Art Class Update

Art class is coming right along. The students are doing excellent work! We have so much fun - I just love art class!

One of the projects we did this month was a still life painting of a pumkin. They got to choose their background color and then we all painted the same pumpkin.

M's painting is blue, T's is dark brown, and EG's is the lighter brown

K's pumpkin


N's pumpkin

K's masterpiece - fabulous!

Elizabeth painted this one...she did a great job! I hardly helped at all!

N painted this adorable mouse - isn't it just precious?

Cool Projects..

For Christmas this year, some friends and I decided that we are making all of our gifts for each other. So I've been looking up some really cool projects. I'm not going to post any of the ones I'm going to make for this year. Some of you may be getting some of these for gifts in the future though. =)


Scrabble Coasters by jessfun23 on Craftster

Hand painted wine glasses or dessert bowls...

This cute design is from Moonlight Wishes

These gorgeous zebra glasses are from http://www.gotmartini.com/

These adorable initial glasses are more like what I will probably end up doing. You can buy them at http://www.myweddingfavors.com/.

I have more that I will post later.

Oh and and update on my students - they are putting out some great art! I'm going to have to start bringing my camera to class every week.

My Students!

Two weeks ago, I started teaching an art class to some of my friends' kids. I have 4 students all together - ranging from 12 to 9. We really have fun! They are doing super fabulous! 2 of them finished their paintings this week. The other two will most likely finish their next week.

Take a look at their masterpieces! Are they not awesome? I'm so proud!

M and his masterpiece monkey

Elizabeth and her flower - she painted her name on there all by herself!

Painting People

I painted this last summer for a close friend. I turned a picture of the girls into this painting. I gotta say though that the thing that makes this picture is the frame - it's adorable!

I did a picture for another close friend - it was the back of her son and his little dog looking out the window. Silly me forgot to take a picture...*cough*.

I haven't mastered faces...they scare me. I'm pretty comfortable with the backs of people but faces-yikes!

This was my first attempt at a face. It ended up looking a lot like the original I was copying. I wasn't that nervous with this one though because it wasn't a real girl. No one would know if the eyes and nose weren't quite right. I was creating my own person instead of reproducing the looks of a real person. Does that even make sense? Oh well, you get the idea.

I tried faces again last winter. I cheated this time though - I didn't have to do eyes because of sunglasses. =) Yes, I know it's weird for a painting to have sunglasses on. That's okay though because I wanted to see if I could do the rest of the facial features. I'll build up to the full thing.

This is the picture I copied - it's me and my sister in Cozumel, Mexico.

This is how the painting turned out. It's okay. I definitely don't love it. I know it's my first attempt and I should be more lax in my judgement...yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm not planning on doing any faces for a while. I won't say never because I'll try it again but I'm not feeling it anytime in the near future.

Oh and so far, everyone who as seen it has asked who it is. No one has straight up recognized us. =(

Cool Tripods

This is for all of you people who are into photography. Tripods can make such a difference in lining up a shot and especially for the shots that the camera has to be held very still. I've just recently gotten into the whole tripod scene. This is mainly because I received this little tripod for Christmas.

The Quik Pod is extremely lightweight so it's easy to carry around in my purse. I'm notorious for taking pictures by just extending my arm and hoping everyone is squeezed in. This little gadget makes getting the full picture sooooo much easier. And it even comes with legs for more cool tricks. They recently introduced a bigger version for SLR cameras. You can find out more about the Quik Pod, read reviews, and find out where to order by visiting http://www.quikpod.com/.

My brother recently told me about this other little tripod.

I really don't know much about it other than it looks really neat. This was taken from their website.

The Joby Gorillapod firmly
secures your camera to just about anything — anywhere and everywhere! Unlike
traditional tripods, the Gorillapod has flexible, gripping legs which can wrap
around almost any surface. It is now available in three sizes!

Lightweight
Compact
Portable
Bendable
Wrappable
Grippable
Gorilla Fun!

Pretty nifty, eh? It even comes in pink! I might just have to add one of this to my wishlist for this Christmas. =) If you want more info on the Gorillapod, check out http://www.joby.com/.

More Photography

These are a few older pictures from my portfolio (I like saying that word; it sounds so fancy) =)

Golden Gate Bridge, San Fran
Navy Pier, Chicago
Hancock Building, Chicago
Pier 39, San Francisco
Trolley, Memphis, TN

A Parade in Paris

This oil painting is my newest. I finished it in January, right before I left for Guatemala. I absolutely love it! This is my new favorite style of painting. I love way the people looks so whimsical and the street is airy and happy and it's in my favorite colors!

I have a new scene that is similar to this but involves a street cafe in Paris that I will be starting as soon as I find the time. I'm not sure if I will do it in acrylics or oils. It will be by special request for a friend.

Who knew Paris could be so pretty on canvas? I've been there and didn't find the city all that beautiful. Dirty, yes but beautiful? Nope.

Photography

These two are the newest ones to join my little portfolio. I didn't edit them very much. On the first one, I just adjusted the brightness/contrast a tiny bit. The second one I removed some of the color and adjusted the brightness/contrast. Both of these pictures were taken at an absolutely gorgeous ancient monastery in Antigua, Guatemala.

Welcome!

Hi guys!

Welcome to my new blog. =) I decided that my little attempts at art deserved a blog of their own.

This blog will keep you updated on what I am currently working on and pass on tips and articles that I think you will find interesting.

Enjoy!