Creative Inspirations

 

 Happy new week all! Hope everyone had a great week and weekend. Our weather although a bit warm and humid again has been delightful with some nice breezes and cooling in the early morning and nights. I'm only saddened that the sun is setting so much earlier, the leaves are falling, and autumn is now at our doorstep...but thoughts of the beach are never far from me and I will be getting in more time by the ocean real soon again😁

 In the meantime I have begun my lessons from the Ocean Alchemy online art course with Alisa Burke! Last week I shared my color swatch page and here are the prepped pages for the first two lessons I did (I am not doing the lessons in order- just going by what subject inspires me at the time I want to watch and create):

 

Watercolor washes. I have decided to use washi tape to make borders on my pages for a nice presentation.

 The first lesson was driftwood inspiration. Alisa gives several examples in the video and for each lesson offers photos. The idea is to capture the essence of the subject but in a loose and even abstract way and that's what I love about this class. Here is my driftwood inspired page:

 I used various sized permanent black markers over the color wash.

  The next lesson I chose to do was Sand Inspired. This is one of the photos of hers I used for my inspiration page:

and here is my page:

 Before I get to more art I'll take a break to join Bleubeard and Elizabeth and the gang for T Stands For Tuesday. 

 This is from our beach week in Fenwick Island, DE with friends:

 The large back deck overlooks the ocean and we were so happy that many of those days the mosquitos and black flies stayed away just long enough for us to enjoy our dinners!

 Yes, hubby is smiling but you know under his breath he's saying "hurry up I'm hungry"!😂 It was one of the other couples' turns as chefs du jour and they made this incredibly delicious meal with Creamy Lemon Parmesan Shrimp over angel hair pasta as the main course. Of course hubby made very sure I got the recipe so I can make it at home😉

 And another ticket for T Stands For Tuesday:

After we got back from the beach we celebrated our daughter in love's 30th birthday. Her meal request was a steak and rice stir fry which we had along with fresh cheese bread and a salad. And of course, the dessert request was a deep, dark chocolate cake:

 Our son took her to the beach for a few days earlier (yes, she loves the beach as much as I do!) and then surprised her once they were back home with an intimate birthday dinner out with close friends. You did good son💓

 More pages from the Dina Wakley Kraft Journal:

 This is the right side of the spread- I shared the left side last post. I decided to make it similar and then added a sentiment across the two pages to join them:

 Both botanicals were loosely drawn using the stem of Night Gloss Spray then colored in with Scribble Sticks. They were done on lightly gessoed book pages and as the theme at Try It On Tuesday is to use book pages I will link one more time with the right page.

 This page came together quickly as the tag was a leftover from mopped up excess paint. I added the stamped leaf, stamped quote, and a scrap of Collage Collective paper along with some paint spatters.

 Here is the whole spread (again I had shared the other page in an earlier post):

 I think for all the work I've done so far in this journal I've been coordinating both pages to make a spread.

 And for the vintage theme at Art Journal Journey I have a page I did in a handmade junk journal:

 

Also happy to join in at Paint Party Friday! Always fun seeing what everyone's up to in blogland. Happy week to you!

"Fostering creativity within yourself and others revitalizes the ability to feel, express, and act constructively – crucial competencies for our world."
       Natalie Rogers 

This and That

 

 

 First of all I want to thank you all for the thoughtful and kind comments regarding my last post about a blog and Instagram friend who passed away. You warmed my heart.

 Let's begin now first with the reason for my absence the other week or so:

 After two years we finally were able to gather with our friends (as we have done for many years now) at one of the couple's beach house!! It was a beautiful week weather-wise thankfully due to the ocean breezes and beach umbrellas because there was a heat wave up and down the East coast with 3 digit heat indexes! 

There were beautiful skies over the bay side at sunset each evening:

 

 and it was a special joy for hubby and I to get our doggy fix with another couple's sweet dog Lucy💓. It was to our benefit that they were unable to secure their usual dog sitter and they were invited to bring her along. She was SO good! I'll share more pics from our vacation in the next weeks.

 And for T Stands For Tuesday I will share the main part of our first dinner all together:

 Of course we had to begin our stay with fresh lobsters! We also had corn on the cob, and what else could we drink but champagne😉Cheers! 

And BTW, the lobsters only went up in price by $1.50 per pound after two years 😁

 And now for the art part. First up I will share this journal page with Try It On Tuesday (theme is "use book pages"):

 I applied a thin coat of gesso to the book paper before drawing the botanical using the stem from Night Gloss Spray. Dina Wakley products  used: stencil, Collage Collective papers, Scribble Sticks. Sentiment is a Tim Holtz Clippings Sticker.

 

 I have another page in the kraft journal and this one is meant for Art Journal Journey with the theme of "vintage" with guest host Wendy this month:

  The left page:

 and the journal spread:

 

 

So excited to share this wonderful giveaway offer I recently won from an artist who links up at Paint Party Friday:

 Such a generous giveaway!! I received a handmade watercolour journal (and let me say that I have never seen such a meticulous and perfectly well made journal such as this one that Soma herself makes🌟). I also received a tin with 6 Van Gogh watercolour pans and a water brush perfect for taking anywhere you go! I made a swatch of the colors for the tin and then just played a bit mixing on a scrap watercolour paper. Please do have a look at Soma's Blog where besides sharing her amazing watercolour art, she also shares her gorgeous photography skills, and has links to her other social media sites and shop. Thank you SO much Soma!!! 

 This couldn't have been a more perfect win since I am playing with my watercolours again for an online course I have finally begun called Ocean Alchemy with Alisa Burke. There are 30 lessons with sub lessons as well and all with an ocean theme! How perfect is that for me- and it only cost me $15 on sale!! She uses both watercolours and acrylics but I'm starting with watercolurs. The lesson begins with swatching colors you want to use inspired by ocean themed photos and here is my page:

 I chose paints and mixes from both my Daniel Smith colors and the new Van Gogh ones from Soma. I'm using a spiral bound 5" x 8" Strathmore watercolour journal for my lessons. Can't wait to get more lessons completed; it is such a fun course! 

 Joining Paint Party Friday as well with my post. A great group of artists sharing a vast variety of styles of art! All are welcome!

 Happy September, and happy new week everyone. 🤗

        " Respond to every call that excites your spirit."         Rumi