Santa Claus~ Getting in the Spirit of the Holidays

Here is my Santa Claus painting ready for waxing~ I took one of the photographs outdoors and one indoors of the full painting on wood to show you.

I am trying get into the holiday spirit. We have put up our Christmas tree, decorated the fireplace mantle and entry way.

I have been working with holiday paper and making Christmas cards only for a special few~I didn't realize how long that can take! It is the first time I have tried it. Now 15 days until Christmas! Maybe I should of started six months ago!

For me Christmas has always has included being creative whether it be painting, making cards and ornaments or one of my other loves baking! Finding the time to have my kids at my side this time of year to share traditions is truly what makes the holidays special. With only one child left at home each year I try to make it special for her as I have seen first hand how quickly my others have grown up! I hope someday to live by my little granddaughter so she can come under my wing and learn the traditions I love.

What are your favorite traditions? Favorite recipes? Favorite memories? What is your favorite thing to do to give you the spirit of the season? Do leave a comment with your answer~ Sharing is part of season ~

Christmas is a spirit that flows from one heart to another. It is more precious than rubies and better than gold.--Agnes M. Pharo

Santa's Coming Preview*

The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing other's loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas. ~WC Jones

I will be posting more pictures of this Santa Claus completed in the upcoming days! I also am working on a easy ornament tutorial for you. It will be posted at MsartistSewCrafty

I will let you know when its ready. I have some links to Christmas projects and a freebie link over there right now! So stop by ~

Winter's Angel

Color inspiration~
Ready to finish~

Process of layering texture and paint~


Above are a few of the process photo's. The angel is a mixed media piece with acrylic paint, pages from a book for her wings, layering of molding paste for her hair and gold leaf highlights through out the painting. I decided to paint her all yellow tones and the background warm orange reds inspired by the colors of the trees. I am going to give her a coating of wax to seal her she is on wood. I had her eyes closed as if she were soaking up the last colors of autumn and the sun to keep her warm through the winter~ The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination~ Ward Elliot Hour

Comic Relief

The above painting was with left over paint and some colored pencil lines done very fast~

Here are some characters that are in a comic book style. I spoke about these in an earlier post that I would share these with you. I did these in my journal just to use different colors, loosen up, work in another style and in one case use spontaneous painting! ( without too much thinking.)

When I have been working on art that is more detailed and thoughtful I need to escape with some comic relief so to speak or at least the freedom to experiment in a more free form. I did these all in the same day and didn't really spend a huge amount of time on them. I hope you find the time to play with color, loosen up in your art journals and look at art forms you might not normally view to find your inspiration!

Colors That Warm My Soul

What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. ~ Joseph Addison

I perhaps owe becoming a painter to flowers.~ Claude Monet

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

I am finishing a painting with flowers in it but did them from my memory. It was so in the moment. Next time I will use a photograph or picked flower to look at. It was such a cold day outside today it warmed my soul to remember this day and to look at the vibrant colors of days past. This might just be my next color inspiration. I will be posting the artwork in the next few days.

Contemplation

Contemplation~ When I did this journal page I was thinking simplicity. I have been using a lot of layers and wanted to just make something not as complex. I think she looks like I am feeling right now, wondering, contemplating how things will turn out. Whether to leave her page as is or layer my written word and a floral paper down to change it completely. I decided to wait. I set her aside for the moment. You'll be surprised when you see what I created next. I was inspired by reading about the sale of some comic book art. I remember when I was a kid living in the city and my brother and I would walk into the comic book store and read them for hours. Always amazed by the art in them. I am not saying I did comic book worthy art, not at all but I allowed myself the freedom to explore with color and in a style I don't normally do. I will post more on that after I take the pictures and upload them. I am just exploring my art trying to find my own voice and embrace my own style~ That is what I am wishing for ~ Until next time, I hope you have a great day and thanks for stopping by my art world.

What do you wish to embrace? Here is a link to help you find out @ Jamie Ridler Studios

Faerie Autumn

Fairies are invisible and inaudible like angels. But their magic sparkles in nature. ~Lynn Holland

A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near. ~Author Unknown

Faerie Autumn ~ I learned several things when doing this journal page. Sometimes having a little more patience will take you a long way. When you start something in the early evening maybe you shouldn't expect to finish it. Be able to find that stopping point and wait until later. It is just fine that I made mistakes and it didn't turn out quite as I had planned. I actually used the blow dryer to speed up drying but was putting on so many layers and the house was cold so they weren't completely drying. Hence I tore a layer of paint..oops....I was able to cover it up somewhat I don't think you can really tell. Another disappointment was I misspelled faire/faerie. I know it is just my journal but I was really hoping to be able to photograph her for a card of some sort. Maybe I will continue with my plans but I won't work on this page any longer. Sometimes you just have a love / hate relationship with your work but at least I learned a few lessons on the way~

When the student is ready, the master appears. ~Buddhist Proverb