Doodles and Watercolor and Finding its way in.

 I doodled most of the day yesterday. I am trying to control wet media normally called watercolor. This medium has tempted me many times to throw my hands up in frustration and feel a hard lump in my chest. So, I practice. I practice. I practice. And hope for the best. I know watercolor will always elude me somehow. I say it kicks my butt. (sorry for that description for any delicate eared people reading this post.) Thats the only way I can describe it.

The pic above is on 140 lb hardpressed paper using watercolor and watercolor crayons. I usually throw down some colors and start working from there. I never plan a design. It just happens. This shows some of the doodling I started.

This pic above is just some more doodling over the watercolor. The reason I like this particular painting is because when you run your hand over it it feels like there's a layer of wax. That is from the watercolor crayon that I used.

This is the finished painting but the colors seem a little dim in this photo.




I have another I can show you. Its called "Finding its way in."  Its what I imagine how Alzheimers would enter the body.

This is getting started. 140lb hardpressed watercolor paper.

Just a lot more paint thrown down and now I can see how the image will come together.

When I added some more dark it became an outline of a head.

This is finished. I try to imagine what is going on inside a seriously ill brain. I wonder if the vision on the outside is the same as the inside of imaginings and colors and dreams, hallucinations and sad thoughts.
This person looks elderly to me, the face falling to the chest but the eyes seem to 'see' to me. What do you think?

Pumpkin Door Decoration

This pumpkin was made using brown paper. I painted the paper with gesso and when it was dry I freehand drew the design that I wanted. You can also trace a design if you wish. I then painted the design with acrylic paints.

Next I put the painted design down over another sheet of brown paper and cut an area large enough to have a few inches around the outside in case I needed the extra space.

Then I took it to the sewing machine and ran a stitch around the edges and left an opening big enough to get my hand in and stuff it.

After I got the stuffing situated I held the edges together and stitched it closed...just like making a pillow.

I trimmed up the excess along the outside edges, punched holes and inserted eyelets at the top where I wanted to put my wire hanger. I used what I had on hand for the wire. It was a piece of floral wire and not too heavy.

I used hot glue to keep the hanger in place and to seal any areas that moisture  could get in.

Next I used a glue sealer and then sprayed with a poly coating.

I recommend placing pumpkins on a door that is covered by a porch or patio. Even though it is sealed it needs to be taken care of to protect it so you can get many years of use out of it.

I made the scarecrow pumpkin to give to my grandchildren. They make good door hangers for their rooms.

Magazines

When I need to feel good I always find a bookstore to go to. Usually I head to the magazine racks first to look for arts and crafts or fine art books. Today I only made it to the magazine section. I was surprised to find a young lady perched on the floor in front of the very section that I usually look at. I'm passionate about the Somerset magazines mostly and she was enjoying herself too much for me to ask her to move over and let me get in the front and center of the entire rack. I mentioned to her that I am usually the only one in this particular section and she asked me if I thought she could get subscriptions to these magazines. Im sure they could accommodate her on that and I told her so.

She began feeding me materials that she found useful and I filled my buggy with my soon to be wares and found a seat nearby. I ended up with Artful Blogging, the August September October 2010 issue. I love to see what others are blogging about and I am most interested in what they are busy creating.

I also bought the Quilting Arts Gifts magazine Holiday 2010 version. There's some really cute things they have made up for gifts in there. I especially liked the Scrappy Gingerbread Bookmarks by Kelli Nina Perkins. They are skinny little houses made from fabric with free motion stitching and donut doors and icing on the roofs. Pure magic for me. I love houses and stitching. They are to remind you of Gingerbread houses of course. Looking at them you can almost smell the sweet aroma of gingerbread ready to come out of the oven. I probably wouldn't use them as bookmarks though. I might frame them instead.

There was something else I liked and it was Artful Rag Dolls for Everyday Play by Debbi Crane. These are adorable dolls dressed in luscious colors and unusual but fun hairdos. Directions included. I love dolls but I enjoy looking at them more than I like making them. I think doll makers are creative and very patient people. My hat off to them!