Fun Class!

Last Friday night, I was supposed to go to Lynne and Kelli's Friday Night Painting Party.  I really wanted to go, since they were painting abstract!  Well, of course, this being summer in Central Florida, about the time I was to drive about 45 minutes on the highway to get there, it started pouring rain and about a zillion lightning/thunder strikes!!  I even lost my internet connection for the rest of the evening. 

Long story short:  I was supposed to go, but couldn't.  So, Carlynne let me come to her regular painting group today and do the lesson!  So excited!!  It was fun, being in a room with other people, all doing their own thing - there was colored pencil, acrylic painting, watercolor painting, and oil painting going on all at once.  This group was how I got my very first start in learning all about painting, and it felt so good to be there!  Hope I can manage to get there again.

Anger Management

This morning I got caught up watching a YouTube video by Peter Dranitsin.  I hope you watch it, if you are interested in Abstract Art.  So, then I decided to try some of his techniques on a canvas that I had really textured with molding paste, but didn't like where it was going paint wise.

I call it "Anger Management" because I got so frustrated with it, I was ready to kick it to the curb, but finally just pronounced it DONE!  Who knows - I just might paint over it again!

PS:  Maybe I like it better this way!

Tissue Paper Painting

During my last collage class, I showed some of the tissue papers that I painted - we even used some of them!  I promised the ladies that I would make a tutorial on how to make these beauties, and I've finally done just that!

So, if anyone out in blogland would like a free copy of this tutorial, just send me an email at nbeaton (at) bellsouth.net, and I'll send it right out to you.  It's a great way to have pretty papers to play with!

Collage Class at She Scrapbooks

 

Today was another Creative Collage Class!  This time it was at She Scrapbooks in The Villages, FL.

And, once again, the students were amazing!  I never get over how creative people are, once you give them the opportunity to show you!  I hope if you click on the photos, you can get a better look at their wonderful collages!

 

 

 

In this photo: Back left to right -  Denise, Ann, Barbara

Front left to right - Melanie, Suzanne, Cathie

 

Terrific job, ladies!

Sisters

I decided to make a little collage in preparation of my upcoming "Creative Collage" class in the Villages on Friday.

I took pictures along the way, and will make a little lesson plan, showing my process and what I was thinking as I did the piece.  That way, I won't have to do a collage while I'm teaching --  those usually don't turn out very well!

The Summer of the Birds!

 

This has been a very strange Summer!  It seems we have been infiltrated with birds!  Several weeks ago, I started hearing little bird noises coming from the fireplace.  Now, they are great big bird noises!  Every time Mom and Dad come into the chimney to feed their little ones, they scream pretty loudly!  Looked them up on the Internet, and they said that when they're at their loudest, they are about 1 week from flying away - hope that's true!  And, no, this isn't a picture of MY birds, just an example of how they live in the chimney.

 

Then, about a couple of weeks ago, I realized that a little bird (now I think it's a wren of some kind) kept flying in and out of my garage.  We keep the garage door up so we can get some light in the kitchen.  So,  one day, I saw her fly out of a pot I store on a shelf above my washing machine.  Low and behold, baby birdies appeared!  Now, we can't put the door down during the day - poor babies might not get their food!

 

 

 And, to top it off, my neighbors asked me to keep an eye on their Tropical Birds that they keep in their back sunroom.  They had to go out of town for three weeks!  At least, these guys are in cages - but that pretty yellow one has a mighty loud screech!  The neighbors come back tomorrow, so then I'll just have to put up with my "houseguests"!

Collage Class

What a great day I had in Mount Dora today!  Here's Lynn - our Hostess and Owner of "Under The Cherry Blossoms".  We were setting up in her brand new classroom!

 

 The ladies in this class were just awesome!  Full of fun and ideas - they all did such great work!  Here's a look at their finished canvases!

 

Clockwise from the left:  Rosie, Nicki, Amber, Toni and Mary

 

 

From the left: Kristin, Leah and Rebecca

 

Thanks for such a fun day, ladies!!

Collage Class Tomorrow!

I'm packing up and getting ready to teach "Creative Collage" class at "Under The Cherry Blossoms" in Mount Dora tomorrow!  It's always such a challenge to figure out just what to take!  There are so many fun things to use in collage - I wish I could take my whole studio!

I'll be doing it again at "She Scrapbooks" in The Villages on Friday, August 16th.  Give them a call at 352-259-6226 if you're interested in signing up!

An Updated Bathroom

I'm so fortunate to have a son who knows his way around power tools!  I invited him down to Florida for a long weekend to help me update my little bathroom.  He arrived on Thursday, and between then and today, he demolished the old one, and fixed me up with a new one!  He even had time to kayak on the river this morning!

 

There used to be an ugly vanity and sink from the '80s here, plus a huge wall mirror and a funky medicine cabinet - gone!  There was a towel rack with huge, tile ends - gone!

 On Sunday, we drove to Orlando, and went shopping for shelving at Ikea and The Container Store!  Score!

So, he drywalled holes in the walls, painted and replaced the vanity and sink - and just made it all look so pretty!  I think when he retires, he could make a lot of bucks as a handyman!  Thank you, Eric!

Surprise!

I have two 20" square canvases that I intended to make coordinating abstract paintings to go in my new upgraded bathroom later this month!  So, I put lots of modeling past texture on them, painting an underpainting, then covered that up mostly with creamy white/titan buff paint.  Then, I started using a makeup sponge to add some green paint on the texture, and look what happened!  It turned into a landscape!  NOT what I had in mind!  I'm still going to play with it and see what I can do - there's still a long way to go to finish.

But, I really shouldn't be surprised.  When I painted a lot of watercolor paintings, most of them were landscapes.  I seem to gravitate to them. But, the second canvas just doesn't have the same "feel" - so maybe it will actually be an abstract.

Here is a closeup of some of all that yummy texture!  Love it!