Affirmation Cards

I've been wanting to add "Affirmation Cards" to my line-up, but I have a hard time with the words sometimes. My daughter, however, does not. :) She wrote the wording for these and I did the art (ATC size, 3.5 x 2.5 inches). I'll have a few more to share later, but here are some for now.

**Please check out my giveaway!

Dancing Queen Series

This series came about after I made Dancing Queen. Every time I look at her, that song gets stuck in my head and it was there as soon as I finished her face as well. After I finished, I realized I wanted to spend more time with her, so I decided to make a series for the first time. I have really, really enjoyed this and may try it with a couple of my other paintings. There is a video below of me creating the final painting.

These make faces 8 - 12 for me for the 29 Faces Challenge. I'm quite behind and hopeful that I can complete this! You can learn more about the 29 Faces Challenge HERE. You can find the list of other participants to visit HERE.

**Please check out my giveaway!

Dancing Queen Original	Dancing Queen 2, Face #8
Dancing Queen 3, Face #9	Dancing Queen 4, Face #10
Dancing Queen 6, Face #12	Dancing Queen 5, Face #11

Art Print Giveaway

***This Giveaway is now closed. The winner is Rachel Bradley Harrison!!!***

I'm giving away a high quality print of my artwork! All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment, here on this blog post, with your top three image choices from below. The names are listed below each picture. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you. I'm going to venture into selling prints. In order to do that, I need to whittle my choices down to 3 or 4, so I need your input. The winner will be chosen using random.org and they will receive their #1 print choice in a size up to 12 x 18 inches!

The deadline to enter is Sunday, February 24th, 2013 at 6 p.m. US Central Time Zone. There's a clock on the right sidebar. :)

Transparent	Rosario
Unknown	Dancing Queen
Abira	Red
Prayer	Macaria
Scarlet	Dreamer
Resolve	Nowhere But Up

Much-Afraid

Much-Afraid & Restore

I have some great news to share... my first show! I have been accepted to display my art at our local coffee shop off the square, Jackson Avenue Coffee! My art will fill a 50 foot wall for the entire month of April. Needless to say, I'm thrilled and so thankful!

Over the last few years, I have been noticing people choosing a word to focus on for the year instead of a resolution. This year I decided I'm going to do that. My word for the year is "Restore". There are many facets to this and I plan to share them throughout the year. If I don't share, I won't follow through... I know myself too well. I've been working through some very difficult things over the past few years and I feel like I'm nearing the end of this season in life. I've struggled with depression, anxiety and PTSD for most of my life and the healing has been flooding in. I feel like God is and has been "restoring the years the locusts have eaten".

I wanted to give a little more information on this painting than I did in my recent post because it ties in with my word. This piece is called "Much-Afraid" after the main character in the book "Hind's Feet on High Places". I read this about 12 years ago and it impacted me deeply. Well, recently, my dog got a hold of my book and chewed it to bits. He didn't eat the whole thing though, so I collected what was left to use as collage in my backgrounds. This piece  is collaged completely with left-over book pages. I realized as I was re-using my book, I was also restoring it to life in a way. This old dogeared, highlighted copy of a book that deeply impacted me and breathed life into my hurting soul, was coming back to life in my art. It's not wasting away on a book shelf.

So, restore... we'll see how it winds its way through my life this year... I think it will be a good one. :)

29 Faces Day 7

Face #6

Here are a couple more faces, I am definitely going to have to try to work ahead on the weekends... Not enough time on work nights. :) These will eventually be made into magnets. They are approximately 3 1/2 inches in diameter and still need to be painted.

Face #7

You can learn more about the 29 Faces Challenge HERE. You can find the list of other participants to visit HERE.

29 Faces Day 3

29 Faces #4

Day 3 and I am ahead... I'm sure that won't last long though. #4 had an awesome background that I intended to keep in the face, but got carried away... I tend to do that. I like how she turned out though. I may do something more to the background and the hair... not quite sure yet. 16 x 20 inches on canvas.

I probably will do a little more to #5. I think she's still "in progress". I am planning to keep the background showing through in her face though. 16 x 20 inches on cradled wood panel.

You can learn more about the 29 Faces Challenge HERE. You can find the list of other participants to visit HERE.

29 Faces #5

29 Faces Day 2

29 Faces #3

Here's another little 4 x 4 inch girl for 29 Faces. She is acrylic with a little Pitt pen on top.

You can learn more about the 29 Faces Challenge HERE. You can find the list of other participants to visit HERE.

29 Faces - Day 1

29 Faces #1

Hi Everyone! This month, I am participating in a challenge called 29 Faces put on by Martha at Ayala Art. The challenge was originally held in February 2012 during the Leap Year. The goal was to create a face each day. It went over so well, that this is the 4th time the challenge is running! Since there's only 28 days this month, I'm posting two for the first day.

I hope to play with some other mediums in the faces I make this month. I'm looking forward to visiting the blogs of other participants to see what they are using. Here, I've used acrylics and Pitt Pens in my normal way. They are on 4 x 4 inch cradled wood panels. I'll be posting videos of these soon.

29 Faces #2

You can learn more about the 29 Faces Challenge HERE. You can find the list of other participants to visit HERE.

Dancing Queen

Dancing Queen
16 x 20 on Canvas

This new painting is my current all-time favorite. I love her. The song Dancing Queen has been stuck in my head ever since I marked out her hair! She feels like a turning point for me somehow, but I can't quite put my finger on exactly how yet. Her hair is done with a technique called negative painting. Basically, rather than letting your background layers be in the background, you paint all around it and make it an element in your painting. I've seen this technique a lot, but I really wanted to try it when I saw it on artist Kim Ellery's work. I finally came up with a background that I knew would work perfectly.

I paint intuitively rather than going in with a plan. I actually never have a plan when I begin and for a while, I was frustrated that I was stuck on painting faces... girls with red curly hair. I finally decided just to drop the frustration and let this phase run its course and now I'm enjoying it. It is obviously something symbolic that I am working through in my heart and soul. I think the red is for power and strength - that I have the power over my choices and the strength to make the tough choices. The curls have been a part of who I am for my whole life. I tried straightening it for years - and it was pretty - but just wasn't me. I've battled and struggled with my hair. But, for the last 10 - 12 years or so, I've just embraced it and tried to do my research to learn to take care of it. (I have naturallycurly.com to thank for that!) Now, I'm just thankful for it. I'm learning to embrace ALL of who I am and the way God made me - learning to love myself. It's a long and winding road.

Linking up with Sunday Sketches!

Lady in Red

Friday marked the 10 year anniversary of the passing of my former mother-in-law, Pat. I still have so much grief, even after all these years. It seems like yesterday that she was here. It probably took me a year before I quit thinking, "oh, I should call Pat and tell her..." I called her to tell her the most mundane things and talked to her nearly every day. She was like a mom to me. She encouraged me constantly and respected me and my choices even when I was just a teenager. Her guidance was always gentle and never forced.She loved me unconditionally and never talked negatively about me. I was too young and immature to understand the deep impact she had on my life. The older I get, the more I understand. I was going to go on and on with memories, but I think it's sufficient to say simply that, I miss her. Can't wait to see you on the other side, Pat.

I painted in her memory this weekend. Her favorite color was red.

Serenity

It feels soooo good to paint from my gut. :D

At first I was going to paint over her. Then, I decided to keep her and re-do her hair. Then, I decided to keep the hair with only minor adjustments too. I love the imperfection of her nose. It was the first part I saw and the most important feature. I built the whole face around the nose. I couldn't keep her lips from having a hint of a smile (and I definitely tried). The background seems to be chaos. The hair... pink with the deep red.... pink is innocence and youth... deep red is strength, wisdom and maturity. She is serenity surrounded by chaos.

16 x 20 inch stretched canvas 
mixed media over collage

Life goes zooming by...

Seems life goes faster and faster... I want to get off the merry-go-round! I'm posting more regularly on my facebook page now, but have been neglecting my blog. This girl is one that I did just this week. I needed a break from creating with a purpose and needed time to create just to create.

Linking up to Paint Party Friday!

Pendants! I have been painting teeny tiny little works of art and putting them under glass to be necklaces, key chains, bookmarks, and purse hooks. The smallest are the filigree circles that are just a little under one inch in diameter. You can click on the pic for a closer look.