Winter frost & Hints of Red

"Winter House"

 Winter came early this year and it has arrived with a bang,

snow storm followed by really cold temperatures.

Brilliant days for nice walks in the woods and staying inside painting and creating. 

Did another small painting in water colours and ink

and then I have been making some new stamps

This year its all about the Fox

{you might remember this fox from my last post}

Today Mr B and I went for a nice long walk in the woods

{snowman was by a house next to the forest path}

I loved how the frost covered every little detail 

Happy First December & First Advent

{Första Advent}

read more

Piece of work for a show...

A little painting "Snow is Falling" I entered to a "Holiday Mix" art show

at the St Laurent Complex in Ottawa

Show is running from Now 26 to Jan 16

{Not the best picture as I had to take it with my mobile}

All pieces of art are all 12" x 12" or under

Mine is 9.5" w x 11.5" h {with frame}

read more

Painting and more supplies and more....

Here's a better picture of the painting again.

And below is some of the pictures I wanted to have in my post about where I work for the Where Bloggers Create, but I had those issues that didn't let me upload them...  And now, after my dearest husband gave my computer a good talk, slap on the backside and almost tossed it out the window, it started to work

Holy macaroons, is this ever exciting!!!

{but now I'm afraid to close my computer, maybe it only works right now because he's home...}

Any hoooo, this is the pictures of how or where I store my supplies

and display others

I love old vintage or antique suitcases 

and not that I'm either vintage or antique {yet} but the wicker case you see on the left hand side is from when I went to art school, love it but it was the worst thing ever to carry art supplies in during my travels between home and down town.

See I lived in the country south of Stockholm {were the school was}, so first I had to walk for 45 min to the train station, then the train ride took close to an hour, then I had to fight through crowds in the Central station to catch the subway to get to the other end of the city and then again walk about 25 min.

I don't mind to travel or walk {if anything I love it}, but this poor wicker suitcase sure took a beating after just 3 weeks of being not only stuffed silly with every drawing and painting tools thinkable and being squashed between other commuters...  So now it holds some of my older work.

  

Supplies, if I only worked in one or two kinds of mediums, I guess my work space would be less packed full

But I paint {acrylics, water colours, oils and ink}

I also do drawing, illustrating, sew, make my own stamps and I do crafts with my daughter.

On top of it I like to do photography, mail art and just try out new things.

I love different textures, fabrics, glass, paper, natural things like bark, rocks, wood and the list goes on.

I also love to collect antique and vintage books and fabric, plus I really like washi tape {Japanese paper tape}...  Well any how, this is how I store and display some of those things.

I like to rotate things from time to time, but I cant stand it when I have too much around and showing.  

But I'm by no definition {or that I see my self as} a tidy or well organized person.

I make really big mess when I work and I love it!

Huge thank you again for all the wonderful visitors and comments you have left.

I'm back on line again and lets hope this time it actually will work.    

read more

New painting...

Finally was able to get one of my pictures of the painting I'm working on right now.

I wanted to make something new and different for our kitchen breakfast nook,

and I bought large canvas that was on sale a few months back {early spring} and it took me a while to finally get back to paint again, yeahhhh I'm back, I'm back!!!

So here it is, mixed media on a 36 x 48 gallery canvas

"Blown Away"

Oh and not to forget the new cushions I sewed {some of you might remember me posting the fabric way back?..  My brother sent me it from Sweden and I love the graphic design of it}

read more

Girls weekend get away

My second get-away, run-away, escape, what ever one would like to call it, but it was awesome...

And all of it was perfect as I was able to do this with my dear friend Sandra

and we had a fantastic time!

Sandra just celebrated her birthday and I made her something small, she's amazing at sewing. 

So I made her a small sketch book that she can {maybe} use for her ideas for all her sewing projects...  The lady is from a 1940's sewing book, love the vintage look and she looks like she's ready for some design action. I know it says she wants to take it easy, but doing what you love to do, creating and dreaming is relaxing. 

 

 

The gift bag {with a little bit of bling}to hold all the other little goodies

 



While we were in Toronto {we went everywhere and walked to no end}, I took pictures of things that really are drawing my attention right now, things that are in blues and turquoise. 

I think the text painted on the door says it all `heaven`.

 

After stomping the grounds of Toronto until our feet ached and bleeding {sadly but true} we drove up to Kleinburg and visited the McMichael gallery.  My second time there this year, but so worth it because its such a beautiful place and it feels great to get out there after being in the city. 

And most of all, being able to share this with Sandra who has the same love for art,

photography and fun crazy things.  Including a totally crazy cool broken window,

and I think its safe to say this was the best part of the gallery. 

 

Of course we did some shopping, antiquing and finding unique and special treasures {we both cant get enough of old weathered and worn things, all full of history and stories of the past} and we of course got a bit of art material.   I bought some acrylic varnish {matte and gloss} it was a great price, but I never either seen or heard of this brand Demco artist series, made in Canada.  Has any of you used it?  How is it?  And I bought a colour pencil set at the gallery, again good price and I thought I have to give them a try Design by Bruynzeel Sakura they feel great drawing with, but I was not too pleased with the selection of colours within the set of 12, the very basic colours.  But its a great starter kit though.  Thinking about ordering a few other colours and maybe even the water colour pencils too.  And I of course could not help my self to 2 rolls of washi tape {another crazy thing we both love to get our hands on}.

 

I did only two very small sketches during this trip {will post them later}, instead just enjoyed looking around, relaxed and took a ton of pictures for sketches I want to do later on. 

Any hoooo, I leave you now with a funny quote I really like.

 

'Life is all about finding people who are your kind of crazy'

read more

Clean work space & work shop...

I did it!!!  My work space is way cleaner, trolls and dust balls kicked out (and successfully too, no one has returned yet) and a lot of stuff went out as well.

The old wood stove is now serving as a stand for my water colours and brushes (the stove cant be used for burning).  A old kitchen island is a work and storage space for acrylics and smaller work.

My desk is for paper work, sketching and sewing, and the table leg you see on the top left picture is my cutting table.  Still lots to do in there, but its now cleaner and workable.  Ahhhhh!

 

I also took part in a mixed media and picture transfer work-shop, I know most of this stuff already but it was great to go and hang with other artists and just have fun.  I made three and half pieces (the half one you see below here in green...  have no idea what to do with it next), the top one here is about my mums side family history. 

 

And here is a bit of a mix from that day.

And spring has finally arrived with nice warm air, tree buds are opening, birds everywhere singing and busy building their nests.  I have even seen some plants sticking out of the ground.  I know I have mentioned about spring being here in few past posts, but it snowed last Saturday so it has been very frustrating and super slow going with the "finally here", so I hope this is it

No wait, this better be it!!!

 

During a walk in to woods today, I saw this little pretty bird.

Do you know what kids of bird this is?

 



So yet again, happy spring everyone and thank you for your comments to my last posts.

read more

Spring clean up, or something like it...

Guess what!!!   It has become a just a tad bit warmer outside Yeahhhh!!... 
Meaning its not in the -20's {or below} any more so I have been able to venture in to the studio again.  Fun to be back in there, but, it needs a ton of work and I'm not just talking about little dusting and sorting {the list of "things to do" is a mile long} so the other day I rolled up the sleeves and got started, well sort of...

I ended up finding my old journals and I haven't seen them since way before we moved, so the sorting and cleaning went to a firm stop and I ended up looking through the journals instead {of course with fresh cup of tea to sip along with it}.  It was nice to flip through the pages again and it brought back a lot of memories, both the good and the sad.  But most of all the good pulled it all together and it gave hope.

After a time later of looking through journals and other old sketch books, I found another box that holds some of my older larger pieces I painted and drew on paper.
And I found this in there, a mixed media piece.

'Little Red Boots' mixed media on paper

                                      Okay so nothing really got crossed off the "to do" list,

but did it ever feel good to be in there without freezing my toes off.

I found inspiration and even for the future cleaning days.

read more

Cold January mix...

Very, very cold here!!  But I love this and everything about winter {anything but slush and ice rain}, and today was a fantastic morning for a long walk in the woods -20c with windchill it was -28c.

Didn't have my camera with me again and boy do I wish I have {picture above is from last Sat}, I don't know how to tell you how it was and I wish I was good with words a poet or something.  But it was cold so everything had this frost look to it, the sky was in a soft pale yellow hue with the sun trying to peak through, all the trees in soft browns and greys and the land was covered in fresh snow.  And on top of it all, it was snowing with these tiny snow specs that looked more like pixy dust as they glimmered from the sunlight that got through the clouds.

To me, heavenly!!!

And here at home and while trying not to fall in to the cabin fever mood, my daughter and I have been having fun putting splashes of colour here and there.  She made this little flag garland that I tied on to two chop sticks and I put them in the pot that holds one of our hyacinths that are finally in bloom. 

I have been busy with different upcoming art shows, but today after my walk I sat down first looking through a magazine for ideas for my work space, studio...  Igloo {yes, its still very much frozen and shut}.  So many great ideas for storage, wall colours and lots of other goodies and there is one thing that I cant wait for when it comes to my space and that's for spring to arrive. 

But for now its our dining room table and that's fine.  And while fixing my lunch I noticed the little rosehips we bought for Christmas are still hanging on, well almost, and I loved how the berries casted shadows all over the white pitcher.  So I put my work stuff aside and I drew and painted for just the heck of it.  Felt great!

But now, back to work and get things organized and sorted {didn't know how messy things got around here...}  This painting below is one of the things I'm handing in to one of the upcoming art shows/displays.  I think I posted this one before, not sure, but here it is.  Its a mixed media piece I did for a different art show many years ago.

"Concrete Jungle" 30 x 30, mixed media

Felt good to just do something that I didn't plan for, relax and enjoy the beautiful sun that's pouring in through the windows. Now, I'm going to clean up and then maybe get some work done again.

Happy Tuesday everyone, stay warm!!!

read more

How to draw the little bird and garland...

A dear friend of mine said she cant do this after I happen to say "its easy".  And then I got a few emails asking me how I made the birds, well...  I'm not good at explaining things in words, but I'm better at it in pictures {that goes for a lot of things with me}.  So what better way to do it if not right here and in pictures....  I hope this works!!  
Okay so here it goes, and best of all, all you need are a very few supplies and all can be bought at most craft and art stores.

A pencil and eraser, thin tip marker {water proof}, colour pencils, or water colour pencils, or water colours, or even your kids crayons.  Small brushes if you use water colours, scissors, paper and a few different designs and colours of washi tape {also known as Japanese paper tape}.

For the Bird!!   And you can create this with few lines, if you're still unsure, then draw them first in pencil and practise on a piece of scrap paper.  If you use markers and want to paint them later in water colour, then use water proof markers.

For the garland, you start with drawing a line, in what ever direction you want the garland to go {side to side or from top to side, criss cross} and you make two or three lines.  Then you start cutting out the washi tape flags {cut a triangle} and place it just on top of the line and keep a little bit of space between each flag.   After you're done and happy with your garland, you then draw your birds on top of the lines, you can leave them black and white or colour them in.

Its a fun and easy design, and you can make this for any occasion or season {in my last post I did it for Christmas and used only red toned washi tapes and I painted the birds in to Robins}.  You could for example make light pastel coloured flags and paint little baby birds for a baby card, just an idea : )

All in all, have fun with it!!!

read more

Crazy week, busy Saturday...

Relaxing Sunday. But before I tell you about our relaxing day today, I just want to share with you my week until now. All week I have been running around like a chicken without a head, just so much to do and get done, it really has been one of those mad hatter weeks... Work, painting, more work, meetings and running around getting stuff, groceries, driving the kids to their extra activities. And top of it all I have been dealing with my allergies and food intolerance issues, having to make huge changes to my diet {again} and it has been super hard to find the right foods. It just feels now like no matter what I do I just cant win, and I'm so sick of feeling tired and sick in my stomach, fighting head aches and sore joints... Not to mention the brain fog, ughhhh!!!
However!!! on the positive side I have found a way to make something that kind of look like bread and the taste is livable if not kind of good, but Boy, are they ever so time consuming to make. Saturday I worked all day for the art group {for an upcoming art show}, and it was fun but was I ever beat after. And I got my paintings in on time : )

And here they are, top one is "Passionate Spirit" mixed media on paper, and the one below is "Standing Ovation" also mixed media but on canvas. I like drawing hands, but haven't done it as often as I would like to do it and it really shows, I so need to get back to it. I'm okay with the hands on the ends, but the one in the middle I'm not happy with it {didn't have time to fix it before it was due}.

Hard to take picture of {due to size} and I just noticed my foot got in the picture too. Below is more detail pictures, see what I mean about the hands?

And then our relaxing Sunday {Ahhhhhhhhhh}, its super cold here and its so cold that Charlie refused to go out for a walk {don't blame him}. So inside we stayed in and just took it easy, and while Charlie watched "Lassie" on TV, I painted a bit {both of us under a blanket}.

And this is what I painted, I'm not sure if you don't know this. But I love old barns, I love how they look, the designs, colours, texture, the weathered look and the amazing history of them. And the whole thought of the hard work that went in to build them. Every one of them have so much to tell us about the past, how they sheltered the animals and stored farm equipment and food. And sadly, many barns today are left empty and abandoned, sure they look beautiful with the weathered wood and rusted roofs. But when they fall down, they'll be gone forever.
I drove by this barn a few times last year, and finally one day I had to stop and take pictures. And today I drew and painted it using a new water colour book I got for Christmas, I love the size of it 6" x 12" {Strathmore Watercolour, cold press}, and this book I'm going to keep for barns only.

Any hoo, back to my {our} relaxing Sunday, sitting under a big fluffy blanket and watch a movie and try to paint another barn.

Stay warm everyone & Happy Sunday!

read more

Coming along...

Its slow, but its coming along and here is my first flags and garlands. These once are more with the old look and small details.

And here is one of the garlands, made with antique & newer lace, buttons and hand painted letters.

Detail shot "O"

And here is two pictures from my two last morning walks, I love fall walks with all the colours and crisp air.

And there is no doubt that winter is just around the corner, we have had frost and the Rowan trees are heavy with berries {I remember my parents predicting the upcoming winter by how much berries the trees would have, and most of the time they got it right}... And by the looks of things, well, it looks like I'll have to get a new shovel for Mr B.

read more

And working on more stuff...

I have been busy with getting my stuff ready for the art & craft show, still a bit behind... But I'm on the roll and trying to clip, snip, rip, stitch and paint as fast I can, main thing is that I'm having fun with it. I'm still working on garlands, these once are a bit different from the other once I'm working on. Fabric is a cotton linen blend and I love the natural look and texture of it.

Then I cut the edges.

Paint with acrylic {3 different whites}

And here they are drying... More to come later on : )

In between working both at the store and here at home, it was Thanks Giving weekend and the weather was fantastic. So we went out walking in parks and hiking in the bush, enjoying the crisp air, clear blue sky and the wonderful colours of fall.
I hope all of you had a great weekend.

read more