THE FABULOUS CRAFT OF CRAFT...

A fabulous new artist I just discovered. Love the whimsical beauty and intricate design of these extraordinary paintings by Kinuko Craft...wonderful stuff.

SARGENT PEPPER'S PAPA...

Of course you probably all recognize the top picture as the cover of The Beatles famous Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Album...the bottom collage was created by the same gentleman...English artist Peter Blake. It is always a joy to discover a new artist even though he has had a long and distinguished career right under my nose.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS...

This is an experiment in color that turned out way different then I thought it would...but I liked it so I finished it up as an altered art piece. She reminds me of Estella from Dickens "Great Expectations" hence the title.

GRANDFATHERS VIOLIN...

I absolutely fell in love with this picture and had to work it into an altered art piece. The hardest part is making the glasses look like glass...but what doesn't kill you make you smarter...at least that's what they keep telling me.

I love its tender nostalgic feel.

FACE IT...

This is a small sample of a number of plates created by Piero Fornasetti. He created more than 11,000 items, many featuring the face of a woman...operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, as a motif. Fornasetti found her face in a 19th century magazine.
“What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped.” The “Tema e Variazioni” (theme and variation) plate series based on Cavalieri's face numbered more than 350.
I have always like these plates the idea of doing the same picture with a different theme is interesting... it's fun just to see the number of variations he came up with.

SWEET BABY JAMES...

This is an example of the work of James Christensen. He is my favorite artist and I have several of his print...that make me smile on a daily basis. The bottom picture is "Jonah" don't miss the little man in the window. Christensen feeds my need for whimsy...his imagination and detail are amazing.

MOONLIGHT LADIES...

I love the art of Alphonse Mucha these are various combinations of his work...they fit together so prettily that I made two versions because I was enjoying the variations. Do you have a preference?

I think I like the bottom one the best...it has a better flow. But I like the faces in the top one...I don't know what do you think?

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT...

It's all about color...shapes...motion and balance. I do this kind of art because I am more a designer the an artist I think. And I love symbolism.

ISLAMIC PEACE...

My mind must be stuck in the Middle East this week. It has such wonderful art and culture...many interesting things to work with...and beautiful people. Their culture is so different from our I wish that we could somehow have a meeting of minds. But alas wars have raged in that land for thousands of years and there is no end in sight.

FACES...

It's all about faces for me. Nothing is more inspirational to my art then a fascinating face...male or female. Faces of exotic beauty to bazaar homeliness. Every one has one though no two are the same...all are wonderful. The inescapable icon of who we are. Give me faces that hide beautiful secrets or dark emotions...a face to build a story picture around.

MORE JOY...

I love altered art it is much more pleasing then the crazy Freaking News stuff that I have been learning on and when I'm finished I have something I actually want to look at. This is my latest La Vie En Rose...it is dedicated to my French brother and his French family.

ART IS MY JOY...

Can I just tell you all again how much joy I get from making art. It is such a blessing to me to be able to create something that I visualized in my mind...it's almost like making children (weird huh). So many of you are really gifted artists...I hope your art brings you as much joy as mine does.

SIDEWALK CHALK...

Check out these super fantastic 3D sidewalk paintings by Kurt Wenner...I think they are extraordinary. What ashame they will be washed away.

STUCK ON THE WALL...

This is my latest project...you really have to super size it to see all the detail. I love making pictures with a lot of funky little details. There are so many great window pictures I wish the wall could be bigger.

You may have noticed that I have had to resort to comment moderation. Over the weekend I was cyber attacked by a Chinese pornography ad...it was added to over 20 of my posts. I annoys me that these scumbags can't go off in a corner by themselves but insist on spreading their garbage where it is not wanted...

GOLDEN SLUMBERS...

DSW 10

~

"Once there was a way to get back homeward
Once there was a way to get back home

Sleep little darling do not cry

and I will sing a lullaby."

I found out something very interesting about the lyrics to "Golden Slumbers" while checking to see if they were actually written by Lennon & McCartney. Parts were taken from a poem in the play "Patient Grissel" written in 1603 by Thomas Dekker. Here is the original poem;

Golden slumbers kiss your eyes,
Smiles awake you when you rise;
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby,
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.
Care is heavy, therefore sleep you,
You are care, and care must keep you;
Sleep, pretty wantons, do not cry,
And I will sing a lullaby,
Rock them, rock them, lullaby.

INK...

I love to look at tattoos there is some beautiful artwork walking around on peoples backs...there is some really bad stuff too. I would like to be a tattoo artist but...I make too many mistakes...oops.
So I decided to work on Photoshop where it's painless and you can delete your boo boos. This one is called "Ink..."

A COLLISION OF KLIMT...

As you can see I have been working with the paintings of Gustav Klimt. I love his use of patterns shapes and design. It is very fun to collage with his work because there are so many patterns to combine and the colors are spectacular. This particular piece is made out of 15 of his paintings and has many face in it...How many can you find? I know it's Monday but this is not a test...just fun.

HAPPY, HAPPY, BIRTHDAY CLYTIE...

Have a Superfantabulous Birthday Clytie!

and a Happy Mom's Day to

everyone...

SMALL MEMORIES...

I could go on and on about what a miracle it is to have Google. You can find or learn just about anything on Google...I love it!..I use it everyday. I have even been able to locate copies of several pieces of artwork that hung in the home of my Grandmothers 60 years ago...it is amazing.
This is a picture that was hanging over my Grandmas Audies sofa when I was a little girl. I came across it quite by accident by I am thrilled to have it in my cyber collection...a small memory from childhood.

A MOTHERS LOVE...

art by Jesse Wilcox Smith
~

I love these paintings by Jesse Wilcox Smith they are so innocent and endearing. They portray mothers in such a tender loving way.

TWO FACED...

The assignment was...Combine two different faces into one person. I picked Edward and Jacob from the Twilight series it seemed to be the perfect solution for Bella's problem. The first picture was so much fun I decided to do the night version.

THE FURRY CAVALIER...

If I could have a dog...this is the kind I would have. Isn't he wonderful he's just so "Cavalier".
I've really got the dog hungries this week...heaven help me...I love those furry friends.

THE HAUNTING...

I just completed a new project that I am quit happy with...it's called The Haunting of Anne Noir.

Above is the painting I was working with so you can see the difference. It is a compilation of six paintings. I love her eyes...

I'M AT IT AGAIN...

The challenge...recreate an old masterpiece in a way it might have been painted today...so here it is "Van Gogh's Universe".

IF ANYONE SHOULD ASK YOU...THIS IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE...

If I could, today I would come winging with a lovely rose to delight your morning. I would bring a hot cup of fragrant honey water to soothe away your stresses. I would lend a loving ear to your story. I would give a warmful hug to your heart--and a happy giggle for your ears. I would share a gleeful hop, skip and jump to lighten your feet. I would sing the joy of childhood to you. I would say I love you, my sweet Sis. I'm praying for you.

And I do send all of these to you--Can you see them? Do you hear it? They're yours today, right this minute.

Thank you Sissy Bea you are the best...

THIS BIRD HAS FLOWN...

This is my favorite project on Photoshop so far. She is a compilation of four old paintings and one new window frame. You have seen her face before on my blog but I just love her and wanted to create a picture story for her. It is called "This Bird Has Flown" .

APOLOGIES TO RAPHAEL...

The contest was to take a Raphael masterpiece and and make it look like something he would have painted today.

I am learning something new with each challenge and they are sooo fun...but they have really cut down my blogging time.

SOMEDAYS YOU'RE JUST CRABBY...

Here is my latest insanity from Freaking New...the challenge was to create a picture from a photo of a land crab that they provided...I'm loving the challenge.
They are called Crab Louie and Buster Crab.

HAVE A WONDERFUL EASTER...

I HOPE YOUR EASTER IS WARM AND FUZZY...

except for your jellybeans...

APRIL FOOLS...

SOME FREAKING NEWS...

Well folks I joined "Freaking News.com" this week...just for fun and to learn more and give me practice on my Photoshop. However it has become an addiction...ahhhh!

Here are my latest entries for this weeks contests...fun huh.

WHY-O-WHY WYSOCKI...

I adore Charles Wysocki and his wonderful paintings of cats...love, love, love that detail. I've used his paintings to make wonderful collages.

Of course Mr. Wysocki also does fantastic scenes of Americana...I'll save those for another day.
I think I like his cats the best.

PAINT ME SOPHIE...

Had I been born 150 years ago...and wanted my portrait painted I think I would call Sophie Anderson. Sophie had a way of capturing the underlying beauty in even a plain subject. Her portraits are gentle and graceful and feminine. Just beautiful Sophie.