Amelie Fira Ives

This little drawing is in memory of my cousin, Amelie. She is in heaven now after a long courageous battle with cancer. She was only 6 and a half years old.

Tarnished Angel

This little angel made her way into my journal the other night. She looks like she may have gotten in a bit of trouble and wasn't sure what to do.

Jeanne Oliver's Class

I took a wonderful free class from Jeanne Oliver at jeanneoliverdesigns.com. She really brought to mind how we can get along with just a few supplies. I loved doing this piece and it has given me a much needed kick to get back into what I love, art!

Soul Food Classes

I've skipped a few classes and will go back to them at some point. Just going to post the rest of the classes I've finished to date. Hopefully I'll be on here again soon with some new pieces.

Two pieces of "outsider" type art. 

This first one was working with posters and signs from around our area. We were in Bisbee, Arizona and I found several pieces.  Didn't have the materials with me to make the physical piece so I created it on my computer using Photoshop Elements. We were also to create a signature stencil using our initials and meaningful signs or numbers. My initials are "mtc", the divide symbol represents my working life as a "bean counter" and the number 63 is very meaningful, it is the year our daughter was born.

Loved doing this piece too! Actually, I've loved every class. The teachers are all fantastic!

It's hard to see it in the photo, but this is a piece done in darker and lighter shades to create an illusion of depth and "My Garden" was finished with a layer of glass bead gel. It's very cool in person.

We used a piece of material and other elements to create this piece.

In this class, we took a piece we weren't crazy about and learned how to change it. It's amazing how you can change something by using the right steps. In the finished piece, her left eye looks really dark for some reason, but her eyes are actually amber and quite light. 

We took an old record album and created a background with all kinds of media. We picked a song of our choice for the theme of our piece. My song is "Brand New Key". We painted the record and wrote the words to the song on it.

Loved doing this piece! So much fun! We sewed around the edges, painted with our hands, flung a stain and paint mixture across the canvas and threw a string at the canvas that had been soaked in a dark paint. Then we wrote in cursive with exaggerated loops and finally drew our portrait with a black stabilo pencil (using very heavy lines) and then worked in some water for shading. 

I love this piece! She reminds me of San Antonio, one of our favorite places to visit.

Soul Food - Week Fourteen

This is where I got behind! The first class this week was to create a piece using a word. Mine was "dance". I finished her in Bisbee and when we got back home from our little getaway, I had to work for a few days and didn't get the second lesson done for this week.

So now I'll be playing catchup, meanwhile I skipped ahead to try and keep up with a current lesson here and there. I'm not going to complain too much. I think I did pretty well the first 13 weeks.

Soul Food - Week Thirteen

I've gotten behind in my postings for Soul Food. I'm also behind in my classes. Oh dear, what to do! Keep going, that's what!

In week thirteen we worked with collage and birds. The roadrunner was on the endangered species list and may still be. We certainly don't see them as often as we used to, but this year one has been living close to our property. He comes by to check out the lizards and mice. He's capable of killing a rattlesnake.

We were in Bisbee on a little getaway for the owl class. It was a perfect place to create my little guy.

Soul Food - Week Twelve

In week twelve, we learned how to do a transfer, print on tissue paper and combine these with a drawing. I did my piece in memory of my parents. They had a beautiful love affair that lasted over 60 years. They both played piano and the picture of my mom was from her prom, one of their first dates. 

The second class we created a mermaid and used a photo from a magazine for the face that we painted over.  A piece of netting (cheesecloth) was added into the paint for her dress. Lots of texture in their piece.

Soul Food - Week Eleven

In week eleven we made a cloth doll and created a piece using a bird pattern with printed papers. I used a piece of cardboard for my substrate.

Soul Food - Week Ten

In week ten we learned how to make a clay doll. I love her! We also did a mixed media piece using a picture from a magazine and painting over it.

Soul Food - Week Nine

In week nine we painted a portrait using a palette knife. We also created a mixed media inspirational piece.

Soul Food - Week Eight

In week eight we created a girl with a party hat and Koi fish swimming in a pond. 

All of these classes have been filled with techniques, learning about different products and sharing with fellow students in a wonderful community.

Soul Food - Week Seven

In week seven we created an abstract piece which was made up of several layers and then covered with a paint medium. You can see down through all the layers. We also created a piece to reflect "Trees are the Keepers of Secrets".

Soul Food - Week Six

In week six we learned how to paint a face using oil pastels, layering and blending the colors. We also did a piece using one of our favorite pictures as inspiration and started by creating a colorful textured background.

Soul Food - Week Five

In week five we learned how to let go and have fun painting a portrait using different colors and an old paint brush. We also learned how to make a shadow box using paper mache and our art pieces to fill it.

Soul Food - Week Four

In week four we made a small journal involving a paint product that turns into beautiful colors when it is mixed with water. Our second project that week was to create a mixed media piece on wood called Home.

Soul Food - Week Three

In week three we did a weaving with our art and added some collage. I added some cactus that I had drawn on my iPad. We also made little story books. I had so much fun making these, especially the one about the Five Little Monkeys one of my granddaughters favorite stories when they were little. The books are really small, perfect size to fit in your purse.

Soul Food - Week Two

In week two, we made our own journals and a cake. The journals even have pockets! I added a birthday calendar to mine.