A Dandy of a Day

Sunday morning.

Bright and beautiful outside.

The high today should be around 76° F.

And the winds are blowing.

They always blow in Maine.

Couldn't ask for a better day. 

In Our Back Yard

 Let's play . . . What's In Your Back Yard?

Hahaha! Mark has hunting cameras set up in the

back and side yards. He checks them each week to

see what kind of animals we have passing through.

And let me tell you we have had it all.

These pictures are from this past Sunday morning. In our back yard.  I think it's cool he got such great pictures. I don't think it's cool the bear is so close to our house. But. Other than that . . . isn't he cute?
AND if you are wondering what Maine wildlife is doing on my art page, well.  I started a blog called There Be Dragons Here and apparently not very many people are aware that it's there. So I am going to drop it and combine photos of  Maine, and my dragons, and our wildlife - with my art work.  I hope you don't mind. On the other hand,  this might mean daily postings again.  Yay!!!

Butterflies in Flight

About two weeks ago, I posted this background and showed the steps I took using a stencil to lift the background color, forming the shapes of the butterflies. You can see that post here. From there, I started drawing in the butterflies with black microns. I added color with a fairly new product from Zig - Wink of Stella Fine Glitter Dust pens. I love them! They provide color, glitter, sparkle, and shimmer, and are transparent so you can still see the tangle lines through them. So much fun! I hope you enjoy my butterflies in flight!

Nature ATC Swap

ATCs have been really big lately. Currently we are in the midst of a nature ATC swap. These swaps are a lot of fun! For this particular CZT swap, we decided to forego the "black and white" restriction, and let anything work. Color, mixed media, attachments - anything we wanted to do. Anything that said "nature" to us.

You know I've really been having lots of fun with these gardens lately. That theme mixes excellently with our nature swap theme, so I drew several garden pictures. I loved this little wooden mushroom that I attached with a pop dot.

For those of you who might now know, ATC stands for artist trading card. They are little bits of art, measuring 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", that you typically make to exchange with other artists of like minds.

In my last post, I told you that I had just returned home from spending three weeks with Kali following her auto accident. I drew most of these ATCs while I was at her home. 

It was really fun figuring out what to draw and prepare with so little supplies on hand. 

I really love these little felt flowers. So much so, that I made two similar ATCs.

I just love the mix of these tangles with the flowers.

Then, to fill in with other nature-related thoughts, like the ruff and eye of this dragon :).

Or this little Arctic fellow.

And then there were these Floridian types of nature. Had to share these, didn't I?

Maybe more than one.

I love this little guy. I had a hard time sending him on to his new owner!

You know, we have a lot of these little guys in Florida!

One of my favorites - a Floridian sunrise over the ocean!

I had the occasional "just because" ATC, like this fun little brad owl!

Did I mention I love this little flower set? From K & Company, I got a whole bunch of flowers - about 20 - for next to nothing on sale. So pretty and delicate.

I wish this picture was more in focus, but I am including it anyway. The nature swap was a lot of fun. I have all my ATCs completed and in the mail. Most have already reached their new homes. And I'm receiving some pretty cool ATCs in return. Gotta love it! This is so much fun!

Making Jellies in Cedar Key

Recently I saw an article on the internet where someone had painted a huge jellyfish on a canvas for a home decoration. While we were at Cedar Key last week, I sought to re-create her jellyfish . . . on a 2.5" x 3.5" Strathmore watercolor tile. These are the size used for ATCs and the watercolors worked wonderfully on them! I drew the jellyfish with a sepia micron pen, used some Pitt markers on the head, and added some tentacle detail with Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze pens.

Then, Kali wanted to draw a jellyfish, and she made Josh draw one as well. Here are our three jellyfish - a swarm of jellyfish, that being the official google name for a group of jellyfish :). Science lesson - √.