Category Archives: Art Month

Daily Creativity: We’ll miss you Jenn

Posted on by
Reply

JennForbesSmYesterday I learned a that a friend who had been sick took a turn for the worst. This morning I learned she passed. I have known Jenn since I was born I think. She was my older sister H’s best friend, she and her sister were at our house all through growing up. She, like many of my siblings friends, called my mom, “Mom.” She lived with us for quite a few years too, I was still young then, but my memories of childhood are filled with her. She left us and moved down south and I only ever got to see her at weddings, maybe, and spoke on the phone when I lived with my sister H. Thanks to facebook we got to reconnect. I got to see pictures of her daughter who I know she adores. I got to see the woman she had become and it made me happy to see her have love in her life with her daughter. She had cancer, a rare kind, and while I don’t swear much I have no problem saying FUCK CANCER!  I’m angry because she was far too young and had too much to do. I’m angry because she didn’t want to leave her daughter. I’m sad for her, for her daughter, for her sister, and everyone who loved her. I’m relieved she’s not in pain, but it’s just not fair. I’ve been crying off and on today, trying to look on the bright side and remember the good times. Jenn is part of one of my earliest memories, she was giving me a piggy back ride. I remember her laugh, and remember her at family dinners. What I remember most is her smile, she had this great amazing smile that was huge and infectious. I hope she knew how much she was a part of our family. I hope she knew she was loved. In my head I see her with my brother Tom, with her mother, and all the people I love. In my head I comfort myself with ideas that she’s well cared for. Now I pray most for her daughter. I love you Jenn, and I will miss you.

Watercolor on paper. 3/11/2015

Daily Creativity: Mars

Posted on by
1

Mars_smMars! Isn’t it great? The planet I mean. I love space, and have been wanting to explore painting some of the planets and heavenly bodies. I thought I’d start with water colors, and work my way up to oil paints. Each medium gives me something different to explore, with oils being rich and deep while watercolors have a lightness that can work for things that you want to have a glowing feel to them. Plus I love how I can layer colors with watercolors. While Mars may not be right for watercolors, I wanted to do Mars first. Partly because Opportunity is almost done with her marathon and finding awesome data for us, and partly because it’s one of my favorite planets. Of course choosing a favorite planet is like choosing a favorite child, it’s not really something I can do.

Yes, I am a mega nerd when it comes to space. I love it. I have loved space since I was a kid. I remember watching Space Camp, the movie, and thinking that would be awesome! Of course I never think about my fear of enclosed spaces, and space travel requires that.

Watercolors on paper. 3/10/2015 (Yes the date on the actual painting is slightly wrong, I looked at the date on my phone not realizing it passed midnight, as I count dates for projects is it’s still today if I haven’t gone to bed yet.)

Daily Creativity: Dexter & Alvin

Posted on by
Reply

_MG_3055Dexter & Alvin is an expansion for the Game Ticket to Ride, and was one of my christmas gifts. I LOVE Ticket to Ride but since I’m a super duper geek I couldn’t play this expansion until I painted the figures. I bought the right color paints in the same weekend but when I finally sat down to paint them, I couldn’t find the colors anywhere! I know now that I found a work around, I will find three pots of green games workshop paint and just want to scream! Instead I mixed other GW colors and used a little bit of craft paint.  I also glued nuts to the base since they are top heavy and fall over if you look at them. 3/9/2015

They start out looking like the picture to the right. I first painted them with the GW base “Chaos Black.” Then I painted a base layer of gray on the spaceship, brown on the smoke cloud, and red on the train stations. I mixed the yellow from my Space Marines and a blue Tek had to make the green. I think layered the silver I use for the chain swords on the ship, gun, and back pack. I used a brighter craft paint green and did a light layer on the dinosaur and the alien, making sure to just highlight. I also painted the underbelly of the dino. Then I did some dry brushing on the smoke cloud (two colors), and the train stations. I filled in some of the cracks on the stations too. I used a small brush to get the details in. Then I used two colors of GW shade, one was a blackish color, and then a sepia color, to make it look more three dimensional and more distressed. I painted the nuts in brown and then dipped them in terrain. Lastly I covered them with GW sealant, “Purity Seal.”

Daily Creativity: Gaby is my hero, women role models are cool

Posted on by
Reply

Gaby-is-my-hero-smIn honor of International Women’s Day I thought I’d use a woman role model as my muse. Instead of picking a woman from history I chose a currant role model. Gabourey Sidibe is a woman of strong character and confidence, she doesn’t take any guff from anyone, and has sass for days. If ever I feel like I can’t take the negativity around me I can think about Gaby and think, what would she do? Pastel settings in ArtRage on iPad. 3/8/2015

Daily Creativity: Fat is not a 4 letter word

Posted on by
Reply

Fatisnota4letterwordIf you’ve followed my work you will know I am all about body positivity, and loving your body. Fat acceptance is part of that. Moving away from the word fat being used as a slur and accepting it as it is, a descriptor. Fat is no different than tall or short, it just describes a body’s shape. It is something we all have, we all have fat. It’s not something to be feared or to run from. It’s just a word. You can’t tell anything from fat either. You can’t tell if a person is healthy or unhealthy, you can’t tell what they eat or don’t eat, what activity they do or don’t do. It’s just a word, it’s a word I have taken back. A word I wear like a badge. Much like the word geek, it used to be considered an insult, I don’t find it insulting anymore, I’m proud to be a geek. Call me a geek all you want and I will agree. Call me fat and I will agree too, you won’t find tears in my eyes but rather a nod of approval. It’s just a word, it, and those that use it, have no power over me. “You Have no Power Over Me!” – Sara from Labyrinth. I made this using the Sketch Club app on iPad. 3/7/2015 http://wp.me/p1qyRu-Yb