Another page done in my "Walls Notebook".  I love art that reminds me of New Orleans Jazz.  This page had the background done with the notes on it, so I added the guy walking down the street, and the piano keyboard.  I like this one -- it makes me happy!

My friend recently had a birthday and I wrapped her gift in a cardboard box with the inside of a grocery bag and embellished it.  It's fun to do!  She loved it.  She thought it was the gift, but the gift was actually inside.

Aging

Here's a spread I did in a watercolor journal - it was great fun!  Lots of doodling and altering faces from magazine.

  

There's a new book through Amazon and other book stores called "Walls Notebook." It is a book just full of pages of walls and graffiti from New York. What's great about it is you have a place to paint and doodle, write, etc., and you don't start with a blank slate. The background is already done for you. On this page, the only things I painted are the clay pots. When I saw the book, I thought it would be fun to go out and take my own pictures in the Twin Cities, but then I started to think about all the time and work it would be to create the book, so I bought it. I LOVE this book!

I recently took an on-line class with an artist, Junelle Jacobson, and the class was called Art with Wild Abandonment. It is whimsical sketching and not so serious -- don't have to make things look as they are. There were various assignments and she asked us to sketch radishes. I had fun doing this. Downloaded some images from the internet to see shapes and colors.

The second assignment was to sketch cupcakes in whatever way we would like. Here are mine! I did them with my friend Eileen, who is doing the assignments with me.

Another assignment was to do sketch some clothes lines and I did mine with memories of being in Italy!

Art Girl

Picture of an art girl I just completed. So much fun! It's done on an 8X10 thick canvas. Doing a series of three. Will also use a scanned copy on the cover of some journals I'm making.

Lucy and Ethel coming in for their "treat!"  They are a joy! 

    

Face

This is a face I drew and painted on some background paper that my nephew Justin gave me. He had taken very tiny notes in a class and mounted the notes on his wall. I asked for a copy and he sent them to me and now I'm creating art on them. I love these for backgrounds!

More sketching

Sketches I've done over the past few months. The first is a shoe I had since I was a child and my puppy Lucy, got hold of it and chewed it up. Thought it made an interesting sketch! Artwork by Lucy!

These are various pictures of fall Indian Corn, gourds and lotus pods.

Sketching & Watercolor On location

I'm taking a sketching class with Jane LaFazio and our second lesson was to go to a coffee shop and sketch our coffee or pastry. I sketched a scone at Starbucks along with the bag it came in placed on a plate. Since I haven't drawn much (hardly at all), this turned out okay. The second drawing is one I did of some grapes. I like this one!

Earrings

My friend Bev had lost one of her favorite earrings and asked if I could make a set similar. Here is what I made for her.

After finishing those, I decided to make a pair with my own twist on the octagonal shapes. Here is what I did. The center is all solder and I love the messy look of it. I made three sets.

Paper Dolls

Paper dolls were really popular for awhile in the art world. Here are some of mine. Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Glamour Girls

    

Hippy Front

Hippy back

Here are two that remind me of Cirque du Soleil. I did them for an altered book for a friend. Even baked clay for the faces, etc. Was fun! Wish I had them for myself. Ha ha.

 

Jewelry for Niece Chelsea

I promised Chelsea and Blair (nieces) I would make them each a necklace. Chelsea has received hers and Blair will get hers later. These are made with pink quartz.

Book Pages I'm Making in the DJ Pettitt style

Here are some of the pages I'm making in the DJ Pettitt style. I'm hoping to make a lot more of these, using my own artwork and techniques. Some of these are my own art. The design of the pages are strictly my creations. Once the book is bound, I will post pictures of it. So much FUN! Lots of sewing, paint, lace, etc. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them for more detail.

This is the back cover.

This is a page where I will write some journaling. There will be many more pages like this.

Another page.

More Pages

This is done in the style of Ruth Rae. I created layers of fabric, etc., stitched and cut a door. Then a heart was made out of fabric and stuffed with quilting batting and various items inside. It was made into a pocket where I put rolled up papers.

Here is the same page with the doors opened.

Another DJ image over painted page, handwriting and a piece of Mica put on the image.

More Pages

DJ image and lace, buttons, feathers and papers.

One of DJ's images with espresso stained cheesecloth.

Sunflower from watercolor collage sheet with burlap, etc., on painted page.

More pages

This page has some antique buttons on a card that I found at "Hunt & Gather" on Penn Avenue. Rather than use the buttons, I decided to put the whole card on the page. The price was marked at .50 originally!!

This is quilted fabric sewn onto a painted page with one of DJ's images.

I created a lace "curtain" which you open and inside is the picture above.

This is a scan of a collage I created and reduced along with some free motion stitching.

This one above is two of DJ's images which I have sewn onto the page with lace, etc.

More Pages

Below is the front cover of the book done with canvas and layered with many scraps of fabric. I painted the face.

This is an image from an old calendar along with some stitching, etc.

Another of DJ's images with fabrics, etc, free motion stitching and a rusty dimensional heart.

Another DJ image with lace and free motion stitching. The fabric across the top has been made into a Roman shade, which you can pull down.

DJ image along with fabrics, scraps of paper, ribbons, etc.

Waucom Tablet!

Yay! I bought a Waucom tablet so I can add doodles and words to photos or anything else that is on the computer. Here's my first picture I've altered for a book I am working on. The touch is a little rough to get used to, but hopefully I'll be doing better soon!

Painting Background Pages for St. Joseph's Home for Children

A few weeks ago some friends (Wenda, Sandi & Roxi) came over and we painted background pages for journals we are making for the St. Joseph's Home for Children. These kids are aged into their teens and they requested journals. Many of them are brought to the home with nothing but the clothes are their backs. Since we are an art group, we are making them journals. Here we are doing the backgrounds to be glued on the books. We're using red rosin paper that is gessoed for thickness. Red rosin paper is the paper that painters lay on your floor when they're painting a room. The texture of the paper is great! There's also a picture below of the paper glued onto the book. We're going to add more embellishments and art work to it. We're making about 50 of them.