Old tote becomes new...

Recycling, upcycling, those are popular words these days, and they should be!  I did my part yesterday by upcycling an old canvas tote bag.  I washed it, dried it, dyed it, and then embellished the front  with various fabric scraps and inspirational words.  The scraps were colored with acrylic paints and then let to dry.  I used my hands as paint brushes.  When all was dry I cut out pieces to please my eye, attached them together with fusible web on a panel of fabric the size of the bag, then stitched on top.  Machine and hand stitched with various colors and then attached the panel to the bag.  Voila, a nice bag for your art supplies, journal, or any other can't-live-without item(s.)

 

 

 I used a lovely teal dye and the bag was wrinkled and got this wave pattern.

Maybe recycle or upcycle something today??

Bad hair day under the sea...

Happy Independence Day!  Eat lots of water melon and cake! :)  I spent the day painting, the most fave thing in the whole wide world.  Came up with another mermaid, and here's the result:

 

This has many layers of paint and texture, and then I decide to paint it white and start over.

I did have the texture to contend with when I began on the face, but it added some interest to her features and to the roiling sea.  The sky is about as roiling, but what the hay, it's windy and sunny! :)

I forgot to post about when Horizon Magazine, the Magazine of Presbytarian Women offered me some good money to use one of my images:

 

Out of the blue they emailed me and asked if they could use one of my images.  Heck yeah!

 

The article is by Nancy Copeland-Payton, A Prayerful Sorting

 

My piece is a mixed media mosaic collage that I made a few years back, called Heart Path.  For a better view of the piece, you can check my Flickr stream.  There are lots of photos of my older stuff there if you're interested.  Anyway, the March/April issue was focused on Native Americans and the USA Mission Experience.  I was really impressed.  I've never heard of these people, or the magazine before.  I  knew about the Presbytarian church, but not what they had accomplished.  If you want to know more about the magazine, check it out at: http://www.pcusa.org/horizons.

No art but busy times...

I NEED to create something...  It has been several weeks.  I went to Sweden to see my mom and the rest of the family.  A good time, indeed, but so hectic I'm still recovering from the busy days and the change in my "clock" from all the traveling.  I felt a strong need to write, so I bought a small oilcloth covered notebook that I kept for jotting down my feelings as the days sped by.  It helps to write things down for sure.  Here are some random pictures of my adventures...  Sweden is lovely in May with all the flowers going wild and the green, green landscape.

My niece's new baby.  My first encounter with little Klara... 

My brother and little Klara... grandpa

 

My niece Isabella.  She just graduated from music college.  She's a fabulous opera singer, a soprano.                          

  Erik, nephew on the couch, just graduated as well, He's now an R.N.

He was very happy!

  Isabella in another role... 

Graduation feast....

                                                                  Tiny daisies....

                                             Wild roses... the scent is incredible...

Buttercups...

B 

Meadowy hill with rapeseed flowers

 Great little meadow with flowers until I discovered this discarded McDonald's bag... :(

 Mom on Mother's Day.  I did buy an extravagant bouquet of flowers because she's the BEST!

                                                     Loved the dew drops on this leaf...

 Blue and yellow is the Swedish flag..

The view from the kitchen window at my mom's condo.... she loves geraniums and they are indoor plants in Sweden.

 

My other niece with her baby....

 My brother is an artist, and he was part of an outdoor exhibit.  These pieces are not his though, but I took some pictures...

                                    large mirror pyramid that gave interesting angles of reflections...

Intuitive painting "party"

Wow, I have really been slacking in the blog lately!  I've been doing other things except art, but here I spent a Sunday afternoon teaching an intuitive painting class.  Most of these women had never tried that kind of art before, and we began with relaxation and a short meditation to get in touch with our center.  Then they chose the colors they wanted to work with and we started by covering the canvas with paint.  They really had a good time, and so did I.  We were right on a lake, the most beautiful spot you can ever imagine!  The day was perfect in every way except for the wind blowing, but it kept us moving forward with the projects.  No stagnation in that fun and creative group!  Here are some pictures.

This was the first layer of paints drying in the sun

Check out the lake in the background!

Having fun with paint!  Everyone really painted from the heart...

Some of the supplies...

Progress....

If someone got stuck, another artist would paint something on the canvas to kick start the project again...

All so different....

Soul Collage class...

I taught a soul collage class yesterday, and it was fabulous!  Everyone made great collages, which I knew they would.  We began with a short meditation to get in touch with our inner flow and off they went into a creative wave that did not end until the last layer of varnish had been applied.  I always hear "I'm not creative" or "I could never make" or "I don't know how to draw."  EVERYONE is creative; it's only a matter of getting in touch with that creative flow and someone to help you get past the first daunting hurdle of a blank canvas.  Here are some pictures of the event.

 Ann-Gayl with her sunny creation.

Spring feelings with JoAnne.

Happy place made by Monica.

Spiritual by Kari.

Lots of fun by Bonnie.

Tom had lots of fun too.  

Filled with ideas by Patty/

Shannon the gracious hostess!  She gave us spring feelings as well. :)