ImagineandCreate

goose in watercolor

I've been working on this goose study this weekend. The actual size is about 6 x 8 inches. Still working on it, just wanted to show it so far! I found the perfect feather out in the grass long after they had flown south. I love finding feathers!

greater white fronted geese and fall time tundra

Ahhh it felt good to get this done! I started at 10 pm last night after children were sleeping. I can see myself painting more in this style - it is relatively fast and i didn't get bogged down with details- which fits my free time challenged life style right now. I want to do at least 2 more to go with it of a snowy owl- and a snow bunting.

Check out my SIGG

Ever since I stopped drinking out of plastic containers, I've wanted a SIGG bottle but couldn't decide on which one I wanted. So I decided to try their design your own option! Fun! I like how it turned out- I used a watercolor sketch from my moleskine book. I think I'll make one for my laptop next.

littles

I made these little ACEO cards last night, for a local craft fair that happened today. I haven't ever made them before- it was fun to work fast and small (2.5" x 3.5") and feel like I had created something. 

a picture, and a list

Recent good things:

1. Marisa's e- course

2. early bed times for children and time to play with art

3. watching two foxes (fox?) chase each other at mach speed back and forth across the tundra

4. painting the colored wall in my bedroom back to a neutral shade of sea glass blue, from a bright spring green that limited my decor choices

5. Ian's yummy warm snuggles

6. Isabelle practicing 'ballet' 

7. a new macbook pro coming in the mail

8. paying off a credit card

9. frozen ground - no more mud or wet soggy tundra puddles

10. coffee in the morning

11. talking to a friend who makes me laugh

Book release getting closer

Oh what a treat to see the Spring 2010 Charlesbridge Publishing catalog- with my turtle right there in the middle of the cover! It seems forever ago that I finished the art for Turtle, Turtle, Watch Out!. I'm so excited for the release in February 2010.  They also list Whale Snow on their top 20 books list! This was the first picture book I illustrated, it came out in 2004.

Another exciting thing for me- my co worker just taught me the basics of how to use my sewing machine! I am SEW excited to have this skill. There is so muchfabric out there that I love, and want to be able to use! I'll start with some basic curtains and pillow cases. Will post if anything turns out!

cobalt blue is my desert island color. cobalt blue and a light yellow. I could (and do) spend hours mixing different shades of those colors.

watercolor + photoshop = fun

I guess she still wasn't finished! I played with photoshop and added more color.

Illustration Friday ~ Breezy

Illustration Friday's theme this week is 'breezy', so I finished working on this little for-fun picture. I started out on a page from an old book about Lappland, then pencil, then acrylic, then almost threw it away, then scanned in to photoshop and finished it. It's also fitting because we are holed up in our house waiting out a blizzard...out of milk, cheese, eggs...hoping it stops tonight!It has been a very breezy winter here to say the least. Hope all of you are cozy and warm in your igloos too!

The cure for a challenging day? Pull out a tray of water-soluble crayons, a piece of canvas and a damp towel, sit down and make a mess, finish with acrylic paints.

colors

Hi

Hello again! I just painted this very quickly while my daughter was preoccupied with something. The minute she sees me painting she finds a chair, drags it over to me and pretty much takes over. So I had to be quick! I wanted to have some sort of colorful image for this post so here we have some poppy type flowers for you.

For the past couple of weeks I have been mentally and emotionally preoccupied with deciding at which hospital in Washington I will deliver this baby in May. It's a bit more complicated this time around since I will be trying for a vbac. I wont go into what that is, for those of you who arent interested in the specifics of baby birthing, but yeah thats what I'm hoping for and I have done alot of research which lead me to find that the hospital where I had Isabelle has one of the highest - if not the highest- c section rate in the state. I have made my decision to go to a more supportive hospital this time, and after talking with them and buying our airplane tickets, I feel like I can relax a bit and concentrate on practicing how to relax during contractions, and just trying to stay healthy and happy. The sun will rise above the horizon this month, and before we know it we'll be wearing sunglasses again! I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again, as I always am this time of year. 

Here's a link to a site I've been addicted to lately, just one of those sites that cheers me up.

winter continues...

I painted these two acrylics for the annual holiday art & craft sale yesterday. They are going to be Christmas gifts for a grandmother in Minnesota, along with the two polar bear and gull paintings I posted a few days ago. I'm happy they are all going together!