Victoria on Okinawa Draw & Paint

Art House Sketchbook 2012 completed & sent

2012-01-28T14:14:00.027+09:00

Completed and sent my Art House Sketchbook project Jan 20th. My title is "Writing on the Wall". I thought it was going to be one way but as I progressed doing it with God's guidance it became more than I ever imagined. It is not my regular way of doing my art, lots of experimently techniques and the message in it has so many levels, for me so far God the Father has shown me 4 levels of messages that it could be communicating. I will not mention those because I want God to reach out to whom ever in what ever way He wants to communicate His message. Like I wrote above it is not my traditional way of doing things so it might be a bit shocking, it was for me but I knew I needed to be obedient to the guidance God was giving me as I went along. I would appreciate any comments about what it communicates to you. Thank you

Christmas 2011 painting completed!

2011-12-20T19:43:00.003+09:00

Praise Lord God! I completed my Christmas painting! I still need to mount it up onto a wooden frame support and varnish it. I took a photo before the varnish since it seems to photograph better before than afterwards. I was able to order my Christmas postcards tonight too!!! Better late than never! I learned so many new things doing this painting and I learned I have a lot more to learn too, esp about color, color value and relationships of light and shadow. Also learned I do not like to paint small so my 1st try on this painting took 2 months on a smaller version(estimated size: 8 1/2" x 10 1/2")then I dropped it and started over on a much larger version(25" x 32 1/2"), but I learned what works for me so it was very useful having put in the time doing the smaller version. Had to crop some of the edges due to parellex in the photo(still learning, I believe the colors are truer to the original than others I've taken before)but it does not take anything of significance away. This painting is painted all in acrylics. I hope who ever stops by will enjoy it. Thank you.

Stepping out in faith

2011-10-20T15:02:00.003+09:00

Ok, I finally did it! I am stepping out in faith establishing that I would like to take commissions for portraits, mainly children's portraits, but I am willing to do teens and adults too. This really is an act of faith for me. I am doing it afraid but trusting God, what ever He has planned is best, whether I ever get a response or a commission through this blog, I know it is helping me to continue trusting God to do what needs doing in my life.

Update on painting progress

2011-10-06T16:47:00.003+09:00

2 close ups of the painting I am working 1st undervalue layer. Burnt umber acrylic

Not able to show the entire painting due to not having permission from the parents to make it public, when it is completed then I ask their permission, if they agree then I'll post the entire painting. Until then I'll try to post a small section of each layer.

30 years over 100

2011-09-30T12:59:00.002+09:00

Decided to figure out how many portraits I've completed over the past 30 years: over 100. I look at everyone of those as learning experiences, some came out great, some did not, but all were helpful to get me to where I am now. I am presently working on a double portrait, 3 individual Okinawan Eisa dancing children paintings, 1 single portrait and my Christmas card painting, with 5 others waiting to get finished. My goal now over the next 30 years, God the Father through Jesus willing, I will complete 700 - 1000 portraits. I can see that it can be done with the new acrylic classical process I am using now. Hope to have something posted in a couple of weeks(this process does still take time but much faster than the past processes I've used, other than just drawings.

All Acrylic

2011-09-19T13:58:00.004+09:00

Ok, here is the 1st of a new way I am painting my portraits now. The owner loved it and so do I. I praise God for teaching me a new way of doing things and I know I have a long way to go but I see a clear direction now, more than I've ever had before! I still do not know how to photograph my paintings so they come out actual colors. Everything in this photo is fine except the background has too much blue when it should be pinkish. I'll get better with it in time. Today I start teaching Good News Art class in my home! I'm so thankful to God for the opportunity!

It's been a long time!

2011-08-30T12:46:00.007+09:00

Well, I'm back. Hope to have more paintings to post up by the end of September but here are 2 that I did while I was in the USA, NM. These 2 are acrylic with embroidary lettering sewn through the canvas then re-gessed to seal both sides of the canvas then painted over. I like the glowing 3D effect it gives the painting but I don't always paint on canvas and it really takes a lot of time and is rough on my arthritic fingers, it was a great experiment and I hope to one day figure out a way to do the same things without having to stitch it, otherwise these are the 1st and last I will do with that technique.

When I got back from the USA in June I started up using my oil pastels and color pencils but realized I really do prefer to work with acrylic, maybe with touches of oil bars and color pencils. I have difficulting with the amount of time that I need when I have to deal with color values so I decided to learn to use acrylics making my own process using a classical technique. So far the learning process is going well and I hope to be applying what I learn by next week for my own projects. So far I love the way the practice portraits are coming out, but they are copies of copyrighted images so I do not feel at liberty to post them in public. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you will come back. Joy in Jesus

Christmas 2010 painting

2010-12-02T01:15:00.003+09:00

Christmas painting completed and post cards of this painting ordered. Underpainting in acrylic then color pencil over lays on gesso acid-free matboard. Size: 8 1/2" x 11 3/4". These are my granddaughters, based on a cellphone photo my son sent me(it was so very dark and lacked so much detail so I had to paint this very painterly with less line than I normally would have done. It was an interesting learning experience, I really loved doing this painting in my own value levels so it is so much more visable the relationship of the girls comes thru brighter than the photo could ever do. That is one of things I so enjoy painting from a photo, I can do it what ever way I want, even if the photo to begin with was poor lighting. The actual painting is so much more brilliant and the colors really focus on the relationship of the girls way more than this upload scanned copy. One day...with God's help I'll upload them better.

This time I scanned it right into the computer but it still did not come out like I wanted. I'm beginning to think it is more my computer that is the issue or the program I'm using to get it uploaded, ever since I got this new computer I've noticed a huge difference in the quality of my scans and photos that I print up or up load, this means I really will not have the time to figure it all out, esp now: I'm going to the US for 6 months starting mid-Dec of this year. This problem will have to dealt with next year when I return to Okinawa.

New Zealand "Portrait of the Artist" exhibitionhttp://virtual.tart.co.nz/exhibit.htm

2010-12-02T00:53:00.003+09:00

http://virtual.tart.co.nz/exhibit.htm

The Portrait of the Artist Exhibition is now up on line for the month of December. Five non-participating artists are going to judge and select 25 out of an estimated 75 paintings in this exhibition to be included in a semi/permenant exhibition on line and large reproductions in a book which will include one painting from each artist who participated in this exhibition.

As I keep saying my photo skills are not very good so the colors do not come out like the original painting but they are close but the original is much more vibrant. I really want to figure out how to improve this skill but I don't have the time that is required to do so, sooo...I just have to let it be for now.

Stop by the exhibition, if you desire, they are rotating the paintings every few days since there are 3 pages, to be fair that everyone will have first billing at differing times. I must warn you there are some painting that may be offensive and uncomfortable to view. I wonder what happened to painting being about creating beauty, it seems now a days beastly, gross and drab are in, but for me I prefer representing beauty, for God created and desires beauty to be enjoyed and expressed.

Quilter's Hands #3

2010-11-26T21:19:00.005+09:00

Quilter's Hands #3 (9" x 12")

Completed Nov 20. Still working on how to photograph my paintings, so this is not how it actually looks. It is matted and framed ready to be wrapped and given as a gift for a Christmas gift exchange. I have it in my livingroom for now so I can enjoy it for a few days before it goes to its new home. It is underpainted with acrylics and painted with oil bars.

Granddaughter Kimiko born!

2010-08-31T09:14:00.002+09:00

Kimiko Marie, our newest granddaughter, was born August 28, 2010 Saturday, 1240pm Florida time, 1140pm Okinawa time!!! We are praising God for blessing us so greatly! Kimiko means: upright righteous child, child without equal and Empress/noble child. She has long fingers like a promising musician, but that is in God's hands. What God the Father wants for her will be best for her and that is what we desire too.

Carolyn and Izzy

2010-05-29T21:16:00.005+09:00

Ok I know there are 2 of the same picture, but the way I photographed them the results are different on certain parts, the darker of either are the more correct values. It seems when I was taking the photos I didn't realize that, I was focusing on just trying to get a better shot. Anyway I completed this one, the one I started here way back. I plan to deliver it tomorrow. I sure hope they like it, if not I'll be glad to take it home because I am pleased with it.

I thank God the Father for giving me all that I need to be able to do what I need to do esp in the art work, I hope I am giving God the glory in all I do.

Sanchez children

2010-05-22T21:02:00.007+09:00

1. My process seems to be having a flow now, not so much stop and go. Since doing the art from 12am-4am for 4-5 days per week things are being made. I still need to work on getting enough sleep and I still need to figure out when I can put in a regular exercise schedule when I am awake but not too tired or too busy with the rest of my life. I know in time with God in Christ Jesus it will all work out.

2. I finished all 3 gift portraits, varnished, photographed, designed and made a carrying box for them and delivered(they liked them very much). I was given permission to upload them to my blog(they plan to upload to their facebook page).

I finished the gift portrait I had set aside and it has 1-2 more coats of varnish before I take a photo and deliver it. When it is completed I plan to upload it here.

I started the next 4 gift portraits, 2 of which I have completed the inked in under-drawings.

I got prepared for Children's church craft project, didn't take too much time, since most of it was pre-prepared by the manufacture, just needed to make a sample.

Watched part of a new watercolor portrait instruction dvd.

3. Insights I have made is that the more time I do work in the studio the easier it is to want to be there and do the art. Resistance is not too high the more times I go up per week. This is really a relief. For me the key to keep resistance down is to be at work in the studio & pray before, during and after.

But I've noticed my resistance has increased in the area of exercise, I just don't want to do it and I resist doing it, I feel it wants to take away my time in the studio or I am just so tired the rest of the time I am awake I resist exerting any energy on exercise. It is the same thing I was doing when I was resisting doing the art time. So my insight is that my resistance is still always around it just goes into another venue, need to pray and hand that over to God in Christ Jesus.

4. I still have not gotten to any of my quilting. It seems the more I do the painting the less I want to do the quilting, also if I do the hand sewing at night before I do the studio art time my eyes get strained more so I want to reserve my good eye sight time for the studio. Priorities are changing and I need to work the rest of my life around these changes over time.

5. I would like to get the 4 gift portraits all drawn, lettering transferred and the no-tan finished by next week. I'd also like to get some of the quilting finished too. Also to prepare for next weeks Children Church program too. To have finished the varnishing and photo of the gift portrait, I set aside and restarted, then to deliver it to the recipients.

Sneak peek

2010-05-15T20:46:00.004+09:00

Week 7 Check in:

1. I am so thankful I finally finished the 2 gift portraits in the set of 3 I was working on. #2 was the most difficult. I had to redo that portrait 6 to 8 times, in fact the last time I finally got it right I stayed up for 12 hours straight. I need to varnish them all.

I'm still going to use the oil sticks to complete the gift portrait I set aside so it will be consistent in style using that media, but after that I'm going to use only acrylics for a while. I'd really like to learn to use the water based oils but I will have to start my paintings 6 months in advance to the time I plan to give them since they have to dry 6 months before varnishing them. So I think I'll use acrylics for gift portraits and try the water based oils on my own paintings of local children so I can wait the 6 months and try to sell them after they are varnished. But I've got to learn to use them first, I tried before and just couldn't figure out the consistency but I really didn't stick with it long enough to really get control of that media.

Didn't get to any of the quilts stuff, did a bit of children's church stuff and will have to do some catch up over the next 2 weeks.

3. My plan for the coming week is to get the children's church stuff ready. To complete the gift portrait I set aside to do the 3. Varnish, photos, box up & delivery of the 3 gift portraits I completed. Work on the quilt stuff too.

I thank God the Father thru Jesus Christ that I was able to do these portraits. Sorry I can not post the full images until I receive permission from the recipients, when I do I'll post all 3 fully.

2010 Spring challenge & sneak peek

2010-05-08T21:05:00.007+09:00

1. I feel my progress right now is progressing, as for my process I'm having some difficulties with the oil sticks, it seems they do eventually dry out quicker after you've used a stick even if you remove the dried layer on top, also I had a weird reaction to one of the colors while I was using it, I felt like I had been toxic attacked. I am working on returning to using only acrylics with color pencils and some times water color. I am learning as much as I possibly can from books and from my own practice using acrylics. My last set of 4-5 portraits I plan to do in the next month I'm going to not use the oil bars so I can learn more.

2. I did finish my challenge quilt and it won a prize at the quilting guild I am in but I can't remember which category it won in, HA! There is a $25.00 reward. I was really shocked I won, I really didn't think I would this time, it was not really my best work due to the conflict I had with using such a overwhelm colored fabric. Anyway I am pleased every one liked it. I hung it up with my other picture quilt I have, maybe some day I'll part with it, but not now. I call it: "Chiyo-Marie in Flowerland" the photo here also includes the material piece I used(we had to grab from a paper bag without seeing the material, I show the upper material and the inside of the material since I used both).

I completed 1 of the gift portraits, except to varnish it and am almost finished with the 2nd, I would have been finished with the 2nd one but I used the wrong colors and had to wipe it all off and start again, that is one advantage with oils than acrylics, but acrylics are easier to go over again.

I prepared 5 canvases for the next set of gift portraits and I purchased boxes to put all 7 in so they can be packed up for their transfers to the USA.

3. Insights I have made are that I get frustrated when my medium doesn't work like it should or I would like it to behave. I am painting regularly now that I am in the studio by midnight-4 or 6am Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri and Sat. My sleep is doing ok too. Even though I am sleeping at 4:45 or 6:30 am and up at 12-12:45. I'm sleeping deeper and I wake up more rested. One thing though I haven't figured out when to get my exercise in daily yet, since by late afternoon I need a nap(which I take, sometimes 2 naps: 1 in the early evenings too). Over all I am so thankful I'm doing the art!

4. I haven't gotten the drawings transferred to the new set yet, nor have I started #3 of the 1st set. My husband is traveling to China next week for about 4-6 days so I'll have extra time hopefully to get more completed. The thing that has gotten in the way of not completing is my being so slow in the process.

5. What I want to accomplish before next check in is to complete #2 & #3 gift portraits and finish up the one I set aside then start up the gridding and transfer the drawings to the next 4 -5 gift portraits. The reason I say 4-5 is if I don't get to #5 before it is time to give it to the recipients at least I got 4 done and # 5 can be canceled. I still have Children's church to prepare for and I want to find some time to at least baste the baby quilt I've had to set aside. I also will need to varnish #1 gift portrait too. Again only a section is shown here because I do not have a model release but this shows you pretty much what all has been completed. I am so thankful to God that it came out as well as it has and I am praying the rest will too.

Portraits progress update

2010-04-30T01:05:00.006+09:00

I'm a couple of days early for my check-in and still plan to check in on Sat/Sun but wanted to go ahead and post up my progress on the portraits. Only partials due to not having model release forms. Still have much more to do but for this part of the progress I blocked in the main colors for the figures and backgrounds then I went ahead and completed the background. Backgrounds didn't come out like I 1st planned but turned out better than I expected. The photos didn't capture the underlying purples and greens in the background, I'm going to have to work on my photo skills some day for them to show correctly the colors.

I've been sick the last few days so I'm way behind. I'm hoping and praying I can get these completed over the next 2 weeks, Lord God I need Your help to do this for surely it is more than I can do on my own.

Lettering portrait background

2010-04-24T19:53:00.007+09:00

Week 4 check in:
1: Feel my progress is slow but progressing. There is so much I have to prepare first before I ever put paint to the surface it feels so slow progressing.

2: What I have accomplished: I am adding parts of the 3 paintings I have in progress in the photo section in my album. Sorry the 1st 3 progress photos were difficult to see anything. Hopefully this one will be better and you will see what progress I've done, again I can only show parts because of lack of model release forms.

I've prepared for 2 crafts for Sunday's Children's Church program.

I had to rearrange some of my studio again so I can get to the air conditioner to clean it out as needed, actually it made things better organized in the studio and much easier access to what I need when I am painting.

I was able to pin the baby quilt together(quilt top + batting + backing material)after adding the border which I drew sea turtles outlines on the border.

Drew only 1 day for my daily drawing but did some art study reading.

3. Insights: Hmm...not sure I have anything to add but what I put in #1. Well, I did realize I want my paintings, no matter what I paint to have more blue in them since that is my favorite color and it so me. And I want to find more time to draw something daily.

4. Things I would have liked to have done but didn't was: did not finish my challenge quilt but I did get to the binding and I did sew the hanging sleeve together. I wanted to concentrate on my going to bed earlier so it cut into my sewing time that I usually do in the evenings.

5. I do hope to have gotten the color blocked in on the main areas of the portraits and to have finished the backgrounds. Hopefully, too, to have started putting on the oil stick paints. I do hope I have finished the challenge quilt since it it due May 6th. I also will be redoing our church bulletin board backgrounds and flowers too this week.

Portrait drawings

2010-04-17T21:16:00.008+09:00

I put away the 1st gift portrait even though it is unfinished, it is not due until Jun but I have 3 others I needed to get done by mid-May so started them up. First I prepared the wood paint panels then gridded the plastic sheets over the photos and transferred them to the gridded paint panels. Since I don't have a model release from the parents I can only share pieces of each to give you an idea of my progress. These photos are dark but if you enlarge them you can see a bit more of what I'm doing.

I realized too that I need to redo some parts of the 1st gift portrait that I am saving to finish by Jun so I ordered some clear gesso from England, I pray it gets here in time. I need to have a thin layer of clear gesso between so I can go back over areas that need touch up without removing the 1st layers of paint.

I'm pretty pleased with the process that I have chosen so far.

I hope to have the 3 that are due in mid-May done with the redrawing of the under-drawing lines in color pencil and re-gesso until the grid lines are not visible by gessoing over with thin layers of white gesso. Then do the no-tan, then the block in colors of areas to be oil stick painted and to have the Bible verses up on the backgrounds and the backgrounds painted in acrylics.

I am almost finished with the challenge quilt, will post it after May 6th.

I am still preparing each week for children's church, this past week didn't have much to prepare for but will have much more next week.

Anyway overall things are going ok. My sleep and wake schedule has gotten better along with daily exercise, thanking God in Christ Jesus.

Progress by request

2010-04-13T10:30:00.003+09:00

Here is a photo of the progress of the portrait I was working on. I had to set it aside because I have 3 more I want to finish by the mid-May and this one doesn't need to be finished until the first part of June. Priorities. I can see by the photo where I need to do some touch-ups on the part I thought I was finished with, will remember to photo in progress more so I can see what I may have missed by just looking with my eyes. It seems I look at things as I want them to look and not as they are so progress photos would help correct that problem. Thank you Pattie for the suggestion to take a progress photo.

Earthquake 6.9 on Okinawa

2010-02-27T08:15:00.001+09:00

Praise God for His protection, had a 530am wake up call from an earthquake here on Okinawa. My studio stuff had the most damage, 3 ceramics broken & 1 chime(whole chime collection fell down-about 50 chimes, so 1 out 50 not bad). Pictures & a few other items fell down & some cabinets shifted. Downstairs 1 cooking pot fell down & busted 1 han...dle off so it goes in the trash. Yes, this was a rough one, thank God it was not worse!

Me,Myself and I photos and grid drawing for Art House project

2010-02-08T22:16:00.011+09:00

Was able to grid my photos and grid the canvas that I plan to do an Art House self-portrait challenge. If you are interested in process I'm going to upload the grid photos and the grid canvas here on my blog.

One cool true story from the dvd was about how we were all created to create beauty really touched my heart. It was about WWII prisoners of war in a Japanese Occupied territory. In one camp the prisoners found whatever they could to make musical instruments and a few had instruments already. Anyway while they were performing in their makeshift orchestra some new prisoners, who were starving to death, came into the camp, on their way to the place where they would get some food, they stopped mid-trail when they heard the music and stopped to listen. Their souls were more hungry for beauty than food. This to me is so inspiring that what I do as an artist has value in just the fact that it is something beautiful that blesses others. Hope this story inspires you too. Of course I condensed the story.

Million giraffes drawing

2010-01-24T14:13:00.004+09:00

Still sick but couldn't stand it any longer not to do anything artwize so I learned of this challenge of 1 million giraffes project so I decided to draw 1 and upload it there and now here. Of course I didn't do this in my studio area, but I have a clipboard of paper and pencils downstairs so I could at least do something. It was fun. I used a photo model courtesy of photo8.com, they let me use it free if I acknowledge them or even if I don't, they have tons of photos with the same policy if any one is interested.

Anyway I uploaded it to this site, maybe you'll want to do the same:

http://www.olahelland.net/giraffes/blog.php

Praying that I will be well soon, but thankful I can still draw something sometimes while I wait.

Happy New Year & begin 90 day posting

2010-01-01T18:49:00.005+09:00

Happy New Year! I'm back to start up my 90 day posting but with a twist I'm going to post every other day so I'll be posting #s 90 then 88 then 86, you get the idea. I realized daily posting caused me a ton of stress and since taking this break I realize I could be more relaxed if I posted every other day so that is what I am going to do. Hope every one had a great New Years, I sure did with my church family here on Okinawa! I am so blessed with the members of my church, they are all so giving and encouraging.

Dec 31 I completed my Christmas hand sewing quilt(photos: front and back).

No-tan Carolyn & Izzy

2009-12-18T01:35:00.010+09:00

Today I drew a practice sketch and then I painted the no-tan level of the #4 portrait.
The blue toned one was taken under florescent lights and the purple is under a light source I don't know what it is called. Interesting how they both came out so different from each other though it is the same painting. In real life they are really a combination of these 2 colors as one.

Set up the stage stable props for the Christmas program tonight for Sun. I'll be thankful if the children just remember where they are supposed to go and we have to cue them their lines. I'm praying most of all everyone with have a fun and celebration time worshiping God with us.

Christmas photo card

2009-12-17T01:12:00.005+09:00

2 more days to go to finish this 1st 90 day set!

Did a sketch and transferred drawing of portrait #4 on to gridded canvas.

Yeah! today the Christmas photo cards were delivered to my house I am pleased, they are larger than I expected and a little bit darker than I thought they would be but they are fine. Now to address and mail out about 40+ cards and the rest to give away locally.

The great looking guy is my dear husband of 38 years(known each other for 40 1/2 years)! I am so blessed by God. This has been a great year for my art progress and process, thank you Lord God, I am so thankful.

Children's Church Christmas washi frame sample

2009-12-12T22:16:00.004+09:00

Today was a very full day too. I have a few more ornaments to finish up so tomorrow there will be extras for those who did not get an opportunity to do them. Above is a sample. Thanking God the Father they are almost finished for this year. I have enjoyed doing them but I now want to go onto other things.

Etsuko Bozylinski

2009-12-04T21:31:00.002+09:00

One of my dearest friends, Etsuko Bozylinski, passed away today. She was a great woman of faith and I know she is in heaven with Jesus now. I am sad because I will not see her anymore on this earth but my hope is sure to see her again in heaven. Please pray for her family and friends to receive the comfort and peace only God the Father can give at this time. God is ever faithful.

Christmas painting for 2009 & 2008

2009-12-02T23:16:00.003+09:00

Here is the Christmas painting. I uploaded it to Zazzle.com with my DH and my photo for our photo Christmas card. Will be addressing those when they get here within 2 weeks. I'm going to work on re-cutting a matte for the painting to put in a frame to send the painting as a Christmas present.

I finished the roof for the stable and drew a practice sketch. When I draw each day I do improve and that relaxes me. I also have only 3 more origami frame Christmas ornaments to finish up, then I will need to varnish them, cut out the photos of the child that will go in each and tie a cord so they can hang them on the Christmas tree. They are turning out great!

Molly watercolor & color pencil

2009-11-23T08:18:00.005+09:00

Here is practice portrait #3. I received permission to upload it. The model was from a photo my niece, Bethany N. Jones, took of her youngest child, Molly, and put it up in her facebook photos. The photo was b/w with some red-orange tinting on her lips, the dark side of her cheek and a touch on her nose. This painting does not capture an exact likeness but it holds my impressions. Thank you Bethany.

Quote from Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage movie

2009-11-20T22:36:00.003+09:00

I took it easy all day and did some reading then watched a movie. The movie was very encouraging to me. I wrote down a quote from one of the characters: Glen Wesman to Thom in the movie: Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage. The below quote is one I plan to memorize and make a part of my life, hope it encourages you as it did me:

"It is your chance to illuminate where you live, to inspire you neighbors...that mural can record the people you love for posterity, it could change the way they see themselves. Art crosses all borders, surpasses all languages. It is a place where we are one family. And if you are willing, really willing to see with your eyes and your heart, one image can change lives. You could introduce men to their souls(my injection: soul=mind,will&emotions). . . Do your very best always, always the finest your heart has, it's the only way an artist knows."

This is so powerful and for me an answer to one of my deepest prayers.

Fisherman photo on Okinawa

2009-11-08T21:07:00.003+09:00

Today was my day of rest and I needed it. Family situations need God to work out for good, so trusting and praying for Him to work it all out. Here is another photo of Okinawa.

Fisherman photo on Okinawa

2009-11-07T21:49:00.004+09:00

Sprayed the verse boards with matte varnish spray today. That's about it, oh yea I went for a ride with my DH viewing the beautiful scenery of the shore line as we drove some up north this late afternoon. Here is a photo of a bit of Okinawa, hope you enjoy the view, we sure do. Thanking God for our blessings!

#2 practice painting

2009-11-02T15:11:00.004+09:00

Decided to post the 1st under-painting of #2 practice portrait.
Will be busy the rest of the day doing other projects so thought I'd post earlier. Still working on how to photograph my paintings with my camera, having trouble with the parallax but this is better than the last time I uploaded photos so I am progressing. Thank you for your patience.

Some Bunny Loves Me picture quilt

2009-10-20T21:55:00.012+09:00

Was in studio for 2hrs & 15mins today, in the afternoon! I decided whether I do anything or not I was going to be in the studio during that time. I drew a practice drawing and moved my drawing table in the opposite direction so I can look into the studio
instead of at a corner of the room. I have decided I need a another drawing table so working on that.

Last night I began my goddaughter's baby boy quilt, this will be ongoing until I finish it up.

Tonight was the Baby quilt challenge at our quilting guild, there were 8 quilts presented in the challenge. The categories for entries was best boy, best girl and best overall. I won the best over all, I am thankful and glad it is going to a precious baby at the NICU. The other quilts were more traditional compared to mine but so cute and well done. Over all was a great representation of the great quilters we have in the guild, we have 17 members at this time, in past we've been up past the 60's. Hope it will grow more soon.

No-tan and under sketch #2 practice portrait

2009-10-14T16:25:00.006+09:00

I though I would share some of the process of practice portrait #2.
Top photo is the brief sketch with the no-tan under painting.
Mid photo is the more detailed over sketch with Bible verses in English, Spanish and Japanese.
Bottom photo is the light coating of toned gesso over the whole painting and then going back in to the lighter areas with a thin coat of white gesso: To make the under drawing and letter not disappear(pencil lines kind of muddy up with paint if not sealed in).
Sorry about the quality of the photos, this painting is 11 x 14 so I can't directly scan it into the computer like I do the 8 x 10 so I'm having to learn how to do it with just the camera. I'm having issues with color of lighting, polarity and distortion. This will be a good learning experience for me all around.

#1 practice portrait

2009-10-03T00:39:00.004+09:00

Here is my 1st practice portrait out of 200+planned. I used an acrylic olive green gesso underpainting doing a notan then used 2 slim Winsor&Newton oil bars: French ultramarine Blue and Raw Umber. It captured the essence of the photo but not exactly what I really wanted to happen. Did not like this medium at all, too oily, less control and takes a long time to dry. It was interesting and enjoyable practicing.

No time in the studio for the last 2 days been doing other things. I really want to get my sleep and wake schedule to work better for me so I put out another petition(prayer) to God the Father thru Jesus. I know He is working things out and I need to trust Him to do His work and for me to do what I need to do with Him.

Announcement: Little Michael Noah was born

2009-10-01T21:18:00.001+09:00

Biggest news today! My goddaughter had her 1st baby! We are so happy! praying mother, child, father and grandparents and great grandparents get their rest now! They are all truly rejoicing. God bless them all.

I painted my 1st practice portrait last night but it is too wet to scan so will be posting it once it is dry. This is going to be an interesting challenge for me.

Video: Creative Edge Artist Network-the role of the arts pastor

2009-09-27T16:14:00.004+09:00

Getting better thank God the Father through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Below is a link to a great challenge and encouragement to the artist who is a Christian. A little more than 5 mins of your time is well worth it for the message it brings from "Creative Edge Artist Network". Hope you take that 5 mins

http://thegrovecenter.ning.com/video/the-role-of-the-arts-pastor

and enjoy!

Map to my home & studio

2009-09-23T21:41:00.001+09:00

Drew only a map to my house today, not very interesting but functional. Spent 3o mins or more looking for misplaced photos of my models for my challenge quilt I am designing and making, all that time praying I would be able to find them, thank God I found them! I hung up the quilt top so I can begin the fabric crayon drawing when I get the time to get up to the studio. I have trouble with my sleep and wake schedule so I loose a lot of time just dealing with not having time to do what needs doing and what I want to do. I want to have what needs doing become wants and what wants to be done to become needs. Does that make sense? HA!

Art House Paintings

2009-07-23T17:41:00.014+09:00

Responsibility
Bowie
Bombard
Container
Blast

Art House paintings are 3" x 3" They were quite the challenge. They came out a little too cartoony for me but it was an interesting learning experience.

Drawing Challenge for Drawing Day '09

2009-06-06T22:59:00.003+09:00

This is my Drawing Day Challenge drawing for June 6, 2009. I used my granddaughter's photo as a model, I made the chin way longer than it should be but I like how it turned out. It was fun, took me about 40 mins. This week's Drawing Challenge is in support of Drawing Day 09
http://drawingday.org/

Virtual Sketch date painting: 2 girls

2009-06-06T17:52:00.006+09:00

Finally finished the Virtual Sketch Date challenge. Size: B5= 7.05"x10.23"
Medium: oil bars, color pencil and acrylic under-painting. It is not as pink as the the actual painting, I tried correcting it but it didn't correct like I wanted. Anyway hope you enjoy the viewing. It was a challenge to work so small with the oil bars, but I look at it all as a great learning experience.Below is the photo we worked from.

Challenge landscape

2009-05-27T18:24:00.000+09:00

This is my painting for the Different Strokes from Different Folks Challenge. I did this one using water based oils. Not sure I really like using them but they are ok to play with.

New painting series: "Quilter's Hands"

2009-05-18T15:58:00.005+09:00

Finished these paintings over the last 2 weeks. I have more to paint in this series but I have some other painting projects I want to finish first and possibly use a different medium in the next part of the series. These 2 I used Acrylic under painting, oil bar Paint sticks and some color pencil. The second picture does not show the teal color in the clothing and I couldn't get my scanner program to get it correct unless it changed all the other colors. The quilt color in the 2nd painting is, also, more purple than blue, again scanner program could not get it correct. But at least it does show what I've partly been up to recently. These 2 paintings are schedules as gifts.

Virtual Sketch date painting:flowers

2009-04-22T14:42:00.003+09:00

Here is my entry for the Virtual Sketch date for April. Used Oil bars and had fun playing with it. Decided to shift the flowers over to the left instead of in the center like the photo model. Below is the photo model. Virtual Sketch Date address: http://virtualsketchdate.blogspot.com/ to see all the other entries and to join in.
I would love to be able to paint flowers as vividly as the photos, I have problems with the translucent quality of flowers. Anyway it was fun and a good exercise to get back into painting after a long break.

Click back for http://radicallyrea l.truepath. com/amokarts/ CCDB.html

2009-03-24T21:34:00.002+09:00

I don't know any other way to add this to my blog for a click back than this way.

Amokarts is a Christian artist website that ministers to Christian artists.
I so totally recommend this site to everyone.
Great on-line videos, projects and information.

http://radicallyrea l.truepath. com/amokarts/ CCDB.html

a new change

2009-02-24T15:43:00.005+09:00

I decided to remove all the quilting items from this blog to only have my paintings and drawings. I'll work on creating a separate blog for the quilting stuff. Not sure when I'll get time for that but I decided to make things more clear what I am doing on this blog. It seemed too busy and confusing having both on one log.

I am busy preparing canvases 2 for portraits and 4 for a series I'm starting. Plus tons of other things going on right now. Will post paintings and drawings as I get an opportunity to do so.

I am posting a couple of things I did for a comic American Cancer Society fund raiser and a couple of things from a Sketchbook project for Art House in GA "Everyone We Know" was the them.

The first set is called "Kimono Baby 1-4"
The second photo is from "Everyone We Know"
I goofed when I saved this one the wrong direction,
please forgive , thank you.

Studio photos

2009-01-18T20:22:00.001+09:00

Welcome, Stairway up to studio, turn right.

Stairway up to studio.

Stairway going up to the studio.

Top of the stairway, studio to the right.

Here are the photos I promised they are not in order but I'll try to give a description as I go thru them. This is the entrance to my estimated
5 77 sq foot studio, the bank still owns it but we are making headway on the payments. It is a prefab over our driveway. As you come in to the right at book shelves for books and supplies. Look south there is my sewing area and my hanging chimes collection.

When you turn to the left there is a small toilet room and on farther to the left is a large sink area. Here you can see my painting table and more book selves with books and art supplies.

This facing North(behind those bamboo curtains are 2 large picture windows. You can see the painting table again here.

As you go to the right from the painting table is the East wall, hanging paintings are hiding 2 narrow sliding windows. This is my painting/drawing table. Behind the bookshelves facing south is my storage area.

Continuing south past the bookshelves is the storage area, here you can see my cutting board table, behind it is my light table. To the left are plastic storage bins, drawers, & baskets.

Turning to the right as you go into the storage area(can't see now) are all my large canvases, finished large paintings, matte boards, foam core boards, etc. Here you see the metal shelves that I have origami & washi paper and craft supplies(tape, beads, etc). The easel in the back has a window covered in canvas cloth to lighten the brightness of the southern light that comes in.

Now you can see the canvases, boards, etc.

This is the same wall East coming in but now I am facing North from the south side of the storage area.

Going out of the Southwest side of the storage area enters to the sewing area, here are some storage areas only for sewing supplies.

This is my sewing table and in the background you can see my shelves with material divided into cubbies according to color. The far West left side is the sliding doors with windows 1/2 way at the top behind another bamboo curtain. It leads to the flat outdoor roof of our house by way of a couple of steps down.

This is now facing North back to the entrance to the studio.

Turning back to the South you can see the hanging chimes collection over the sewing area. I have 2 long poles full, I need to buy another pole or 2 if I want to add more. I just love hanging chimes!

The storage area is hidden behind these 2 bookshelves of mostly books, magazines and some tools. Baskets on top hold Christmas supplies, photo albums, art props and etc.

This is the West side sliding door with windows 1/2 up from the top. Stereo and exercise dvds, cds & etc.

Facing the entrance to studio, stairway in the back to the left, toilet room behind the sunflower curtained area. To the left you will recognize the portrait of Pattie Wall (close up in prior post).

Back to the beginning, the door is now hiding the toilet room and you can see the sink area.

Here is the sink area behind the open door.

Hope you enjoyed the visit and saw a bit of the organizing I did. Thank you for stopping by, boy do I feel exposed, but better exposed this way than how it was 2 weeks ago=total chaos, :)

Pattie Wall's portriat

2009-01-07T12:35:00.000+09:00

Here is Pattie Wall's portrait as promised yesterday. My scanner did not copy that well this time for some reason, was having some trouble with the scanner anyway. But it is close enough to the original, of course the original is much smoother and the colors are less harsh, as the hair on the original comes out much softer and blended tones. I do hope she likes it.

Pattie did an exceptional portrait of me and I hope everyone will go look for it at

differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com/

as well as all the other portraits, there is certainly a multiplicity of techniques, styles and skills posted.
I thank God I was able to finish this portrait just in time and that I am feeling much better recovering from a head cold.

Posting portrait tomorrow

2009-01-06T19:40:00.000+09:00

I finally did the DifferentStrokesfromDifferentfolks.blogspot.com/ portrait challenge but it is too wet to scan at this time. I wanted to get something written up before this New Year is an Old Year already. I still am working on my Christmas card painting it really is going out late, HA! Been down with a cold the last week or so thank God I'm better but I'm still taking it easy so I don't have a boomerang affect.

Pattie Wall did my portrait and she did a wonderful painting. Visit her blog at
http://jpwall.blogspot.com/

Posting portrait tomorrow.

Back with copy of old Master Vermeer

2008-12-31T13:54:00.000+09:00

Here is my attempt to copy an old Master Vermeer painting for the Old Master Challenge at http://projectoldmastercopy.wordpress.com/ . It has definitely been a challenge using large oil bars on an estimated 8"x11" surface. The reason for the small surface is that it fits directly on to my scanner surface and I don't have to photograph it(which I do a lossy job when I do). Scanning directly gets it the closest to the original painting. I know I drew her face in too wide and much of the colors are different from the model but all in all it works ok.

I still have not finished my Christmas painting and I have a portrait to do for the Different Strokes from Different Folks exchange due by the 7th of Jan. My Christmas painting will be a belated Christmas card and New Years card. I am also praying I will be over this cold I got starting yesterday too.

God bless you all and I pray you had a Joyous Christmas remembering Jesus' birth and have a great New Years. Joy in Jesus Always!

Give Credit

2008-12-12T16:41:00.000+09:00

It has come to my mind I need to give reference sites to the 2 challenge blogs I have participated in. I have used their posted photos for their challenges. The one other group artapprentice blog group I did not use their photo as a source, I set up my own still life and painted in real time.

I believe I should give credit where credit is due.

Karin Jurick: Different Strokes from Different Folks Challenge:

http://differentstrokesfromdifferentfolks.blogspot.com

The other group is Virtual Sketch Date Challenge:

http://virtualsketchdate.blogspot.com

I will try to remember to post these blog site references when ever I use them for the challenge I am participating with when I post my painting from their photo.

I want to thank each blog site for this opportunity to do these challenges and learn from them.
Thank you.

1st Virtual Sketch Date Challenge

2008-12-12T12:54:00.000+09:00

This is my 1st painting for Virtual Sketch Date blog challenge. Not too into doing landscapes but this looked interesting because of the shapes and colors involved.
I used Oil Bars for this one too. Learning lots.

Midnite date: Different Strokes Wkly Challenge: Boots

2008-12-10T17:20:00.000+09:00

This is my take on the Different Strokes Weekly challenge, done in oil bars. Was a lot of fun. I am enjoying the process more using these oil bars, but I have to think in terms of less details since the bars are so large. Still have lots more to learn.

I called this "Midnite Date" or it could be called "Late Date". I like the idea of inanimate objects typifying life.

I am presently working on a Christmas card painting using acrylics which is mostly done except for the details. Wanted to do some more playing with these challenges to loosen up so when I go back to the Christmas card painting I'll feel more at ease doing the details. My Christmas cards are going to be sent out late this year but that is ok, Christmas should be year round anyway, in my opinion: giving because Jesus gave to me and to everyone.

Plan on working on 1 more challenge that is going to the Vitural Sketcher monthly challenge if I can ever get to it after all the other things I need to do too. So it is always one more thing to do before I can get to what I really would rather be doing, working on correcting this issue too.

Different Strokes Wkly Challenge Uploaded

2008-11-18T17:44:00.000+09:00

My scanner is not working like it used to before my computer got sick so my pictures are not coming out as close to the originals as before but at least it is close. Hope you get the light to dark to beginning of light idea in this painting. Was supposed to do it looking at the upside down source photo but I got carried away with the composition and colors as it is that I forgot all about the original challenge. Oh well, I really learned a lot from this one, was done in oil paint sticks.

Art Apprentice group wkly challenge

2008-10-21T22:58:00.000+09:00

I did this painting for the art apprentice yahoo group challenge. 3 Okinawan Squash: Large one-Subui, pumpkin shaped one-Kabocha and smaller one-Nabe-ra. It was quite the challenge for it is from life not a photo. I used water soluble oils, still not sure I'm getting what I want from them, but will keep at it a while longer.

My next painting project will be for the Virtual Sketch blog monthly challenge: it is from a photo though and another wkly challenge with art apprentice group: it will be from life.

Learning a lot as I do these and also getting some paintings produced. Very Happy am I!

Computer sick

2008-10-08T19:56:00.000+09:00

This wk I started the weekly challenge but lost interest, couldn't seem to get a direction. Got the rough sketch, underpainting and started the layers but I just couldn't seem to want to finish it. Week 6 is coming up hopefully things will turn around, planning to do things more simply and more sketchy, I'll see where it goes. Also my computer got sick this past wk and had to go to the dr a few times, it seems to be fine now, thank God. Here is a painting I did a few years ago.

Pumpkin-Pumpkin wk 4

2008-10-01T17:04:00.000+09:00

Wow! Week 4 this is great fun and I am learning so much. Week 4 challenge of white pumpkins is all in waterbased oils. I used only 2 colors plus white, but unfortunately the painting posted does not show much of the yellow, but I did use it in the purples and whites to tone down the purples. One thing I really want to improve on is to do a painting in 1 day(a couple of hours) instead of it taking me 2 or 3 days to complete just one. That is my next challenge for myself, hope I can do it. Anyway I want anyone who is reading these posts to know that Karin Jurick is a fantastically gifted and giving artist. I pray God bless her richly with all His goodness. Thank you Karin.

Week 3 challenge: Different strokes

2008-09-24T20:24:00.000+09:00

Used mostly paint oil sticks for this one. Plan to go larger in the frame in the next challenge, but use the same size format. Love this learning process.

Getting my feet wet

2008-09-13T18:02:00.000+09:00

I'm getting my feet wet with this weekly project on Karin Jurick's weekly "different strokes challenge". I'm not much into landscape painting and I am trying to learn to use water-based oils and speed things up. This is painted using one color. I wanted the feeling of heat to come through, hope that comes through. I am also going to start using oil bars/sticks in future challenges. Lots of experimenting and having fun with it all. Hope to progress to a better painter as I go along.

2008-09-06T18:40:00.000+09:00

Drawing I did for Karen Jurick's new weekly different strokes challenge blog for Sept 3-10,'08

Where has the time gone?

2007-07-31T15:22:00.000+09:00

My oh My, where has the time gone? It has been 21 days since I last posted(I am a day ahead of the USA). I've got to keep up better. I have been doing some drawings but not for upload. So here is my latest, snorkling anyone? I don't snorkle but many people do on Okinawa. With an ocean on one side and a sea on the other it works great for those who do. I'd rather sit at the seawall or beach and watch from the shore or go to the aquarium up at Expo park up north. Anyway this was not a daily drawing assignment, just my own assignment.

Someone (literally) stretching

2007-07-10T17:20:00.001+09:00

Here is a drawing of someone literally stretching, to make up for my misreading the groups drawing challenge.

Draw someone sketching

2007-07-09T01:33:00.000+09:00

Here is my drawing for the daily drawing yahoo group
to draw someone sketching.

Painting and Quilt for 2006

2007-02-27T11:03:00.001+09:00

1 of 3 (8"x10") paintings for the international painting exchange yahoo group, 2006.

Thank you