My Girls

Happy Monday!! I finally got a few pictures of some recently finished pieces to share. These are two paintings I did while taking Wyanne's Mixed Media Painting with the Girls class. I had so much fun and Wyanne is such a great teacher. This is my first time painting the full figure in one of my mixed media pieces. I had lots of experience drawing figures in my figure drawing classes in college many years ago, but this was new to me. It was challenging, but really fun to see their personalities develop!

Here is Autumn Resting:

She is peacefully resting under the tree with the colorful leaves falling around her. The verse is "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken." Psalm 62:1-2.

This next one is Spring Ballerina:

I've always loved dancers! I took a few ballet classes in my earlier years; it was great exercise! I even decorated my daughter's room in a ballet theme! I just love the grace and beauty of ballet dancers. Her verse is "Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with salvation." Psalm 149:3-4.

In both of these I used acrylic paint, collage elements (paper flowers, decorative paper, old sheet music, tissue paper, and recycled magazine clippings) along with water soluble oil pastels and watercolor pencils. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm planning to open up an Etsy shop soon and hope to find a good home for these sweet girls!

I have a few newly finished portraits to post soon and I've got several fun projects I'm currently working on. I started a piece for my newly reorganized studio space and I'm working on ideas for an upcoming show. I can't wait to share what I've come up with!

Have a wonderful day and I hope you find time to do something creative!! :)

Take care, Jennifer

Catching up!

Wow! Where has the time gone? I hate that it has been so long since my last post. The new year has brought with it the same busyness as always! I've been working hard to simplify things in preparation for some big life changes coming our way. I chose "Simplify" (from Ali Edwards' One Word Challenge) to be my "One Word" for this year. The word I chose last year was "Create" and I really enjoyed seeing the progress I made from the beginning of last year to the end with trying to focus on creating more in my everyday life. I started painting again, took several online art classes, participated in a few art shows and just made time for creativity and tried to make it a priority everyday. Now I'm adding "Simplify" to my life! I've been very busy re-doing, re-organizing, and re-thinking several areas in my home, including my studio! I can't wait to share pictures when I get things a bit more organized and cleaned up. I'm also revamping my filing system, trying my best to purge and remove clutter and just all around re-evaluating my organizational systems in all areas of my life. I feel like I'm off to a good start!

I've also been busy painting and I have a few pieces almost finished that I can't wait to share. I've been having a few blocks when in comes to finishing up and I'm not sure where they are coming from. I think I've been struggling with fear and perfectionism. Thoughts of "If I do this will I like it or will it mess up my piece? What if this changes that?" and so forth. I know I need to just push past it and create! Why does it get so hard at times? Do you ever struggle with this? I'm reading a great book, Taking Flight: Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings, by Kelly Rae Roberts. I so love her! Anyway, it touches on many of these things and has been so inspiring. I'm really enjoying it!

So, now that I've been building my body of work, I'm getting excited about the possibility of opening up my own Etsy shop. I've had some interest in my work and I'd really love to dive in and take this next step, but of course all of those fears and anxieties rear up again and make me wonder if I know enough to be doing this! Any advice out there from you pros? I would sure appreciate it! :)

Well, I'd better be off to get some painting done before preschool is over for the day!
Take care,
Jennifer