I recently realized that if you are photographing flowers in your garden in portrait mode, you can get some really ethereal effects. I understand that this is probably old news, but in case you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it. It works best when taking photos of clusters of flowers, because you get that … More Portrait Mode
This may be way too busy for some, but I’ve come to peace with the fact that I’m a ‘more is more’ person. The squiggly watercolour background is actually one of my boys’ paintings, and I absolutely love how it adds so much energy to the background. The vintage postcard in the foreground is possibly … More Art Journal: Collab
Normally I share art from my journal but I recently completed this piece and thought I would share. It is (I believe) 18×24″ oil on canvas. I generally gesso my canvases, then do an underpainting in acrylic, and then do the oils on top. I have heard various reasons for doing underpaintings, but I mainly … More Summer Wildflowers; an oil painting
I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I was going to share some of the embroidery I am working on, so here it is! When Jeanne Oliver had her semi annual sale, I purchased a class by Wendy Brightbill (I’m a big fan of her work) on botanical embroidery. It was a mini course … More For the Love of Thread!
In art school (college).. a long time ago, our art instructor had us read the book, ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek’ by Annie Dillard. I purchased the book a few years ago so I could read it again, and still haven’t, so I’m aiming to do that now. I don’t exactly remember how it went, but … More Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: The Tree with Lights
I often hear artists say that if you want inspiration, or if you want to know the colours, textures, and patterns you are drawn to, then go look in your closet. My wardrobe is pretty boring. But my daughter’s, on the other hand, definitely inspires me. She got a beautiful peach coloured dress with a … More Summer Peach
I haven’t shared my art journal in a while, and the honest truth is that I haven’t been working in it much lately. I am still making art, but what I have been doing most often lately is embroidery in bed at night, or reading art books. I will hopefully share some finished embroideries on … More My Friend: The Library
The other day I was trying to figure out what reference photo to use to paint some flowers. With the way copyright laws are with paintings inspired by photographs, it is often easiest to paint from your own reference photos. A lot of the perennials in my garden aren’t blooming yet, so I decided to … More Floral Inspiration
I think this journal spread gave me the worst case of procrastination to date. It’s still not my favourite when I pop open my journal, but I think it’s important to not always rush to cover up something we don’t love. Sometimes when we sit with it, it becomes familiar to us, and that familiarity … More Art Journal: Expectation
I have been watching some art videos lately, mainly in mixed media, and the majority of the focus has been exercises you can do to help you find your style. An idea I had from these classes, that I wanted to share, is a swatch inspiration journal. I found a little mixed media book that … More Colour Swatch Inspiration Book
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