For my brother

The first summer after my dad died, my mom and I took our first of several memorable trips together. She went to Cape Cod with me while I attended a seminar. We had our afternoons free so we took a whale-watching cruise. I expected to see a spout or two in the far distance, but the reality was incredible. We must have seen 50 humpbacks--breaching, swimming under the boat and blowing so close that you could smell their fishy breath! We had to remind ourselves that this wasn't Seaworld and these were animals in the wild. The minute we pulled back into port, mom went in search of a gold whale's tale necklace to commemorate her adventure. She wore it every day for the rest of her life.

Mom has been gone now for over nine years. It didn't surprise me when my brother asked that I find a bone whale's tale and make him a necklace. My brother is as masculine as they come and a real redneck. I suspect a few of his friends may wonder when they see him wearing the necklace, but he and I will know that it really isn't about whales.

Lily 2

My other blogs (www.ayearofdefiningnormal.blogspot.com and www.coach-craft.com) are being neglected as I continue to struggle with the acrylic medium. You can see from this latest painting that I am having trouble with blending and that I also need to use less gel as the brushstrokes look too heavy for a flower. However, I like the layers of color and from far away, it looks passable.

 

I also made two necklaces yesterday. Shel's comment was, "you are getting quite an inventory." I am and I haven't even started to crank out the earrings I want to make. I do need to decide what I am going to do with all this!

third attempt

I wish the photographs could capture what I see as this painting isn't bad. However, the shading in the flower washed out in the photo. This painting had three backgrounds before deciding on gray, which also looks blue in the photo. The lily itself is gorgeous and I took 8 shots of it last nite outside, so be prepared for a Lily Series!

Georgia's okay too

I titled my first painting that was of a sunflower, "Degas's reputation is safe". This second one, which is a full frontal of a tropical flower is entitled, "O'Keefe is safe too." I got better blending on the petals with this one, but it is flat. At least there was some movement in the sunflower. This one can't dance! The style of painting that I admire is loose, abstract. You can tell that the artists had fun painting them. So today I will turn on some Aretha, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke and see what happens on the canvas.

New earring design

I'm struggling with a painting right now so it was nice when this earring design came together just like I envisioned. They are incredibly light! I used more fabric scraps from my quilter friend and various jewelry findings I had on hand. I love re-purposing!

Building inventory

I seriously need to take a course in photographing jewelry as the fine detail doesn't show up in my pictures.

I made the pendant. It is an oval stone in shades of blue and violet that almost looks like a seascape. The beads that make the chain are a mix of matte and crystal in shades of blue and violet.

This one is similar to the last in that it has a mix of matte and crystal beads. It also has "gold" spacers and a sea glass and crystal center piece.



This necklace has a purchased pendant in silver, rust and turquoise. The chain has turquoise and rust beads with silver spacers. It has a Southwestern feel to it.

The last one is my favorite. I've had the pendant for over a year. It is made of rusted metal that has been lacquered. The beads are a mix of red coral, copper and tiger eye.

Degas's reputation is safe

This is my first acrylic painting. Hopefully, the subject is obvious--it is a sunflower. It looks a little like a cross between a sunflower and a plate of bacon. However, here's some important things I learned:

• planning your painting saves time in the long run
• color mixing is hard
• using gels for texture is interesting
• using glazes for mood is critical
• you can re-work acrylics to death