Creative Play

The January theme for Creative Everyday 2009 is . . . Play!

I’ve been feeling less than creative for the past few weeks so I decided to get a head  start on one of the projects that I planned on doing in January.

I wanted to try the charcoal technique from a video I posted on the 14th of this month, so I prepped a canvas, grabbed my charcoal, rubber stamps and began to create the painting below.

The Tree Song – Acrylic/Mixed Media – 8 x 10 Canvas

After I had applied the stamps and charcoal to the canvas, I began sketching  and painting the woman’s face and the bird, and then added a tree and music notation.

What fun! This little project certainly got my creative juices flowing again.

Swan Maiden

The Swan Maiden painting is almost finished, but I have a few more details I want to add to it. I have been working on this painting off and on since February of this year and promised myself it would be finished by January 2009.

This painting was loosely inspired by the Irish legend of the beautiful Swan Maiden “Caer Ibormeith”. She was the daughter Of Prince Ethal Anbuail of Sid Uamuin in Connacht.

Legend has it that every other Samhain she would change into a swan and would remain in this form for a year before becoming human again the following Samhain. Visit the post on June 17th for more info.

The Swan Maiden – Mixed Media – 16 x 20

Caer Ibormeith

I wandered down to the waters
And walked by the riverside,
I wandered down to the waters
Some solace there to find.

I sat with a heart of sorrow
Beside a silent pool
I sat with a heart of sorrow
And wept for the lonely world.

When over the silent waters
A creature to me came
When over the silent waters
A swan with a golden chain.

She sang out her song so sweetly
Her wavering melody
She sang out her song so sweetly
That it put my heart at peace.

Sing on, fair swan, I cried to her,
Sing on, to bring the day
Sing on, fair swan, I cried to her,
But she had swum away.

– Jamie Alexandre.

New Fabriano Artist’s Journal

Today I received a new Fabriano Art Journal from my husband. I had filled up my other sketch books and needed a new one. What a wonderful gift!

Here is a sketch of a Fairy l did this morning and I should be able to finish it over the next couple of days.  Maybe I can add some small animals, like  foxes or rabbits trailing behind the elf.

Sketch – Pencil, Charcoal & Ink – 4 1/2 X 6 1/2 inches

Rabbits & Birds

Started the day with sketching a few rabbits, an owl and a bird. I always had an affinity with rabbits since my childhood. As a child growing up in Texas, we had cottontails and jackrabbits as pets.

Spring plowing always resulted in grandpa bringing baby rabbits home which mom fed and nurtured until they could be released back into the wild. However many of these furry friends decided to stay around for awhile, so our dad and grandfather built nice wood rabbit hutches with screened-in sides for all of them.

Sketches – Charcoal & 2B pencil – 8 X 10 inches

Busy Day

It’s been a very busy day and I am exhausted. I spent most of the afternoon finishing up this painting, and it feels good to be finally done.

Later, my husband and I watched a movie, and now I’m going to go to bed and get a good nights rest.

Woman Dreaming -Digital Charcoal/Oil – Combined Media – 12 X 12 inches

She dreams and weaves together the strands of her life, the past, present, and future. The woman sleeps serenely within the circle, the ancient symbol of the goddess, the womb, wholeness, unity, and infinity. While in the dream world; she builds a bridge between the earthly and mystical realms to heal the earth and her children. – Rose Arizmendi

Crows Everywhere

This morning I awoke to a calliope of sound coming from our front yard. As I peered out our bedroom window to see what all the ruckus was about, I saw a dozen or so American Crows perched on our sycamore trees. Above the trees a small hawk was being chased by some rather angry crows.

To say the least, the crows were very upset. Over the years I have learned to pay attention whenever I hear crows making a scene, and without question there’s usually something out of the norm happening.

Finally after 20 minutes or so everything returned to normal, and peace & quiet returned to our sleepy little neighborhood.

Communion – Combined Media – 10 X 10 inches

• The common American crow is one of the most intelligent of all birds. It is one of only a few species of bird that has been observed modifying and using tools to obtain food.
• It can communicate warning, threat, taunting, and cheer to other crows by varying the “caw” sound it makes.
• Its cries of warning are specific enough that some animals other than crows are also able to use them as signals of dangerous predators.

The Tibetans believe the crow so sacred that watching their actions can predict an outcome in your life.

The Lenape Indians of Delaware also believed in a Many Colored Crow or Rainbow Crow who selflessly brought fire to all the woodland creatures and he is black from burning himself on the trip.

Many of the Celtic goddesses were linked with the crow or raven; Badb, Macha, Nemain, Nantosuelta, and Tethra.

Erratic Day

The day was a little erratic, with taking our dog to have his nails trimmed, giving him a bath, and trying to get some painting done.

I did manage to squeeze in a couple of hours of painting. The image below is a cropped portion of the painting I worked on today.

Secrets – Digital Combined Media – 16 X 20 inches

“We dance round in a ring and suppose, while the secret sits in the middle and knows.” – Robert Frost

“If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.” – Kahlil Gibran

Monday

The day was beautiful and sunny, but somehow I just couldn’t seem to get started. I felt totally uninspired to do anything constructive.

I made some coffee and decided to try my hand at drawing a cartoon character or something. I had fun playing around with some ideas.

Later, I finally gave up and decided to work in the garden for awhile. This is the image I came up with, but all in all I think it sums the day up pretty well.

More Coffee Please! – Combined Media – 5 X 7 inches

winged Heart

Over the weekend I did a few more sketches, using the heart theme from my previous post. There was one sketch I kept coming back to, where I had drawn wings inside and around the heart.

After scanning the drawing into photoshop and then moving it into Painter IX, I began the painting by adding color and more detail to each area.

I have no idea where I am going with the blue area on the left hand side of the painting, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out tomorrow.

Winged Heart – Combined Media – 9 X 9 inches

Work In Progress

Spent most of the afternoon working on the painting below, using a texture stamp I made on the background and the face.

I found this process adds interesting detail to the overall look of the painting. Hopefully, I can find some time to work on it over the weekend.

The Morrigan – Combined Mixed Media 11X 14

Close up of the face