Some of my older paintings

My friend, Nicole, hosts Sunday in the Art Room.  For this week, my decision is to show a couple of my older paintings.  When I started painting,  I wanted to paint in the impressionistic style.  But as I went on, I got into non-representational art and experimental art.  I still enjoy both.   

The two I am showing you today are both experimental art, but they are impressionistic and representational.  

First up - an experiment with charcoal powder.  The powder was sprinkled on the watercolor paper then some water was poured/dripped onto it to create patterns.  That was left to dry and then paint was added. 

 I named this Painted Lands. I honestly have no idea what happened to this painting. 
I may still have it stashed away somewhere. 

Next up is Enchanted Path.  For this, I took a "failed" painting and covered it with a clear  gel medium. 

After that dries, take a dark color, diluted with glazing medium and coat the entire painting. Then lift the dark paint in places with whatever, I used a bristle brush and paper towels. After I let that dry I added a few bits of light into some of the darker areas.

This certainly turned a "failed" painting into something interesting. 

Both of these remind me that I need to pull out art supplies and just PLAY.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off - Portrait Challenge.

When Nicole announced the portrait challenge, I was thinking that I would be doing well to finish a portrait in time.  However, I decided that my portrait just needed to be a face that looked reasonably good. After I did the first one, I was hooked.  Working in different media allowed me to explore some possibilities.  I have a few to show you.  

First up is a series of three created from the same face.

Acrylic Paint on good watercolor paper

Mixed media (oil pastels, colored pencils and water media)

Inktense pencils and Inktense blocks

Next up,  an older lady 

Colored pencil on very cheap watercolor paper.

And finally a male face.

Done with very inexpensive crayon on the back side of that cheap watercolor paper

There is a reason that I mention the inexpensive materials that I used for a couple of these. It is to remind you that you don't have to have expensive materials to create fun art. 

However, I will say choose your substrate (paper in this case) with care as it determines how

well the materials will work for you. 

Linking with the Portrait Challenge 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Art? for Sunday

Just for fun,  I decided to take an inexpensive piece of carving block about 2 inches square and play.  I started by drawing a circle and used that for my design basis.  Then I just played. 

When I went to stamp it, I realized that my stamp pads need replaced.   I did try using some paint but it didn't work well with this brand of carving block.   I poured some tech ink on an old stamp pad and "made do" with it. 

It is kind of a weird little design but maybe I will use it at some time. 

Linking with Sunday in the Art Room

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

My Adventure

I had not been on a vacation in several years, so it was time for a break.  My Mom has dementia and I am one of her two caregivers.  My brother, the other caregiver,  had taken vacations. It was time for me to get away.

Back in August a friend and I started planning a cruise. It was a twelve day cruise from Jacksonville, Fl to several islands in the Caribbean.  While I have been on a Caribbean cruise three other times (long ago) this time all the places we went to were new to me.  I confess that I didn't take pictures on every island. 

I had a great time.  We visited: Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Tortola BVI, St Kitts,  St Martin, St Thomas USVI, and San Juan Puerto Rico (not necessarily in that order.) 
Here are a few pictures. 

Wax applied to make batik fabric in St Kitts

Bloody Point St Kitts

Old British phone booth, St Kitts

Sunrise over the islands (arriving at St Kitts and Nevis)

Playita del Condado - San Juan

Plaza de Maestro -honoring the Puerto Rican Teacher

Cannons at the Fortress St Kitts

The Wake behind the ship was mesmerizing.

Eisenhower and me at Paseo de los Presidentes

JFK and me at Paseo de los Presidentes

Linking to the Friday Face Off

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.