Back to art again?

Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to some art now. After the demise of ATCards.com and TheMailArtist, a group of keeners got together and created first ATCsforall and then MailArtWorld to replace our lost homes. I offered some assistance and have been a support admin person for them. Both are now up and running smoothly and don't take up much time now, so hopefully.....

However, I am taking an oil painting class, which has given me a creative opportunity for the last 2 weeks. So far, I've created nothing worth bragging about or showing. Hopefully that will change with practice.

In the meantime, what other little craftsy time I've had, I've had to give to the quilt. But it's coming along and I may even finish it before the little guy (the Peanut) decides he's ready to face the world.

My first acrylic still life

Well, I have been able to do at least something creative every day. Often just work on an ATC, usually I'll also work a bit on the baby quilt. Recently tho, as part of a a-thon at IllustratedATCs.com a group of us painted and drew from the same photo to see if the others could blindly tell whose was whose based on their familiarity of the artists style.

Really just meant to be a fun exercise, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I often work in watercolor and pen and suspect that is what people might have expected from me, but this painting done on 8x12 canvas board was done in acryllic. I'm quite new to acrylic, so don't have the technique down quite yet. But for one of my first attempts, it wasn't too bad.

Progress on the quilt

Progress on the quilt is slow but sure.

I've had the background done for awhile. It's really just sky and water, so was easy. Onto that I've appliqued a rainbow and Noah's arc and am adding the animals now. Each day I'm trying to get at least one more animal on.

Originally I was thinking of having more animals along the outside border. I'm beginning to think that might make it too busy. Will have to decide soon though. Here is my original pencil sketch, I quite like its simplicity.

So far, there is the giraffe, cat, elephant, lamb, and monkey. The little monkey is dangling from the elephants trunk. Later I'll add the embroidery detail on the animals.

So here it is. The clouds aren't on, that is only the pattern that I've cut. And there are still a few pins in the lamb.

All done with my Frida cards

I finally got my Frida Kahlo cards done. I'm not sure I'll try her again. I started out using the cards as an exercise in colored pencil portraits. But notice that none of them really look like Frida, nor do any of them even look like the same person. Hmmmm.

Something artsy each day....

I'm trying to squeeze something artsy in each day. Even if its only

tidying up my area (yes, I did get it done).
Even if its only working on 1 little ATC or ACEO.

So far, so good.

I altered a couple of needlecases that I had due and worked on a fun swap for the ATCards site. Theme was "We're Canadian" so I had fun with Bob and Doug MacKenzie. What's more Canadian than beer, snowshoes and touques? Anyway, it was all in fun.

There is a Frida Kahlo swap that I tried to stay away from, but it keeps calling me back so I thought I'd tackle one or two and see.

I saw the movie about her life years ago and have been interested in her ever since. This is the first time I've tackled Frida. Her bold, lusty style is sooo different than my own.

For my first card, I decided I wanted to combine Frida with the sexual fruit she was so fond of painting. So I adapted her Sun and Life painting to include her. I titled it "Diego Forgets".

Also worked on the baby quilt some more.

An artsy day

Today I was able to do crafty/artsy stuff almost all day. What a nice change of pace.

I took pictures of some jewelry to get it ready to put on Etsy. And I'm making gains on catching up on my art commitments. I've now finished all of the Famous Artists PAT for IllustratedATCs.com. Including a hostess card for Meran (the Eve card) for being such a fab hostess.

But I also got a card done for the EtsyARTery team AND a card for my secret Valentine. I can't show it just yet. I called this "h 'ARTery". The idea came to me yesterday and after playing with it, this is what I came up with. This is about as abstract as I get I'm afraid.

AND, I even worked on the baby quilt today. YEAH!

Haunted by commitments

I've been trying desperately to get caught up on all my artsy commitments. Here's what is still haunting me.

1. Valentine package swap - need to send next week
2. 2 altered needlecases - 1 done (due end of month)
3. Famous Artists PAT - 3 done including hostess card, so 1 more needed (due end of month)
4. 3 Zetti Tarot cards (the ones I'm sweating buckets over) - sketches made ( I have time here)
5. fabric postcard - overdue, but I'm struggling with this one too, and she said she's ok. I have started it (but then I did 3 previous versions that I didn't like, so....)
6. 2 8 x 11 paintings green - not due till June

I had to drop a art quilt swap I was in. I hated to, but the timing was killing me. It looks like it will be an ongoing thing, so I hope to pick up some spots after I have to finish that baby quilt I'm working on. But I gotta get that quilt done and that is what's stressing me. I only have 4 more months. So, once I get the due now stuff out of the way, then I can focus on the quilt and work on the tarot cards and green paintings here and there for a break from the quilt.

So, this weekend is the time I've alotted myself to get those first 3 caught up and hopefully the postcard too. Once those are done, then the heat is off.