Strawberry Dreams

Hi Guys!

Just got back from a PC party (Pampered Chef)...You really missed some good eats! It is alway great to be with good friends and have good food. Speaking of good food, I'm ready for spring and those wonderful strawberries....so in honor of strawberries I'm sharing a strawberry box that I designed for a custom order last year. Not a bad picture for a cell phone camera. Don't they look "sweet" enough to eat. It won't be long now....strawberry icecream..strawberry shortcake(homemade of course), strawberry freezer jelly...yum...yum

65th Anniversary

Hi to All
I still have not started my Van Aelst lesson yet, sooooo I can not share yet ;o) But I will soon.Today I'm sharing a portion or a scrapbook album that I made Saturday night for my parents 65th Wdding Anniversary. The book came out GREAT and we used it for the guest book. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Not Yet

I still have not started my Vanitas' Painting lesson, so I can't share it with you yet. I just haven't felt up to it for some reason. Hopefully, this will pass soon. This is Scrappy. He is our third and final bird of the family. His real name is Lil' Scrappy, my sons choosing. I call him Scrappy-doo :o)
Gotta luv 'em

YEAH! The Vanitas

Just recieved the first lesson video on how to start the Vanitas' painting. We also recieved written instructions....so as you can imagine, I've been pouring over all in information. Tomorrow I'll start my painting and keep a picture diary of each lesson and share it here. We will have one lesson per month and should finish in December. Sooooooooooooooooooooo Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! :o)
For now...I'll share a picture of another member of our family. You've met YoYo, Missy , and Sadie. This is Mr.Peepers (alia...Hannibal Lector.. if you get my drift)
< Grins > See ya soon!

All Most Time...

Saturday is the day we get to start our Vanitas Painting. Everyone is so excited. There are thousands all over the world that are participating in world wide web Art lesson. I'll try and post periodically the ongoing process of our painting. It is going to be a year long lesson to finish up in December.
For tonight I'll share another of my painting. It was designed by the Donna Dewberry goup, maybe even Donna herself. I don't know. It was a project piece to teach to students using the then new HD Paints by Plaid for the MOST program. It was supposedly OneStroke...but it was more like painting with tube acrylic. Enjoy!

Oh! the Vanitas'

Wasn't today pretty???? I just loved it! My husband called me this morning and asked me to lunch...brownie points! ! ! ! ! :o) It was very good. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Madison - The Madison Cafe (old madison jailhouse) GREAT FOOD! ! !
I'm SOOOOOOOO Excited! I'm in a new yahoo group called Traditions Artist.
There is a Master Decorative Painter named David Jansen, who developed (with a chemist) a new kind of resin acrylic paint, and who developed an educational program with 5 other noted Decorative painters. Their paintings are absolutely fabulous and I can't wait to get started. BUT the main thing that has me so excited about it is he has decided to teach a FREE online class of a Master Dutch Painter from the 1650's Willem Van Aelst. WE (hundreds from around the world) are going to be taught by the yahoo group page, studing art history, as well as watching streaming video that he will prepare for us each month. Above is the a picture of the painting we will be doing. The actual painting hangs in the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina.It's called "The Vanitas' Flower Still Life". I think this will be a first to have so many people being taught online to paint in a certain painting, in a certain style with a certain type of paint...the finish date is scheduled for December 8. If you get a chance check out this website http://www.jansenarttraditions.com .... you won't regret it!

Had a GOOD Monday

What a nice day. My husband went back to work..(not that that made it nicer...I'm just saying...)Anyway, I slept in a little. A friend brought me a DONUT ! ! ! ! !(It was quite tasty **smack, smack...uummm good**... Oh sorry! I got carried away..I love donuts and I'm not suppose to have them ;-).
Next , another friend came over and we got into doing altered chipboard leftover Christmas items from Hobby Lobby with cardstock. It was a lot of fun . Mine was a "HO HO HO". Now I get to pack it away for next year. I also cooked chicken down and made "Chicken Chili" and "Chicken Spaghetti" so I now have several meals already cooked for the week. It all made it a good day.
As for a picture, today I'm going to share my babies with you. Above this post is Sadie. In this post is Missy. They are our kids now that our son is in college.
Until next time........

A Bit of a Blah Day

It's a little overcast today outside and it makes me a little overcast inside as well. I just love the sunshine. It really perks me up. My husband is stir crazy today. It's his last weekend before going back to work after Christmas holidays. He sees everything still not done of all he wanted to accomplish while he was off. Oh..Well..only so many hours in a day. I thought I'd share another painting with you today. This is a Decorative Art style. I don't remember the designer, but I got it out of an older magazine last year. I had thought about teaching it at one time, but decided not to for now as it is more time consuming with all the layers of shading and highlighting. It did come out quite beautiful, I think. The sunflowers also give a little boost today. I hope you enjoy it too.

2 in 1 Day

Had to add one more picture. I wanted you to see my window display at my local Michael's store. It is only the 2nd one I've ever done. It always make me nervous to paint that big, but I get so excited when I get finished and it comes out so well. Hope you can see it all at this angle, as it look better in person.

A New Beging! 2008

Hello All!
Yes! It's a brand new year. Can you believe it is alreay 2008? I can't.. It seems like yesterday we were worrying about Y2K.
I've decided that this is the year to put more into my painting and less into watching my old TV shows like: Charmed, Nash Bridges, and Law and Order Repeats....:-) I'm going to let my imagination sore and try to study and learn all I can to get my creativity flowing. I've recently heard of a new art education program called Traditions Artist...it's wonderful. Check it out. Http://Jansenartstudio.com

I hope to start taking classed in this style in the very near future.In the mean time here I share a picture of the garden stones I gave for a silent auction at a UCP Charity Event.