Boys in a Band

Went to go see my nephew (drummer and artist) play in his band in Golden, Colorado.






I wasn't really feeling too well this summer, so I didn't really push myself on angles and get up close, especially with people.

Smelling the Flowers

Oh I just love peonies.




And these peonies smell amazing!




Of course other flowers and plants are also beautiful.

Some old works

Photographed horribly with my iPhone.  Apologies, will get better images of these at some point.

Most of these were done in my teen years.  The English countryside landscape was earlier in childhood, the wedding portrait and Huajatollas were in my early/mid twenties.


My parents's wedding day, Acrylic paint


Huajatollas, Oil paint


I believe this was my first or second oil painting.  Done per instructions in a magazine.


My father as a boy, graphite/pencil


Self portrait, watercolors & pen


Three Pelicans, a photograph from my Aunt's back yard in Florida.

Smilla in May

Summer Green

May Gardening

Apologies and updates

So sorry to have been away for so long.  I have been dealing with some health problems and personal issues and all of my obligations (and art work and everything else) has been completely abandoned for the past 2+ months.  I'm trying to get back into it all now as I am starting to feel somewhat more human these days.  Huge, HUGE, HUGE apologies to all of you waiting on your artwork from the giveaway .  I will complete it and get it to you as soon as I can.

The only thing I have worked on recently is this new knitting project; it's easy to take along to doctor's offices.


I am interested in the idea of creating large, 2D art in knitting.  I also like how graphic designs look in knitting.  I'm experimenting for only the second time with intarsia for this, so it's a bit ambitious to say the least.  I haven't measured it, but it's approximately 50" in width.  I hope it will turn out good enough to hang!




The design is a group of crows in silhouette.  Did you know a group of crows is called a murder?

Here is the "design" I'm working with.  You can see, I am kind of making it as I go, and drawing in the stitches when I get to the section to be worked on.



You can read more details about the project and see the latest update on it also on my ravelry project page .

Patrick's piece, sketch 2

Oh my gosh! My first ever use of charcoal! I have fallen in love with a new medium! I can't wait to try it again!!!

Sketch 1 for Patrick's photo

Sketch 1 for Patrick's photo, originally uploaded by vis-space.

Here's my first sketch for Patrick's winning photo. Not great, but it's just the first sketch. I have been doing about 3 sketches per drawing so far. I'm hoping to do this one in charcoal as I want to work messy and dramatic, but I have zero experience with charcoal, so we'll see how my next sketches go. This one is pencil.

Gorgeous Peonies

We have peonies blooming in the garden right now. Oh my gosh I love peonies! I have three, but only ever receive flowers from one. The other two bud and then the buds die. This variety is called 'Raspberry Sundae'. So pretty! And they smell so fragrant that I keep thinking that it's my mother-in-law's perfume that keeps lingering in the kitchen.










I love them backlit like this. It really highlights how delicate the pink is.

Jacira finished!

Hubby kept complaining that my drawing made her look heavy so there was some tweakage this morning. You know you're done tweaking when you made one tiny tweak too many.
Went to scan this but then realized the size if the paper is too large
for the scanner! Ugh! I think I will have to get it professionally
scanned. Drag!

Jacira - Work in Progress

Been working on this portrait again today. Much better this time. Had some problems though. Was working on it outside, and my muddy dog actually STOOD ON IT!!! I shrieked! I tried to rub off the mud, even began damaging the paper, but no, couldn't get the mud off. So I began again. But nothing I drew could approach this one. So I went back to it and decided that most of the damage would be covered by Jacira's jet-black hair so I would let it go. Still, there is some raw/rough paper where I rubbed too hard, and the texture of my color changes there. Bummer.


My 'real' camera is in repair and the iphone never keeps the proportions right. This does actually look better in person. There is still some tweaking to do for sure though. And obviously I have to finish the rest of the piece. But I am mostly happy with it. Obviously it's not her face precisely, but if I don't show my hand and my interpretation than what's the point of doing the drawing? If you want true photo-realism without flaws, hang up the photo. 




[EDIT - 5:40pm]
Finished?

Still needs some tweaks. I think I will sleep on this and see how it hits me in the morning. Not set on the background either.

Sketch for 2nd giveaway winner

I started off thinking this might be a finished portrait but I'm
definitely calling this a sketch. It's a start but Jacira is much
prettier than this. Some proportions are off and I think the messy
colored pencil look doesn't work for a portrait. Or at least not like
this. Back to the drawing board!

Dress and Booties for Laurita

I used the Mae Day sundress pattern for the dress and this pattern for the booties.
I knit like mad. I got the booties done in half a day, and the dress done in two days. Just in time for the baby shower!

I'm really pretty proud of the dress.