ACEO week of 7/24

English Maiden



All ACEOs posted from here on will be available the week of their creation (above title) on eBay.

Go To Auction >>

"Blue Eyes" and The Project Cloud

I have created a link and blog just for my projects. So to continue watching the progress of "Blue Eyes" tutorial and other projects, please follow this link...

The Project Cloud

You will also find this link in the side bar to your right. Below that link you will find the title "Musing Feathers". This link will, from now on, hold all of my Illustration Friday projects.

:)

"Blue Eyes" - A Tutorial Project

I thought while I did this piece I would show you my process from beginning to end.

This piece has been in my mind for some time now. With the day being a hard one, I figured it was a sign that it was time to bring this to paper. During the weeks I usually stay here in Des Moines while Sterling lives in Grimes (about 20mins away). With gas prices so high, we don't see eachother much throughout the week. Missing him greatly also brings this piece to paper. Sorry babe, but you're gonna get posted. ;)

Finding the References

I usually search through my many folders of cut outs, magazines, and prints to find the posture or objects I wish to include. For this piece I printed out an image I found that sparked the idea a long time ago.



After I got the idea I went to Sterling and asked him to pose. Since I wanted this piece to be about him and how I saw his heart and strength, it only made sense to have him as my reference for the pose. The teddy bear is an obvious choice for baby holding. ;)



The Sketch

Then I sketch the first part, the figure, out on tissue paper. I find tissue paper very easy to work with and it makes transfering simple and clean.



To be continued...

Illustration Friday - Sacrifice

Sacrifice


"I am Jesus of Nazareth."

Help Us Help African Children!

Sterling and I are wishing to join our church's mission, Point of Grace, in helping the thousands of homeless children in South African learn about AIDS/HIV, provide food, shelter, health care, and education. It is out church's mission to send groups there to help build the health center, housing, and school. We so greatly feel a need to join and help!!! Below is more information provided from Point of Grace's website.

We need help raising money to go. Sterling knows carpentry, frame work, and everything under the sun. I hope to paint, help educate where I can, and hopefully use my illustration skills in murals. With helping us, you will be helping children who need ALL of our help!!

As a thank you, if you donate $20 or more you will receive an open edition from dreamflierstudios.com of your choice. Also, no matter how much you donate you will receive a handmade thank you from both of us and a certificate noting your help in the fight.





10.8% of population living with HIV/AIDS in 2005: 5.2 million
New infections 2004 – 2005: 530,000
Deaths from AIDS 2004 – 2005: 340,000
Untreated in need of antiretroviral treatment: 520,000
Deaths due to AIDS since 2002: 1.5 million
To be infected by 2010: 5.8 millio

No ONE person can make a difference in the lives of millions but you can make the difference in the life of ONE. For a decade we’ve prayed for our unique role in international outreach. God has now answered ...

The Pines Christian Village
The Pines Christian Village is a compassionate Christian solution to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the city of Welkom, South Africa.

They offer:

A flagship resource center for HIV / AIDS intervention
A holistic system of coordinated care and prevention for HIV / AIDS infected and affected children and adults
An educational center to prepare the next generation of leaders
A center for church planting

Brian and Lois Niehoff are the directors of The Pines. Brian is a building contractor and Lois is a registered nurse. Brian will lead the building upgrades and all facility management. Lois will develop the clinic, provide all front line medical care, as well as superviseand train the house mothers who will live with and care for the children with HIV/AIDS.

Click here to read more information and to see a video broadcasted on FOX.

Seasonal Faeries

The seasonal faeries are finished. I've been working on these pretty ladies since January, starting with Winter. They are all in order of their creation.


The purpose of these beautiful ladies are for a book created by the artists at FAE forum. Christian Davis aka Autumn Moon, has blessed us with her talents and skills to put this book together. It was her marvelous idea from the beginning and the results have been stunning!!! Please, if you have the time, visit the forum, if you're a fantasy artist, I highly recommend joining!

Currently Spring and Summer are on eBay as Open Edition, 8.5 x 11 prints. Go visit them if you'd like.

Who is the warrior princess?

The Warrior Princess is I. I know, it sounds like a pretty high title for such a small creature like me. But let me explain. My name is Sara, which in translation means "princess", while at the same time, since that is the translation, I am a princess, the daughter of God. And since I am a daughter of God, I am also a warrior in God's army. I defend the love, the inheritance, and proclaim the good news. The dream? Well the Dream is my imagination...my story, how I see the world, myself, and God.

Here you will find project updates of my work, tutorials, my processes, my stories through paintings, and hopefully more down the road.

Up above is a painting I did recently. Simply put; my boyfriend and partner in crime, Sterling, is also a warrior of God. He is a soldier in the Iowa National Guard, so to me, he's every prince, ranger, knight, and hero imaginable. So in the painting he is the renegade warrior rescuing the faery princess...me.