create a journal page that represents the 1st day of school.....

this for me was an easy challenge since school starts tomorrow for the students in my district....I am a middle school art teacher in the town I live....I believe that I have the best job in the whole school....To go to work and teach students to do things that I love is a treat......I was trying to do 2 things at the same time on this challenge since my time these days has been limited....so I created a page that I will use in another way and you will see as we move on.....

I started painting a mat board with some of my favorite colors......

  

I punched circles in some of my favorite scrap book pages.......

then outlined them with sharpie markers.......and then cut those circle down the center....

I hot glued them down on the dried painted mat  board....

I inserted the board into a vintage frame that I spray painted glossy black....

I gathered some of my favorite supplies.......

 

and glued them down as a mixed media collage page. This framed piece now hangs on my class room door to welcome all my new art students tomorrow for the first day of class.

create a journal page that represents the 1st day of school.....

This week's challenge was from Laura McHugh East. She's a teacher and this was her week to go back to school, so we are seeing summer vacation coming to an end and starting to look at school time.

I've been super busy with vacation and so many other things that I decided to do my challenge using Photoshop.

I bought this cool little journal awhile back. I haven't written in it because it is about 100 pages - each a different paper. I wanted to save the pages to be able to scan them, just in case I needed a sheet of graph paper or braille paper.

The notebook had a page of that paper they give you in grade school to practice your handwriting.

I scanned it, cropped it, and then used a font in Photoshop called School House Cursive to write an entry on the journal page. By the way, it was really bizarre that the other page of my scan was graph paper from a company that does the same kind of consulting engineering I do right here in San Francisco, and I know them!

I heard somewhere the other day that schools are no longer teaching cursive writing. Kids that get cards from grandparents have been asking their parents to read them for them.

Unbelievable!

Ice Cream, You Scream - We All Want Ice Cream

This week's challenge was developed by me, Laura McHugh West, which is to make a small painting of your favorite ice cream novelty.

The challenges were created in late 2011, and I am surprised that I proposed this one, because I am not crazy about having anything at all on my ice cream.

However, I forged ahead and used some new Sennelier oil pastels, which by the way, are so yummy they are almost good enough to eat.

I am also reading a new book called Drawing Lab for mixed media artists. I used the skill of drawing with my non-dominant hand to sketch a bowl into which I drew a scoop of vanilla ice cream.


 


If I have anything at all on my ice cream, it is a scant amount of hot fudge and a maraschino cherry.

Ice Cream

I have been a bit behind on our challenges  because I have  been so busy with some other art challenges but I am back and ready to go.....This week was Laura from the WEST coast's challenge and I was happy to take on the challenge...




                                    ice cream did someone say "ICE CREAM" always a favorite....

well for the past several months I have been on a diet and have lost 30 pounds so ice cream I thought would be out of the question....boy was I wrong.......my Doctor asked if I liked ice cream???? LIKE ICE CREAM I thought who doesn't like ice cream.....well he said I was allowed a 100 calorie ice cream every night......

Well I was in Heaven when I had my first bar......skinny cow is so delicious and truly yummie.......

they have several flavors and they are all great!

so I was happy to draw something that I love to enjoy each and every day or should I say every  night!

of  course I grab my favorite water color crayons......

and then my water brushes................

you can color sloppy and it still comes out looking GREAT!

well here is my finished piece......I did a little doodling using some sharpie markers and a little more color....If you are trying to lose a little weight and feel that you are missing your favorite ice cream...you will be delighted by Skinny Cow products..let me know what you think after you give them a try......

Favorite summertime foods...................or drinks........

this weeks challenge comes from me Laura McHugh EAST coast....It's been a few weeks since we have done the challenges, first some needed rest , vacation time, then computer problems...but I am back and ready  to go...Thanks Laura McHugh WEST for being so patience with me...

Favorite summertime foods.....or drinks....

Dark and Stormie's and Strawberry Basil Mojito's in Newport Rhode Island. We vacationed  in Newport last summer and learned all about Dark and Stormies.....made with Gosling's Ginger beer and Gosling's Bermuda Black Rum....with a twist of lime....the Best......and our new favorite....

lobster rolls.....always a summer favorite

can't forget cupcakes

and more cupcakes...from cupcake Charlies also in Newport......

more Dark and Stormie's along with a vodka and cranberry twist of lime.....

's

oh do we miss these....mussels form the black pearl restaurant along with new England clam chowder....yummie...

these are just  a few of my favorite summertime food and drinks......

Hope you got to enjoy some of your favorite meals this summer.....

Summer Foods This Week

This week's challenge from Laura McHugh East was to photograph summer foods. This is especially challenging for me this year, because the summer foods I love - hot dogs, ribs, corn on the cob, ice cream (oh, ice cream) - are all pretty much off limits to me.

My youngest left for college a few weeks ago, and I decided it was time to lose all that baby weight. After all, I've been dragging it around now for 17 years, give or take.

I am proud that I haven't done too much yo-yo dieting, which I have heard can be really hard on your body. Or maybe worse for my heart, blood pressure, etc. that I've just kept this extra 50-60 pounds around.

There is nothing like all your children finally being gone to have you feel "with yourself." No distractions of noise, schedule, fighting over the remote control. No worrying about whether they will get home by curfew, carry hurts from jilted relationships to the dinner table, whine about high school team members not pulling their weight. The drama quotient is low - so low as to be almost non-existent.

So I figured this is a good time to get back in shape. I'm doing it by teaming up with Jenny Craig. It was easy because I gave the departing daughter mountains of food that I can't eat, at least not for the next few months. She needs a stocked pantry, and I'm happy to just have those little blue boxes with exactly the right portions to help me manage my self-control.

Summer foods? The JC foods are the same - year 'round and they are surprisingly tasty. I am fond of the turkey burger, the southwest chicken and rice and the lentils and beef. I augment that food with my own salads and veggies, and some fruit. So here are my summer food photos:

I roast veggies every few days to put on my dinner plate as a bed or foundation for what's for dinner. That can be ravioli, carbonara pasta, swedish meatballs. I'm not overly fond of veggies, but roasting them is really good. I do eggplant and onions as staples, then whatever else might be fresh. Today it was asparagus and an orange bell pepper.

Fresh fruit is allowed, but limited to 1/2 cup twice per day. I have a small dish of fruit, usually cantaloupe, with breakfast. A beautiful ripe peach or plum is a great afternoon snack. The fruit is pretty to look at in this arrangement my mother made. She says if you cut the top off the pineapple and leave it upside down for 2-3 days, it will ripen and be really sweet. We'll see!

What are your favorite summer foods/drinks?

Summer Playgrounds

Welcome back! We took a little vacay from our art challenge to rest up (both of us!), travel (LM East) and send some kids off to college (LM West).

Summer is quickly coming to a close - Labor Day will be here before you know it. So we thought this week should be about making a piece of art that is in the theme of summer: kites, playgrounds, picnics. Whatever summer means to you. I got to pick this theme and here is what I came up with.

I love playgrounds - have since I was a little kid. Playground equipment  comes up in my art all the time, like this swing from a piece I did in 2007. This piece is about 6 feet long, painted acrylic on chipboard (file folder paper) with paraffin wax coating.

 

For this week's challenge I am showing a photo of a piece I did a little while back in encaustic. Encaustic is beeswax with damar resin added. 

I used an image transfer process to put a merry-go-round on a wood substrate that had several coats of clear encaustic on it. 

I added pink and white pigments to small pans of encaustic and used a hake brush to paint in the colored areas around the playground equipment. 

I love this pink color and seem to use it a lot in my work. 

The merry-go-round evokes a time of innocence to me. This equipment was also scary - I remember that we could get it spinning really fast and the object of the game, sometimes, was to see if we could get my little brother to fly off it onto the dirt.

Back before there were video games, all summer was spent at the playground - on the swings, teeter totter, slide, bars, and on this merry-go-round. 

Photo portraits.....with LOVE.....

Take a photo of someone you know and draw their portrait from the photo and  decorate it up with things they love....was this weeks challenge from my friend Laura McHugh from the WEST.........
I wasn't sure who I was going to choose, but my son Ryan came to mind...he will be turning 24 this week and I thought it would be a nice surprise for him as a little mini gift so that is what I did...

I searched my picture file on line and found this nice picture of Ryan....

I searched for all his favorite magazines.....

I traced around his photo with black sharpie marker....

then put water color paper over the photo and set it on my light box and re traced all the lines...

I colored it in with my favorite water color pencils.....

painted with my water brush........

then went through all the magazines and cut out things Ryan loves....I mod podged it all down on the watercolor paper

and here is the results....I hope he likes it...HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN....LOVE YA

Very Late, But Here is My Portrait

This week's challenge, due last Sunday (7/15) was mine (Laura McHugh West). The challenge was to create a portrait of someone and embellish the background with things that person is about.


I chose to study my friend Mia. She is Persian and a beautiful woman. Strong, with decisive opinions, and a very good heart. I love her a lot.


I started by painting her face on a large (15x22) piece of watercolor paper. I'm not very good with portraits or watercolor, so I used a photo of her to lay down the basic proportions. I did that by tracing over the photo on the paper with a blunt object. That gave me a basic idea of where to do the outline.


It is surprising how much even a small change in the dimensions of a cheek, eye or hair style can change the look of a person.


Many friends who also know Mia saw my initial drawing, here, and recognized her. One person commented that her eyes are very souful, so I knew I had captured the essence of my friend Mia, because she does have very beautiful eyes. This is not the completed Mia, becuase I still had to finish her hair. I wanted to do the background first to be sure to keep the colors all in balance.

Mia is Persian so I wanted to start the background with a Persian tiled theme. I painted squares in watercolor as though she was standing up against a tiled wall. I also did some on her eyes and hair using a blue black for the hair and Inktense watercolor pencils on the eyes to maintain a bit more control. I went over the eyes with a small brush with some water on it.

I did more work on the background which then seemed too bright for what I wanted to do over it, which was put things I know Mia likes in the square so I covered it with a wash of opaque white paint mixed with just enough water to thin it  out so the background showed through a bit.

For the embellishments, I chose inspirational sayings my friend posts on her Facebook page. I find them soothing and wise and they reflect who she is - wise, kind, gentle. I tried to mimic the fonts used on the Facebook images, then added some small whimsical drawings to finish it off.

I hope you enjoy Mia's portrait. This was a challenging challenge because it is not good when you don't get someone's likeness in a flattering way, but I believe Mia will be happy with the results and the lesson for me is even when you are afraid, dive in and see what happens!

creating "SUMMER TIME" banners

this was the challenge I wanted us to do ...Laura McHugh from the east coast.......I had BIG plans for this challenge and then found out that this is such a busy and crazy time that I really didn't have the time like I wanted to put into it.....But I gave it my all....so here goes....

I wanted to create something QUICK since I am pressed for time...so I grabbed my shipping labels and thought they would work just fine....

I thought why not just write "SUMMER TIME"

so I  painted that on the labels...........and wanted to think of items that would represent each letter....

I found out that was harder to do then I would  have thought.....what can you think of that starts with the letter "M" and then to make 3 different objects for that letter......I couldn't do it so I doodled a bit......

I wanted to take some pictures of the banner in a summer like setting and I found 3 nice spots around my yard......

the garden gate.......

the apple tree..................

and then where it will stay protected from the elements...under the porch umbrella......I have to  say I am happy with this even though it wasn't one of my original plans....Hope you are enjoying your "SUMMER TIME"