Monday, October 30, 2017

Charity Art Auction for Puerto Rico begins today!


Art auction for pr s550

Charity Art Auction for Puerto Rico - dozens of artists from around the world have donated art to raise funds for Puerto Rico's much needed disaster relief. The auction opens today and ends Nov. 3rd. It's not too late to donate a piece of art, either, if you have one... we'd love you to participate in any way you can!




Just click on this link to check out the art that has already been donated:  Charity Art Auction for Puerto Rico

I hope you find something you love!
Hugs-
Renee

P.S.  This is the piece that I've donated (without my water mark on it), it's the original acrylic painting I did for Stampington's "The Coloring Studio Workbook" Vol. 4 and it has also appeared in Vol. 2 of "Just Mixed Media" magazine.



Saturday, October 28, 2017

Gel Plate and Stencil play

Do you have a Gel Plate? or two or three?  I have at least three different sizes and brought one out to play with today.  I forget I have them but they're very useful to make master boards which I then cut up for projects.  While pulling my prints I had too much paint on the GP so I grabbed a black canvas that was nearby to mop up the excess.  The colors were so vibrant that I placed a Prima stencil over my mess and used some white gesso to transfer a lovely face outline onto the canvas.  This is what happened.




A little Jane Davenport paint, a little Dina Wakley paint, a cute butterfly and a Washi tape eye and voila!

Thanks for allowing me to share my art with you and always thanks for stopping by!
Hugs ~ Renee

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Altered Paint Brush- AIRs Wood Challenge




On the Imagine blog today I'm sharing one of my altered paint brushes.  The challenge for the AIRs design team was "wood".  This is a small wooden paint brush, a great way to recycle a used paint brush that has messy paint etc. on it.  They are inexpensive and can be purchased by the case, I know because I "found" a whole case of them in my husband's shop area.  WooHoo!  Score!!  Ahem.... trying to maintain a little dignity here.  He actually gave me permission to use as many as I wanted after he saw what I did with it.

The instructions and the supply list are found today on the Imagine Blog, please pop on over there and take a look when you have time.  These altered brushes are so much fun to make and look really awesome in real life.  Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share my work with you.

Hugs~ Renee

Friday, October 20, 2017

Color Challenge: Aubergine

On the Imagine blog today I'm sharing an Aubergine (eggplant) colored tag.  This is a mixed media piece that includes gesso, stenciling, rubber stamping, heat embossing and a little washi tape.






For the instructions and a supply list just check out the Imagine blog.  Thanks so much for stopping by today~  Hugs ~ Renee

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Two Friends Favorite Blog Posts Series



I have the honor today to be featured on Marjie Kemper's blog as a part of her series called "Two Friends Favorite Blog Posts".  I'll be there alongside the very talented Kaz Hall.  Just click HERE to read the article.




Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hugs~ Renee

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Chocolate Tag for Imagine


One of  the themes on the Imagine blog for this month is "Chocolate".  I made a chocolate tag with all types of chocolate in mind...white, dark, milk chocolate, the list goes on and on.  Check it out on the Imagine blog for instructions and a supply list.

Thanks for stopping by ~ hugs ~ Renee

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Zentangle, Mixed Media and Apple Picking in New England

I just got home from spending a glorious 2 weeks in New England.

  My husband and I moved to Bolton, Massachusetts in 2001. Neither of us had ever lived in a cold climate like that, what a change from Southern California!  After 14 years of shoveling snow my husband finally cried "uncle" and we moved to the warmer weather of South Carolina 2 years ago.

We made friends in Mass. that are more like family than anything.  One young couple has been like our own kids for many years and their daughter calls us Nene and Papa.  At nine Lanie is still trying to figure out who we are.  (lol)  They needed a babysitter for 2 weeks so off we went.  September is my favorite month in N.E., no complaints here.

The two weeks were filled with playing mommy, fixing school lunches, bus drop off and pick ups, laundry, cooking, blah blah blah.  I did manage to visit tons of old friends, go to see the Phantom of the Opera at the Boston Opera House, teach two Zentangle classes and also teach a little Mixed Media in my spare time.  Oh, and apple picking!  Apple picking just means pie baking to me, with the freshest, most delicious apples in the world.  Last year I kept moaning about the apples here not tasting as good so a friend in Mass. went out, picked apples, filled a box and shipped them to me.  You would've thought someone gave me a box of diamonds!  I made 5 pies and froze most of them for later.  That should give you an indication of the nature of the folks there, they are as sweet as their apples.

I wanted to give you a little background story before sharing these photos.  The awesomeness of Zentangle, my Mixed Media portrait technique conquered by another 12 year old newbie, and the beautiful countryside of Massachusetts showcasing the apples from my old stomping grounds.



Drawing faces with a Jane Davenport stencil and Distress Crayons


With this technique I can teach anyone to draw a face they're delighted with


Taking an hour walk through the countryside, the leaves haven't changed yet


My favorite place to pick apples


When you buy your bag you get a map of the orchard telling you which apples are which, go to the flag to pick designated trees marked with ribbons


This is a nice one!


These were delicious too


A close up showing the beauty of apples!


This bag doesn't look like much but it is a 1/2 bushel bag (translation 20 or more pounds of apples) that I paid $35.00 for and then filled with a variety of apples.  My friend, Lisa, and I spent about 2 hours picking apples in 90 degree weather.  It was unusually warm in Mass. for September.  I was expecting cooler temps. It took both of us to carry the bag back to the car.  No matter, I went back to the house and baked a couple of beautiful pies.  I shipped the rest of the apples home to myself, let's hope they are not applesauce by the time they arrive.

I did manage to teach two Zentangle sessions.  One was at a Montessori type school with children ranging in ages from 5 to 15.  I didn't expect much interest but ended up with 15 students.  The teacher said in 5 years he'd never heard a silence like that
 for such a long period of time.  The second class was a mommy and me type class, here's a sample of that group's work.  I believe the 4 year old's tile is the one in the center.  Not bad for a bunch of newbies!  This was the first time for most of them to do Zentangle.  It's hard to believe that everyone is doing the same pattern at the same time and yet the results are so different.



It was a delightful visit for all of us.  I think Lanie was happy to have just mommy and daddy with her after those strict "pretend" grandparents finally left.  I must admit I forgot how hard it is to raise children.  The tight scheduling, baths, hair washing, homework, etc. keeps one so busy there is barely time for much else.  I'm happy to be home and back in my studio.  Just hoping those apples get here intact tomorrow.  

Thanks for stopping by!
hugs,
Nene

(I mean
Renee)

P.S.  Just a side note, I have an apple pie recipe on the blog a few years back if you need a recipe for pie dough and apple filling, you might want to try it, it is easy and good.