Winter Cardinal

Just added my "Winter Cardinal" to my Etsy shop. This was a fun painting with a little textural interest in the background and bright colors.

Great day for Beach Glass hunting and Photography....

Went to Lake Michigan today and spent quite a bit of time hunting for beach glass. We did quite well! Lots of colored pieces, some pretty tile, milkglass, a couple pieces of jadite and some neat fossils.

Took some "countryside movement" pics on the way home too. Beautiful day for November!

Hanging out by the stream....

Spent a good part of the day hanging out with the family by a local stream. Very, very peaceful there and it was nice to sit in the sunshine and just 'BE' for awhile. Took a couple of pics while I was there (of course...couldn't resist) and also plopped myself down on the bridge with a handful or two of young, flexible willow branches from a nearby fallen tree. As it turns out....I created a pretty neat little 'nest' or basket out of the branches on my 2nd attempt. Who knows if it will actually hold up or if it'll just crack and fall apart when it dries but it was a wonderful, relaxing project. I might just put it on a windowsill or set it in a planter with some houseplants. A large basket or a woven place-mat /centerpiece might be fun to make too.

Check out this great article on making handmade bows!

I just have to share this link. What a wonderful way to recycle and create custom bows!
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/10/make-gift-bow-from-magazine-page.html

New Artwork! It's for the birds!

Ok...last blog post I shared the 'seashell' painting. Well I just went and painted over it. Yep, it's gone. I think I've found a painting 'niche' that I'm comfortable with and it all for the birds! I've completed 4 paintings within the past week which is a record for me because usually it takes me months to finish ONE painting. Maybe I've found my calling???

Cardinal and Seashells - 2 new paintings

Been working on the seashell painting for about 2 months. Something not quite right yet but not giving up. There is something about the foreground/background that's tripping me up...along with trying to make sand actually look like sand. So, that one isn't finished yet.














The cardinal painting just kind of came together in about 2 days and it's finished. The bottom layer is textured (a start to another type of painting that I was going to try and finish) and I think the textured look suits this painting pretty well.

What a haul on Lake Michigan!

For about 2 yrs I've been an avid beachcomber here in Lake Geneva. Thought I was doing pretty well with finding nice pieces but....

NOTHING prepared me for the glass I was to find at a new location on Lk Michigan. (big thanks to Mark from my Sea Glass group for the tip)

The pieces we found were so rounded and frosted....I was honestly amazed at the quality of this glass! Almost too pretty to do anything with except look at them!

Also found some of these. Not sure what they are yet...but they appear to be some sort of fossils?