Day 31 - One month and going

I can't believe a month went by! I have seen major improvements but mostly a change in how I perceive thing. I am usually very obsessive of things being perfect - not anymore. This exercise/goal/resolution is for me to practice, and make it a part of my everyday. Not perfection. And most importantly to have fun. I hope it shows.

Alexia in flight (lovebird in watercolor)

Alexia was my first lovebird who loved me as much as I did her. She lived to be 11 and is missed every single day... I captured her in flight when she was about 3years old, a tiny picture that I carry with me in my wallet so it was tough to see details.
So one month down 11 more to go!
Venetia

Day 30 - Lack of sleep

Loud music, screaming, cursing and what sounded like an argument...ongoing. Lovely neighbors under us. Funny as we never hear them. So I ended up sleeping late, only to wake up at 3am from loud banging. This morning I found out that the police came and took 2 people to the station. And the party hostess? The granddaughter of the owner...  As a result I wasn't able to wake up at 6... oh well. Painting completed

Summer sunset

I was amazed at how all that snow was hanging from that pole

icicles breaking off from the balcony above me

:)
Venetia

Day 29 - Waking up on time!

YAY!!!! woke up at 6am and painted before I went to work.  I was soooo proud of myself :D  Going to work and back was a challenge. Ice is not my friend - due to the hand injury... and I hate wearing my brace :(

day 29 start

Decided to draw my doll. Interesting story about her - she was an Ebay purchase a few years back, and they claimed she was possessed *grin*. Supposedly her aura changes when one plays the piano _ but I never saw such a thing happen (maybe she didn't like my playing). I bought her because her outfit looked a lot like a halloween outfit I had during mardi gras one year in Greece (our halloween). She always looks so sad and pale and lonely even though I keep her in the living room.

Here she is

doll

I think she cracked a smile when she saw the finished painting  :D

what I had to climb over

awwww!

They say more snow is on the way...
Venetia

Day 28 - having fun

Yesterday was a long day, as I didn't get to bed till 2am. Yes.. I know - no good- but I was working on my Etsy and Twitter accounts. My Etsy store opened in 2007 but I never really used it. Just had a grand re-opening on 1-1-11 and I am still working on figuring out how to promote it. I am getting there
Today I decided to do something fun. A makeshift still life dedicated to my sister as all the items belong to her. Her frog lens case, piglet and piggy plus her tiger eye stone.

Froggy and Piggy still life

watercolor  hog fest

hehe.. fun fun!
off to work on the etsy store. Eventually I will also sell paintings too, in the mean time check out my jewelry there www.moonsirens.etsy.com
Venetia

Day 27 - Snowbound

Thundersnow. First time I ever witnessed such an event and I Loved it!

This morning everything was at a standstill and in a state of emergency. Lots of time to spend indoors so I created longer than my usual couple of hours and created the following:

Rose Quartz

Citrine

Celestite

Rose quartz is used to attract love, Citrine to calm down and settle your solar plexus(especially when in tense situations) and Celestite is for creativity. 
According to healing crystals website  here are their properties:
http://www.healingcrystals.com/Quartz__Rose_Articles_63.html
http://www.healingcrystals.com/Citrine_Articles_116.html
http://www.healingcrystals.com/Celestite_Articles_119.html

These will be up for sale on my Etsy (moonsirens.etsy.com)store shortly!
Venetia

Day 26 - Let it snow

Woke up from the birdies who were throwing a fit... turns out Oscar caught his feathers in the nesting box top... and was freaking out. And then I saw the snow outside...  Lots of it with predictions of  THUNDERSNOW tonight!

I decided to look through some calendars and found a picture of some ruins in Naxos. I thought it would be challenging and ... warm.

*grins* I finished this in less time than my others and felt that it had a better flow while painting.
Venetia

Day 25 - looking for warmth

It is sooooo cold out there, and overcast- so I decided to warm up my thoughts with a beautiful soft sunrise from August in Ocean City, MD .

Start

Ocean City at 6:30 am

mmmmmm

Ahh to have some rays and listen to the waves...
Venetia

Day 24 - Improvements

Today I am going to use the wet on wet technique, to see if I see a difference with my other paintings.

day 24 start

Emmy curious about mommy's painting

Picture taken with my blackberry 

Daffodils - with Flash

Daffodils - without flash

Close up detail

I really had fun with this today and I hope the end result shows it. Daffodil is my favorite flower. :D 
At the moment my palette is limited to the colors in my kits (of which I don't know half the colors in my bigger one) but I can't wait till i figure how they all blend with each other.
Venetia

Day 23 - Memory

My hand has been bothering me with this weather. They called for northern winds...and they sure came and its freezing outside. So last night I just curled under a blanket and watched a few episodes of Psych with my sister. End result? I never picked a subject for today's painting, but when I woke up this morning I had a lingering memory stuck in my mind. Maybe because I was wishing for warmth... but my mind went back to a summer night in Greece. I have sketched this scene a thousand times over the years- this is the first time I painted it.

Deceptive sunrise...it's freezing out there!

Summer 1987, Thessaloniki, Greece

Funny that from that whole evening, this is the only scene that has stuck in mind over the years. Be assured that this will be repainted probably in different mediums.
Venetia

Day 22 - testing things out

I sketched the rose last night and masked it, set up the table so I can just get up and just paint. And miracle of miracles I woke up at 6:30am LOL. Not as bad as the rest of the week. Was a bit disappointed that there was no sunrise to enjoy this morning, I love watching it.

watercolor

acrylic (day 21)

I had no problem with the background and buds..but a couple of petals annoyed me. I think i made it work. What I would like to see is smoother blending of the shades. And maybe more color.  Also i am finding I don't like this paper as much as the previous pad I was using. Will check tonight and see what the difference is.
Now comparing the 2 paintings I don't know which one i like the most. In the end I enjoyed painting both versions. :D
Venetia

day 21 - Grrrr acrylics

Have I lost my patience with acrylics? Or was it the lack of sleep? The paints kept on drying, my colors weren't mixing... I was ready to pull my hair out. I opted to go more purple-ish on my interpretation. I wasn't feeling the "pink" today. The canvas was small - 4x6 and I was excited to try it.

Turned out fine, but I don't know how I am handling it. I was having a tough time painting what I was seeing, instead of painting what I thought I saw. I might try this one tomorrow in watercolors to see the difference.
Venetia

Day 20 - obstacles

One has the best intentions. And then life happens.My hand injury has been acting up, enough to make me go back to bed 3 times.And of course I didn't plan ahead of time...  Wonderful lunch with friends at 12, family visit at 6,and friends over at 8...  I created between 7- 8:30pm. But would that be all? no.. How about no internet access till 6:30pm?????

4 earrings in silver plated copper. Some with the evil eye (which I love).Hand is acting up again - there might be snow tomorrow 2-4 inches. Hitting the advil and hope that I can go to bed earlier than the past 2 nights.
Venetia

Day 19 - painting glass

Everyday I try to challenge myself to improve my skills. Glass has been a scary prospect.
So here it is:

I liked the result, though you can't tell on the photograph. The flash washed out the colors and the one here without flash darkens it too much. Oh well, I will work on that too.*sigh* I tried to photoshop it  but I wasn't liking the results.
On to the next project!

Venetia

Day 18 - Watercolors

Another snowy day in Philadelphia. Woke up at 6 but my hand was hurting, so slept in till 10am.
Just finished the painting. I wasn't sure how it would turn out as I have never painted a delicate intricate
flower painting before.  Andrea gave me permission to use her pictures from her various trips around the world, to use for my paintings.

Not a bad interpretation! Right?
Venetia

Day 17

Overcast day- I knew it because I didn't want to get up. I really wanted to paint but couldn't pick what subject  to work on so I switched to wrapping  a stone and made some brass heart pendants. The birds wanted to watch me today but every time  I tried to take a picture of them , they scattered !

http://www.healingcrystals.com/Calcite_-_Green_Calcite.html
to read about Green calcite, but it also attracts  money!!!

front

back

brass hearts

Venetia