My Charm Entries

4/24 - Woohooo! Looks like the elephant charm won out. Time to get-a-making. :)

I just emailed Amber Dawn with my two attempts for her Black and White Charm Swap - the entries are juried, so there's a definite possibility that my attempts will not be accepted. I am so totally OK with that and no matter the outcome, I am really happy that I worked on these. The first is a beaded doll. The head is a black Swarovski crystal and the rest are glass beads:

This second option took two of the ideas I originally had and morphed it into this:

As you can see, it's a reversable charm. This (being the first attempt) isn't as refined as future versions will be - I plan on much smoother coats of paint, a little finer sanding of the wooden pieces and a little more border of the silver painted edge. If you click on the pictures to see a larger view, don't be surprised by the grainy looking elephant - the photo's are much larger than actual size as this charm measures 3/4 inch x 3/4 inch. I will keep everyone posted on if either of my submissions are accepted. Wish me luck!

For the latest Art Doll update, check out the newest photo's here.

Red Checkerboard - redone

I wasn't happy with the results of the first attempt of the red/heart checkerboard ... here's the updated version:

YOR Swirl

I thought I was going to start a Mandala next, but I think I need to do just one more checkerboard. I'm waiting on da mahn to cover the hearts canvas. I'm planning on revisiting that same hearts background and either using circles (like this one) or hearts in the checkerboard ... the main difference is that the checkerboard will cover the entire painting rather than be quartered.

Update - 12"x12" YOR Swirl

This version has the lines laid down for the checkerboard. It was tough getting a crisp shot, but this does show the gist of it. :)


I started painting in the checkerboard this evening and am about halfway done. I just have some chores that really need my attention, so had to put it down for the night. I imagine I'll finish it tomorrow after work.

In Progress - 12"x12" - YOR Swirl

Here's the background for the final checkerboard painting. I forgot to snap a shot of the last one after I layed the spiderweb (as my daughter calls the checkerboard outline) down, but will try to remember this time.

Blue Green Purple - 12"x12" on Canvas

It's not as refined as I would have liked (the cover-up wasn't as smooth as it should have been), but I think I'm ok with the results. I have one more checkerboard that I'd like to do and then I have an itch to do another mandala ...

In Progress - 12"x12" - Blue Green Purple

Here's a background that I started the night before last:

The original version was very similar, but when I put the lines down for the checkerboard I had an epiphany and had to cover up the original last night. I used Liquatex acrylic paints in Emerald Green, Cobalt Blue and Titanium White, plus M. Graham and Co. in Dioxazine Purple. I'll lay down the checkerboard outline in Sharpie at some point today and will take a snap prior to filling in the squares. I wasn't very happy with the way the hearts version turned out, (uber-spouse will be "erasing" that canvas for me to use again) so I am hopeful that I have a better result with this one ... guess we'll see.

On a side note ... our anti virus program expired and we won't be able to renew it till next week. I won't be able to visit anyone's blogs till we get it updated, but I'm looking forward to visiting again soon.

Hearts - 12"x12" on canvas

I'm calling this one done. I can't say that I am thrilled with the results. Doing the checkerboard freehand was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated ... there's an obvious area where the design got off and I wasn't able to correct it. Ah well. Good for practice, I suppose. I do plan on doing another one similar to this. I'll definitely use a finer brush to lay out the grid lines ... I think I'll try a crazy more colorful background ... maybe I'll even take a shot at it tonight. :) ... or maybe I'll entertain myself by doing that list-o-things ...

In Progress - Hearts - 12"X12" Acrylic on Canvas

I started another painting last night. I completed the background and feel pretty good about it:

I have been trying my hand at playing with color a little more (I have a tendency to stick to black and whites, but the spouse has been working on me - for a long time - to get a little experimental. I'm still afraid of color, but am really trying to give myself a break.) :) I wanted to do a background using Cadmium Red and Titanium White - red, white, shades of pink ... my mind naturally went to hearts. Next I'll be adding a morphy checkerboard (in Mars Black, of course - hey, I can't stray too far all at once!). I'm nearly certain the checkerboard will obliterate the hearts, but if it works out the way I imagine, the effect should be a pretty cool ... I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Sea Turtle - 18"X18" Acrylic on Canvas

One of my Friday Fill-Ins was to start a painting ... tada - I actually finished it. The painting is 18 inches square. It's a gift for my uber-awesome girlfriends new baby boy. The background colors are (as close as I can recall) the colors in the rug on the critters bedroom floor. I ended up doing the background Friday night. I used Liquitex Acrylic paints, an eyeshadow blender brush (for the background) and one of my new brushes (for the sea turtle) - it's a sable filbert size 2 brush from the Blick Masterstroke line. Holy smokes! The new brush is AWESOME. It holds a good amount of paint and ends in a super fine point that is really quite easy to manipulate. The top half is painted Emerald Green mixed with a small amount of Titanium White & the bottom half is Cobalt Blue mixed with about the smae amount of Titanium White. The entire sea turtle is done in Mars Black. I was thinking that it needed something more, but both the spouse & kid tell me they disagree, so I am considering this piece done ... now let's see how long it takes me to ship it. :)

4X4 Friday - 03/07/08 - Pets

The Friday, March 07 4X4 Friday challenge was ... pets!

How fun is that? I decided to go a more literal route for this weeks challenge. The above is composed of pictures of our very own wonder-dog, Fern. She's a pound puppy (at about 8+ years old, at this point) and since bringing her home, we've been advised that she's actually a "puggle" - mix breed of pug and beagle. Talk about a terrific little critter - everyone that meets her, loves her - she really is that great. She's sweet tempered & has a tongue that's too big for her mouth. :)

The central image is a photo that I took in 2006. I used Jasc Paint Shop to give it a weave affect and then made a copy of that and flipped the image (to achieve the mirror image). The banner of Fern at the top and bottom is the image you'll find on my blog. (I printed the images on 30lb Business Gloss paper.) Love that face! At either edge I globbed on some Liquitex Iridescent Rich Gold acrylic paint (to cover the little bit of white space that the images couldn't quite reach). The heart that surrounds the mirror image is also Liquitex acrylic paint, though it's in Quinacridone Rose with the Rich Gold dots. The whole piece was rather quick and simple, but I have to admit that I'm happy with the results.

Thank you for stopping by. Comments are most welcome. :)