Friday, May 16, 2014

Steeped in Spring

  Finally Spring is truly here with warm days AND nights. My Mom and I went to our favorite place to pick up our annuals which are grown in Amish country not far from us. I got everything planted and not an hour afterwards our first female hummingbird was not just sipping the nectar I put out but also checking out my newly hanging baskets-what a joy to see!! Now if only she'd let me get a pic of her :)

 Since May now is half over I thought it time to share my calendar spread for the month. Again, this was inspired by a prompt from my online class with Joanne Sharpe-DYAY. (See sidebar link). I need to link this to Kathryn Crane's calendar challenge-of which I am in it for my third year now).

  This is the spread once I figured out the layout and went over it all with a Pitt pen:



 And this is May painted in with Peerless water colors:


  Freshly Made Sketches has a new sketch challenge for this week:

 I combined this challenge with the Simon Wed. blog challenge - "die crazy" to come up with this card:

  Products; yellow, white card stock (Bazill); patterned card stock (Stampington and Co.); clear stamp (Mega Mixed Messages set - Papertrey Ink); Versafine Onyx Black ink (Tsukineko); washi tapes (Recollections); brad, tissue paper, green felt (JoAnnes); Grand Calibur die cut machine and  dies- Big Scalloped Circles Lg., Floral Doily  Motifs, Standard Circles Lg. (Spellbinders).

 And  lastly , a mixed media piece I did in my watercolor journal which I am linking to Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Mix It Monthly (theme is "coffee"), Paint Party Friday, and the Simon Monday Challenge "M" ( my entry is mixed media).

                         It started with this page of mopped off stencils from another project.

 I then added a mix of Micaceous Iron Oxide and matte medium (Golden). Once dry I added layers of acrylic paints and reinker glazes. After many more layers of  paints, pencil, glazes and pastels this is how I finished it:



                                                           Steeped in Strength  (5" x 8")

  Besides being inspired by the coffee theme it also came about thru an exercise on scraping and incising in Serena Barton's book Wabi Sabi Art Workshop. LOVE this book which has taught me so much and continues to move me "outside" my box yet "into" the heart and spirit I wish to convey in my work!

 Thank you for your visits and comments. I so appreciate it.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend whatever you'll be doing (which I hope includes some art time:) !

      " Whether you've found your calling, or if you're still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your  life's work."                    Michael Dell



35 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing such a fine variety of creativity dear Linda ♥
    I adore your May calendar pages...they really sing of the season
    and how sweet to have your first hummer visit.
    The parade of flowers is such a delight...
    Enjoy ♥ Enjoy
    Happy Weekend to you and yours
    oxo

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  2. I just love your calendar spread - it is so vibrant and happy, and the shapes of the flowers are terrific. Beautiful card and coffee too! Thanks Linda for your kind words on my blog about the auction for #bringbackourgirls. I really appreciate it.

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  3. Lots of beautiful art, but the calendar spread is my fave, so full of sunshine and energy. Valerie

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  4. Hi, Linda, wow, your calendar spread is fantastic! Love the beautiful colors and your drawing is wonderful. :)

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  5. Beautiful work Linda, especially your fab calendar spread. Happy PPF, Annette x

    http://nettysartadventures.blogspot.co.uk/

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  6. Oh I really love your May calendar pages Linda, fantastic work, so happy and bright!

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  7. It looks like May is going to be full of flowers. What a bright and colourful spread for your calendar pages, every day is bound to be happy with gorgeous sunny colours like that. I'm also full of admiration for your Steeped in Strength page, such a great way to use a dark background.

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  8. I love your calendar spread Linda, very nice work. Love it all. Happy PPF!

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  9. I loved your drawing for May, then saw the painted version which is fabulous. Love the interlocking patterns and the vibrant colours.
    The card is a very pretty interpretation of the sketch.
    Your mixed media piece is dark and mysterious with the layers of colour, I do like it.

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  10. Beautiful spring compositions, beautiful colors in those flowers!

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  11. Love these especially the calender for May,what a great idea!

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  12. Feels so good to get the annuals in... My daughter is doing it this year and it's lovely to see her creative side involved. Love your calendar pages lately that are so gorgeous!! Impressive!! Great shapes and colors...all so interesting...great works!! Thanks for sharing!

    Hugs Giggles

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  13. You've really captured the joy of spring in your art. Love the shapes and happy colours for your May calendar.

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  14. Wow Linda these are fantastic!!! As I scrolled down each piece was a delightful surprise. Glad you got some warm sun.
    Nicole/Beadwright

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  15. The May calendar spread looks so sweet! Wonderful!

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  16. Beautiful! I love these bold and very fabulous colours! thanks for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches this week!

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  17. Hi friend! OH how I love that calendar page! The flowers are just brilliant - so whimsical and colorful and bright ;) And I really like the Steeped in Strength piece as well. xo

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  18. love all of your art today! the watercolors are stunning! happy weekend

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  19. hi Linda! your work is gorgeous, I adore the water coloring...fantastic! So glad you played along with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

    sparkle & shine *~*

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  20. Love your May calendar page Linda. The colors are so bright and cheerful, so apt for the season. The flower you made for the card is so pretty.
    Happy weekend
    Susan

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  21. Wonderful variety of work, my fave is the colourful calendar page.

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  22. Beautiful work! I love the colors and the different styles you've shown. Thanks for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches!

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  23. I love to see your creative calendar pages every month. The card is cool as are your creative projects. Blessings!

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  24. Oh, I'm in love with your calendar spreads. They are always so original and colourful, and a wonderful reflection of the month. LOVE the bright colours in this one, you make me want to try out peerless watercolours :-) That last piece has a wonderful glow to it ...

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  25. Wonderful pieces. I particularly love your May calendar. Those flowers are simply stunning.

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  26. Hi Linda!!!! Love your work this week !!! The calender pages are great and the mixed media is amazing!!! Thanks for sharing♥

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  27. Linda all of your work is beautiful but I was captivated by your calendar page. The bright happy colors are so much of what I love about May. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  28. Lovely work this week Linda and wonderfully varied to. You seem to be able to turn your hand to anything with such fabulous results.

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  29. Linda, this is dreamy and enchanting!

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  30. Beautiful collection of projects! Love the bold and bright color scheme! Thanks for joining along with the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

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  31. Lovely work, all of them, especially loved the bright flowers!

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  32. really love that calender page, it looks so bright and a lot of fun....

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  33. When I scrolled down to your May page and saw the colour, I said,"Wow!" out loud! Brilliant!

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  34. So much wonderful pieces to look at! I love your colorful and happy calendarpages and of course the amazing cup...it looks so interesting with its texture and multilayers...love your limited colorpalette, it gives the piece sort of a "old-master"-touch! I am happy you drink coffee with us on Mix It Monthly ♥ Conny

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Thank you so much for your comments; it's a pleasure to connect with you!