Art journal....page in progress

New page in my art journal done with Caran d'Arch Neocolor IIs and pencil...just didn't want to pull out all my acrylics and stuff, so I decided to see what I could do with just the artist painting crayons. Still in progress, but almost done...just need to add some words/quote, I think. This page is about keeping your eyes on your dreams....to never stop dreaming and continuing to move forward towards your dreams. This is a theme that keeps reoccurring in my work....guess it's something that I need to keep reminding myself of when the pressures of day to day life get to me. I need to remember to not let anything push those dreams down....I need to keep stiring them up, keep growing and learning, and to quote a line from one my son's favorite movies right now "keep moving forward" (from "Meet The Robinsons"). I've been in the mood to do some really fun girly art (been loving what Marla and Jenn have been up to lately) and my art journal is the perfect place to play with new ideas. I'm really just a kid at heart....still love to watch cartoons and color in coloring books...good thing since I have a little boy who loves these things right now as well. :) I'm thinking that this might be something that would be perfect for a little girls room (or someone who loves fun and sweet girly art like me)...what do y'all think? Is this something you'd like to see me add to my art offerings? Each would have stories behind them, like my other paintings...a story about what inspired the painting. I'd love to hear what you think. You can either leave a comment here or email me. :) P.S. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is video day, so don't forget to check back in sometime tomorrow afternoon for episode three of my new series. Oh and I found a wonderful mixed media challenge website that this journal page was perfect for today....check out Mixed Media Monday. :D xo

Mixed Media Portrait - Episode Two (new video series)

As promised, here's the second episode in my new series.....and actually on Tuesday this time!!! Yea!! ;) The last episode will be posted next Tuesday, February 5th. Oh and I'm planning on posting detailed info on my online classes later on this week, so please do check back in if you're interested in learning more....or you could join my mailing list to make sure you get the info as soon as it's available. Once you enter your email addy, you'll have the option to sign up for my "Online Class Information" list, as well as my monthly newsletter. :) I keep my lists private and I don't send out a bunch of emails, so rest assured that I won't be filling up your inbox. ;)

Thanks soooooooo much for all the comments y'all left for me on the first episode!!! And I'm so tickled to hear you guys are excited about the classes too!!! Y'all are awesome!!! I decided to keep things as simple as possible, so I will be setting up a private blog where the classes will be conducted from. This is where you'll have access to all the class info, videos, handouts, etc. once you've sent your payment and the classes begin.

Oh and I'm gonna try my best to get caught up on emails/messages this week...I'm waaaaaaaaaay behind. Thanks for being so patient and understanding. Love you guys!!! xoxo

Link: YouTube - Mixed Media Portrait - Episode Two

New Video Finished...Mixed Media Portrait - Episode One

Well I finally managed to get the first episode finished and uploaded to YouTube....which was no small feat this evening, let me tell ya! Aiden probably woke up like 20 times tonight and didn't want to go back to sleep. So I had to keep going upstairs and getting him back into bed. Then when I went to save out the finished video, the file size was too large for YouTube with my normal video settings in iMovie. So I had to play around with the settings and by trial and error finally got a video file size small enough to upload. Hallelujah!

Now y'all be sure to leave me some comments and let me know what you think. There will most likely be two more episodes to this new series. The next one I will post next Tuesday.

Oh and also I included a little announcement in the end credits of the video that I'm hoping you'll all be very excited about. So be sure to watch it all the way through okay? :) G'nite! xoxo

Edit: And I meant to tell y'all that if you want to grab the embed code to post the video on your blogs, please do! Spread the painting love!!!! :D Just click on the "Menu" button on the video player and click on the "Copy to Clipboard" button under the "<>embed" section. Happy painting to everyone!!! :)

Mixed Media Portrait - Episode One

Painting...where I am today

Well all the packages that are going out in the mail today are waiting at the door for our sweet mail carrier to pick up (hi Kay!). The rest of the orders will go out on Thursday. Thanks to everyone who's been visiting my shop and purchasing my art!!! Without your support, I wouldn't be able to stay home with my son....it just means the world to me!!! Speaking of Aiden...I'm about to go make lunch for me and the little man, but afterwards I'll start to edit all the footage I shot during the progress of this new painting for my next YouTube video. Yea! So the wait is almost over ya'll! *hee, hee* I know you've all been patiently waiting and I really appreciate it...it's so hard to get all I want to do done....just not enough time in a day, especially with a little one to look after.

Here's some better pics I took with my "real" camera so you can get a better idea of the stages of the painting...

Painting progress so far today...

The colors aren't quite true to life in these pics 'cause I'm using my iPhone for these quickie progress updates. :)