Summer Project

It did take all summer, but feels great to have a freshly painted, clean house.  The ladders were the hardest part as the rungs were thin and to balance put a lot of pressure on my feet and knees.  Boy did they hurt!  I was grateful that Shad and Janet let me borrow their tall ladders and were so patient with my turtle-like speed in making progress.  I think I did a good job!  So glad I'll never have to do that again...................

Seth's Continuation

Look who's finished middle school!  Seth will be going on to Chatfield High School next year.  This young man will have no trouble making friends and navigating the social complexities of high school.  Hang on Shad and Jane, these 4 years are going to fly by!  By the way, doesn't Shad look great in hats?

Xena and Chloe

Paul went to England to spend time with Aisha, so guess who came to stay?  Chloe!  Xena and Chloe are getting to be best buddies.  I don't think we can let Paul have her back............

Nice Pic of Paul

Paul is in his 3rd year of medical school and will be applying for an intern job in the fall.  This is his application pic - nice one!

Summer Project - Painting in a whole new way

Finally after years of talking about it and looking at it, the house is getting a face lift.  Sometimes you just have to jump right in and start; don't think about it too much.  It's taken a month to get this far!  I'm just going square by square and here we are with 2 sections done.  Alison occasionally comes out to help with the fun parts - the trim!  This house has an abundance of trim.  I am so joyful to be done with the roof.  Now let's see if I survive tall ladders..............Ignore the ugly blue door.  That will go away very soon.

Grisaille of Alison

Have spent hours trying to get this grasaille of Alison to look good, but finally gave up when it dawned on me that I wouldn't get the right look with the craft paint I was using.  Good enough for now.  I can work off of copies of this and try some different techniques using glazing.  The photo was taken of her in Thailand by her friend, Lisa Harrington and I feel it pretty much captures her.

Xena

Xena, Warrior Princess - this dog is so not.  I can't believe our good fortune in finding a dog that is sweet, snugly, beautiful, playful, friendly and quiet!  The only thing I can find wrong with her is that she needs a dental appointment. She is such a pleasure to have around.  As I get to know her better, I'm sure you will be seeing a whole lot of her :)

Lady in Red

This was an attempt to be more "loose" when painting.  The technique is to scribble water soluable pencil and blend with gesso. It's really fun!   I did this on the skin and love the freshness of the look. The rest of the piece is acrylic, collage and stencil. 

Snow Goose

This one was a total blast.  I'm using a technique taught by Judy Wise called Found Image.

Geraniums

This one started out as a practice for a bigger painting.  I like it enough to frame it and hang it in the bathroom.  Kind of cheery and of course LOVE red flowers!

Globetrotters

Nice pic taken of Alison and Paul as both return from overseas trips.  Alison has been living in Thailad for an entire year, and Paul went on a long weekend to England to spend time with his sweetheart, Aisha.  It's wonderful to have all my chicks in Denver again!

Dreaming

I really like this little painting.  I might make it into a journal book, or maybe it will just be tucked in a small spot as a surprise!

Woman in the Window

I've been in such a fog!  More of an introspective, internal journey than focused on art.  Time to shake off the cobwebs and get back to work.  My goodness, I have become rusty.  This piece came out OK, but far from what I wish I was capable of.  Need lots of help with painting hair.  And of course I always wish I was a loose painter and not so tight.  But, it's a start...........

Felting

A friend from work gave me her supply of wool roving.  I've been meaning to try art felting for some time, but didn't have the inspiration or know where to start.  That is until I saw a wonderful felting blog by Jackie in the UK  What an inspiration dogdaisychains is!  And what a gift the internet is to inspiring art from all over the world!  My first piece is a baby step to what she does, but I am very pleased with it:

Brioche Scarf

I can't believe how long it's been since I've paid attention to my blog.  I've been in a knitting and sewing frenzy preparing for Christmas gifting.  I did very little shopping this year.  If I didn't have anything made, then I gave cash.  The only picture I want to post about knitting is the new technique I learned call Brioche, which allows you to knit in 2 colors, creating stripes.  Here is one of my favorite scarves. It's very long as I couldn't seem to stop!