Day 12 - AEDM & Nablopomo - recycling an old painting

i've had some finished paintings stored in the garage for a few years now. i had originally painted for art workshops that i was teaching at the time. the subject, level, and style of the painting was to suit my students' requests and needs....and not something i would have chosen myself.

so, i thought it was high time i took the plunge and gave one of them a facelift

i picked out some decorative papers and glued them in place with matte medium

now the fun will begin once i decide what i'm going to do from here

maybe a mermaid given the theme on the decorative paper?

time will tell

to view the creative posts of other AEDM members for Day 12
click here.

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i love trees!

they have such beautiful auras and represent life and hope in many cultures.

i thought i'd share some pics with you of a native australian eucalypt called the scribbly gum tree.

those scribbles are actually made by the larvae of the scribbly gum moth

 kinda cool, huh?

til tomorrow

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 9 - AEDM & Nablopomo - sketch & inspiration

i didn't get a lot of time to sketch today as my son, brad, had to see the ophthalmologist at the mater hospital. i took my sketchbook along and sketched for a little bit in the waiting room and then i finished and coloured it when we arrived back home later in the afternoon.

pencil-free sketch using pigma micron pens, derwent inktense pencils and watercolour crayons in A5 watercolour sketchbook

after brad's appointment, we walked down to the southbank parklands and, while there, i popped into oxlades art essentials store and treated myself to set of derwent inktense water-soluble pencils (used later to colour the sketch) and an electric battery-operated eraser. i've never used an electric eraser before but, apart from the obvious, i'm thinking it will also be very handy for lifting out highlights in graphite sketches.

i LOVE the vibrancy of the inktense pencils!

to view the creative posts of other AEDM members for Day 9
click here.

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i took the following shots at southbank parklands today

bougainvillea

palms

tranquil setting

and this magnificent orange flowered tree

it's been a tiring day especially with all the walking as i'm still not over my asthma attack.  i don't think it will be too long before i head off to bed.

i hope you're all enjoying a great week!

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 8 - AEDM & Nablopomo - sketch & inspiration

unfortunately, i'm not a happy camper today.
yesterday, i bought a BOOST juice - green tea mango mantra - my favourite!  i've had this same juice heaps of times before but, after drinking it yesterday, i immediately started coughing and wheezing and feeling heavy in my chest. WEIRD! i'm still dealing with the asthma fallout.

 needless to say, i was only up to doing a small sketch in my moleskine watercolour sketchbook.

first the quick pen sketch using my pigma micron pen

then some watercolours and journaling

for reference, i used some photos i took last week of some morning glories growing wild near the creek just down from our house.

aren't they lovely?!

to view the creative posts of other AEDM members for Day 8
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i think i'll get an early night now so until tomorrow

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 7 - AEDM & Nablopomo - art journal page & inspiration

today was crazy busy so i didn't get a chance to achieve much at all

i also got to spend some time with my gorgeous granddaughter, mikayla.
SO much fun!

anywhoo, a background for one of my art journals will have to suffice for AEDM today

i used the end of a paintbrush to write words into the wet gessoed background then, when dry, i applied some acrylic colours.

serene

blues and greens RULE!!!

love

joy

still heaps to go but this is as far as i got

before i do any more art i will need to do some serious tidying up at my art desk. what a MESS!!! how's a girl supposed to work like this?!! me thinks i need to get some tips from my dear friend rita who is always so neat and orderly.

to view the posts of other AEDM members for Day 7
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more inspiration for you

my desert rose (b. Adenium Obesum) is flowering!

now i'm off to watch another episode in the final season of SMALLVILLE.

i'm looking forward to catching up with blogs tomorrow.

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 5 - AEDM & Nablopomo - mandala in progress

another frustrating day of procrastination!

in the end, i settled on creating a mandala which is obviously not finished yet.

the mandala is 8" diam.

i've always enjoyed creating mandalas and, days ago, when i saw a FREE mandala course was being offered via willowing's ning site, i immediately signed up for it. the course starts on november 14th so, if you're interested, you can sign up here.

(ADDITION - so sorry, everyone!  rita just brought it to my attention that you need to sign up before you can actually view the mandala class link.  the sign up is to willowing's (tamara laporte) NING site where you will find lots of goodies and a supportive art community.  once you register to willowing's art community, you should THEN be able to access the FREE mandala class link provided above) 

to view the creative posts of other AEDM members for Day 5 click here

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more inspiration

an australian bottlebrush flower

i hope you're all enjoying a beautiful weekend!

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 4 - AEDM & Nablopomo - Mexican Friendship Circle

i have to admit that i struggled all day with procrastination and, in the end, i had to quickly make a decision and do a very fast pen and watercolour sketch which is still unfinished.

my mexican friendship circle

to view the posts of other AEDM members for Day 4
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the kids and i went to visit my brother in hospital this afternoon and we were very relieved and happy to hear that all the tests from his surgery came back clear.  he may be minus one kidney but he is now cancer-free...YAY!  the bestest news EVER!

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here are more inspiration pics

they are called canna phasion lilies

the leaves kinda steal the limelight from the flowers don't you think?

these ones graced the gardens at our local shops
such rich, vivid colours!

i'm hoping i will be able to get more on task with the art every day challenge as the days go on.

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 3 - AEDM & Nablopomo - another sketch

thank you all for the great feedback on yesterday's post!

i'm afraid today's post will be shorter as i'm battling a rotten migraine probably due to the heart stress test i did earlier today....my neck is so stiff and sore.   good news - they didn't find any abnormalities! YAY!

anywhoo, before the migraine reared its head, i managed to quickly start another life sketch. i just need to splash on some colour, more details and writing.  again, i sketched directly with my trusty pigma micron pen.

the sketch is of my buddha belly plant (botanical name - Jatropha podagrica) which has been flowering for a few weeks now. 

the leaves are 2½ times the size of my hand!

to view the posts of other AEDM members for Day 3
click here.

by the way, my brother's surgery for the kidney removal went reasonably well.
we pray all the test results will be clear.

now, i'm off to lie down and will hopefully wake up minus a migraine

~ love, light and peace ~

Day 2 - AEDM & NABLOPOMO - sketch

i decided to do a quick sketch of the lantana mandala i photographed yesterday

so, out came my small moleskine watercolour sketchbook, my pigma micron pens, some felt pens (textures) and watercolour crayons.  i sketched directly in pigma micron pen and followed up with the felt pens before moving on to watercolours.

i tried to keep it very loose

and i was fairly pleased with the end result

considering i rushed it due to lack of time this afternoon

a couple more lantana photos for inspiration

hard to believe that, in queensland, these shrubs are viewed as noxious weeds

to view the posts of other AEDM members for Day 2
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~ love, light and peace ~

pyjama day, inspiration and mikayla

it's been a nice, relaxing weekend so far and, today, i declared it a pyjama day

so grabbed the opportunity to take this week's self portrait.

week 28 in the 52 weeks of me project

brad is joining me
i think he would stay in his pyjamas all day every day if he could...lol

i'm not normally a pyjamas all day person.
actually, this would be only the third time i've worn pyjamas ALL day long.

i'm wearing the bed socks i just finished knitting recently

with the medical issues, knitting, crochet and decorating projects over the past couple of months, i've barely touched the sketchbooks although i am beginning to feel the urge again.

especially after buying these two books for my collection recently
cathy johnson is truly an inspiration and a very giving and helpful artist!
her flickr albums are here
her art journal workshop blog is here

i've also been taking an AWESOME watercolour class here with another of my favourite artists, alisa burke. i've downloaded all the videos, just need to find time to watch them and put what i learn into practice. i am blown away by the inspiration out there on the net, particularly in blogland, so i guess there's really no excuses for me NOT to create.

hey, check out my gorgeous granddaughter!

michelle took this pic of mikayla last month.
can you believe she's 7 months old now?!!
it was a cold, windy morning so michelle rugged her up nice and warm.

~ our own little eskimo ~

have a blissful weekend, dear friends!!

~ love, light and peace ~