Willowing Arts: Mastering Mixed Media (#1-10)

I can't claim to have "mastered mixed media," but I sure do enjoy getting better and better at it.  There are 39 lessons in the Mastering Mixed Media course, and I look forward to giving all... or most... of them a go.

... drawing... watercolor... paint pens... collage... stencils... acrylic... watercolor pencils... colored pencils... fabric... embroidery thread... pastels... glue... gesso... stamps... and imagination...

Here are my first 10:

Lily Pond

I had to paint them. 

I've done so many small mixed media projects, I wanted to get back to my first love, oil on canvas. And to my newer addition to that first love, the palette knife.

I did this acrylic lily pond as one of the Sketchbook Revival Binge Fest lessons a few weeks ago. Landscape paintings usually aren't on a vertical page/canvas.  I liked that.

Waterlilies... so pretty to see in real life... so intriguing as seen and put on canvas through Monet's eyes and brushes. This was in the St. Louis Art Museum. His works are huge, and they're just daubs of color, but... ahhh.. No, of course, I didn't touch it... but I wanted to!

Not only will I enjoy seeing my lily pond on my wall, I'll occasionally run my fingers across the textures on the canvas... because I can!

Click Lily Pond if you'd like to purchase this painting... so that you can see it and run your fingers across the textures...

Sketchbook Revival 2025 Binge Fest (Part 2)

Sketchbook Revival was different this year.  Instead of having all new lessons, there was access to 5 years of past lessons.  With about 140 lessons to choose from and only 2-3 weeks to have them available, I had to choose. I picked the 14 that I most wanted to do and have done lots of art in the past couple of weeks!

Draw a + then an x, not connect with arcs... It's a flower!
Then an asterisk, connect... Another flower!
(Pen, Stabilo all pencil, watercolor pencils - Lesson from Melinda Barlow)

Draw a bunch of big circles... Fill each intersecting shape... Doodle
It should be a mess, but it's something I want to look at again and again.
(Book page, scrapbook paper, gelli-print paper, paint, marker - Lesson from Mary Beth Shaw)

If not "embracing" watercolor, at least I'm trying not to be afraid to try again.
(Watercolor, pen - Lesson from Shari Blaukopf)

I've never been one who doodles constantly, but how fun it can be.
(Paint Pens, colored pencil - Lesson from Jessica Swift)

Using "real" watercolor paper does make a difference.
Either way... watercolor requires an artist with different personality than I have.
(Watercolor - Lesson from Susan Chiang)

Just two colors, use your finger... start with the nose...
a line here... to curves there... and oval... and it's a face
Melanie has such a calm patient demeanor that gently guides you.
(Acrylic paint, pen - Lesson from Melanie Rivers)

It's always a pleasure to paint alongside Tam
(Watercolor, colored pencils, paint pens, Stabilo All pencil - Lesson from Tamara La Porte)

Sketchbook Revival 2025 Binge Fest (Part 1)

Sketchbook Revival was different this year.  Instead of having all new lessons, there was access to 5 years of past lessons.  With about 140 lessons to choose from and only 2-3 weeks to have them available, I had to choose. I picked the 14 that I most wanted to do and have done lots of art in the past couple of weeks!

This one was my favorite.
I think I'll do my own version of this in oil on canvas.
(Acrylic with palette knife - Lesson from Renee Mueller)

Cut... tear... glue... paint... stencil... mark... write... 
And all together it tells its own kind of story.
(Collage Journal Page - Lesson from Laly Mille)

They're just blobs and daubs and swishes of paint.
But, somehow the eye is tricked into seeing flowers.
(Acrylic - Lesson from Anna Battle)

Scribble then erase until a face emerges on the page.
I'm always a little shocked and amazed when I'm able to draw a face.
(Pencil, Eraser, Watercolor, Acrylic - Lesson from Ida Andersen Lang)

Painting with watercolor looks so easy and free; however, I never find that to be true.
Grateful for mixed media which allow for lots of covering, hiding, and fixing.
(Watercolor, colored pencils, paint pens, Stabilo All pencil - Lesson from Tamara La Porte)

Just because... it's quirky and fun and should be the setting for some children's story.
(Watercolor, colored pencils, paint pens, Stabilo All pencil - Lesson from Tamara La Porte)

I've painted one of her "quirky birds" before.
Silly, but meaningful in a quirky self-portrait kind of way.
(Watercolor, colored pencils, paint pens, Stabilo All pencil - Lesson from Tamara La Porte)

I Like...

    Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like that I can pick my salad fresh from the banister.
FYI... The wire over it is because the deer also like a fresh salad bar.

I like watching the garden begin!
FYI... that's a zucchini blossom.

I like my back deck in summer...
It's my bonus garden.

I like finding discovering the first things to ripen in the garden. 
Look at that gorgeous little midnight black cherry tomato!

I like my new little black hen. Her feathers shine green in the sunlight.
My grandkids named her Elfaba. We'll call her Elfie.

I like that she seems to actually like to be petted.

I like that she follows me around whenever I'm outside.

I like the deer that live in our woods.
I like my garden.
(Now you see why every part of the garden is fenced in.)

 I like that my amaryllis has blossomed in a gorgeous way.

Ok... one more... this little hen is crazy! 
She's like the cat. She wants to sit on me and is right underfoot when I'm up.
(The cat would be jealous if he knew.)

LeeAnne's  get-to-know-you writing topics this month:

What piece did you pick when you played monopoly? I liked the little dog. Maybe I'd choose the hat.  Our game was old, so we didn't have all the pieces. Who did you play with, how long would the game go on? I played with older siblings or even friends.  I think we had some made-up rules, and I think we rarely made it to the real end. Were you a buyer of property and put houses on them? Sure. Who kept the bank? Me. I've always liked to keep money neat and tidy, all facing the same way.

Did you learn to swim, and how old were you? Who taught you? I think I always knew how to swim enough to stay afloat and get where I wanted to be.  Were you on a swim team and what was that like? No, my school didn't have a swim team.   My family had a 160 acre farm, and 20 of those acres made up a lake.  We just followed a trail through the woods and down the hill to our very own lake.  There was also a road for driving down.  Our place was the place for church youth swimming, for friend parties, for family gatherings.  On one end was the spillway.  After a flood, water spilled over into the creek below.  Otherwise, that was our shale-covered "beach."  That was the area where we swam.  My dad even built a raft out of 55-gallon drum barrels and a wood floor.  He also made a long diving board that we used.  Another bank  was covered with blackberry vines.  The far bank had trees and picnic tables.  The last side was pasture where cows grazed.  We had a motor for our fishing boat so that we could ski or surf (around in a circle). I suppose growing up using The Lake for swimming, berry picking, or whatever other reason made me unafraid of turtles and snakes.  There were always, always turtles and snakes.   (FYI - The wouldn't hurt us though. For example, if we wanted to pick berries, we'd throw rocks into the vines so they'd all leave.  Or, if turtles or snakes were sunning on the diving board, we'd holler at them until they jumped or slithered off and into the water.  Then it would be perfectly safe to enter the water... *** Insert 61-year-old me shaking my head in disbelief.) If you Google "Powell Lake, Mena, Arkansas" (Powell was my maiden name), you'll see it it.  Click HERE.  Did you go to a neighborhood pool and what was that like?  Our lake WAS the neighborhood pool. Do you still enjoy swimming?  Floating around in my sister's pool, yes.  In a lake, no. I'd much rather enjoy sitting on the shore and looking out at the lake.

We stopped last summer when we were near Mena. 
The Lake is still beautiful.
 (And, most likely still full of turtles and snakes.)

Did you ever go to sleep away camp? Yes. Where and what was it like? Nearly every year in junior and high school, our youth group went to church came.  Each year it was at a different place. I loved it. Nearly every year in junior and high school, I went to band camp.  It was at a college.  I went to a couple of different ones. I loved it. Did you enjoy it or miss home too much? Nope.

Do you play summer sports? Tennis, or golf, or pickleball, etc? Do you have a special outfit for them, or equipment? No.

Willowing Arts: A Year of Light (May)

I've done so much mixed media lately. I love it. Here are my May A Year of Light lessons. I learn something new from every teacher and every lesson.

Willowing Arts is a great site for mix media instructional lessons.

Fairy & Butterfly

I LOVE this little fairy and her butterfly friend!

It took me several days to come up with an idea for this one.  My Weekly-ish Challenge partner gave the challenge of "Garden Boots" this time.  Garden Boots??? What was I going to do with that?! 

I wrestled with it... looked for interesting photos of garden boots online... found photos of me wearing my pink boots in my garden... saw lots of images of garden boots used as flower pots... 

Nothing stuck... I sat on it a few more days, glad for the "ish" in our Weekly-ish Challenge.

Then I found this cute little statue. It's only 2"-3" tall and meant as a decoration in a potted plant.

I love it when I am completely blank for a painting idea then a random muse shows up with a fabulous idea that works.

Someone should really write a children's story about this little garden fairy and her friend the butterfly. I have so many questions about this image that I want answered!! Who is this fairy? Does she have a name? Where does she live? Does she know the butterfly?  Why does she wear boots? Is the butterfly okay? Do they realize they both wear the same colors? Do they communicate with each other? Will they fly together?

Original Acrylic Painting on 8"x 10" Canvas Board

Click Fairy & Butterfly if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Drawing Class

I took a 6-week drawing class through OLLI, the senior citizen branch of the University of Arkansas.  Drawing doesn't come naturally to me. I can do it, but I have to work at it.  I enjoyed and learned during each class. I love being a student. And, I know it was good for me to draw daily.  My homework was to draw something each day.

The first week I drew a landscape each day.  I put those in an earlier post that you can see HERE. 

The second week I drew something floral each day.

Then I did a fruit still life each day.

The fourth week was for the birds. (ha ha)

And the fifth week I attempted a portrait per day. They're cute kids... and look sort of like the kids they're supposed to be... I'm pretty sure it takes more than a week of really trying to become skilled at faces.

That's (almost) little 8-year-old Helen at the top and (sort of) little 6-year-old Helen below.

There were so many things to learn about using a pencil and what can be accomplished with a pencil...

We learned techniques to use different parts of the brain like drawing upside down. We also learned techniques to train the brain like one-line drawing and sketch drawing.

There was practice for seeing negative space and perspective

The one-point and two-point perspective lessons were easier than some of the others.

I'm so glad I took the class. I hope always to be a life-long learner.