Artful Girlfriends

Our first adventure as artful girlfriends was a road trip to Buffalo last March.
We had such a wonderful art filled day visiting several of Buffalo's Art galleries.
A few months ago we got together and Zanne had a wonderful idea that the three of us should met on a regular basis to share our artwork and ideas.
Two weeks ago, we met in my studio for the first time. We shared our sketchbooks, worked on art projects and helped Zanne upload photos of her work onto her new art blog, ZenZappa.
We were so busy that day I forgot to take pictures so I used pictures from our first trip last March to document our day in a journal page.

Today was our second meeting. Zanne welcomed us into her home and studio, treating us to a delicious brunch.

Lisa and Zanne

Zanne, and I with Fern, Zanne's very lovable dog who wanted to be in the pictures.

Lisa and I.
Lisa loves to write poetry and just joined a poetry group.
Next month I'll remember to include a piece of her work.

Lisa and Zanne

A page from Zanne's sketchbook.

and one from my sketchbook.

We had so much fun sharing creative ideas and lots of laughter.
I can't wait till we meet again.

Meet my Hobgoblin, Hextilda.

We call her Hesse for short.

Hesse was inspired from a comment left by my blogger friend,
Valerie of acornmoon.
When Valerie saw the four drawings that I had created for Mr. Toasts "Creative Tuesdays",
she wrote that the word hobgoblin came to mind.
Well the next thing I knew I was researching hobgoblins and even goggled old medieval names for my hobgoblin. My daughter, Jessie and I choose Hextilda, Hesse.
As some of you might know a hobgoblin is a type of fairy. They are the good natured version of a goblin. Our Hesse is friendly and even helpful at times, but she does love to steal/borrow things, like my favorite red i-pod that has gone missing somewhere in my studio.
She is very fashion conscience and is always tearing up our fashion magazines.
I've been busy sketching her in all the latest fashion trends and cleaning up lipstick kisses that she is leaving for us all over the house.

Sketchbook Update

"Remember me" mixed media bird house

The Little Clay House using pen/ink.

The first journal page I actual liked.

I just love this one,
Using type as texture took pressure off my fear of writing on my art work..

These are just a few of my favorites from my sketchbook challenge for 2010.
I've sketched something everyday and sometimes they were not completely finished, but I've found myself going back to finish a few when I spied that perfect color or paper that completed the piece.
This is turning out to be a wonderful process that I've been sharing with my students. Wait till I show you what the clay house inspired.

Through the broken Window Pane

Mixed media piece using recycled newspaper, ribbon and Mica tiles.

6x8" sheets of Mica.

A transparent mineral that you can peel apart. It looks like old glass but can be cut with scissors and adhere to art work using double sided tape.


My original pencil drawing of the clay house looked rather old so I decide to create a piece that looked old and had weathered with time. I had seen Mica tiles used before to create an effect that resembled broken glass and felt that would work well with Mr.Toast's, "Window Pane" theme.
All the other materials used for the piece were recycled items I had in the studio. One of my favorite things to recycle is newspapers. I love painting over it with acrylic paint, then I either stamp my own designs over it or use stencils.
Not sure it came out as I had envisioned, feeling like it still needs something...

Assignment "Window Pane" Week 1

The Little Clay House

The creative process unfolds...
After receiving many comments from fellow blogger's writing that they enjoyed seeing my illustration develop. I decided to share what I've gotten done this past week.
Most of my time was spent drawing the four sides of a little clay cottage given to me by a friend years ago. The composition was laid out to resemble the four parts of a window pane.
Yesterday I spent most of my time trying to track down a material called Mica. In the end, I had to order it on line and am hoping it arrives before next Monday's deadline. If you don't already know what Mica is, you will have to wait because it will spoil the fun.
Today, I gathered papers from my studio to add to the drawing and I'm still thinking if I will write something to go along with the illustration. Hope you enjoy as much as I have.
Be sure to stop over to Mr. Toasts Creative Tuesday to see what the others have come up with.

Cheerio's

"He sang into the Sky" is this week's creative challenge for Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesdays.

I always like to sketch out my ideas for a painting in my sketchbook first.

The color studies for the cheerio challenge.


I had mentioned last week that my painting class was starting a unit on Watercolor.
I thought, Mr. Toast's challenge was a wonderful opportunity to teach by example.
All week long I have been sharing my creative process with my students and thought my blog friends might enjoy too.
Once I came up with the concept for the project and had drawn it on watercolor paper, it was time to think about color scheme. My first watercolor sketch seemed to blue, so I decided to create a color study sketching out nine little versions of the original drawing. The funny thing about this was that everyone had a different favorite.
I decided to go with contrasting colors for the bird house and cheerios.
I also gave myself another challenge. Over the past few weeks, I have admired the witty writing style of many of the other participants, many of which write lovely poetry, something I have no experience with.
I went to my favorite creative writing teacher, John Edwards for his help. Having seen my drawing, I expressed my desire to include a piece of writing. John suggested a limerick and was kind enough to send me the guidelines for developing one.
It was much harder than I thought. In the end, my daughter, the elementary teacher, helped connect the pieces. We are very proud of the finish piece.
Hope you enjoy, and remember never stop learning.

New Year Resolutions

Keep working in my studio... Maybe look a bit happier. :)

One sketch a day.

Well maybe two if it's a weekend...

Add color and mix it up a bit.

Create a series or body of work. I'm thinking a bird house / house series.

Incorporate my series into Mr. Toast's, Creative Tuesday.
Here is a sneak peek of an illustration I'm working on for next Tuesday's challenge
based on the word Cheerio.
Wow, I haven't done anything realistic in awhile. I'm also working in watercolor. Tomorrow my Painting class will be starting a unit on Watercolor, so I thought it would be a good idea to brush up on my techniques.
I really do love being a high school Art teacher. It has its ups and downs but when you get a group of students that want to learn it only inspires me to push myself to learn new things.
Which leads me to my next resolution/challenge. I would like to make a couple of on-line videos teaching a few techniques I've learn along my artistic journey. I'm thinking a short printmaking lesson. I'll keep you posted.