Is She Good??....Or Is She Bad??

Well, seeing as I haven't posted in like.......forever, I thought I would show you my latest watercolour fairy. I hope you like her.

My son was the one who said she could be good or bad...hence the title. I'll put her up in my etsy shop this weekend............I think girls of all ages would enjoy having her in their room.

Okay, onto the next project.

Why did we ever buy it!!?

I remember life before the xbox. It was a quiet, peaceful time...well quietER - I do have 2 boys 3 years apart and peaceful might be stretching it a bit...maybe.

I hate the thing.....oooh that felt good! I've twittered about destroying it...tying it to the back of my car and taking a couple of spins around the block. Watching it in the rear view mirror as it bounces off the curb, bits flying everywhere......a girl can dream.

At the very least, I think a hammer (such as the lovely one shown here - it has a nice balance and weight to it) should be included in the accessories for the xbox. I mean it's gonna happen eventually - why make me go look for the one buried in the garage somewhere. I could prop it up right beside the damn thing as incentive. Maybe put a plaque underneath that says "in case of excessive fighting, grab and start pounding the ever loving crap out of box - pound until there is nothing left and then pound some more"

What I probably need to do is start an Internet support group for mothers who live with xboxmania - we could get it diagnosed as a real disorder and get some serious medication to help us through the days. You know, the kids come and tell you they want to play xbox - you say, "okay honey" and wolf down half a bottle of Valium.

This could be my life's work - a way of giving back to the human race...mothers and fathers everywhere could benefit. I'll keep you posted on the future website to be developed...www.mothersagainstxboxunite.com.

Keep your hammers at the ready ladies!!!

Work In Progress Part V

I meant to finish this series off yesterday but life and work got in the way. Oh well, what's a girl to do??

So here is the finished piece and I'm quite happy the way it turned out. I think she would look great in a little girl's room. We'll see if anyone else thinks so as she is up for sale in my etsy shop as we speak.

So back to painting and I'll see how the next one turns out........

Work In Progress Part IV

I'm going to make these last two updates both today and mooove on. Really this pic just shows more work on the fairy wings and the fairy's body...not exactly earth shattering is it?? What it does show, is the layering effect I like to use and the build up of colour.

With watercolours there's no "do over". Their transparency is very unforgiving. Sometimes I find you have to surrender to the paint and what it wants to do..not easy for me at all!

On the other hand I think watercolours are the perfect medium for fairies and the land of whimsy. The transparency lends itself to the subject.

Okay..so like I said moving on..the next picture will be the finished piece and I'll put it up later today.

A Mother's Goodbye.

Well it's Mother's Day and here is mine on her wedding day. She was a great lady, she's been gone now for 10 years..I can't believe it's been that long.

We were great friends, did everything together. My dad was in the navy so we moved a lot and I mean a lot. She was the constant in our life. First day of a new school and I'd be sweatin' bricks..sick to my stomach and she be there. I 'd come home crying because some kid said something and she'd be there. I suppose that's the reason why I've always been home for my children, she taught me what was important..to be there.

After my dad retired from the navy he became Chief of Protocol for the Province of Alberta. That meant a lot of functions had to be attended by my parents. Mom and I use to go shopping for material and patterns for her dresses..lots of evening wear, ball gowns and day wear. It was fun. We'd make a day of it and go for lunch and hang out.

Her first grandchild she met, the second she met but didn't really understand who he was..at least I don't think she did. I had gone home to visit them in Kelowna BC after my own relationship had fallen apart. I discovered I was pregnant with my second child while I was there. One morning my dad called me, 7am I think it was. He said he was having problems waking my mother up. I went to her and I knew right away. We called the ambulance and it was determined at the hospital that she had an AVM (Arterial Venous Malformation). It's a type of non-hereditary aneurysm...a birth defect actually. Anyway, a surgery later and a year in rehab later SHE decided she'd had enough and stopped eating.

I woke up at 1:30am January 26th 1998 and started to walk around the house for no particular reason..wasn't thirsty, didn't need to pee..just restless. The call came at 1:40am. I heard my father answer the phone..I knew she was gone...I had woken as she passed.

She was a grand lady, a phenomenal mother. Always missed...never forgotten...these are the words I had put on her gravestone.

Happy Mother's Day.

Work In Progress Part III

Okay, so now we're getting somewhere..well at least I think I am. I've put some washes of colour on my fairy and a pop of colour on the flowers. The daisies never do look like much until we're done...they need more contrast to stand out..it's coming.

I don't like to use a masking agent, so I don't unless it's really needed. I'll dab colour out of my washes (sometimes with a dry brush, paper towel or q-tip) to lighten it up and show some form.

I'm always softening my edges..I don't like the hard lines watercolour can give you, at least not for my children's art.

I think two more blogs on this and I'll wrap this puppy up..perhaps sooner than later. Am I boring you yet??LOL

Work In Progress Part II

So here is the second installment of my work in progress. As you can see the background has gone in. I always put a suggestion of yellow around my fairies..to give them a little glow..fairies do glow in my world. A hint of leaves has been added to give a little depth to the piece. I have to admit this stage really doesn't have much of a "wow" factor does it? Oh well, well see how it looks next time!

Work In Progress

I thought I would do a little series of blogs showing my art as a work in progress. Needless to say this is the first stage with my drawing and taping off. Some artists tape their work to a board...not me. I like to twist and turn it as I work. I hover over my stuff like a mother hen while I'm painting...every so often I remember to take a step back and look at the overall piece.

One of my big problems is time..I'm not very fast, but I get there. I like the composition of this one and I almost always know what I want it to look like when I'm done...sometimes I even manage to have it turn out the way I intended. Watercolours always have that element of surprise for me..sometimes good, sometimes..not.

I love to draw and this is always the easiest part of the process for me. So we'll see how the next phase turns out......shall we?? Wish me luck as they (my artwork) can get away from me. I've never scrapped a painting yet, but there is always a first time!!

That extra zing.....

I love ducks and these ones have always made me smile. I remember the first time I painted a set of these. It was quite a while ago, but it was the first time I knew I could paint ...... I mean paint something and maybe make a living at it ......... or at least sell a few now and then. I've gone on to try more and more, always surprised when I finish. I like that feeling ...... looking at a piece and feeling a sense of accomplishment and total shock. So, everytime these sell there is a little extra zing to the sale for me, knowing that these little guys started it all.

Well, it went pretty well!! Sold in just over a day!!

I finally got this one done...took forever. It's in my etsy shop now so we'll see how it goes.