Dear You....

On this not so sunny day, I was thinking about flowers and birds and ended up creating my favourite piece to date.  Generally, I mix a bunch of layers of colours and textures, but today I kept it simple. The background is a mix of gold, white and light beige, and it looks kind of antiqued.  From my stash of words I had previously cut from some books, I found the word Dear and at that point I knew what I wanted to say.  Dear You, Believe in Your Wings,  Be Your Peaceful Wonderful Sweet Self.  Live and Love, and Forget Me Not.

To say I'm overjoyed with this piece would be an understatement!  I'd love to know your thoughts on it, so please feel free to leave a comment.  By the way, are you following LollyandSand on Twitter and Instagram?

Short post today....time to make a veggie chili - yum!


Thank you for stopping by!  Happy Crafting!


Sand

Another Mixed Media Sneak Peak

Hello Friday!  Is it just me, or do the weeks seem to pass by quickly? I'm all for slowing things down a bit!

Here's the sneak peak. This is about the bottom third of the painting I'm working on.  What I'm lovin' so far are the happy accidents - the layer with the flowers rippled and then was torn in places....but, the white paint I scraped (yes scraped) filled in those spots on the left bottom side of the pic below. Really interesting look!

I'm debating whether or not to add a sentiment to this painting.  I do have one in mind, but does it need it - I don't know yet.  Soon.  Maybe.  Hahahaha...eventually I'll decide.  No rush.

We're about to head outside to enjoy the mild temps today.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!


Sand

Be You

I'm just back from a walk in a local park.  There were lots of mucky paths, downed trees, early signs of spring and with the sun shining on our backs and the wind blowing, it was perfect!  The walk today reminded me of the beauty of nature, and that soon we'll be admiring spring flowers!

My painting today kind of reminds me of spring.  It's bursting with colours - the yellows, oranges and pinks are intense.  In contrast to the vibrant colours, I used a paper lace doily, ivory paints and some muted colours.  I'm super proud of this piece!

I had a message in mind for this painting, but was a wee bit unsure. For a second opinion I turned to Lolly.  Two thumbs up - yay!  And here you have the finished painting. Love!

That's all for today.  Thank you for stopping by!

Peace & Love

Sand

Feel the Calm

In the early days of learning mixed media painting, I never thought I'd get so much enjoyment playing with colours, textures and techniques.  I wish you could see the layers and details that my camera didn't pick up - it's truly amazing.

My favourite piece so far!

I have a few paintings on the go - some really vibrant and multi-coloured, others very soft.  I go with how I feel on the day.  For this painting I decided on four colours - 2 shades of purple, white, and a transparent green. You could say I was 'keepin' it simple'.

There are times when I can't decide what message I want for my paintings.  I really struggled this time, however, my diary of thoughts and feelings certainly came in handy.  When I look at this painting I see a magical forest with a wee bit of light shining through.  The words in my diary popped out at me - Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel the Calm.

How does this painting make you feel? Did you take a moment to take a thoughtful breath in and out? It really is so calming.


Thank you once again for stopping by.  Your comments are always welcome.


Sand

Monday Monday, How Lovely You Are!

I love waking up with a spring in my step, so after a quick and healthy breakfast, I decided to get messy.  Paint messy!

To change things up a bit, I used a plastic card to scrape and spread the paint thinly over the canvass, layering the colours.  What I found is they dried so quickly, I didn't have to wait for the paint to dry before adding more.  Is waiting for paint to dry like watching the grass grow? ☺ Hmmm, maybe, but patience is good.

Like my other mixed media sneak peaks, this painting has a long way to go.  At this point, I've used just four colours and added a wee bit of texture.  Overall, I'm liking it.  Not quite at the lovin' it stage, but again, patience is good.

Here'a a close-up of the detail at the bottom of the painting.  Pretty!

Interesting...when I'm inspired to paint, I'm inspired to cook. Off to the kitchen!

I hope you enjoy these little sneak peaks.

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Crafting,


Sand

Mixed Media - Times Two - Update

Happy Wednesday, and happy first day of March!  What a beautiful day we're having here in southern Ontario!  Amazing!

Here's another sneak peak of my latest mixed media paintings.  The process of mixing colours, layering, textures, and the transformation each piece fascinates me.  Painting with my hands - fun!  Finding household items to use for texturing - fun!

As usual, I don't have a particular end result in mind, so I'll patiently wade through the unfolding of wherever this takes me.
.

From pinks and pastels to blues, greens, gold and more.  I don't think the photo does justice to the intensity of the colours.  Hands down, these are my fave paintings so far!


Check out how they looked a week ago....craaa---zzy, eh!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a wonderful day!

Happy Crafting!



Sand

Mixed Media - Times Two

What a glorious weekend we're having in Southern Ontario.  Sunshine, mild temperatures, melting snow!  Plus, it's a long weekend to boot!  Lovely!

Today, I'm working on two mixed media paintings at the same time.  Same colours, same textures. Quite different already.  Even in this early stage, I love how they are coming together. 

I think this must be backward day - I ate supper at breakfast, and rather than in my studio, these paintings are being done in the living room on a board that's on an ottoman, topped off with a pink plastic table covering.  My Ikea 'art cart on wheels' is beside.  And, gasp, I didn't crop the photo. True! 😉 

Rest assured, I'm not going bonkers....I'm just going with what feels right for me today. I'm a go with the flow kind of gal.  Today, at least.  Hahaha.

The paintings have a long long way to go so be sure to back as I'll post more sneak peaks in the coming days.

Thank you for stopping by and Happy Crafting.

Sand

A B C . . .

What a busy week!  Two doctor appointments for mom, I helped a friend at her booth located at our local farmers market yesterday, and went to my volunteer job today. And...I came home to find my order from Amazon arrived....yippee!!

The messages on my mixed media art are stamped, and I really wanted certain stamps. 

Here are the stamps - upper and lower case..

Cavallini is the brand.

No time for stamping today, but I will use them very soon. 

Thank you for stopping by.  Happy crafting!

Sand

Find Your Beautiful Inner Peace

What a difference a day makes.  First day of August, and first finished painting of the month! What I love about this painting, other than everything...teehee... is, I started it yesterday.  Completing a painting this fast is wow wow wow, new to me!

Sometimes I tame the chaos in the background, but for this painting I felt the need to leave it and I'm so glad I did because as the face of the angel emerged and was so peaceful I knew what her message would say.  Find Your Beautiful Inner Peace.  

Inner Peace.  Love!

I wonder what the balance of the month will bring.  I know for me, it will be more mixed media paintings.  

Thank you for stopping by.  Happy crafting!

Sand. 

Hello....Life

Here's to another happy and productive long weekend!  I finished another mixed media painting, but not before taking the pup to the vet.  Seems he chomped on a stick and  a wee bit became lodged between his teeth.  All better now and the bill didn't break the bank...whew!

When I start painting and adding layers, I don't have a theme or colour in mind, so when the blue and green started to bring the canvas to 'life' I went with it.  I'm loving the happy colours and am having a great time creating new artwork.  I'm still very much a beginner taking baby steps.

Here's my angel.  She's very happy, thus her happy message.

I'm very happy with the way this piece came together.  I'm enjoying the journey of learning and creating outside my comfort zone.  Learning to be patient and let the art out naturally.  Being genuine and truthful.  It's a very freeing form of art.  Love!

Thank you for stopping by.  Happy crafting!


Sand

Angel of Peace and Love

Welcome to my crafty little world.  I'm still having fun with mixed media - really not a surprise.  It's such a wonderful free form of art.  And yes, I can paint outside the lines. Happy happy!

What I've discovered though, is I really need lots and lots of practice painting faces, shading, and so on.  For this angel, I had kind of messed up her face and eyes big time, so, I completely sanded and started over. Pretty cool, eh!!

I also found I had gone a tad bland with the colours.  Once again, the beauty of mixed media - just add more of whatever makes you happy.  In this case - red, brown, yellow, white, textures.

How cute is the bird?  Love the long tail feathers.  Imagine my delight when I found the Monarch butterfly wing in one of my books!  It makes such a fun little crown!  I've learned so much, and have so much more to learn from Kelly Rae Roberts.  Awesome awesome awesome e-courses!! Yes, awesome times three!

After the paint dried, I added her wings and the rest of the finishing touches.  I  recently received my Stampin' Up! order (yay!), and in the gorgeous stamp set called Weather Together, is the word 'love', and it stamped beautifully onto my canvass.

Her message is powerful and also gentle.

Peace and love

Beautiful

Angel of Peace and Love.

Love!

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  As always, I appreciate your comments so be sure to click on the comment link below.


Sand

More of something new and something else!

I'm lovin' mixed media.  Paint outside the lines (gasp!), and do what makes you happy.  This is my happy.  Mixing paints, being messy - no rules.  I bought a heavy apron that is now so wonderfully covered in paint from my hands and as my online artist instructor would say, you can see the history in it.  

Here's what I started a few days ago.  

Exciting, eh!!  Here's what I learned. Sand the wood before you put Gesso on it.  Well silly me!  I do tend to jump in with both feet and then realize I should have worn boots.

Picture two....

Adding collage elements.  And...here's what I learned.  It would be good to lay down some textures before..yes...jumping in with both feet.  This is a learning experience, but not a stressed out, crazy learning curve.  It's fun mucking about with paints and collage.

Picture three....

Now I'm cookin'...and having fun with bold colours!  Far from done though.

Next picture...

Well....I started another piece, but I will get back to this one.  Stay with me folks...I promise you a finished painting soon.

Fun Stuff & News

My mom is so sweet.  Tells it like it is.  No candy coating.  No filter.

I showed mom two of my paintings.  'I don't like them.  I don't understand this kind of art', 

I'm laughing now as I recall the conversation.  Told mom it's okay because everyone has different tastes.

Now to the news...I'm retiring after 37 years with the same company.  Am I delighted?  Absolutely!  

Thank for stopping by!  Please feel free to leave me a comment, become a member, follow my blog.  

Sand

A Venture into Mixed Media

A few years ago, in a little town called Stayner, Ontario, I wandered into a lovely little shop and found an art piece that I just had to have.  Fast forward - a friend visiting brought a book for me to take a look at - Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts.  I flipped through the pages and had an ah-ha moment when I realized the art I had purchased was by Kelly Rae Roberts!  Since then, I've followed KKR's writing and artwork,and wanted to take her e-courses.  Imagine my delight when Kelly Rae celebrated her 10 year in business by offering her courses at a discount!  Weeeeeee!  

Soooooo....here goes.  If you're familiar with mixed media, you'll understand what this is all about - layering textures and colours,  Funny thing is when to stop.  Am I done the painting...maybe...LOL

Stampin' Up! folks - you'll see how I was able to incorporate some of SU's awesome products into the painting.  Not just for cards - yup!

Here's a look at it with a few layers.  Which side is up, down....at this point it - no idea.

What a fun process!  I haven't finished viewing all the courses, but I do have a couple more pieces in the works.  

I'm looking forward to this Saturday - visiting my fave SU demonstrator for the new SU catty launch! Love the products!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Crafting!

Sandy