Michaels Loot

I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I would post a photo of a Michaels purchase from a few weeks ago. They were having a sale. They're having a sale now, too. I went a few days ago with Mom, but I've already put up that purchase. I love Michaels!!

Here are some Michaels Coupons for you. Also, if you're signed up for their newsletter you'd get a 50% off coupon valid for this week on one regularly priced item. I got it and I may just have to take it with me shopping tomorrow. Woohoo!

Finished Cloth & Clay Doll and My Art Show

I finished Cynthia, the doll I was working on. Here she is:

I roughed her up a little bit so she wouldn't look too perfect. I did that by rubbing an oil pastel on my fingers and smudging it over her skin, hair, and cloths. I'm not as happy as I could be with her skirt. I folded the top over to make it look a little more finished and used spray adhesive to hold it down. I wish I'd have just left it alone. It looked better before. Oh well....ya live, ya learn. I'm doing a weighted, standing doll now. I already had the sand for a different project, so I'll just use that.

If you happened to catch my other blog you know about my new "art show". (lol @ me calling it a show) It's just me sitting in front of my web-cam making art. If you tuned in yesterday and day before you'd have seen me sewing Mrs. DoLolly's skirt and giving her a final varnish. I don't have a set schedule yet. I do plan to come up with one. Maybe something like Lunch to 5:30 Monday-Friday. We'll see. Anyway check it out: Rischa's Art House

I've added a new Links list on the right side for my Cloth & Clay Doll Classmates. Look under "Doll Peeps" and go give them a look. While you're there leave them a comment. Blog folks love getting comments! ;-)

Also, now joining the world of blogs is my Mommy Dearest. Go tell her hello if you have a sec!

Doll WIP

Just an updated photo of my Dolly work in progress. I just have to give her a crackle finish and rough her up a bit. She looks too perfect. She needs a vintage look.

....one more...

She needs more personality. I'm working on it. I'm pretty tired, so this is a short one. See ya!

Meet Cynthia May DoLolly

I haven't given her make-up (paint) yet, but here's Mrs. DoLolly's debut...

I really enjoy playing with this clay. I think I'd like to do it more often. I could maybe even make my own clay bowls and paint them? I don't know, but I do know I enjoy it. How do you like her name? Mrs. DoLolly is the matriarch of the DoLolly family. She will have many sons and daughters. Perhaps that's why she has a double chin? Ha!

Tomorrow she'll get a make-over, complete with arms, legs, and make-up. Then she'll get her Tea-stained skirt. Well, we can't have her running around without a skirt on, can we? She'd get a reputation!! I may have her holding something. A stuffed heart? Clay Bible? Cross? Puppy? I don't know yet. We'll see what she's in the mood for when I'm done.

The Weekend Artist / Artful Spaces

Hello my dear blog readers! I hope your November is off to a fantastic start? If not, may it improve by infinity by the time you finish reading. ;-)

I have a little update for you today. Remember THIS entry I posted where I whined about how bad I wanted to buy The Weekend Artist? Well, a couple of months ago the artist of that book commented underneath that entry. Cool, right? I thought so! If you're too busy or lazy to go check it out, here's what he says, "Hello there! I actually am Gerard Smith, author of the Weekend Artist, and someone told me about your blog at work today. Thank you so much for your interest. I have been told that the book will be published by F+W Media in the USA next April or May, but you can get it on the UK Amazon site. Their site is:www.fwpublications.comThere are also a couple of projects on YouTube that were taken from a pilot I filmed about 3 years ago. Just search under 'Art Shop Guy' on YouTube and they should come up.All the best with your art. I love the dreamy quality of your work and how motivated you are.Reading your comments really has made my day!Gerard Smith"

Soooo....being the YouTube junkie that I am....



Be sure to scroll all the way down to the bottom of my blog to turn off the music before watching any videos. I really enjoyed that first episode. I'll watch the rest when I have a chance. I haven't watched my class videos yet for the Cloth & Clay Doll Workshop, so all in due time. ;-) I did go ahead and subscribe since, like I said, I AM a YT Junkie! I should say YT Artist Junkie. I'd love to make my own videos some day, but that's another thing to learn......adding to my numerous list of "To-Do's".

So anyway, today Gerard stopped by the ole blog again with an updated that I'm pretty darn excited about....

"G'day, its Gerard Smith again. Just thought I'd let you know that my book is now listed on US Amazon. For some strange reason the name has changed to Artful Spaces, but as far as I know the content is still the same. Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Artful-Spaces-DIY-Wall-Home/dp/1600614590/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225744027&sr=8-1 Hope you and your art are going well!Gerard Smith"

Woohoo! Guess what I'll be purchasing! And did you see that price? $16.49!! Even I can afford that! Yep, yep!

Thanks for stopping by and letting me know, Gerard! I'm honored that the author himself would grace my blog with his presence. ;-) Seems like a cool guy......go buy his book!

I've been quite busy the past few days and have not had a chance to finish my Blue Haired Birdy Girl. The Doll workshop started on the 1st, as well, which puts me.....what.....2 or 3 days behind assuming everyone else started on the 1st. I doubt it, though. I think I could make the doll in a few days and the workshop is up for a month. If I had a day job I wouldn't be that confident.

A WIP and Play Time

I worked on that WIP from yesterday's post today. I decided to take Katie's suggestion of blue hair. I love the hair! I think from now on my girls will have CRAZY hair like this. Who says only old ladies and goth princess' have blue hair?

....and here is the result of some play time with Water Soluble Oil Pastels:

Okay, so it's not stunningly gorgeous, but it was fun. It was my first time using WSO Pastels. I enjoyed playing with them. I highly recommend you pick some up. I got them at an office supply store per Suzi Blu's suggestion to use them on our Mixed Media pieces for her class. SOOOOO fun! They look like crayons, but act more like watercolor pencils. You can use them wet or dry. You can also smudge them just like regular oil pastels. The brand name that I got is Portfolio. They're in a green package and cost about $10. If any of you happen to go buy them and use them I'd love to see what you create! Link to your image in my comments! I plan to use them in the background of the Blue Girl Birdie Love painting.

My Angel

She doesn't have wax on her yet, but here is my finished Angel Girl:

It's not my best attempt, but hey....it was fun and I like her anyway. I love using that Golden brand Gold Metallic paint. It's so perfect for things like this.

Here's a close-up:

I'm really tired of working on this cheap-ass wood. I wish I had got the Birch or just stuck with canvas. Even if it was those cheap Walmart canvases. For one thing it's harder to draw because the pencil wants to follow the grooves and cracks in the wood. It's not smooth wood like Birch. For another thing, I don't particularly love my girls to have cracks in their face....even if it does give them character. lol

I'm working on another girl already. I've drawn her, but no shading or color yet. I've also still got to draw the tree and birds. She'll be holding a bird up to a tree so she can be with her partner that's already waiting on her in a limb above. ;-)

Can you see her? It's hard to see when there's only pencil, I know. I think I'll give her pink hair. Or maybe purple or blue? Who knows, but it'll be a bit funkier than the other girls. Or maybe just black? I haven't tried a black-haired girl. Nah.....I'm going with funky colors. lol And maybe an oddball tree, too?? Don't know yet, but we'll see what my muse tells me. Wanna see my muse?

Here she is....

Hehe.....gotta have a sense of humor.

Bye all!

Skiesart Sharon & Shopping at JoAnn's Fabric

I thought it was about time I featured my close, personal friend, Sharon. You'll be amazed at her beautiful artwork. I certainly was! Check it out: http://www.skiesart.com/. I think my favorite paintings of hers are the last two oil paintings she has listed. She's also decided to take Suzi's Les Petite Dolls class AND the Cloth & Clay Dolls class. It should prove to be even more fun having a friend in the classes with me! :-)



In other art related news, I ventured off to JoAnn's Fabric to get the supplies for the Cloth & Clay Dolls class that starts next week. Big surprise....they didn't have Creative Paperclay or even basic pottery tools. I wish they'd open a Michael's closer than Sanford. So anyway, I have to get those online. The cheapest I've found it is http://www.jerrysartarama.com/, but they sure think a lot of their shipping. They charge regular shipping, which is whatever UPS or USPS charges, plus a $7.95 charge for their part unless you get the most basic shipping, which is still 11:95. I may check out the other places and go into the check-out to see what their S/H charges are before buying. I don't mean to sound cheap, but the supplies list for these classes can sometimes be pretty long. I'm trying to do my due diligence before getting the more expensive items. lol

Suzi Blu Wood Burning & My Photos on Imagekind

I know I've mentioned Suzi Blu several times on here since I'm taking her Les Petite Dolls workshop, but I thought I'd post a video of hers. These videos are how I discovered her and her classes. Here she is doing some wood burning on YouTube. It is NOT from the class as those have to be paid for before viewing. If you'd like to take the class go to http://www.suziblu.ning.com/ OK, on to the video:

There's also a new widget on this blog. If you look over to the right you'll see the Imagekind Widget that will take you to my gallery. There you can purchase my art and photography. I only have one up right now, but soon it will be filled to the brim with goodies to customize and purchase. You can get anything from greeting cards to prints to canvases. They'll even add a frame and border for the right price. I then get a percentage of what is sold. I put up Joel's favorite photo of mine first. Go check it out! Go! Run! Buy! Hehe

PS. If you're ever going to watch a video on this blog you'll have to go to the very bottom of the page first to turn off my tunes. That way you'll be able to listen to one thing at a time rather than the video with the music playing over the top of it. ;-)

Finished Autumn Owl Girl

I finished the Autumn Girl I posted as a WIP a few days ago. She's just waiting on a layer of Beeswax now. Here she is:

And here's a closer look:

For the background there is a first layer of a deep yellow wash. I used yellow with a tiny bit of red and brown to make it warm looking. Then I painted leaves onto watercolor paper with colored pencil and acrylic paints, cut them out, and Mod Podged them onto the painting. Then I used acrylic paint again with stamps for the next layer. Then I antiqued the edges and random areas with Walnut Ink. Oh, and I painted the outside edges dark brown so it wouldn't need to be framed. Joel wanted me to wait to give her Beeswax because he wants to watch how it goes on. Her "diamond" necklace is an acrylic gem. It really sparkles, but it doesn't show that in the photo. Thanks for visiting! :-)

Cloth & Clay Doll Workshop

That's the next class I'll be taking. Click the image to go get more info. I'd love it if some of my blog peeps would join me in this class! It's very cheap for what you'll be learning. Only $35 for regular members and $25 for Homeschoolers. Isn't that sweet of her to do that for us homeschool folks?! Go check it out!

Another WIP

Just a shot or two of what I'm working on right now.

The owl is made of scrapbook paper. I added paint and antiqued it a bit, too. I haven't actually affixed it to the painting yet, but I will. I also have some other drawings on watercolor paper that I've cut out and will apply to the painting.

Here's a shot of my little work area:

It's a mess, isn't it? It gets the job done, though. Not the prettiest area to have in a living room, but....it's necessary.

Ok, I'm off for now. Check back soon as I have info on another class I'm taking. It's on how to make clay dolls. It should be fun! :-)

My Dream Girl

....no, it's not what you think when you read the title. I don't swing that way. ;-) I finished my painting, finally, and she's a "Dream Girl". I would have finished her a week ago except I caught an ugly bug from my darling hubby. It's not the nicest thing he's ever given to me, but he didn't mean to pass it on.

Here's the finished Dreamer.....

Everything is done except the stars will go on as I apply the wax. It's hard to see in the photos, but every other house is made of modeling paste. There is also sparkle paint over the crown and the edges are painted black.

Some close-ups...

Hey, look at that! They're not at the top of the post! I clicked the image and dragged it down. Now if only I can remember that for next time. lol

Thanks for stopping by!

"...an opportunity for the mind to be quiet."

I'd love to have a life like this man....

....the large studio, the huge canvases, the multitude of paint. What fun he must have, right?

I wonder if that's modeling paste he's using to make the texture. He uses so much of it and that stuff is expensive. Maybe it's on his site somewhere: http://www.jonasgerard.com/

I'm still enjoying my Suzi Blu Mixed Media Class. I took a quick pic with my cell phone of a WIP. (Work In Progress) I'm going to work on her more tonight after I post this. I figured it was time to stop neglecting my blogs. Anyway, keep in mind that I haven't edited the photo, so you'll just have to tilt your head to see it. *Laughing* It's up at the top. I haven't figured Blogger out yet. I still don't really remember how I've made some photos appear in the correct spot and some appear at the top. Oh well.....you'll see it either way. Even if the text is separate from the pic.

My Pretty Girls

Here are a few photos of how my pretty girl drawing is coming along. It's mostly just eye practice. Once I get that I can go on to the other stuff.



Find more photos like this on Mixed Media With Suzi Blu

Willowing-10 Rules

Hello, my name is Rischa, and I'm a YouTube Art Vlog junkie! *hi Rischa*

So yeah, I've been YouTubing again. I knew I had to share this one with my blog readers when I watched it today. Actually, any of this girl's videos are fun to watch, but this one is a must! It's Charlie Chaplin-ish and SO incredibly cute, funny, thought provoking, and worth the time to watch and listen. I'll shut up and just post it already......




See? Didn't I tell ya? Do you have an inner-critic? I know I do! And I want to do the same thing to mine that she does to hers! I loved that part of the video! Oh, and did you come up with your own new word for today? I did! Smellitellahobinoff! Which means, If I don't get off this computer and go take my shower now I'll start to attract flies! LMBO Not really, but I am about to go take my shower. Bye now!

SuziBlu Love

How many of you artists out there have ventured to YouTube for some tutorials? Well, if you have then you've undoubtedly come across Suzi Blu and her FUN, fun, fun videos. I did and I was hooked on them immediately. I subscribed. I guess you could say I'm a SuziBluTube follower. Once I started following links and watching her videos I realized she was planning to teach a class called Le Petite Dolls, a Mixed Media Workshop. Yup, yup.....I'm taking it! It's really fun so far. Here's the site if you're interested: http://suziblu.ning.com/ It costs $55 and lasts 8 weeks. The thing is, though, she lets you download and keep the PDFs and video lessons from the class forever. So if you're a slow learner or might not have the time to keep up with everyone else, you'll always have the videos and PDFs to turn to after the class closes up shop.

If you're broke or just not interested in taking a class, you should at least check out her YouTube videos. She's not afraid to be herself at all in them. I wish I could be more like that. I'm always afraid folks will think I'm nuts if I don't watch what I do and say. Mind you, I don't think she's nuts at all......she's a free spirit. Nothin' wrong with that!

SuziBluTube

Hey, did you check out the new SuziBlu Class Widget over there--->

Another Beeswax Video Tutorial

I'm so happy that talented artists have started doing tutorials to share their expertise with the rest of us. I found another awesome tutorial for how to seal a painting using beeswax. Here is the author's original POST. Apparently she has plans to make a lot of other How-To videos on YouTube, so I'll be cyber-stalking her site to see new videos. She even tells us where she bought her beeswax in the video.....Michael's! Where else? lol Love that store! And just like the previous artist's video, she uses a quilting iron. Looks like I should add that to my "To Buy" list. I used to have several of those small crock pots for potpourri, but I got rid of them. Darn it! Oh well....they're pretty cheap at Wally World.

Here is her Beeswax Tutorial:

Sealing Paintings With Beeswax

I'm SO excited to have found this LINK! It's a video tutorial on how to seal paintings using Bee's Wax. Mystele Kirkeeng does a wonderful job of describing the process. Here's her video on YouTube.

The Weekend Artist

I want a book. Not just any book. THIS book!

I first noticed this book, written by Gerard Smith, on the Indie Art & Design Blog HERE.

Reading that blog post and interview combined with images of his projects made me want that book so badly. But alas....it was not meant to be. This book would cost $35 + $16 S/H to the US. Don't they know starving artists can't afford that type of price tag? It really does look like a good one for beginner artists like Moi, though. Perhaps I want it because I can't have it? Hmm...nope. I wanted it before I realized it wasn't readily available to the states. Well, not without a small fortune.

I love art project books. I have tons of them and they inspire the art right out of me. So until it's being sold in the US, I shall cyber-stalk http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.borders.com/, & http://www.bamm.com/ just to name a few. :-P Don't pity me. I still have tons to do from Acrylic Revolution. That's a fun one. Plus, my friend, Sharon, sent me The New Acrylics. It seems to have tons of great projects. She saw it on my wish list and sent it to me. Sweet of her, wasn't it?!Plus, I'm still trying to Draw on the Right Side of My Brain. She sent me that one, as well. Looks like I can do without that book after all, doesn't it? That doesn't mean I can't browse at BAM for it while I'm there. My favorite shop @ Lake Square Mall. Surely it will eventually make its way to the US.

Couple of Paintings

I thought I'd post a couple of my paintings since it's been too long since I blogged.

First up is a beach scene done entirely with a pallet knife. That was fun!

The second is the one and only oil painting I've done. It's fruit, as you can see, with an antique finish surrounding it. That was done by dabbing a piece of plastic wrap into the paint and blotting it onto the canvas.

Humming Birds

Long time no post....sorry 'bout that! I suck! Anyway, on to the post....

Check out this ridiculously cool animated drawing:

Click to see hummer drawing

And if this inspires you to draw your own hummer, you might find this tutorial useful:

Click for Tutorial

I have tried to photograph hummers before with no luck. I bought 2 feeders and didn't see the first one. All I got was a bunch of bugs that sting drinking from the feeders. LOL Maybe it was the wrong time of year? Maybe the humming birds drink in the morning, while night owls like me are sleeping? Who knows! But if you'd like to build your own feeder, here are some instructions for you:

Feeder Instructions <----click there!

Or maybe your art of choice is cross stitching? Yep, I have a link for you, too!

Pattern <-----Click there then print it!

As you may have figured by now, I'm cheating a little bit with this post. I found a whole page worth of Humming Bird info, art, and eye-candy. You can find the ORIGINAL page below:

The Original!! <---Don't click there yet............okay, NOW click! :-P

Yeah, I could have just offered up THAT link to begin with, but then I would have had nothing to post! You all like reading all of my yammering, don't you? Come on....lie to me and tell me you love it! You know you do!

Vinyl Art

Have you ever heard of Vinyl (as in records, albums, things that played music before CDs, tapes, and MP3 players) Art? Me neither until I found THIS! Of course, my favorite is the Poppies. I love Poppy paintings for some reason. Which is probably the reason behind the post below this one.

No art in any form from me lately, unless you count the pile of brushes beside my easel as art? Nah....didn't think so.

My latest painting...

I just completed this painting and thought I'd share it with my blog readers. It only took a couple of days to do it. I'm getting faster and learning little tricks. My biggest problem is trying to make things perfect. Or to not spend too much time on the details. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out. I was inspired by a painting I saw on the Art & Tea Blog. I've also seen very similar paintings by other artists. I guess Poppies are a popular flower to paint. Anyway, thanks for looking!

Darrell Crow

I thought this time I would make my entry about Darrell Crow. Have you ever heard of him? He's an artist who teaches. He sells his DVDs from his web site HERE. You should really check it out if you're a beginner. Heck, I think even skilled artists would learn a thing or two from him. Mom and I went in together and purchased his Basic Techniques of Oil Painting set. He's really a wonderful teacher. He takes things very slow and doesn't skip the important little details. With the set we bought he even has a whole 2 hour DVD for getting started. It teaches you about your work area, brushes, paints, canvas, isles, etc... Then he moves on to Trees, Clouds, and all the other DVDs. Each DVD is 2 hours long. By the end of just one of his DVDs you'll be so inspired. I believe he has just come out with his own line of brushes, if I'm not mistaken. It's been a while since I've visited his BLOG. That's the first time I've been in a while when I just went to find the link. Anyway, you should check out his site and do some browsing. Order the free DVD and see if you could benefit from his teachings. I believe I have. I've already been eyeing some of his other sets.
Okay, I'm off to bed. I think my Unisom has finally kicked in. Night all!

Art Related Freebie

I normally wouldn't put up my extras for download here at my art blog, BUT they ARE Art related. See, the little bear is painting! If you'd like to download these extras CLICK HERE. I don't claim these graphics. I didn't create them. I only put them together in a tag using Paint Shop Pro. ;-) Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I hope all of you mothers had a great Mom's Day! And all of you non-Moms....did you spoil your Moms today? I'm about 430 something miles away from my Mom, but I made her a gift with my own to wittle hands. I hope she likes it. I'm never too keen on my own paintings, but maybe she can find the beauty in it? lol Here's hopin! It's a mixed media painting. I used mostly acrylics, but also used watercolor pencils and a prisma marker for outlining. I drew my inspiration for several different paintings I admired on Ebay and Etsy. I'm just getting back into painting, so I will hopefully improve with time. I sure enjoy it even if I'm not the most talented artisan.

I was asked what I wanted for Mom's day. I answered, "books!" So Joel took me to the book store and I picked a book I had been wanting called, "Acrylic Revolution". Then Joel found another book for me called Acrylic Workshop. I've already decided I LOVE the first one. I recommend it for anyone looking for new ways to use their acrylic paints. She has such wonderful ideas that I can't WAIT to try! I'd love to go to one of her workshops. The closest one I've found is in NC, though. Not exactly close enough for a road trip.

I'm outta here for now. My head is pounding or I'd keep yapping about these new books and provide links for you. Maybe next time. Night!!

Virtual Palette

I stumbled across a useful tool on the Wet Canvas forum a few days ago and forgot to mention it. It's called "Virtual Palette". You can mix specific paints virtually and this tool will show you the resulting colors. It's worth checking out: http://www.wetcanvas.com/colormixer/ You have to register to use it, but it's also worth registering as the forum is wonderful. Even if you're just a lurker like yours truly.

Ebay is dangerous!

Ebay is a dangerous thing! I need my bidding privileges taken away or I fear I may spend more money. lol Check out what I've won: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=300218562426&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=020#ebayphotohosting

I just LOVE the style of this artist! She and seller Stewalynn Studios are the two I keep watching. Check them both out.....but NO bidding against me! :-P

Painting From Life Blog

Today I stumbled across a link that I think you'll find interesting. I was lurking on the Wet Canvas forum (see link in side panel) when I saw a list of tutorials written by Larry Seiler. After reading through many of the articles I come to realize THIS MAN KNOWS a thing or two! So I followed the link to his blog: http://larryseiler.blogspot.com/ You should really check it out. I've learned a few things from him today and I think you'll be equally inspired. You know...if you're into that sort of thing. If you're not I sure don't know why you're here. ;-) Before you leave his site I bet you'll be itching to get your easel and head outdoors with your brushes.

Test Post

This is only a test. In the even of an actual post you will have something more interesting to view or read. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep! In a related link: www.rischa.typepad.com