Permission to ...Fly

Fly, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I am feeling a little better today. Those February colds can really get you. I still feel really tired, though. I think I am going to spend the rest of the day reading and drinking tea. I must say, it is so much nicer being sick with a kindle than without. I am on my 3rd Barbara Vine novel of the week.

I did take photos of my newest artwork though!

Fly
Dimensions: The frame is 3 x 4". The beaded portion is 2 & 1/2 x 1 & 3/4".
Media: beads and wing charm sewn on Ultrasuede, + frame. The frame is included.
Year: 2013

It's on Etsy.

Grumpy Cat Plush

Grumpy cat plush, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I have been sick this week and not good for much. Being sick with a Kindle is a minor improvement on being sick without one. I've read two Barbara Vine novels. I have failed to make any art. So this is something I made in January for a post-holiday "white elephant". (except this is an annual event that people bring cool stuff too, not just the stuff you can't believe anyone actually paid money for. Well and there was a shake weight and a battery operated duck and that was just weird.)

Grumpy Cat is so not amused.

Grumpy Cat
wool felt & polyester stuffing
I think he was about 8" tall.

Strings

Strings, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

This drawing was something I finished earlier in the week. I have not played my violin in a while but I pulled it out. I am sure it is dreadfully out of tune and I hope it does not need new strings. They are not very old - or at least have not been played on much -- but they should be loosened for long term storage and I do not think I did that. Well,I also did not intend it to be long term. At least having it out of the closet and leaning against the wall is a start. (In its case, of course.)

These sketches were more inspired by another violin - not the one I play. I have another one I got to paint. It's a 3/4 violin made in germany between 1891 and WWII. it is, i think, boxwood with a maple back and rosewood fingerboard. That violin is painted and hanging on my wall, and I pulled it down to be a photo reference for this drawing. I have another violin to paint, full sized. In theory the painted ones are playable but I still don't want to paint my good violin. I just feel a lot of attachment to it just the way it is - even if I have not played it in a very long time.

I'd like to draw some more violins... violas... cellos... maybe an accordion -- we'll see.

Strings
8x10"
pen and ink
available on Etsy

Art Girls - Art Saves Me

Art Girls, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

This drawing started out as one thing and quickly turned into another. This often happens and I've learned not to fight it. It was sort of inspired by a couple of on-line art friends discussing how they wanted glue sticks for Valentines. Though I opted to draw regular old school glue instead, as being more interesting to draw and more iconic. And I actually don't use fan brushes much (though maybe I should - they do fascinate me) they ARE fun to draw. Mostly I use small round brushes - 2, 4, and 6 the most. Sometimes 8. Natural fiber. The synthetic brushes probably do last longer but are not the same. I don't buy super expensive brushes. They last a few months or until they couch eats them at least. With watercolor there is less a tendency to leave them sitting in water - which is bad for them. With acrylic of course you are trying to clean the paint out of the brushes so it's easy to forget and leave them in water. I suppose someone might tell you otherwise but I find that if I set a watercolor brush down mid-painting - without rinsing it off first -- it's fine when i got back for it. Which is good since once I start making art, I tend to turn of the logic part of my brain - which is also probably why i find art so relaxing. Like many people, I think way too much. That may be one of the dangers of being an introvert. Art saves me, it really does.

Art Girls
8 x 10"
Pen and ink
Available on Etsy.

Tree Spirit

Tree Spirit, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

This is a painting I was working on last week:

Tree Spirit
8x10"
Watercolor, Ink, & pencil
Available on Etsy.

Over the last couple of days i have been doing some cleaning and organizing. Though I must say, it still looks like an artist lives here. I also hung a lot more art on the walls. Some might say it's too busy -- I am sure my stepfather would say that, as he prefers bare walls, perhaps he finds them soothing - but I am pleased that a lot of the piles are frames are no longer reclining in front of the fireplace. Though they will be replaced by more framed artwork when I take down the work I have at Cafe Lati at the end of the month. (See sidebar for info on that.)

Someone told me there are 2 kinds of artists - thought who have their own work on their walls and those that have the work of others on their walls. I think I am about half and half. I'm not sure what that means.

Ghost Tree

Ghost Tree, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I am kind of in love with this painting even though I painted it myself and that seems possibly slightly vain or something. Anyhow, here it is:

Ghost Tree
8x10"
watercolor & gouache
Available on Etsy.

inspired by:

“I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future - the timelessness of the rocks and the hills - all the people who have existed there. I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.”
― Andrew Wyeth

Goth girls, detail

Goth girls, detail, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

This is a detail of one of my pen & ink drawings, manipulated with instagram. You can see the whole drawing by clicking on the photo to go to Flickr.

I was determined to be slightly useful today and got up and started doing things before I turned on my computer. I made a big salad to last a few days and made some breakfast pumpkin muffins & some no-bake cookies for snacks.

Then for some reason, instead of folding laundry like I should have done, I started rearranging the art on my walls and hanging more stuff up. I am not sure if I overdid it - have to live with it a few days and see. but there are some things I am looking at right now that were in a pile in front of the fireplaces this morning and it sure is nice to see them AND nice to have fireplaces access. not that I need it because it's fake. It came with the place. I may replace it with a closet someday.

Goth Girls, detail
finished drawing is 11 x 14"
pen and ink
Available on Etsy