The Tetons - Schwabacher's Landing

It is kind of tricky painting a scene that has mountains that are very iconic. In doing this painting, I have looked at this so much that I can no longer tell if it looks like the Tetons or not. But, it was fun to do. I had started it and had pretty good momentum going, and then I got busy with life and didn't do any for awhile. Then one day it kicked back in and I finished it. So, here it is:

Update - other art I have been doing

Once our kitchen was remodeled, I decided I had not been doing enough art, so one day I decided it was high time I get back into it. I looked through all of my potential art photos (I keep a file) and one of Olivia from a few years ago jumped out at me. I dropped all responsibility (which was really nice) and I worked on it for a couple of days until it was done. Here is a photo of it in process, and then finished. (The in-process one is kind of at a funny angle that makes it look warped - kind of weird, but that is okay)

Then, time passed again and I didn't do much art again. Why is it so hard for me to get up to doing this? In March, I decided that one thing that keeps me from doing the art is a fear of doing it poorly. So, I decided to take a different approach. The next project was an exercise or a training. I wanted to experiment with textures and shades and some basic skills and not worry about the outcome. I took a photo a few years back of some rocks that I thought were pretty:

I actually had tried to draw this one in color before but I was doing it on a different type of paper and it didn't work out well, so I never finished it. So, I turned this photo into a black and white one. Here are some photos of the process:

I don't always draw this way - but with this project I started on one side of the drawing and worked my way across bit by bit, carefully examining the photo (I had a hard copy and a digital copy I could zoom in on). This was the final project:

And the last thing I completed was in May. I was asked to do a drawing of a boy who had passed away from a sudden accident. The school was honoring him and had a hero theme at school that year. They had a mascot hero guy and I was asked to put this boy's face on the body of the mascot. This was a stretch for me - I hadn't done anything like this before. It was kind of cartoon, kind of realistic. I also didn't know the boy and only had one picture to use for the drawing. But, I think I must have had some help from above because it ended up working out okay. I wish I had gotten a photo of the final framed project - it looked even better in the frame. But, I didn't think of it in time. Bummer. But, this is the final pre-framed picture:

I also did a "Paint Nite" with some friends. It is a step by step instruction. I learned that paint itself is not my forte. My pastel drawings are technically called paintings, but it isn't painting with a brush. I also learned that I don't like to be rushed, and that I like to have my own tools (I kept wishing I had my brushes there that night). But it was fun, and it got me in the mood, once again, to move forward on art. Here is our final product:

Now I am trying to get back into doing art more again. I have a painting I am working on - of the Tetons from our recent trip there. The other art I have been doing is sewing costumes both for Halloween and for Audrey's play (well, I am making a hat for her play, not the dress). That has taken a lot of my creative time lately, but those are mostly done. Hopefully I will be posting the Tetons painting soon...

Update part one - quilts

Okay, I know, it has been a loooong time since I last posted. I have done a little bit of art since then. I just haven't done a lot and I haven't kept up on the blog. I don't think anyone reads this anyway, but I am posting this for my own sake. First of all, I did some art in the form of quilting. I had started this quilt awhile back (a long while back, actually) and decided to finish it and give it as a gift to someone who has a southwest style in their home.

Once I made that one, I decided I wanted to do a little experimenting. I had taken an online class for making photo quilts. I decided to try a small one using a photo of a sunset from a previous trip to Oregon. I drew up a design, and put together this quilt:

It didn't quite turn out as I had hoped, but it was for practice anyway, and it inspired me to try the next project. I had to look at a few photographs and had to sketch up a design based on a few different photos. You make a simple cartoonish sketch that divides the parts based on color and shape according to how you want the quilt to look. This is the sketch:

Then, I picked fabrics and put it together to make this (this is the final product hung in the room of the person I gave it too:

Here is another up close-ish photo:

It was a fun challenge. There are many more quilt projects I want to do - I just have to make the time to do them. I have 3-4 that are ready and waiting for me to start, keep working on, or just finish the rest of the way.