New Art!

Here are some of my new paintings and collages. I am really trying to stay up with my artwork as best as I can. It is so hard sometimes because I am exhausted ever since school has started. I plan on doing 5 new artworks this weekend....cross your fingers that I can accomplish that!

Artist Trading Cards (ATC)

Recently I mentioned that I was working on some ATC (artist trading cards) based on the elements of art (color, texture, value, form, line, space, shape.) In my intro to art classes everyone is to design their own set of ATC cards that are based on the elements. We will be trading at least one of the cards during a class trading session sometime soon. I had a lot of fun working on this project so I am going to include a couple of these cards online. If anyone wants to trade with me let me know! For anyone who does not know much about ATC-they are mini works of artwork on 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 paper. They are to be traded only and NOT sold for profit. It is a great way to spread art to the masses. Art should not always be so expensive and only in museums. Everyone deserves an original work of art!

Fall Bird Sold!

Wow, Wow, Wow! The day after I put Fall Bird in my Etsy shop, it sold! Yay! It is going to a nice, new owner in Texas. Thanks Jennifer for buying Fall Bird! It is one of my favorite pieces and I cannot wait to do more fall inspired artworks! I really do love this time of year. In one of my favorite movies You've Got Mail ( I am a sucker for anything Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan...i know...i know...so corny!) Tom Hanks said, " I would send you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address..." That is what fall is like to me...new..fresh..crisp, the wonderful smell of pencils and scotch tape. I really feel that it is the beginning of a new year (and not because I am a teacher.) The leaves are slowly changing...soon it will be chilly and everyone will be wearing cozy mittens and scarves. I am sure by January I will be yearning for summer again.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I keep procrastinating on working on my masters class so I must get to work. Writing on here is too much fun! I will write soon! Cheers!

Fall Bird

Here is a collage I finished last night. It is made out of cut hand-painted papers. It really started to look like fall yesterday so I decided to make a fall-inspired artwork. I am really looking forward to the leaves changing colors and picking out pumpkins for my front stoop. I plan on making a lot more collages inspired by fall so stay tuned!

Fairy in my garden

This is my garden and the fairy that lives in my garden. All of my summer flowers are starting to turn brown and are becoming dry and crumbly. The Black Eyed Susans seem to being doing very well though! Soon my garden will be gone because of the crazy cold Ohio winter!

Perfect Morning

Weekend mornings are the best. You have the whole day ahead of you. There are lots of possibilities on what you can do. My favorite type of mornings are in the summer and especially in the fall. The light is so luminous and makes everything look beautiful. I am trying not to be lame but I really think mornings have almost a magical quality about them. Everything is just so quiet and still and best of all...peaceful.

This morning I went on a run and when I came back I immediately went into my backyard. The leaves on the trees are already falling and my pine trees already have small clusters of pine cones. Fall is on its way! I took a ton of pictures to document the changes occurring in my backyard. I hope you enjoy them! My dog Jack Henry also tagged along to check everything out. He is excited for fall also!

Etsy

The Weepies: "The only steps that matter are the ones you take all by yourself"

I am obsessed with the musical group the Weepies. I just purchased their cd Hideaway and cannot stop playing it! The Weepies are made up of talented husband/wife team Deb Talen and Steve Tannen. Their music is very folksy and I think their lyrics are very thoughtful and insightful. Check out their website www.theweepies.com.



Well this week has been very crazy and stressful. The first week of school always seems to be. It is hard getting back into the swing of things. I was unable to work on any of my art because I was at school all day and then came home and worked on my masters class (I am working on a masters in educational technology through Cleveland State University...all online!) Today I was able to play around with some of my Art Trading Cards and was also able to collage some of my flower cutouts to a canvas I painted. When I finish the artworks I will post them on here.

I am so glad that this weekend is a long weekend! More time to work on art! I have been trying to draw in my sketchbook daily. I have been working on a face-a-day sketch. I really want to improve on some techniques and I know the only way to get better is to practice, practice, practice! I also am going to start posting a weekly sketch online. I am going to do it from observation and it will be narrative about what is going on in my life. I will to get it up as soon as I can so stay tuned.

Fall will be here before you know it and I am actually a little excited. I love summer but there is just something so wonderful about pumpkins, crisp apples, candy corn and new fall clothes that makes me so happy. I wonder how the fall will inspire my art? The summer really changed my art this year. I have been incorporating birds, flowers and trees into my art recently. Maybe I will focus more on the organic beauty of trees and fallen leaves in my art? Who knows. All I know is that I feel so inspired lately and I love it!

Well I am getting very tired and need to sleep! I will write soon. Cheers!

Artist Trading Cards

Well this weekend has been a whirlwind! I am back in the classroom starting tomorrow so I have been planning all weekend for school. I should probably be sleeping right now but I have so much going through my head it is hard to sleep. I am dreading organizing my whole classroom tomorrow but I am sure I will get through it!

Yesterday I did a fun little art series on some Artist Trading Cards. This whole idea of trading small works of art is pure genius if you ask me. This is what happens: On small pieces of paper/canvas you complete an artwork of your choice. The paper is usually playing card size (or smaller) Then you trade with another artist who has completed their own set of Artist Trading Cards. Each person in turn gets an original work of art! So cool! People are conducting these trades around the world! Almost as cool as the idea of making vending machine art. Old cigarette vending machines have been turned into places where individuals can get a small, original piece of art for $1. Don't worry I am enclosing links! Alright I am going to bed. I have a long day tomorrow. Here are the links: www.artomat.org and www.artist-trading-cards.ch/

I want a free wiki!