Sneak peek

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

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

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

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.

Progress by request

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

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

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.