The Fanciful Magpie

Seasons challenge at IA

2014-10-19T10:55:00.000-04:00

It’s Autumn

The challenge theme at Inspiration Avenue this week is Seasons.

Here is my (undoubtedly) unpopular view on Autumn.

The Autumn always gets me badly, as it breaks into colors.

I want to go south, where there is no autumn,

where the cold doesn't crouch over one

like a snow leopard waiting to pounce.

~ D. H. Lawrence

Me, thinking about winter.

I hope you're enjoying the weekend, and if you love autumn

like everyone else I know, may you have plenty of colorful leaves,

apple cider, pumpkin carving, and brisk walks through the fallen leaves :-)

Studying Modigliani

2014-10-06T20:14:00.000-04:00

The Magical Journals have traveled the full circle.

Here is the last journal that I will do (until next time).

It belongs to Priti Lisa and went off in the mail to her today.

Her artist is Amedeo Modigliani, and as I thought,

he was not easy! But every one of the artists chosen

were or are masters of their techniques,

so how could they not be difficult to emulate?!

This is a photo transfer of a portrait of Modigliani.

He was a handsome man with very regular features,

so other than the part of his hair being on the wrong side,

I don't think it's too obvious that the picture is reversed.

I like this quote, although it could be interpreted

as being rather self indulgent. But maybe a lot of artists'

self indulgence allows them to do their best work.

Who was Modigliani speaking of when he said this?

Was it Jeanne Hébuterne, his lover and mother of his child?

Or the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova who influenced the course of his art?

Anna outlived him by many years and died an old woman.

Jeanne Hébuterne, pregnant with their second child,

stepped out of a fifth floor window a day after the death

of Modigliani from tuberculosis at the age of 35.

Jeanne was only 20 years old and died along with her unborn child.

Lisa's book is square (or almost square?). I don't know why I chose to

use the full length of the folded pages, except that Modigliani's

figures are always elongated, especially the faces.

Somehow it seemed like the thing to do.

I hate it when I make stupid mistakes.

I'm so irritated that the words,

"Never stop dreaming" are facing the wrong way.

They should have faced the same way as the quote

under the portrait since they are partially visible

when the pages are folded.

The fact that the pages were all unbound this time

has thrown me off again. Maybe I have some

syndrome like dyslexia that doesn't allow me to

visualize how the pages will appear in a bound book.

I'm always putting the fold on the wrong side.

Or something like these flipped letters.

I hope Lisa can make the best of it when she binds the book!

I'm so looking forward to seeing my own journal,

filled with art in the style of José Manuel Merello.

Blog post coming on that, for sure!

Magical Journal Journeys

2014-09-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

Inspired by two very different artists . . .

A double blog post for our Magical Journal Journeys collaboration

because I'm so far behind and trying to catch up.

What have I been doing to cause these circumstances?

I'm blaming it on the veggie garden. I've either been out there picking

tomatoes, peppers and eggplants or I've been in the kitchen

cooking, pickling, freezing, drying, jarring etc. so they don't take over the house.

I'm not complaining. I'm just saying. That's my excuse.

It's great to have a productive garden ~

I'm just saying I have a lot of respect for farmers. Imagine if you had veggies

coming out your ears and still had to take care of the cows, pigs, and chickens.

Enough of that! I'm supposed to be talking about artists.

Matisse

Lisa Wright's chosen artist is Matisse.

He was a master of color and had no fear of it. He even went so far as to say,

“Seek the strongest color possible. The content is of no importance.”

He often used many different amazing patterns in one painting.

FRONT

I used two of the patterns I painted in Jeanne Oliver's

“Studying Under the Masters” class to create a double sided tag

with 2 of Matisse's paintings attached.

It was so much fun copying Matisse's patterns

and I love the way he never bothered to make everything perfect.

They were so much more beautiful for not being

laid out with a ruler and painstakingly painted.

BACK

He did many figures, mostly women, and many of them were nudes.

Again, they were never a perfect representation of the human body

but still had such substance and realism anyway.

That was something it was very difficult for me to imitate. I tend to fiddle too much

trying to make something perfect (which of course is impossible!).

I don't know why Matisse had a longing to be a vermilion goldfish,

but I think there are worse things to be. They are quite beautiful,

and don't have fishermen angling to make them into supper.

Lazing around in a pond all day could be quite the Zen experience. ;-)

Next journal arriving at my door was Katina Wright's whose chosen artist is

Jennifer Judd McGee

I was not familiar with JJM's work and it was a delight to discover her.

Her pieces are very modern and 21st century. But I can still see that there is

something similar to Matisse's work...maybe it's the use of patterns!

I had a bit of a technical (or tactical?) error with Kat's pages.

I did a fold-out panel but did not think to put it on the right side instead of the left.

All of the journals are traveling unbound this time and I didn't think

that I was putting the panel on the side that would be bound (smacking self in forehead).

I'm hoping when the ring binding is in place it won't matter...

I had fun with the multitude of patterns and the zentangle-like pen work!

Jennifer's landscapes and towns are like fantasy places and

I immediately thought of Oz and added the hot-air balloon

and the quote by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.

Kat cleverly added a sign-in page with a square for each artist to fill.

I had done these zentangle-ish illustrations for my main pages

but didn't use them. They fit perfectly on my sign-in square!

There you have July and August!

I have the very last journal on my desk here in September.

It happens to be Priti Lisa's whose artist is

Modigliani

I'm thinking Modigliani won't be TOO hard,

but that's what I thought about the other six artists, and I was wrong.

(Okay, I should have said seven artists.

My own choice, José Manuel Merello,

may have been the most difficult of all.)

So, off to the garden with hopefully some time for art this afternoon!

Since I haven't participated in Paint Party Friday in ages,

I'm linking up there also.

Have a great weekend!

The Man in the Moon and the Moon Rabbit

2014-08-16T07:55:00.000-04:00

Moonlight

I love Niina's theme this week at Inspiration Avenue.

On August 10 we had a super moon, an event where the full moon is

at its closest position to the earth in a given month. This makes it Big! and Bright!

With my less-than-sophisticated camera, I was able to snap a few photos just after dusk.

I'm surprised they turned out at all.

I think the Man in the Moon is tired of all the super moon hoop-la

and he's nowhere to be seen in these photos :-)

Everyone's heard of the Man in the Moon,

but did you know there is a Moon Rabbit?

The Moon Rabbit in folklore is based on markings on the moon

that resemble a rabbit and a mortar. In East Asia, it is seen pounding

in a mortar and pestle, but the contents of the mortar differ

among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklore.

In Chinese folklore, it is often portrayed as a companion of the

Moon goddess Chang'e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her;

but in Japanese and Korean versions, it is pounding the ingredients for rice cake.

You can read more about the Moon Rabbit on Wikipedia.

The Sleeping Village painting above is available in my shop.

The two paintings below have gone to new homes . . .

Have a great week!

Summer is fleeting

2014-07-13T21:10:00.000-04:00

Some pictures from my garden.

Flowers this time.

Veggies later.

Nasturtiums

A calla lily that I thought would not come up this year

after the nasty winter we had.

It has that motto that I like ~

Never ever ever give up.

I planted some Four O’Clocks a little late,

but I hope it means they'll still be blooming in September.

Here's what they will look like if you are not familiar with them:

Photo courtesy of Burpee.

My grandmother always had four o'clocks in her garden.

It's true ~ they bloom at 4:00 in the afternoon (or thereabouts).

Things were simpler then; we kids thought it was exciting and cool

that flowers could tell time :-) Kids today might just think it's a big yawn...

More exciting things happening on their smart phones.

I'm gonna have to pay more attention to framing my photos.

Garden implements photobombing both of these pictures lol.

Lantana

I decided to post these pics now because I just noticed

that even though these were taken only 4 or so days ago,

everything has changed already!

Summer is flying by . . . I guess we are about half through already.

How is your summer going? How does your garden grow?

Studying Duy Huynh

2014-07-08T20:46:00.000-04:00

MJJ Month 4 ~ Another Challenge . . .

Each journal I've received in this year's swap has

had its challenging moments!

Tammy's artist is Duy Huynh, a North Carolina artist whose art

is serene, surreal, ethereal, and dreamlike. Oh. I forgot to mention.

It shines with a perfection that is impossible to imitate!

But our task is to give it a try and I had so much fun

with his whimsical subject matter.

I was so frustrated with my first attempts to imitate Mr. Huynh's style,

until I realized that his backgrounds were brilliantly every bit

as important as the subject in the foreground.

Once I began concentrating on making the backgrounds

bolder, I was a bit happier with my pieces.

I hardly ever paint any subject matter twice,

but the one above is another version of a painting

from a few years ago:

I didn't set out to make the floating girl look the same.

But darned if she isn't the same girl all grown up!

Different cat, though.

~~(This one's available in my Etsy shop)~~
This painting has now been sold! Thank you so very much, Darla!

I think this simple balloon painting might be the one I like best.

One last one:

. . . and a tag:

The reverse side says: "Bee Happy"

It's been fun connecting with the different artists that

were chosen by each of us.

Some, like Duy Huynh, I was not familiar with.

Now, I would know a painting of his anywhere.

And I'm so glad about that!

Next up is Lisa Wright's Matisse journal.

I've already received it and can't wait to start.

Somehow, I'm thinking Matisse will be a bit easier,

but after 4 journals so far, I know not to even think such a thing.

Studying Anahata Katkin

2014-05-22T12:30:00.000-04:00

Kim's Journal

I finished Kim's pages and have sent them on to Priti Lisa.

Kim's artist is Anahata Katkin, whose work I love!

Anahata's paintings feature flowers and sometimes birds and other animals. . .

many beautiful faces. . . and flowing lines and pretty text.

Since I love images like this, it was so much fun trying to work in her style.

Kim included some amazing cut-out hands for us to sign in with.
Here are the front and back of mine.

The back side of my two "Pink" ladies:

(I wish I could follow this advice, but I need to work on the faith aspect.

I tend toward a Murphy's Law philosophy... more like ~
“Leap, and then wonder what the H-E-double-toothpicks were you thinking”!)

The first four artists who work on each journal collaborate
on the front cover. The last four collaborate on the back cover.
I can't believe we are now half done, but I was the fourth one
to work on Kim's front cover. It already had such awesome art
on it and looked to me to be finished! So I added some swirly
designs ala Anahata in spots where I could!

Anahata's designs are much more graceful than mine, but it was
fun and calming to draw these, kind of like doing Zentangles :-)

Birds and Flowers challenge

Have a wonderful and safe weekend!

Happy (3-day) Memorial Day weekend, if you live in the US!

Going to Class!

2014-05-21T06:34:00.002-04:00

Studying Henri Matisse

After starting our journal collaboration where we've all chosen

artists for our individual journals, I've rediscovered how rewarding

it is to learn more about great artists of the past.

Jeanne Oliver's class, "Studying Under the Masters"

came at just the right time!

Henri Matisse "The Lute"

“The whole arrangement of my picture is expressive,” said Matisse.

“The place occupied by the figures or objects, the empty spaces around them,

the proportions, everything plays a part.”

Not sure what to do with these little studies . . .

they're around 4 x 6 inches. Cut up for collage?

Postcards? Journal pages? Save in an "inspiration" folder?

Henri Matisse "Seated Odalisque"

Matisse's patterns are almost overwhelming,

but everything works beautifully together!

Flowing palm-shaped leaves show up often in Matisse's paintings.

Henri Matisse "La Musique"

Henri Matisse "Still Life with Blue Tablecloth"

Since I discovered the paintings that were the inspiration for

these quick watercolor studies, I've come across so many more

of his patterns that I'd love to try painting.

Henri Matisse "Decorative Figure Against an Ornamental Background"

Henri Matisse "Odalisque with Yellow Persian Robe and Anemones"

Awesome!

The blue tablecloth in the painting is based on a textile which is also on display – a nineteenth-century French printed cotton and linen fabric Matisse apparently adored and called (incorrectly) his ‘toile de Jouy’. The actual fabric consists of a delft blue pattern against a white background, but in the painting, the white is transformed into aqua, enriching the overall harmony. These imaginative transformations of subject matter prove that Matisse was not a realist, but rather an inventor of harmonies that have a tangible yet oblique relationship to reality. Matisse uses the pattern the way he uses color, to extend his representation of the subject, whether it is still life, figure or interior. - See more at: http://www.artcritical.com/2005/08/01/matisse-the-fabric-of-dreams-his-art-and-his-textiles/#sthash.uMi3IrLr.dpuf

Magical Journal Journeys / Month 2

2014-05-05T08:03:00.000-04:00

Stephanie's chosen artist for her journal is Marc Chagall.
I had so much fun studying his work. He had some kind of wild mind,
and I couldn't begin to mimic his style!

So I just incorporated some of his imagery, of which there is plenty
that appear over and over in his work.

Brides and grooms. Horses. Birds. Music. Flying. Villages.
His native village of Vitebsk appears in so many of his paintings.

As does his wife Bella. “Her silence is mine, her eyes mine.
It is as if she knows everything about my childhood,
my present, my future, as if she can see right through me.”
(from his book, My Life)

Stephanie's pages are shaped like houses!

I ended up making my pages 2-page spreads so
I sewed them together with red thread.

The cover is a collaboration among the first four artists.
My part is the flying horse with an umbrella.
I have no idea how a horse holds an umbrella.
Maybe duct tape!

Chagall was referred to as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century"
(though Chagall saw his work as 'not the dream of one people but of all humanity').
An early modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles
and created works in virtually every artistic medium, including
painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets,
ceramic, tapestries and fine art prints. (wikipedia)

Marc Chagall died in 1985, at nearly 98 years old.

The challenge is eye glasses

2014-05-04T16:14:00.002-04:00

Spectacles

The challenge at Inspiration Avenue this week is

Eyeglasses

I altered a piece I did a few years ago for a self portrait challenge.

I did have glasses on, but not these cool round ones.

So, after the addition of new eyes, a new nose and new mouth,

it's definitely not me anymore, but it does fit the Glasses challenge :-)

Head over to Inspiration Avenue to check the other entries.

IA Weekly Challenge ~ Eyebrows

2014-04-17T15:48:00.000-04:00

Pale Ladies

Two more small canvases, this time for the

Eyebrows challenge at Inspiration Avenue.

I was hoping the pale faces and dark backgrounds

would emphasize their eyebrows.

I had fun painting these 2 ladies. I had to stop myself

from fiddling with them too much, trying to make them perfect.

The more I tweaked them, the more I saw

their personalities begin to fade away.

A great reason to stop and call them done!

Go check out the Eyebrows!

Tiny Canvases

2014-04-11T09:24:00.001-04:00

When in a slump . . . start small?

For a week, I've been wandering into my art room,

staring at my unfinished pieces,

and not getting a bit of inspiration. nada. nothing.

So I dug out some little 4x4 canvases and just started covering them with paint.

I think that's just what you have to do when your muse has gone on vacation.

I don't think she's happy that I've ~~hauled~~, er, ‘enticed’ her back

from where-ever-she-was (she always takes better vacations than I do),

but I think she's warming up to the idea of being back :-)

I'm having fun with these. I'll have to move on to something larger

since I am running out of mini canvases, but I think I'm ready!

I'm joining Paint Party Friday this week.

Please visit over there to see what fabulous art everyone has been doing!

I've been thinking about an art sales concept

I've heard people discussing called "Pay What You Want".

It does seem a bit crazy because you do not put a price on the piece

and invite buyers to pay what it is worth to them.

(Maybe charge for shipping and materials cost, or not even that)

Really nuts, you say ~ you might as well just give it away, right?

But plenty of people have said it works for them!

They say people are inherently generous.

I think this is probably true, especially of people who collect art.

Has anyone tried this or know of someone who has?

I'd love to know your thoughts on it!

I'm thinking it might work on something like these.

I'm no good at pricing anyway, and these are so small...

Easter is coming!

This crazy chick already has a little bunny tail.

I think he needs some fake bunny ears to go with.

Don't forget to visit PPF!

Have a great weekend!

Channeling Georgia O’Keeffe

2014-04-03T09:45:00.000-04:00

The first month of our art journal swap!

Going in our usual order, I have Gemma's book first.

We've each selected artists for our books and Gemma's artist is Georgia O'Keeffe.

Panic!! I was (am!) very intimidated by Georgia O'Keeffe. Her style is so precise.

And perfect. Perfectly precise and gorgeous.
The exact opposite of my style, whatever that is :-)

The O'Keeffe paintings I'm most familiar with are all

landscapes, flowers, or abstracts.

So I did one of each in Gemma's book...

There is a place in New Mexico called Shiprock.

I don't know that Georgia O'Keeffe ever painted Shiprock (maybe too touristy for her),

at least I gather it's a bit of a tourist attraction...I've never been there.

Sadly I've only driven through New Mexico, and never got to stop.

The foreground drove me nuts, and I wondered how in the world I would be able
to fill the rest of the page before March was out! That's when I got the brilliant idea
to create the rock out of tissue paper and paint. The process sped up considerably!

And I found in my stash some incredible green paper with gold fibers in it.

LOVE the way it tore to look like dry desert plants!
I received something wrapped in it and saved it for the perfect use.
I think it may have been Kat who sent it?

Georgia's quote, which proves how different she must have been to me:

“You know I never feel at home in the east like I do out here ~
and finally feeling in the right place again ~ I feel like myself and I like it.”

The desert has never welcomed me...I feel uneasy in the desert
and miss the lush greens of the east.

But once I started putting these pages together,
I could see that there is much beauty in the desert. I know Gemma loves it,
and posts the most awesomely beautiful photos of the landscape!

So on to the next page...
I have posted this before when it was a WIP.
Hasn't changed too much except for the quote
and a bit more done on the green parts.

And last...but should have been first lol ...
my portion of the front cover of Gemma's book.

We have 8 artists total, and the first 4 will collaborate on the front cover
and the last 4 will work on the back cover. My portion of the front
is in the lower right corner. I rather copied one of Georgia's abstracts.
I originally thought to use the design and maybe change the colors.

Then I realized that the colors she chose
and the placement of them were perfection.
What a genius she was!
Changing colors would have thrown the whole thing off in my eyes.
So I used her colors for the most part.

Georgia O'Keeffe's painting.

Mine is flat and hers has so much more depth
and shading. Maybe someone will add a bit more
to make mine look better...?

So, I'm looking forward to receiving the next journal,
which is Stephanie's. Her artist is Chagall.
More challenges! I feel more comfortable with Chagall.
But I may be surprised just like I was with O'Keeffe...

Weekly Art Challenge

2014-03-20T13:16:00.001-04:00

The challenge at Inspiration Avenue this week

is brought to us by Kim. It's a fun one called

Inner Child Art

I made a quick slideshow of the progression of

my childlike artwork

(This was only my second video, and while I was making it,

I think I said a few words my inner child had not heard of :-)

But no matter, here is the finished product.

I'm calling her "Teacher".

I always loved a teacher who made learning fun.

Stop over at Inspiration Avenue to see

the other Inner Child creations!

Mixed Media?

2014-03-17T13:34:00.000-04:00

A layered background ready for some finishing touches . . .

This has caught the corner of my eye every time I've walked past it

in the basement for years. I always think ~ hmmmmm, so grungy . . .

but I kind of like it!

Maybe it's the touches of pink and blue reminding me of a sunset . . .

Today I hauled it out and snapped a picture.

Can you tell what it is?

Right!

an old skateboard.

Probably took Jesse only 2-3 months to reach this level of destruction.

He used to skate every day.

Finally the board snapped and that was that.

I always wondered why skateboards had such elaborate graphics

on the bottom when the very first thing that happened to them was obliteration.

Not sure why it was hanging around the basement, but

there's lots of stuff like that down there.

Even some more defunct skateboards, which I will check out.

Have you ever walked by something totally unrelated to art

and immediately had creative thoughts about it?

I've been doing that a lot lately . . .

Happy Monday, and Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Hope you have a good week!

Show and Tell at Inspiration Avenue

2014-02-09T22:49:00.000-05:00

A couple of pages for Journal52.

I'm a bit behind, on just 2 weekly prompts:

Week 5, Abstract Art

and Week 6, The Art of Love Letters

Both will be fun...I'll do them early this week.

Would you know he's the baddest cat in the world?

He looks so innocent here.

He does stuff like this.

And fights with his sister. I don't have a picture of that.

Visit Inspiration Avenue for Show and Tell Week!

Join in with something you are working on,

you have til Sunday February 16.

Where in the World. . .?

2014-01-19T08:44:00.000-05:00

This week at Inspiration Avenue, the prompt was the inspiration of Niina:

Around the World

There are so many places I'd like to visit that I was stumped for an idea.

Luckily, Niina told us she was playing a game on her blog where she

would give us three words, and the challenge was to create something

using those words. I couldn't resist!

Here are my 3 words, supplied by Niina:

Egypt • Bird • Stripes

Okay! I especially had to do some research on Egypt,

a place I sadly don't know much about.

I didn't get much farther than Edward Poynter's paintings.

Poynter painted scenes of Egypt and places nearby.

His classical paintings are breathtaking. But I was struck by

this etching of two slave girls carrying water.

I wondered what they are thinking, especially the

girl on the right.

Here is my painting based on the inspiration of the etching:

I don't know what these girls are thinking either.

The one on the right may be wondering if her friend

knows there is an ibis on her head.

I wouldn't mind giving this another go,

since I'm not entirely happy with it.

Last day for "Around the World" though...so it is what it is!

Hop over to Inspiration Avenue to see the

other interpretations of Around the World.

Another prompt this week

had to do with places also so I'll include it here.

At Journal52, the theme was

Somewhere, a Simple Place

Any place with warm sunshine filtering through the trees is my Happy Place!

I hope you are enjoying your happy place today,

whether in reality, or in your imagination...

Happy Sunday!

2014-01-10T21:58:00.000-05:00

Magical Journal Journeys

2013

The Magical Journals have come full circle and returned home!

I'm happy to say we are gearing up to start our third journal collaboration.

But for now, here are the fabulous pages in my

yellow, orange, and gray journal.

Thanks to all my sisters for working in my colors even though

they may not have been your first choice.

As you will see, the orange, yellow and gray pages

are fabulous all together. And I love the way the warm colors along

with the gray create a pushing-and-pulling effect.

Many pages have equated the colors with opposites like

sunshine and rain, joy and pain.

But the overall feeling of the pages is pure happiness I think!

I didn't include my own pages in the slideshow.

I'd like to say it's because I've shown them already

in another post (I have) but actually, I forgot!

This is my first-ever video, and to say I was tense and had

tunnel vision all day would be, well, pretty accurate.

I didn't photograph my own pages because I already had them done

and then I just forgot to include them. And, I tried,

but I couldn't get Cat Stevens to make his song longer either. lol.

Here are the artists in order of appearance

(sort of in the order the books traveled

but the middle is mixed up):

Priti Lisa of Priti Studio

Angie of Art Angel

Lisa (the Wright One) of The Wright Stuff

Tammy of Art and Inspirations

Kim of IMGirl

Kat of Wright Story

Stephanie of Dragonfly Design Studios

Gemma of Gemma's House

Click the links to visit each artist where you'll see all of the pages

that were created from March to October.

This and That

2014-01-07T11:54:00.005-05:00

Altered Ancestors at Inspiration Avenue

Credit for the original photo

Family photos ~ what a lot they can tell us.

We were a happy family for many years.

But CATherine was never the same after Father took in that owlish boy.

I knew he was trouble from the beginning.

One day, they both disappeared and not only that,
we never saw our beautiful pea green boat again.

Mother's heart was broken, since she and Cat were inseparable.

Tommy went off to look for them and we don't know how he fared ~
he hasn't returned.

That left Sadie and me after Father, blaming himself,
went off to the Sanitarium for his “fragile health”.

Sadie and I spend our days knitting and doing crewelwork
and talking about happier days.
We can't bear to leave the house in case there is some news
about our missing sister and the owl-boy.

If you have any news to impart, would you please let us know?

They talked about becoming famous someday, so who knows?

Perhaps someone has heard of them . . .

Altered Ancestors at Inspiration Avenue this week!
Hop over there and check them out!

. . . In other news . . .
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Feels like . . . - 29° ???

I don't even know what that feels like, and don't want to find out.

Last night ice started to form on the INSIDE of the windows.

and by morning the sidelight windows looked like this:

Yes, the ice is inside the house.

Ninety years ago, when our house was built,

I guess they hadn't heard of double-paned glass.

I can't even imagine the expense and trouble

it would be to replace these windows.

Besides, I like the old wavy glass (when it's visible :-).

I took some cool icy photos to use as digital backgrounds.

All without leaving the [relative] warmth of my house!

If anyone would like to use these, let me know and

I'll send you the hi-resolution versions.

It's a perfect day to stay inside and make art.

I joined a facebook art journaling workshop

Journal52

The workshop just started this week...

I'm hoping I'll be inspired weekly to do more art.

Check it out, it's FREE and is filled with enthusiasm!

The first prompt is Up, Up, and Away.

Began my background yesterday which was meant to be SKY

and now looks like an UNDERWATER scene, oh well.

I hope wherever you are, you are keeping warm!

Happy New Year!

2013-12-30T13:46:00.001-05:00

JOY

For Inspiration Avenue's challenge ~

“In the Garden”

Sharing a joyful piece of art created this year . . .

I always find joy in the garden (can't wait for spring :-)

as well as when my kitties are around.

At the rate I've been going, this will be my last post

in 2013. I hope everyone has a safe and beautiful end to the year.

Wishing you health and happiness in the Year of the Horse!

Giveaway Winner !

2013-12-08T12:02:00.000-05:00

Congratulations to Jackie

who won my Facebook drawing for one of my "Houses" paintings!

Jackie selected this painting:

The other paintings are now in my shop :-)

It's snowing crazily today . . .

I'm trying to get up the motivation to do the rest of

my outside Christmas decorating.

Brrrrr.

Last week was beautifully warm and now this!

I think I'll stay inside and decorate the tree . . .

Or a painting of snowy houses sounds like another plan . . .

I hope you're having a warm and cozy weekend!

Happy Cyber Monday!

2013-12-02T12:07:00.002-05:00

One-Day Cyber Monday Sales

in Both of my Shops

Heart of the Magpie

Buy one item and get a second item half off!

MagpieMine

50% Off Anything and Everything!

Good until midnight (EST), today, December 2, 2013.

Giveaway!

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Two days left to enter the giveaway!

I will draw a name on Monday, December 2!

I finished the 4th painting in my "Houses" Giveaway,

so as promised I will soon be drawing the winner's name!

Cyber Monday (December 2) seemed like a good day to do it,

so if you haven't entered, you have until then to:

"Like" my Facebook page

and leave a comment there saying you want to enter the drawing.

(You can leave a comment here too...I love your comments!)

Below are paintings 1, 2, and 3:

[ They are mixed media paintings

with acrylic paint, ink, colored pencil, graphite,

and lots of collage material, like papers and book pages.

Sorry, I may not have remembered everything. ]

All are around 7.5 x 10 inches.

If you'd like to win one painting of your choice,

head over to my Facebook page,

https://www.facebook.com/MaggieNemetzArt

I'm also linking this to Inspiration Avenue's challenge this week,

which is Show and Tell, always a fun theme!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend,

a long one for many of us in the US :-)

Little Red Riding Hood

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Myths and Fairy Tales

Niina at Inspiration Avenue has challenged us with the theme of

Myths

She's also included Fairy Tales, which sometimes have their start in myths.

Why are fairy tales so scary sometimes?

Don't children have enough fears on their own?

I guess the aim was to frighten children to

stay out of dangerous situations, like venturing into the forest alone.

I chose Little Red Riding Hood,

whose Grandma must have lived clear on the other side of the forest.

In my painting, she has just realized that someone or something

is following her! Wasn't that a twig snapping and the rustling

of some dry leaves? Yes, footsteps!

The big bad wolf figures in a lot of other fairy tales,

like Peter and the Wolf, The Boy Who Cried Wolf,

The Three Little Pigs (I remember being frightened by

a picture of the wolf peering in the back door of one of the pigs' houses).

And don't forget werewolves!

In the days when fairy tales began, I think there must have been

many more forest areas and more wolves,

so being set upon by wolves was probably an actual danger to children.

Do you think we need some updated fairy tales that warn children to stay safe

from internet predators, drug dealers and creeps hanging around the playground?

I don't know . . . the modern take on child rearing

doesn't usually hold with scaring kids to death!

And, honestly, most children are rarely left on their own anymore.

No walking through the woods alone to visit Grandma!

Visit Inspiration Avenue to see the Myths and Fairy Tales entries.

I've also entered this painting in Gritty Jane's 40 Portrait Challenge.

Heh, my first one, only 39 to go!

Stop over there to see some amazing faces.

Join in the challenge too, it's only been running for a few days,

there's plenty of time :-)

There's also still time to enter my
Giveaway

Just go to my new Facebook Art page,
"Like" the page,
and leave a teeny comment on the giveaway post
to say you wish to enter . . . and done!

Above is the third painting in the Houses series.
I still have at least one more to do. When I have at least four
completed I will draw a name and the winner can choose
one painting from the series. Go here to see the first 2 paintings.

I hope you are still enjoying some autumn-like weather
where you are (or ~ lucky you if it's Springtime)
Enjoy the upcoming weekend!

Pssst . . . a giveaway!

2013-11-15T08:13:00.000-05:00

A Series of Whimsical Houses

And a Giveaway

Or at least it will be . . .

How many items make a series? More than 2, I know!

I'm having fun creating landscapes with unusual buildings and other elements.

I'm trying to do one a day . . . so far so good.

These are painted on heavy paper and are around 8 x 10 inches.

So . . . my idea is to have a giveaway, so stay tuned!

When I finish 4 (or more) of these paintings

I'll give away one of them (winner's choice).

The reason for the giveaway is to let you know I've finally

started a Facebook business page for my art.

Yes, I've mostly avoided Facebook, just not really getting it,

but have recently been convinced it may be a "good thing" after all.

I'm actually starting to warm to it a bit . . .

All you have to do is visit my page,

“like” it,

and comment on the Giveaway post,

saying that you would like to enter.

Go HERE to enter.

The winner will be drawn randomly using

either the random number generator

or, knowing me, a hat :-)

I've started painting more randomly again after finishing

the Magical Journal Journeys journal swap

so I'm sharing this at Paint Party Friday :-)

Have a beautiful weekend!