On the Table -- The Art Table, That Is

Back from Massachusetts and soon will have a post on a very special sighting! Meanwhile, I thought I'd share a bit of what I was doing before I left! I don't have a lot to show for all the time I've spent at the art table of late, but I thought I'd show you a few things I've been working on. Because it's spring, we'll start with a few springy cards pulled together for a special order for butterfly-themed cards!

I love the card above. Which didn't start out that way, but when I was finished the soft palette, the butterfly words and the papers seemed to remind me of how spring sneaks in gently with those subtle colors. The grass is still pale and perhaps even brown, not yet healed from winter's brutal cold. The skies not always sunny, yet hints of pink and brighter greens to come.



Here are a few other cards from that order -- definitely brighter!

The fairies -- not butterflies, but I couldn't resist this sweet art and a couple of variations.



I've been working in my art journal too. This was a page I did in my class where we painted over newspaper and then worked from there, tearing it into an odd shape. I found the Michigan Beaches page in the paper and thought that would be a good spot to journal some at-the-lake thoughts. I confess, I am not fond of the technique where you write over your black in white. It looked a lot better when our teacher did it!

What I didn't realize was that on the flip side was a newspaper story by and with a large photo of a woman with whom I'd worked on committees with while I was at MSU. So, I couldn't cover her up! Had to give her the treatment!

Beside her, I tried my hand at cat drawing. I am NO cat artist, at least not a realistic one -- the eyes mess me up every time. But I'm improving. This was mostly colored pencil with acrylic background.

Here's how it looked in the spread. In a perfect world, the pages would be reversed but you go with what you've already got down!.

And yes, I've been playing with the gouache, too. I showed you the one below before -- the gouache version with my own version is on the left with the acrylic/napkin/cut out embellishment version on the right.

And here are some cards using the gouache. Yes, practicing the drawing part, too!


More to come. I'm on a bit of a roll now. And it sure is fun!