty happy with the end piece. I brought out details in the bird and some in the leaves below with graphite and charcoal.

{follow your heart ~ mixed media}

Of course this one has a meaning like almost all of my others. Notice that the bottom part of the piece is darker and their is a darker band in the middle of the bird... well this represents the weighted down feeling we have. There are so many times we have dreams or really want to do something but we don't... we find ourselves coming up with reasons why we can't... we hold ourselves back. The colorful rays signify following our heart, taking the leap of faith, forgetting about all the other stuff on our mind and just going for what we really want. Lets face it your not going to get anywhere if you don't fly.

Another New Painting

{acrylic design}

Taking a quick break to share last weeks GYPO project with you all. I actually just got it done yesterday and that was thanks to the big snow storm we had. There was no getting out of the house on Sunday or Monday so that meant some good painting time. Anyway we were told to pick 4 colors that we really like from something around us. I used the colors from a favorite scarf and then put together some designs from my sketch book. I find it pretty easy drawing up the designs but it's a whole different story of putting color into my pieces. Let's say its very frustrating for me and I don't think it should be so complicated! Oh well, I tried something a little out of the ordinary anyway. It's always good trying new things, right?

I think I'm gonna have to combine the class assignments with my other art challenge I'm involved in. Just found out there may very well be a showing of the groups pieces the end of April! Oh my goodness I have so much left to do... as if I'm not busy enough already! Yikes, I'm like a chicken with its head cut off. Ok, nasty image, but you get the idea. Off to get my babe to bed. (crossing my fingers she sleeps through the night... you have no idea what a rarity that is!!!) Then I just might crash... another extremely full day planned for tomorrow.

New Painting {Memories 3}

This was one of the paintings finished last week. When my GYPO (Get Your Paint On) class assignment was to do something out of your ordinary and that is inspired from another artist, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to work with my daughter! Why would it be fitting for the class assignment? Well we were given tips on staying loose, to do something we haven't tried before and one of the artists who inspires me is Clara Fialho. Her art is beautiful, loose and just so fun. So how better to get me from my normal detailed work than having my girl work right along side me!

She was a pretty serious painter! You could definitely tell she was enjoying every minute of it though. She kept telling me "I love painting with you mommy!" Awwwe. I really had no idea if anything good was going to turn out, but I didn't care. I've wanted to do a painting with K for a while now and this was just the perfect opportunity.

After this first stage I took it for a little while, then I got to a point where I didn't know what else to do to it but knew it wasn't finished so I let her back at it...

and now a look at the final piece...

Titled "Memories 3" for her just turning 3 and such a wonderful memory created. A few clusters of 3 were worked into the painting to remind me of her age. :)

Now I'm way behind on this weeks assignment and it's going to take me longer... not sure if I'm going to get it done in time, might just have to show it in progress. But I'm loving the course!!!

Happy Weekend!

Another Modern Custom Portrait

Here is my newest commissioned portrait painting I completed last week. The request was to paint on the largest canvas size I had... which was 18x24 and the chosen color was red. I asked if I could go crazy cropping the photo and it was agreed. So I had a lot of fun with this one. Since the size was bigger I could add in some extra detail.

I think it's so crazy how a bunch of odd little shapes can add up to look like something let alone a person! It's just an amazing process. You get to the third color and the painting comes alive! I was so excited with the end result and the customer loved it as well... which makes it even better. :)

♥ Make sure to tell your loved ones how special they are to you today. To feel loved and share the love is a true blessing! Happy Valentines Day! ♥

New Mixed Media Painting "Freedom"

I can't tell you what a crazy busy last 2 weeks I've had. Oh my goodness... we'll just say house work has been put on the back burner and there has been very little sleep. Part of that has to do with a sick little girl though. Uggh. I seriously thought I was going to fall apart on Friday from lack of sleep, so much on my plate, and a customer's package getting lost in the mail! I never thought going back to my marketing job was going to be the most peaceful part of my day. Ha!

I have so many new pieces of artwork to share but just haven't had the time to post anything. Even with such little time I am so glad to be part of the Get Your Paint On class. It has really pushed me to make art even when I feel like I'm too tired or have too many other things needing to be done. It's a way to make art a priority... which I often have a difficult time doing.

Anyway I just completed the second weeks painting assignment but thought I should go back and share the first project with you. We were told to look at Gee's Bend quilting and work that into our piece. Here is what I came up with:

Of course I had to work a whole story into it but it's pretty self explanatory. It is titled "Freedom".

Hope you are having a great weekend! I'll try to share more art pieces this next week!

An Owl Birthday

Sunday was K's third birthday celebration. The weather wasn't the greatest once again so not everyone could make it to the party... the reason for a few extra photos.

Here's the owl cake I made her. Her birthdays are the only time I try to make anything real special/fun in the kitchen. Its just not my thing. But for her I'll do anything. :) (At least try.) I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

K and I made these nests together. Well she helped stir it all together anyway and tried making one but she quickly decided she would rather just be the taste tester. Hee, hee. She loved them! These were the only ones with white jelly beans, the other ones all had colorful eggs.

I had made the white branch a couple years ago and thought it would make great party decor. My mom was getting rid of this nest and wondered if I wanted it... another fun addition. Hubby made the wooden eggs for it.

In the background there was a birdcage filled with jellybeans.

She loved being the center of attention.

Everyone spoiled her with gifts! Here she's modeling a super cute owl hat from her aunt Amy and uncle Justin. Daddy took the picture... kinda funny with me taking a pic too but it was really cute of K and the hat. Here was my shot:

K's best friend Lizzy came over late afternoon for a few hours and they played with lots of the birthday gifts. They had a lot of fun jumping from one thing to another.

Kaelyn's actual birthday was on Tuesday. I had to work at corporate all day so luckily my mother spent the day with her. At first I was sad I had to be away at work but it actually worked out for the better. I was running on only an hour of sleep and if I would have been home all day I'm sure my patience would have been slim to none. (I have to admit it was kind of nice sitting in a cube and relaxing... it has just been so crazy busy around here lately!) Anyway her and grandma had lots of fun and daddy and I brought balloons and a tiara home for her. She was a happy little girl!

I can't tell you how thankful I am for this little person. She has changed my world and has taught me more than probably anyone. Children really do teach us what life is all about. Thank you God for the gift you gave me 3 yrs ago!

owl birthday invitations

Just a quick post to share the birthday invites I designed for K. I was hoping to do many more fun projects for her coming birthday party but I'm running out of time. Pretty much all I've been doing this week is working on a commissioned portrait. It's been a ton of work... good thing is its turning out pretty cool (Kaelyn even said it was beautiful and asked if she could keep it! Awe!), bad thing is I haven't even started my painting class assignment for this week that is due on Sunday and I haven't done anything for getting ready for the birthday celebrations that are at our house Sunday as well. Yikes! Ok, gotta go.