Nesting Beauty

My little nesting beauty is gazing through the window wondering what lies on the other side.......

The Royal Prince

One method I use to break through an artistic block is journaling, and another method is creating decorative boxes.  I enjoy taking a variety of materials, developing a theme, and converting a plain wood box into something that's fun to look at.  It's a great way to use up some of the stacks of art paper I find difficult to pass up when I shop.  It's also a nice confidence booster. 

The box shown here displays a tag with the image of a young man on it.  The photo is vintage and I just love the expression on his face.  Imagine having that kind of confidence at such a young age!

Texture on Canvas

Canvas with acrylic paint, spackle, texture, collage.............Doesn't she just crack you up?

Journaling on Canvas Continued.....

This was the first canvas I attempted when the art room reopened.  I love the concept of windows and thinking about the unique distinctions between what individual observers see when they look out.  When we lived in the hotel, I became aware of the impact the view from my window had on me.  The room we stayed in was comfortable.  We ha a kitchen, our dogs, a television, and eventually a computer...all the comforts of home :)  But when I sit here on my own couch and look out the window, I see the beautiful pines in my backyard.  Yes, they are covered with snow and being the cold weather wimp that I am, I will most likely not actually interact with those pines for several more months.  But the sense of contentment I feel gazing at them from my window is beyond description when compared with the feeling of despair the asphalt parking lot evoked as seen from my perch in the hotel.  What lies beyond your window?  and how does it make you feel?.............

Journaling on Canvas

I do a monthly art swap with my friend Veronica.  We met on line and have been friends for two years.  Each month or so we take turns choosing a theme for our swap and this month the theme is "small canvas utilizing texture".  I decided to combine the canvas challenge with journaling as an exercise in bringing my creativity back up to speed.  While the art "room" is fully operational, my art "brain" has remained on post fire hiatus. I did a series of three canvases utilizing spackle, modeling paste, acrylic paint, and stamps.  I love this little girl's straw hat......

Fully Operational

Yesterday was my first full day back in the newly created studio! What with the holidays and moving back into the house, it's taken me a while to get in here.  I have to admit though, my re-entry has been partially due to procrastination.  With my old studio, everything I put into it was comfortable, familiar, and repurposed.  Though I only had the studio for three weeks, it was created by the culmination of many years of anticipation of the day that I would be able to move in to the room.  My new studio is beautiful, complete, and BRAND NEW.  The atmosphere is one of fresh paint, lingering fire smell, and new carpeting (by the way, I hate my new carpeting).  With the holidays over, I had to force myself to come up here yesterday and spend the day playing with my materials.  I managed to pull off three canvases that are in various stages of completeness.  I still don't feel as though I'm working in my own skin (if that makes any sense) but as I make more of a mess with my mediums and papers, it's becoming more like my environment.  I do have to come up with a solution for the fire smell, it's giving me a headache and strangely causes my ears to plug up as though I'm riding in an airplane.  I'm not complaining, please believe me.  I'm so blessed to have gotten my space back.  It will just take time...in the meantime, I'm sitting here waiting for inspiration.........
PS  No idea what the strange color bar across this old painting is...too tired to rescan