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.

Peony Bouquet

 

Let's get this out of the way...

Do you say...   [A] PEE-uh-nee  or [B] pee-OH-nee ?

I didn't even know [A] was a choice until a few years ago.  My painting partner Julie (who, by the way, was not raised in the South) & I have had a long running disagreement about the right way to pronounce those pretty big fluffy flowers. 

Anyway...

It was sooooooo much fun painting these peOnies!!

I'm really starting to love these oversized canvases. It's kind of a thrill to face a huge white surface then start smearing color on it. I should have taken photos along the way.  It's true that the painting stays in the ugly stage for a really long time.  But, that same pEony friend reminds me to "trust the process."

I "finished" it but couldn't help thinking something was missing.  I let it sit for the night then decided the next morning that a little turquoise here and there would liven it up and be the finishing touch.

Original Acrylic Palette Knife Painting on 24"x 24" Wrapped Canvas

Click Peony Bouquet if you'd like to have this one for your own wall.

Still Waters

Wouldn't you love to just sit here and look... listen... breathe... be...

We spent a couple of days at a wonderful bed & breakfast (and dinner!) lodge on the border of Kansas & Missouri recently. We went in the spring and loved it so much that we went back for a fall visit. ( FYI Click for a look. - Cedar Crest Lodge... I've no affiliation with them, but would recommend it 10+ out of 10.)

We reached a certain kind of blissful boredom that just can never quite be achieved at home. In the spring there were hundreds of lilies in bloom, and I'm pretty sure some of those will end up on canvas soon. This time, though, we especially enjoyed the hiking trail that looped around 4-5 peaceful little ponds.  

My Weekly-ish Challenge this time wasn't just a word or a phrase, it was "The 23rd Psalm"

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall ot want. 

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; 

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

I knew what I'd be painting for it.  The tricky part was deciding which view to choose!

You'll just have to trust me...
there was a turtle sunning on one of those logs.

That reflection could not be any more perfect! 
No, it could not!

Sweet little frog singing for us... :)

This little guy had the most beautiful orange markings on his head.

I do have one piece of advice... If you're the first hiker in the morning, keep a little stick swishing in front of you as you go because every spider has spent her night building her lovely web across the path.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas

I don't know how long I will get to keep this lovely little painting, but I'm sure going to enjoy seeing it on my own wall until it goes to its forever home.  Click Still Waters if you'd like to purchase it to have on your own wall.

Willowing Arts: Mastering Mixed Media 2026 (Inspired by Lessons 22-31)

I've slowly been working through these 41 lessons to "master mixed media."  Sometimes I'm so pleased with the result... Sometimes I enjoy the process... Sometimes I'm comfortable, and sometimes I'm trying to use some technique or material I've never used before... Sometimes I think the instructor just likes playing with art supplies but doesn't quite have the whole plan together. 

I love it either way.

But... Now, i think it's time to get back to my oil painting.  Yay!

*** (Want to know something???  I sold 19 oil paintings last weekend!  19!!  That's huge! It's so fun to watch a person's face when they spy the painting that "speaks" to them.  It's so interesting to see which painting they pick and hear why they want it for their own.  I hope each one is hanging proudly in its new forever home now.)

(Collage papers, gesso, ink applied through pipettes, colored pencil)
I've learned to trust the process.  When it looks like a complete mess
and waste of paper, paint, and time... just keep going.

(Doodling on dot paper with pen & colored pencil)
I felt like all my cool quilt-creating friends with this one!

(Craft paint, oil pastels)
A weird thing happened with this one.  Because it was "chalky," 
I knew it would smear inside my art journal. 
When I sprayed it with hairspray to affix it, it immediately changed colors.
It was like the hairspray just gobbled up the colors it didn't like. Weird...

(Graphite on watercolor-stained paper, colored pencils)
I'd never have imagined 2 years ago that I could enjoy the process of drawing a face,
but here we are.  Maybe not realistic, but awfully fun.

(Collage book pages & tissue paper, stenciling, gesso, acrylic ink)
I've done several pieces with this particular teacher.  I enjoy her so much. 
A hard part for me is with the layering, I have to cover up things I did and liked.

(Paint smears with big brush, mark making with little brush, embellishment with Posca pens)
I was not excited about this lesson, but I'm thrilled with the end result.
It just started out as three big pages of blobby mess. The doodles brought it to life.
Then cutting the big sheets down gave me the idea to make them into notecards. 
love! Love!! LOVE!!!

(Watercolor pencils, splatter, pen)
i think I needed my paper to be wetter so that my
splatters would have dispersed and faded  better.

(Acrylic inks, run together, splattered, blown through a straw, magazine collage)
The lesson called for using alcohol markers and alcohol drops... I did...
It did not work for me. I scrapped it and started over with other materials.
Although the process didn't work, I like the end result.

(Masking tape, medical tape, alcohol markers, drawing pen, collage paper)
Funny little picture; good lesson on perspective. 
The thing I love most about this is that two years ago, I would have said,
"I can't draw a house or cat free hand, I'll need to trace."
Nope, not any more,  I just whip it out! 
Huh... who'd have known that practice makes perfect pretty good!
** Also... I still am not sure why I was to put down random strips of tape before drawing.

(Lace, fabric, photo, stickers, dripped ink, colored pencil, crepe paper)
Yeah... I know... What's this? Kind of just glue everything you can find.
It was a real lesson... she demonstrated for 40 minutes...
So... you be the judge... No... Don't be.