Little Faces That Made Me Smile

I made a few more little cuties from some of the vintage hardware I keep collecting from the odd garage sale or neighbors dropping off things they think I can use...

This little gal  (I call her Belle) was made from a vintage door plate and where the knob would be attached I made a little face from polymer clay. Her hair is wool roving that a friend picked up for me at a craft show from a local sheep farmer.

 And here is little Lucy....

 Of course the wood I mounted them on is from an old drawer that was languishing, but no more! The keys were from an old box of my great-uncle's junk.
I have to admit the more pleasurable thing about these are that I got to use things I have had hanging around for years and wasn't sure what the heck to do with them. I hate to throw things away so this was the perfect use for those items.
Well I have a new painting in the works in a different style from my usual and I am anxious to get back to it.. I hope everyone is safe and sound and that the weather will co-operate with us so we can have a grand 4th!
Always....


Tina xo

More Little Things

This has been a hectic week filled with catching up on household stuff and trying to find as much time as possible to create a few things....
Here is what I have been up to this past week or so:
Again I used old wood, some tulle and polymer clay face, arms and legs. The old hardware piece is screwed around a wine cork that is holding the tulle skirt. The garters are really meant to be attached to the bottom of a bra to hold it to your girdle (remember those?)

Her hair is mohair that I was lucky enough to have won in a lovely giveaway.

Here I made a small hand painted poly face, a velvet butterfly that I have held onto for ages and a key chain of Route 66. There are some sweet little charms added to the sides and of course my painting and stain finish for the wood piece.

Dear little Frida...pieces of old jewelery, a great old piece of wood from a vintage birdhouse that I painted crackled and stained, crochet lace from a VERY old doily, plaster tiles I made, carved and painted myself. Notice the piece of fabric I wove through her braid before baking the polymer clay. I thought that was a nice touch!!!

This has been fun and I still have a few more I would love to make using some very old escutcheons and then I think I will paint a few canvases in oil paint this summer and see if I can reproduce the images I have stored in my head.
I hope everyone has been having a good start to the summer even though the weather in some areas has been outrageous. It was 94 here yesterday (100 with the heat index) and even expected to get hotter today...ugh! I am not a huge fan of high temps and humidity.
Take care and be well whatever you choose to do today!

Tina xo

Well Here We Go Again!

I spend so much of my time either running messages, cleaning up and making art that blogging has been the big loser here!
I swear I really have been super busy so most of the plans I started this season off with have gone caplooey....
Oh well, I am alive, I am well fed and ..hmmmm...ok relatively happy!
Here's what I have been working on the last few weeks and I am loving this assemblage stuff a BUNCH!

Made with mostly very old junk  priceless, vintage treasures and my own polymer clay face, arms and legs.
Title "Time Held the Key"














Next I did one I called "Queen of Her Heart"...

Once again I used only the most select priceless materials!!!
Actually the wood is from a VERY old birdhouse and a little jewel box.
Her crown is from an old bracelet that was given to me at 15 so that makes it ..ummmm....46 years old and ..gulp...I guess that makes it and me VINTAGE! ACKKK!

Yep I feel as old as this sweet crackled face some days but who said life would always be easy huh?
I hope this post finds everyone happy and making the best of the gifts life offers.
I am always thinking of you all whether I am able to post or not but I am going to try really hard to be more diligent about visiting and posting as my life feels quite empty without your sweet posts to read.....
Love always
Tina xo

Busy Times

Wow has it been that long since last I posted? Yep I guess it has but in my defense I have been super busy with the garden, the lawn, art, cats and family stuff, LOTS of family stuff.

I just had to make a quick stop and share a few new pieces of art that I labored over recently and then I am going to find the time to visit my fave blogs later today...YAY!

Here's something a little different from my usual....

I used crackle medium on the skin after painting the face white/gray and entitled the painting "Ossified" yep I know just how this dude feels!

Then being on a neutrals roll I painted this...

Ok so enough of the pensive stuff....so for a more light and happy feeling...

This one is done with glitter and wire, glass beads and lots of metallic paints!

And this little lady is just a fun gal in her fun hat! Hey not everything has to have a deeper meaning...:)

Well I am off once again to add the next layer of paint to a little project I am working on, and I hope this post finds you all happy and well....miss you when I am not here!

Tina xo

New Directions

Sometimes we wake up and find that the path we were on isn't bringing us the joy we had hoped for. Artistically I have felt dissatisfied for a long time and couldn't quite put my finger on the reason why. I am still not sure exactly what it was that seemed to hold me back but I suspect it had a lot to do with worrying about how people perceive me and what I made with my hands.

Were the things I chose to paint and the way I painted them pertinent? Art can be a long, hard labor that yields a child we are not always thrilled with in the end.
So I decided to walk down a different path and see how it felt...and...it felt wonderful and liberating, what more can any human being wish for than to create and feel no rules holding us back from creating the image that was born in our minds.

So I played with Fiber Paste and let it dry on the canvas and then looked for the image in the texture and found these. The colors were already there in my mind and applying them was so freeing. 

These 2 will be on Etsy shortly, but I am already in the midst of another canvas that has me very excited.

So even though it has been so dismal outside and cold and rainy, inside it has been wonderful! And even though I hope these will sell, if they don't sell right away I will not get tired of seeing them on my own wall and that is a good thought.

I really would love to know how other artists came to their special type of art? Did they always know what they wanted to produce or did it find them?

I hope the week has been kind to everyone and the days have been filled with smiles...

Tina xo

 

Children and Pets Always Touches My Heart

Just a quick drop-by (drive-by in blogging lingo) to share a little 11" x 14" painting I completed a couple of days ago and had to share...

I wish I could take better pictures because the colors are never are bright as they appear in person but I guess I need to learn PhotoShop and get with the program..:)

So far the weather has been lovely but they are calling for rain this weekend and dropping temps so the gardening is on a back burner once again......back to the drawing board!

Have a great finish to the week!

Love Tina xoxo

Blogger and Painting

I am going to make this quick because Blogger is not working well for me and I have no idea why because I am not a computer genius. I think things should just work without my having to read a 20,000 page manual or spend months browsing the internet for instructions....obviously I'm an idiot!

All this nonsense notwithstanding I have gotten a few painting done and that always makes me feel immensely better about myself!

 I have my fingers crossed that these photos will only post once and save you the trouble of muttering insults under your breath about how wonky I am (just kidding) :)

• I fired off a note to Google about the photo problem I am having as it really bothers me to have to take hours to do a simple post. 

 Well I don't want to press my luck with blogger so I am going to get back to work on my next painting (new style for me) and clean my messy house during the breaks!
I hope everyone has been enjoying good weather and happy moments....love to all!

Tina xo

The Persimmons Twins

I spent yesterday browsing through all my saved photos looking for something to paint that had a happy, bright color combo that would inspire me and maybe bring a feeling of Spring into the room.....et voila!

The persimmons twins were born and will be listed this afternoon on Etsy!

I hope that Friday is being good to everyone and that the weekend is shaping up to be MARVELOUS BABY!

Tina xo
 

Dear Sweet Molly for Dear Sweet Frankie!

A portrait I completed for my friend Angela's daughter Frankie! This is her darling horse Molly and Angela wanted to get her portrait done for Frankie's birthday. I managed to get it done in time for the happy event and Frankie is thrilled. What more can an artist hope to accomplish?

Today is going to be another lovely, creative Sunday, my very favorite kind!

Because it's Sunday I thought I would add a verse of scripture that was on a B-day card I received from my sister recently.....

"Thou wilt show me the path of life:
in Thy presence is fullness of joy;
at Thy right Hand there are pleasures for evermore."

Psalm 16:11

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Tina xo

Today Is The First Day....etc....

Wow when I go on a downer I go for the long trip! And yes I do suffer from depression and no I do not medicate as meds and I do not mix, so I wait it out, watch the "Secret" or Wayne Dyer and say beaucoup prayers! For me the "Lord's Prayer" is the most powerful prayer ever and works every time!
Yep I sit in a dark corner and go into the ugly cry and feel incredibly sorry for myself until it is over. I wanted to share this because I know I am not the only person out there who feels badly afterwards that they haven't posted in a few weeks because there just didn't seem to be anything worthwhile to post about but there it is.

Anyway I crawled back out of the pit and did a painting that means a lot to me so I thought today would be a great day to post and share!

The background is covered in photocopies of letters my grandparents wrote to each other during the Depression. There are also a few fragments of letters my mom and aunt wrote to their father also. Most are from 1936 when grandpa was working in Pictou, Nova Scotia. He designed, built and installed boilers (heating systems) and managed to keep working all through the Depression with his trade. I still have some if his notebooks filled with his designs and scribbled notes.

The second wonderful thing the Lord blessed me with

during this last few weeks was the blooming of an old orchid that destined for the trash and I rescued her and have been nursing her for a couple of years, and finally she chose this past week to bloom.

So this week ended on a happy, bright note and this weekend I have loads of artwork to get to and I love it! I will also ....gasp....have time to visit  my favorite blogs and see how everyone else is doing. 

Love to all!

Tina xo

Watercolor Glamor

I am not as proficient at watercolors as I am with some other media but I do love the feel of and look of the color spreading into the paper......for me it is all about the color, especially combinations of color. So it is no surprise that I love the old glamor movie mags from the 40's. They had zero fear of color, they mixed, matched, clashed, whatever and it seemed so appropriate! Anyway I was in the mood to play with watercolor and so for me the natural subject this week happened to be a glamor cigarette ad form the 40's.....

I found a little wooden frame from the dollar store and painted it silver and voila.....glamma-ramma!
For those who are curious it was a Chesterfield cigarette ad and the actress was Ann Sheridan circa 1947.
 
Hope everyone has had a good week filled with only the best stuff! 
I am so anxious to visit you all and see what wonderful things you have been creating at your home....

Tina xo

Precious Missy Arrives Home!

Recently I was the happy, lucky winner of a very precious girl named Missy!

Julie Bailey, a fabulous doll maker had a giveaway and I was thrilled to learn I had won the opportunity to be the one to give Missy a home. She arrived last week and I was beyond excited when I opened the box she was in and had my first look at her! What a beauty she is. Julie I just can't find the right words to tell you how grateful I am to be able to look at her sitting on my shelf!

Julie you are indeed a very talented lady and Missy will be a prized little lady here in my home always! Thank you again Julie!

Please do take a moment to visit Julie's blog (link above) and have a look at all the wonderful little ladies she had brought into the world.

Love to all!

Tina xo

Labor of Love

 It has been a hectic couple of weeks and sadly my blogging was one of the casualties. I kept hoping that I could scrounge away a a few minutes for myself but life kept conspiring against that happening. I guess what I need to do is just say to heck with everything else and sit down at the computer....
Oh well I did set aside time yesterday to finally paint a picture for some precious girls who love horses! Their mom has been a friend of mine for many years and they have a horse they adore and although I didn't have a picture of that horse I found one that I think they will love to hang in their room!
I still have a few others that I have promised to do for some very special people and today I start on one of 2 precious pups that belonged to a very special lady with a very special blog. When that is complete I will be sending it to her and posting about it later as I want her to see it first!
Love to all and I hope to get around to all my favorite blogs this darned week and see what I have been missing!!!


Love ya'
Tina xo
 

Just Listed on Etsy

One Christmas I was given a little hand loom made for children and for a number of years I had loads of fun making little yarn pot holders and coasters. Recently while looking through some old Belle Armoire magazines I came across an article featuring little amulet bags woven on a piece of cardboard from scraps of yarn,

 beads, ribbon....I guess you could pretty much add whatever you wanted to! It's easy and fun and once lined with a bit of cotton fabric, they could hold a couple of dollars or a debit card or small phone!

I ended up using some very old beads and a lovely yellow crystal, vintage yarns and old pieces of ribbon and although it didn't make much of a dent in my scraps box it was worth the effort in the fun I had!

 

(I hope these photos only showed up once but since Blogger and I have a friendly war going on they may be posted a few times...:( I have no way of knowing as to me they only show up once.)

If anyone would like to have the instructions from the magazine just let me know and I will be happy to pass them on!

Tina xo