Happiness List

Lovely things that make me happy:

1. This song

2. These pictures:

 

What makes you happy?

Summer Means 2....

Picnics!


Yesterday the husband and I went on a little picnic at the park...just one of the perks of summer! I love being able to eat outside!



We both ordered some delicious salads from a lovely deli near our house and ate them on a picnic table at our favorite park.


Yum!


After we ate, we went on a hike throughout the park. Another one of my favorite things to do in the summer!




Tomorrow I will post the 3rd part of my summer series! Have a great day!

Summer Means... part 1

I will be posting a series on what summer means to me. I love summer, it is my favorite time of year and I dream about it throughout the whole year! When it finally comes I feel that I take it for granted and do not appreciate the true beauty of it until it is gone. So here begins my ode to summer...

Summer means flowers....


Here is a beautiful outside market of flowers...I want them all!


A little market on a boat..how fun!


Window baskets...so lovely!





Flowers blooming by this charming fountain

New art and sketchbook sharing!

I finished this artwork a little while ago but have not had time to post it...oh how I miss doing art! I cannot wait until my summer classes are over with! I am planning on doing a second one similar to this one so they can be hung together!


Here is an artwork that I did in college for fun (almost 9 years ago!) It is so simple yet one of my favorite artworks that I have done. I usually keep it in my classroom throughout the year but brought it home over the summer to look at for inspiration!


I was looking through some of my old sketchbooks and came across these pages I thought i would share with you! Sometimes I like to go through magazines and cut out pictures and patterns that inspire me and sometimes I use them as starting points for my own artwork. I love this Chinese Proverb also: Buy the best and only cry once!


Here is another one from the same sketchbook:



Ever since I was little I loved going through home decorating magazines and cutting out pictures that inspired me. Where do you find your inspiration?

The Firefly-Art Pen Pals

This is a cute illustration my aunt Mac drew and mailed to me a couple of weeks ago. My Aunt Mac is my art pen pal and I love getting her beautiful and sometimes hilarious drawings in the mail. If you do not have an art pen pal, I strongly suggest that you get one! All you do is find a lovely person who will exchange random drawings, paintings and collages with you through the mail. There are no rules, just make sure to send something back!

Since school is OUT (thank goodness!) I will become a much better pen pal...I have been slacking lately!

By the way...today marks the FIRST day of summer for me! YAY! I hope you are all enjoying your summer!

Summer Art Studio!

Hello! Hope everyone is having a fantastic week so far! I only have three more weeks of school (not counting this week!) and I am so ready for summer! Last weekend I even opened up my summer art studio...



This is a little room off of our garage that has the perfect amount of space and light to be my painting studio! I just love it! Let me take you on a little tour...


This is my little table that I got for $10 at a garage sale and painted white! Perfect table for collaging on...I try to keep it clean!

Next up is the view of my backyard:


In the summer I have a beautiful garden that I overlook...right now there is not too much going on though!


Here is where I sit when I want to relax a little and think about what I will paint next:




Look at these beautiful lilacs I picked to put in my art room:



Here are some paintings I am currently working on....I hope to finish them soon. I am planning on adding lots of collage on top of the painted canvases.





I will post the finished paintings when I am done! Have a great night! I am off to get ready to watch LOST!

I is for Ice Cream

Hello! I have been kind of bad about posting lately! I have started two online masters classes (I get to blog a lot on the class forums....good thing I have lots of experience on here!) so I have been super busy and unable to do any art or to write much of anything on here! I am still working on my 10 minute sketches...they are my little indulgences right now! I will post some soon. Right now all I am thinking about is summer or spring for that matter...I am DONE with this cold! I am posting one of my illustrations that I am doing for my children's book I mentioned a while back. I am slowly but surely still working on it! I am hoping in the summer to have a lot of time to work!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

4 Seasons Drawings

I hope everyone is having a great Saturday so far! Where I live it is snowy, cold and icy out! I am happily staying in the rest of the day and plan on drinking a LOT of hot chocolate!

I wanted to post some drawings completed by my Introduction to Art students. The assignment was to complete four drawings that represent each season (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.) Students were to use a viewfinder and look through magazines or personal photographs to find images for each season and draw with the following media: pencil, colored pencil, oil pastels and ink with watercolor. Here are some of their drawings:

Winter done in pencil




Spring done in watercolor and ink






Summer done in colored pencil


Summer in oil pastel


Autumn done in colored pencil