Workspace Wednesday (a day late)

I've been working hard to get some commitments finished so that I can concentrate fully on my Etsy shop and blog.  Hopefully I'll be able to come up with a more regular schedule for things featured on my blog.  With that said, I wasn't planning to do a Workplace Wednesday post this week.  Work on our apartment building has had my work space in a state of disarray but now that that is over I was finally able to make some order again.

Even  though I wasn't planning on a post, a visit from my grandchildren today prompted a couple of candid photos that I couldn't resist sharing.

How could I resist that face?  My projects can wait long enough to encourage this little angel's love of color!

29 Faces Day #23 and #24

I actually had the time to put color to a couple of these today.  I'm always amazed at the finished product.  Every one I do I learn more and more about my colored pencils and how they blend and work together.  I have so much more to learn but I'm so much better than I was so I'm thrilled.  I understand better than ever before the saying "Do what you love."  Creating art makes me so ridiculously happy I almost feel guilty about it!  I am so incredibly blessed to be able to pursue what I truly love.

Workspace Wednesday!

This week my workspace is in transition.  Our apartment...which we love...is the smallest place we've ever lived so its been a huge challenge to find room for everything.  I've seriously been tempted to get rid of the washer and dryer just so I can have that closet for my art space.  Instead I am trying some new options with the furniture we have in the hopes of creating a workable space that will allow me to not only have a place to create but a place to photograph my art properly and conduct business without having to be spread out all over the apartment.

Here's my work in progress...

This is one of the projects I've been working on this week.  I'm finishing these up and deciding which ones will be pins or hanging ornaments or framed items.  I absolutely love doing this kind of work...looking at things in a whole new way and giving things a new life and purpose.  I hope they make other people as happy as they make me!

29 Faces Day 19-22

Here are mine for Day 19-22. I started with an attempt at something more realistic and then tried a few as quick sketches with very little erasing. Really fun giving myself permission to just put things on the paper and not worry if they are just right. Even better that I really kinda like how they turned out!

29 Faces Days 16, 17 and 18

Here are a few quick sketches for Days 16-18.

Workspace Wednesday!

Hey, hey, hey...its Workspace Wednesday!  Your chance for a little peek into what I'm working on.

I've got two main projects I'm working on so I've appropriated the "coffee table" in the living room for one of them.

The first project is another secret gift for the Halloween Gift Swap I'm in over at AFA.  You can see various parts and pieces of it.  The finished product will have to remain a secret though until the recipient sees it.

The second space is where I'm working on some assemblage angels that will soon be available in my Etsy shop.  I've been collecting random and broken jewelry for years.  It's such fun to pull the pieces out and try looking at them in different ways.  Giving new life to some really beautiful bits and pieces is such a joy!  

Assemblage Angel

Check back for some finished angels and the next project I have in mind!  Wishing you a Wonderful Workspace Wednesday!!

29 Faces Day #15 WIP

This is a piece I've been working on this week.  I still need to frame and take some good photos of it but then it will be up for sale in my Etsy shop.  I'm really thrilled with the way it turned out.  Its one of those wonderful "Holy Cow!  Did I really do that?" moments that are so incredible to have.

The message is something that really speaks to me personally.  I hope it blesses others as it has blessed me.

29 Faces Days #12, 13 and 14

Working on quite a few things right now but I took a moment to catch up on some faces for the challenge.

Art Showcase Friday

Welcome to Art Showcase Friday!!

Each Friday I'll be posting a piece of art I've completed. When possible there may even be a tutorial or a photo progression of the art as it came into being.

Here is my first Art Showcase piece...

I adore the combination of Black/White and Red.  The contrast is always so striking and the challenge to create in such a limited palette is something I really enjoy.

It it hand drawn and hand painted on a 9 X 11 canvas board.

This piece is close to my heart and the message..."Be a Pop of Color in a World of Gray" is something I aspire to.  Life can be a bit gray sometimes, as we try to simply move from one task to the next.  Anyone can be that Pop of Color that brightens someone's World of Gray.  It could even be you!

This piece can be purchased from my Etsy shop.  Prints and cards are in the works.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/theweavershand?ref=si_shop

29 Faces Day 10 and 11

Here are my faces for Day 10 and 11.  I'll dont know that I'll get them colored tonight but I'm really loving they way they look so far.  This challenge is just what I needed to get me working on my drawing skills and I'm loving it.  I hope you are too!

Workspace Wednesday!

Beginning today, every Wednesday will be Workspace Wednesday...a peek into my workspace and what I'm currently working on.  This is my first time to do this so bear with me.  If there is something specific you'd like to see in future WW posts, leave me a comment.

Since moving to our tiny little apartment...which we actually love...my workspace has been the dining area.  The table is piled with all manner of things.  Actually, its about time I shovel it off and find the top again.  I thrive in the clutter and know exactly where everything is in the mess but it reaches a point where even I can't work in it.  I'm about at that point.

Here is my beautiful mess...

I'm currently working on several projects.  I have the first of 5 Halloween themed gifts made for a swap at AFA (ATCsforAll.com).  I cant show the finished product as they are meant to be surprises for the recipient but I can give you a glimpse of it in several stages.

I also did a piece for a prayer calendar that I'm illustrating.

I have a couple canvases started and I'm still working on the 29 Faces Challenge as well.

My muse is on fire right now so while the juices are flowing I hope to be very, very productive.  Check back next Wednesday for another peek at my workspace.  Hopefully it'll be a bit cleaner next time!

29 Faces Days #7, #8 and #9

I finally had a chance to sit down and get caught up on faces.  This is really going to be challenging thinking of new and different things and not repeating myself.  I do love a challenge!

29 Faces Day 6

Still a day late but here is Day 6.

Working on some fun new things for the blog.  Too tired tonight to get into detail but stay tuned for more.

29 Faces Day 5

I'm a little behind but here is my face for Day 5.  I'm hoping that I can come up with a good variety of faces and not end up drawing the same thing day after day.

I really love this one and hope I can do some more elaborate ones and not just quick sketches.

I'd love some suggestions.  If you have an idea for a medium or technique, style or challenge you'd like me to try to draw...leave me a comment and I'll see if I can come up with something.

29 Faces Day 4

Here is a quick sketch in oil pastels for today's face.  It was really fun to just toss it down and not worry much about detail or anything else.   I love the oil pastels.  I need to spend more time learning what else is possible with them.

I also pulled out my polymer clay today to work on some fun Halloween projects.  I got so incredibly burned out on the clay and havent done anything with it in quite a while.  Being willing to pull it out and work with it again came as quite a surprise...for me and my daughter who saw the tote and said..."Wow!  Clay?  really?"

I may try to do some "work in progress" pics as I work on these projects.  Stay tuned!.

29 Faces Day 3

I was in the car pretty much all day and while I got some things done...I didn't have a moment to even pick up a pencil, let alone draw anything resembling a face.  With that in mind, here is a face I drew for a tutorial at Wonderstrange Arts.  I actually won an awesome art piece for my submission...not really because it was that great but because I think I might have been the only one who sent something in.  The tutorial was awesome though and as with all things at Wonderstrange...so much fun.  If you aren't familiar with Wonderstrange or the wonderfully strange ladies who make it so...well...wonderful, check them out at Wonderstrange Arts.

29 Faces Day 2

Here is my face for Day 2.  A little more refined than the last.  Planning one with a little more color today.

Thanks for all the encouragement and sweet comments!  They are very much appreciated!

Personal Challenge and 29 Faces Day 1

Okay...I've made excuses.  I've procrastinated.  I've told myself  "I'll start tomorrow...I'll do better once this "whatever" is done...etc."  Its time to put up...or shut up.  Its time to stop being a Wannabee artist and take that step to being a real, working artist.

So...with that in mind, I have set a goal of creating and posting art every day.  I am starting with a challenge called 29 Faces.  The challenge is to draw a face every day in September...a total of 29 with one day wiggle room.  All mediums, styles, etc. so I hope to create a variety, try some new things, improve on my drawing skills and further hone my personal style.

I hope you'll follow along on this journey of mine.  I hope I can make it fun and interesting for you.  I hope I can succeed in my goal of making art every single day and I hope I can reach a point where I feel confidant calling myself an Artist.

Here is my first face.  Its rough and needs a little tweeking, refining and clean up but its a face...and its a start.

I had such a fun time making this!!

I am currently hosting a Moleskine Journal Swap.  There are a total of 10 fabulous artists participating, each with a journal and a theme of their choice.  The journals make their way around the world, stopping each month with a new person.  When we wrap it up in November, we will each have a journal filled with fabulous artwork based on our chosen theme.  I am so blessed by the group that we have.  Each is incredibly talented.  The themes are so creative and fun and each artist puts their own fabulous spin on them.

I just completed a spread for one of my very favorite artists.  Her style just makes me happy!  I really wanted to do a good job and create something that would give her as much joy as she gives me.  In the process, I had so much fun making this.  I love the way it turned out and hope to do more things like it in the future.

She described her chosen theme this way...

"Okeedokee, my theme is "in the kitchen". It can and in a perfect world would include any number of the following:
anthropomorphic food or talking flatware, etc
a drinking housewife
anything 1950s vibe
a recipe (no desserts or other sweets please)
rotten children
things not quite right - cat sitting in frypan on the stove, kid in oven, giant eyeball in cookie jar! etc
Think odd, fun, satirical, silly, drunk foodie."

Various swaps and fun art!

Had the pleasure of playing in an AFA art-a-thon a couple of weeks ago, the first one I've had time for in a while.  I've been having fun playing and experimenting with some Dylusions Ink Spray by Ranger and some awesome stencils from artistcellar.com.  I absolutely adore the deep saturation of color of the Ranger inks and the stencils are remarkably versatile and allow you to create some pretty amazing background effects.

Here are some of the cards and Twinchies I was able to create for the AFA art-a-thon...

Ive also completed some fun swaps at AFA recently, with some more fun ones on the horizon.  Here are some of the completed ones...

All Kinds of Birds Swap

Mainly Pink Chunky Swap

Steampunk Chunky Swap

Postage Stamp APC Swap

Torn Book Pages Swap

Zetti Parent and Child Swap

Ive also done a couple of Moleskine journal spreads for players in the Moley Swap I'm hosting...

I also had the honor of making a memorial piece for my sweet sister-in-law who we lost suddenly last month.

More fun swaps coming as well as some exciting commissions!  Stay tuned!