Willowing Arts: Year of Wild Nature (Taster Sessions 1-12)

Next year the Willowing Arts lessons will be around the theme "Wild Nature." I've begun making my way through the 36 Taster Sessions.  Here are my attempts at the first dozen of them. Some struggles, some fun, always something to learn or practice.

(Watercolor used dry)
Since I didn't have guache, I used what I had to come out with a similar effect.
Cute. Fun.

(White charcoal pencil, compass, acrylics, inks)
How fun to use a compass just like back in geometry classd.
Working on the lesson reminded me of creating with a Spirograph set.
Imagine my saddness AFTER I finished that I'd done it upside down. 
That's right, in my art journal, the lotus flower is coming down from the top. Booooo!!!

 (Pan pastel chalk, pencil, on black paper)
My pan chalk is really old, and I'm not sure it's same thing the instructor used.  It didn't come out as dark or bright as I wanted.  I ended up using colored pencils for more than just defining the shapes.

 (Collage, gesso, inks, acrylics)
I love the rough blotchy background that's achieved by 
layering papers, then gesso, then inks spread with palette knife.)

(Stabilo all pencil, water, inks)
I folded this one in half and put ti with a business sized envelope. 
One day it will be the just right notecard that I'll need to send.

 (Watercolor & India ink)
Something that continues to seem backwards to me that with watercolor and other mixed media, the instructors finish the main subject then put the background in around it.
That's so opposite from oil painting.

(Collaged book pages, scrapbook paper, magazine picture, gesso, pen)
I've loved choosing to do some of these lessons on notecards.
Usable art... love it.
**Best little surprise on this one... I tore the front copyright page out of an
old book to use and noticed... look in the center... "Illustrated by Helen..." 
Serendipitous!

(Marker & colored pencil)
The lesson was a lot more involved with details and paints.'
This was enough for me.

(Leaves, stencil, paint splattered with a toothbrush, pen)
The amount of mess I made... sheesh... 
If I was to be graded on how well I accomplished what the instructor did, I be happy to receive a D+.  First of all, I didn't have spray paint and used an alternate method of spritzing the paint on. Then the leaves I used didn't want to lay flat.This one little rectangle was the product of so much paper and paint.  I'll just call it collage paper instead of wasted materials.

(Watercolor, pen)
The interesting thing about this lesson was that I was to put in the swaths of color down first.  Once that dried, I created the plants within the patches of color with pen. 

 (Acrylics & paint pens)
Full disclosure... this lesson was supposed to be done by molding and carving
the moth in clay, letting it dry, painting that, then adhering it to a round board.
I appreciate the idea, I just didn't want to commit to it.

(Watercolor, Posca pens)
Just creative fun.
I did it on a notecard size so it will be used when
I need to send a happy little butterfly & ladybug card.

Field of Black-Eyed Susans

 

This started out to be a palette knife painting. It didn't seem quite right.

I love the softness and loose brushstrokes.

I think I'll do another.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

Click Field of Black-Eyed Susans if you'd like to buy this piece.

Autumn Scene Beside the Chiminea

When my Weekly-ish Challenge partner gave "Autumn Scene" as the new topic, I didn't have to think long.  I've been literally living inside an autumn scene lately.

What serentipity that my sister's visit came during the exact week that my huge backyard hickory tree was putting on her best show. (**I really should give that tree a name... any ideas?)

Enjoy a moment in my "autumn scene"  with me, won't you?

If your chair is right beside mine, and you look straight up, this is what you'll see.

Now  you have a difficult decision... Where do you look? at the lovely warm fire? at the breathtaking yellow above? or at the cardinals and chickadees on the birdfeeder?

How will you know how to get here?

You'll turn into this golden driveway, but you'll want to stop for a minute and take it in.

Then you'll turn down toward the house.  You'll want to stop again and sigh when you see the tree (that still needs to be named) behind the house.

But you'll need to come in the next few days or wait until next year because the show of the hickory trees doesn't last long.

Original Oil  Painting on 8"x 10" Canvas Board

Oh... yes, I'll eventually list it for sale, but I think I'll just enjoy seeing this one for myself for a while. It's probably more meaningful to me than it would be to anyone else anyway.

 

Bonus*** I usually "finish" a piece then see something I missed, messed up, or just can't live with.  Then I grumble, make an attempt of being okay with it, and finally go back to the easel to "finish" it again. 

In this first finished version, I noticed the smoke... Nooooo.... Everyone would wonder if I just took the wig right off the head of the Bride of Frankenstein and plopped it onto the top of the chiminea... Anyway... fixed it.

I Like... (October 2026)

 Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. Click on HER BLOG to see what positive things others like..

I like the view from my bedroom window.  
I also like seeing deer in the yard,
but I wish they wouldn't be interested in the garden.

They're so funny. When we go for a walk in the evenings,

they stop what they're doing and stare at us staring at them

I like sister time.

I like my trivia night buddies.

I like having a full freezer. 
The cold weather is here (finally),
it was time to put the garden to bed for the winter

I like having hen-friends.

I like seeing a happy hen-filled yard
Pauline, Cupcake, Cher. Lola, Amber,
Cinnamon, Cinnabon, Pigeon, 
Perdy, Sunny, Sparkle

I like these 6 little guys!

I like my kitty.

He likes me too.

I like my fabulous golden hickory tree.

...that's right behind my chiminea...

...to share with a sister.

Willowing Arts: A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales (October)

Lessons from October.

Fun to use some surprising supplies... like napkins... like clear contact paper... like eye shadow pan chalk... like the inside of business security envelopes...

(Collage paper, napkins, stickers, acrylic, white & black pen, colored pencil, watercolor)
Using printed napkins is a pretty cool process. 
Also, I liked the mixture of stickers and drawings.

(Collage, acrylics, inks)
Nice

(Acrylic, clear contact paper)
Yes, CONTACT PAPER! Genius!
After drawing & painting a base of the character, I covered it with contact paper
to protect it then covered the background with large brushstrokes.
Next I peeled off the clear protective contact paper and finished the little guy.

(White charcoal pencil, pan chalks, on black paper)
I liked drawing with with the white charcoal pencil on the black. 
Using the pan chalks was kind of like doing the whole project with eye shadow.

(Watercolor & colored pencil)
Cute little character.

(Stamp pad ink, collage paper, inside of window envelopes)
Full disclosure... The instructor's lesson was to create three-dimensional
 little objects like these with clay and paint. I chose not to. 
But, I've discovered that the inside of the envelopes that bills come in
have all these great patterns. They used to go straight to the recycle bin. 
Now they go straight to the collage folder.

Willowing Arts: Mastering Mixed Media (Lessons 32-41)

And with these 10, I've finished all the lessons from Mastering Mixed Media 2026.  I don't know that I've "mastered" mixed media, but I do know that I'm comfortable with it now.

(Watercolor, paint pens, colored pencil)
 Tam (Willowing Arts) brings out this funny little
quirky bird for new lessons every so often. 
This time I put him on a greeting card.  Why not!

(Acrylic, paint pens)
This teacher's lessons were familiar, very relaxing to create.
 This time I put them on greeting cards too.
Again, why not make the art usable!

(Cut collage paper, acrylic pens, splatter)
Cute design, but more useful (again) as a greeting card
than a page in an art journal.

(Collage papers, black acrylic, white pen)
Hmmm... ok... moving on...

(Ruler, acrylic)
Very quilt-like, very calming and restful to work on.
And... a greeting card.

(Drawing, tea, acrylic)
Yes, TEA!  I'm not a tea drinker, but how fun to brew a cupful and paint with it!
(funny... the tea was some kind of raspberry blend, so the painting smelled good too!)

(Colored paper strips, stamps, acrylic, markers, collage papers)
I've done so many of these to create little concertina booklets. 
I like it best to create a big masterboard sheet then cut the strips from that.

(Acrylics, watercolor crayon, stabilo all pencil)
I know, I know... she looks freaky and wrong. 
But, it was a really interesting lesson that started with the
outside lines of the negative space then moved in to do the face last.

(Watercolor, watercolor crayon, gold & white pen)
It's an abstract botanical landscape... Hmmm... ok...
It should bring emotion or evoke feeling... Hmmm... I'm trying...
Nope... 

(Acrylics, markmaking, stenciling, paper, sewing)
I watched the section on how to put them together so many times and just didn't get it.
Then I went to bed... The next morning, I had it.
I used the sewing machine to do the binding.  
It was a great way to make a book with a pocket. I can use it for another small art journal.
**
I don't mind sewing paper, that's how I learned!  If you sew, do you remember learning?  My mother got a piece of notebook paper and told me I'd need to be able to stay between the lines before I could move on to fabric.