Purity - WIP

As Brian put it "A few months from now we'll look back and see all that we went through to get to here." So true!

Here's a piece I'm workin' on and am pretty excited about it. All of the work I've been doing lately has been "hush hush", and I'm happy to share something. Her name is "Purity". Just a nice head shot that's gonna have some fancy lighting!

There are two more pieces I'm hoping to get to this week. One is to paint my "Forest Parade" and the other is to move forward with a more dream like piece. It's a visual response to a friend's poem. I'll have more about that once "Purity" is finished.

God bless!

The Barn Yard Bed

Barn Yard Bed | Watercolor, ink, white acrylic

Very pleased to have this piece finished. A friend of mine commissioned me to do it for one of her children's book stories. It's a painting we both have been anticipating, her more so than me, and I'm so happy to have it finished and ready to hand over to her. She's been incredibly patient and awesome. It was a load of a project, so many characters and trying to still give expression across a bunch of animals that are asleep. On top of that, a night scene. I'm pleased with how it turned out too.

Now off to bed, got lunch with her tomorrow and totally looking forward to meeting up and spending some time with her, talking about publishing and life.

God bless!

Knee Deep in Wedding Planning

This week (starting last week) I started to buckle down and get strict about the wedding planning. With so much set (big stuff) it's time to start listing out the little stuff one can forget. o.O Not good stuff to leave out either mind you. SO MUCH STUFF TO DO! Oy!

But, I got lists written and some shopping done. I also tackled the flower girl baskets tonight. The traditional white satin baskets don't appeal to me. I like things to be earthy and natural. Granted, there's so much in a wedding that isn't (i.e. wedding dress), at least for mine. But there are other items I can make earthy. :) This is one of them. I went out with Candace the other day, and during our visit to Hobby Lobby (truly a haven) we saw that the baskets were 50% off. I saw two dark wicker baskets and knew immediately these were it! Today I bought some more flowers, including some large daisies...at of course...Hobby Lobby. They're all fake, but I'm totally okay with that (who isn't?).

So here is one, I just finished it and think I'll get to the second one after I get some feedback. Don't want to do it all over again if they don't look right or professional (well put together). I've never done this before, and flower arranging isn't a skill I've practiced. But thought I'd give a crack at it.

All of the flowers aside from the small white ones with beads are used elsewhere in the wedding reception. My wedding flower is the white daisy (shasta or vero), so not typically that large, but thought since it's such a simple flower one could play around with size. ;)

Habitat for Humanity

This year I want to give back more, it's been a lingering feeling for awhile now and I have been asking God over and over what I could do. My time is very limited, and so are my funds. I try to be there as much as I can for others, but it's still not satisfying me. So I decided to start raising money for organizations that help others.

The first one is for Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry. HFHI seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat has built more than 300,000 houses around the world, providing more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, decent, affordable shelter. HFHI was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller along with his wife, Linda.

Visit Habitat for Humanity's website to learn so much more about what they do and why.

My goal this summer is to raise at least $100. This will buy a kitchen sink believe it or not! This is what I've come up with:

Each sale I make, 10% of the total will go towards a fund for the foundation/organization. Once I reach the goal I will write out a check or go online and submit a donation. To hold me accountable, I will place a wee icon here on the blog in the left menu showing how much has been raised.

There is a HUGE need out there. For food, shelter, clothing, water, man...the list goes on and on. And how can we help? How can we step aside from our busy day to day lives in one of the most comfortable countries of the world and give back. Now granted, tho we live in this country, it doesn't mean we all live as comfortable as we'd like. I knowing and living the hardships myself. Yet comparably we are still a nation that needs to turn around, give up some things, and hand it off to others. Be an example. Okay, I'm preaching to the choir now.

Point being, ask yourself, what can you do and what are you willing to do? Hardest and most important part is stepping out of your comfort zone, it helps us grow.

IF Parade - Sketch

Forest Parade | graphite sketch

Yay! I have something to show! Well...okay, I have other things I could show, but I'm really excited about this piece for two reasons. One, it's an Illustration Friday piece (been awhile), and two, it's all about children's book illustration! When I did "The Talisman" I had children's book in mind, but didn't get what I wanted out of it. I didn't know how much time it would take to paint it if I started submitting the more elegant style. This piece I plan on applying the same techniques and detail, but gonna time myself finally.

I love this piece, it's fun, enjoyable to draw, and cute (of course :P). Can't wait to paint it. Oh man...gotta focus on actual work, gonna be so hard!