Tulips for a friend

Some of the best art, is the art we give away--a piece of ourselves that speaks through line and color better than any words can convey. This is for a special friend who holds the beauty of a million tulips in her smile. 

daisies

I did this miniature watercolor painting (2.5 x 3.5 inches) for a friend as a thank you gift. Daisies are so carefree... makes me look forward to summer breezes and fresh lemonade. :)

Scheherazade and the ocean

Scheherazade was playing in iTunes as I sketched this sunrise from a reference photo. Classical music is so inspiring, especially this piece. Scheherazade always reminds me of Caitlin's violin solo when she was concertmaster for the Florida Symphony Youth Orchestra. I think Jeff and I both fell in love with this piece in that very moment. So many good memories connected to music... art and music just go together. Happy Thursday! 

Indian tapestry

Waking up early has its benefits. This National Geographic inspired sketch (from a photo of an Indian tapestry) was created before consuming my morning coffee! I used watercolor pencils and ink in my small moleskine. I've made a promise to sketch or be creative at least once a day... whether it be a doodle, painting, design, or some sewing project. Since I was awake already, I wanted to tap into the creative mind before the daily activities crowded into my sphere. Now I'd like the coffee please! :) I NEED the coffee!

stitch therapy

I don't know why this day seemed to be going in such sloooooowwww motion!!!! My brain was dragging, and I couldn't get motivated to work with any traditional art materials. And I didn't feel like sewing a doll, or painting a gnome, so I put dishes away, did some laundry, bought a few more iPhone apps, and then set out to finish this little 10 inch garden/bird pillow that I started the other day. Yup, a big day of accomplishments! :)

This decorative pillow was made with a muslin background and tiny bits of material scraps that were hanging around the sewing machine area. I just appliqued them on with ivory embroidery thread and left a few pieces with raw edges to give it a cottage look. Two buttons from the found button stash and pieces of lace finished the front. The back is the same green plaid that the bird was cut out of--it goes well with the other pillows on my bed. I have other bits cut out and more birds to start another one, but one pillow today seems to be all I can handle. LOL

Gee, it's only 5:00 pm. Maybe I can do some moleskine sketching later in bed while watching American Idol. After two days of working hard in the garden, I guess this brain fog should have been expected--working in the sun always makes me sleepy. ;)

old magazines

I found some old National Geographic magazines for sale at a garage sale, and I decided to skim through them looking for some sketching exercises. These interesting mophead looking botanicals captured my attention... watercolor pencils and ink in my small moleskine.

southwest

Grateful for the beauty found in nature--the colors, shapes, and lines are there to behold... watercolor pencils and ink in my moleskine. Peace friends! Hope you are having a fabulous weekend.

Leaving Port

Yale University's Annual CD project had 100 entries. They only picked 13 songs for this year's CD release. Congrats to our daughter Caitlin for being one of the amazing 13 musicians to have their original music selected. "Leaving Port" was the one they chose. Way to go Caitlin! :)))))

I-4 images

Some patterns I saw while driving on I-4. Watercolor pencils and ink in my small moleskine.

nature inspired

Inspired by the circular shapes I found in a magazine, I continued to develop design ideas from the basic idea of all things round. I love circles. I think it's because they never seem to have an ending; I like that.

These images, developed from collage inspirations in my moleskine, are meant to give me a place to explore possible shapes for carving original rubber stamps. I think the organic floral pattern would make a nice stamp for journals and possibly some fabric printing. The cucumbers would be an interesting one to carve as well. I like the idea of the circle with the seed bits as a repeat motif. I could be carving later! :) 

Morning minis--Tulips

Tulips appeared this morning--at least mini-sized versions on watercolor paper that is. (2.5 inches x 3.5 inches). I woke up at six a.m., and I tried to do something quiet until Jeff woke up to make the coffee. So, here is my interpretation of spring. An abstract-like garden; dew-laced and misty, yet with a hint of warm sunshine peeking through. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone--it's gorgeous here in central Florida!

Etsy doll shop

Today I decided to list some of my original art gnome dolls and Kokeshi cloth dolls on Etsy. I haven't listed items in the shop for quite some time, but the art studio is getting crowded, so I figured it was time to move some of these little friends along. I'm happy to report that a little gnome boy has been purchased already! So happy he will be going to a sweet home. Thanks to all my friends and fans who encourage me to keep creating all this stuff. ;) I appreciate you.

And as I was writing this... another gnome was purchased! How cool is that? So much fun. Bye bye red, woodsman gnome doll. He's going off to the cold, frozen northeast.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/studio318?ref=pr_shop

I AM a river rock...

What is your life philosophy? Do you ponder what is significant in your world on a daily basis? I do this--oftentimes it is in the middle of the night when I'd rather be sleeping, but I go with the flow. Speaking of which, I am a river... ever changing; yet the same basic nature anchors me.

I have a thing about stones--the shape and texture of them are a bit of an obsession. I need to be near more rocks. Florida has NO rocks--none of any significance. It is quite sad actually. I will have to draw my own rocks. I do take rocks home with me when I travel. I guess that makes me a rock thief! 

inspired bits

Today's goal is to explore the freedom of spontaneous collage. The only productive housework chore on the agenda is to go pick up some seafood at Publix for my scampi recipe tonight. The rest of the day is dedicated to making sure I play hard in the art studio. Wednesdays shouldn't be stressful. Yes, I believe I read that rule somewhere, and if not, then I'm making it official now! ;)

Mouse-land

I couldn't resist doing another mouse, but this time I ended up sewing around the felt body with my Singer sewing machine, since I got bored with threading the floss each time I ran out of thread. I did use hand-stitching for the clothing though, just to keep the "charm" factor going. I must admit that I like the hand-stitched look around the body a little better, but I was in an experimental mode and was anxious to get to the dressing of the mouse!

After the mouse obsession, I created another small project from the Hand-Stitched Felt book by Kata Golda. I thought the cute little business card holder was perfect to hold my new doll cards. I'm such a sucker for little details; I ended up creating a sweet pansy type flower with little bits of left over felt as an applique for the front of the holder. Unfortunately, I never did get to the felt finger puppets project. Sigh. There is always tomorrow. Why can't the day move along a bit more slowly? I seem to run out of creative time most days.

felt doll project

I really enjoyed the challenge of hand sewing an entire doll without the use of the sewing machine. This mouse was created from a pattern in Kata Golda's book Hand-Stitched Felt. My stitching is uneven and I had to resist the urge to attempt "perfection"--this is always such a big deal for me. :) But the homemade look adds a lot of charm, so I went with the quaintness of it all and tried to embrace the oddness of my stitching hand.

The book has other adorable projects using felt and easy to find hand-sewing supplies; I think I'd like to give the tiny finger puppets a try next. 

Valentine Dolls

This morning was spent on sewing projects intended to become surprise Valentine gifts. I am working on two rag dolls with felt hair and hand painted faces with a tiny heart pocket in front to hold tooth fairy specimens, or other tiny valuables. It's probably time to take a break from the world of cloth dolls, even though I still have one more face to paint on the blonde doll. I do want to get to some housework today... well, perhaps that's not so important! :) Maybe I'll just keep painting. 

walking

HIP_318104567.308608, originally uploaded by studio318.

There's something special about walking along the beach. Serene.

New Smyrna

HIP_318108438.506114, originally uploaded by studio318.

We spent the day on the beach Sunday, just the two of us... enjoying the sun and surf... playing with the camera apps. It was fantastic!