Sunday Sketches

So this week we had more snow. Oh man, I'm so sick of cold weather and snow. When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do for Sunday Sketches I thought, "Well if I do the beach, maybe summer will sneak up on us quicker." Don't know if it will but what the heck!

So I started with a quick little sketch. From there I used watercolor pencils. I don 't use them often so it was fun to just play with them.

 I love the beach. When I'm at the beach I love to pick up the shells. I always told my kids that God left us a little treasure on the beach to remind us how much He loves us. One time was on the Beach in Ocean City and a whole bunch of starfish were all over the beach as the tide went out. I spent, I dont' know how much time, tossing them back into the ocean. I often wonder did I save any of them? Oh well, I hope you enjoyed my little Sunday Sketch!

Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/
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Oh & if you like the ACEO it's in my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68869193/watercolor-aceo-original-beach-walk

Friday Feature

So I'm a little late this am getting this up. My cold has knocked me out! I'll be glad when it goes away. But enough about me. As usual, I picked someone who "hearted" one of my handpainted porcelain pendants (pictured below) 

This time, it's not an artist but someone who sells on the vintage side.  The shop name is ShabbyPinkFlamingo, Barbara Hannah from Douglasville Georgia.. Here's the link:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/shabbypinkflamingo
Her shop carries a wide variety of items that are Victorian, romantic, vintage, and shabby chic. According to her profile she got the name of her shop from her love of shabby chic items and pink flamingos.  She also seems to do some upcycling as well.

I love profiles because they give you some insight into the person. Her's says,  she loves going to yard sales, thrift stores, flea markets and consignment malls (my kind of gal)  She's been  happily married for 32 years and has one grown son.  She also claims 4 water turtles and 3 cats and she adopted sea turtle named Spitfire and an adopted manatee named Whiskers. Now as a former employee of a natural resource agency, I'm hoping that her adoptees are still int he wild and not in her bathtub! LOL 

The item pictured at the top is my favorite from her shop. Here's the link to the listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/54601939/handmadeshabby

The pendant to the right is the one she hearted in my shop. Here's the link to that listing:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/68058171/hand-painted-porcelain-triple-pink-rose

God is like...............

I got this in an email and I thought  it was so cute (and SOOO true) that I wanted to pass it along to you!

Fifth Grade Assignment

A fifth grade teacher in a Christian school asked her class to look at TV commercials and see if they could use them in 20 ways to communicate ideas about God. Here are some of the results: scroll down.

God is like...

BAYER ASPIRIN

He works miracles.

God is like...

A FORD

He's got a better idea..

God is like...

COKE

He's the real thing.

God is like...

HALLMARK CARDS

He cares enough to send His very best.

God is like...

TIDE

He gets the stains out others leave behind. .

God is like...

GENERAL ELECTRIC

He brings good things to life.

God is like...

WAL-MART

He has everything.

God is like...

ALKA-SELTZER

Try Him, you'll like Him

God is like...

SCOTCH TAPE

You can't see Him, but you know He's there.

God is like...

DELTA

He's ready when you are.

God is like...

ALLSTATE

You're in good hands with Him.

God is like...

VO-5 Hair Spray;

He holds through all kinds of weather

God is like...

Dial Soap.....

Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

God is like ..

The U.S. POST OFFICE

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet nor ice will keep Him from His appointed destination.

God is like...

Chevrolet. . . .

the heart beat of America

God is like..

Maxwell House. .... .

Good to the very last drop

God is like...

Bounty....

He is the quicker picker upper. Can handle the tough jobs. ..and He won't fall apart on you.

Sunday Sketches

This week's Sunday Sketch is of St. Philomena. It's a watercolor ACEO.

I've been doing a series of saints to help benefit the Little Sisters of the Poor as you know if you are one of my usual readers.  I don't know why I keep doing watercolor portraits. It's not easy. I need to do another medium but for some reason I feel an attraction to watercolor. It's not like I can't do acrylic or oil. But anyway...I ramble.

A little bit about this card and the symbolism of it. St. Philomena was an early church martyr. You can tell that by the red she is wearing.  The palm is an early church symbol of Christianity - relates back to the waving of the Palms when Jesus was going to Jerusalem. The ring of flowers around her head tells us that she was a virgin. Notice the two arrows. It is tradition that a King wanted to marry her. She wanted to dedicate her life to Jesus and wanted no part of it. So she was thrown in the water with an anchor around her neck. But God freed the anchor and she survived. So the King had her showered with arrows which pierced her but she was healed of that. He did it again and again she survived. In the end, the King decapitated her and she died. So the 2 arrows represent the 2 times she was shot with arrows.  St. Philomena is considered the patroness of the Rosary.

Hope that gives you a little insight into St. Philomena! :) My father's sister was named Philomena. Now I understand why my Grandmom named my aunt after her. She was faith-filled, virtuous and not to mention a tough cookie!

This card is available in my Etsy shop. 100% of the sale of this card goes to Little Sisters of the Poor St. Martins Home in Baltimore.  Here's the link to the listing: http://www.etsy.com/listing/68362934/watercolor-aceo-original-st-philomena


Oh and just in case you want to help out the Little Sisters here's their link. They still are working on trying to find $25 million!   http://littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=56

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Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

Friday Feature

So this week's Friday Feature is taking a little detour. I know I've been featuring folks who have 'hearted' me on Etsy but I found someone interesting somewhere else. Meet Katka Holloman Lucanova -- "Kate"

According to her blog profile she is from the Heart of Europe, the Czech republic. She lived there for 20 years, met her husband at a christian camp, got married and then after a year together in the CZ moved to the States. Kate is a member of my ACEO Online Magazine Group on Facebook.

She's a very talented artist. The horse pictured to the right is one of my favorie pieces in her Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/katehollart

  She posted a link to her blog on our group. The blog features a little character called Jimmy the Sheep. To the right is a Jimmy the Sheep ACEO available in her Etsy shop.  He was born in 2005 and was in  children's magazine in the Czech and Slovak republics. The blog will follow his life of Christian Virtues and struggles.

In her recent blog post Kate says: "To smile is better than to worry! And a happy one goes through life better than the grumpy."   Amen to that Kate!  I was the first follower of her blog so follow her blog & join me in watching what Jimmy gets into: http://jimmythesheep.blogspot.com/

God is soooo good!

Today I sold another ACEO for the Little Sisters of the Poor. This one is of St. Katharine Drexel.  Her Feast Day is right around the corner, March 3. She was born in 1858 and became a sister at the age of 33. She died the year I was born in 1955 at the age of 96.

She's sort of a neighbor to me. I'm in the Baltimore Area she was in Philadelphia.

St. Katharine was devoted to the African and Native Americans. She founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Black and Native American peoples. Mother Drexel took part in opening the first mission school for Indians, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  In 1915 she also founded Xavier University in New Orleans,  first Catholic university in the United States for African Americans.  

When she died there were more than 500 Sisters teaching in 63 schools throughout the country. Saint Katharine was beatified by Pope John Paul II on November 20, 1988 and II canonized her on October 1, 2000. At that time she was only the second recognized American-born saint.

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The patient and humble endurance of the cross—whatever nature it may be—is the highest work we have to do.  - St. Katharine Drexel

 

25% of all secular art and 100% of religious art in my shop http://artfulpurpose.etsy.com  go to support Little Sister's of the Poor, St. Martin's Home in Baltimore

Please visit their website and support their capital campaign...they need to raise $25 million within 2 years or they will have to remove the 75 elderly poor they serve from St. Martin's Home..... http://www.littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=56

Coming Soon!

What you wonder? Lent!  Advent & Christmas it seems was just yesterday and now it's time to prepare for Easter.  Easter is more than Easter baskets and chocolate bunnies! It's the day our Savior rose from the dead! It takes preparation!

Three weeks from now comes Ash Wednesday and that's the start of Lent. As a Roman Catholic  it will be forty days of fasting from meat on Friday's, prayer, penance, almsgiving and giving up something in preparation for Easter!


So three weeks to decide my "Lenten Plan".  Hmmm....

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The 4 porcelain fish sauce dishes are available in my Etsy shop:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/68055121/handpainted-porcelain-set-of-4-fish

Sunday Sketches

So another fine mess you've gotten me into Ollie!  LOL  My friend Marlene gets me into things....good things. First she got me into the Sketchbook Project and now Sunday Sketches. Marlene Hawkins inspires me to good things! Thank you Marlene otherwise known as LazyHawk around the Ebay, Etsy art world.

So look for me to feature a piece of art each week on Sunday! This week's feature is a piece I did for the ACEO Online Magazine competition. The theme was symbols of love. So I thought what to me is a symbol of love and it came to me. There was NO GREATER LOVE that the sacrifice Jesus made for us. That inspired me to do the pictured colored pencil ACEO, entitled, what else "No Greater Love.

Visit BlueChairDiary Blog for some awesome other Sunday Sketches: http://bluechairdiary.blogspot.com/

And while you are at it go visit my friend Marlene: http://marlenes-musings.blogspot.com/
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This ACEO is available in my Etsy shop. Here's the link:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/67794472/colored-pencil-aceo-original-no-greater

Friday Feature

Today's Friday Feature is someone who "favorited" one of my pieces of porcelain pictured below from my shop: JYWheeler on Etsy.


Turns out it a friend Brenda Thour. Her shop is Luv2Paint on Etsy!  Brenda is from Minnesota so that's probably why the snow scene appealed to her!  Her Etsy shop is full of beautiful wildlife and animals. She's even turned some of her art into pendants. The zebra pictured is one of my favorite pieces of hers. The fact that it's in Africa and it's hot there probably appealed to me. I'm ready for summer! LOL

Brenda  is such a talented painted. I've known her a long while as she is a member of my DAWG Team on Etsy.

She also sells on http://www.brendathour.com, and has a  blog at http://www.brendathour.blogspot.com.  Become her fan on facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/?ref=sb#/pages/Brenda-Thour/191242265270 or follow her on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/brendathour.  So go grab a cup of coffee and check out her sites!


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The hand painted procelain box is available in my Etsy shop.....here's the link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/39695217/handpainted-porcelain-dresser-box

So I've been painting away to the point....

that my fingers lock up occasionally! It's heck getting old! I hate it when Arthur (Arthritis) comes to visit. Anyway, I have been filling my new shop, ArtfulPurpose, with ACEO's of saints and framed prints of my icons.  Here's one of the ACEO's. This one is of St. Kateri  Tekakwitha, a native American Saint. Here's the listing for it: http://www.etsy.com/listing/67437223/mixed-media-aceo-original-blessed-kateri

Remember 25% of all sales there go to Little Sisters of the Poor for nonsecular paintings. 100% of all religious art goes to the Little Sisters. Also remember their capital campaign in your prayers and financially if you can. Here's their website...the donate button is at the bottom right: http://www.littlesistersofthepoorbaltimore.org/

In my other shop JYWheeler - which I refer to as Painted Panache, I have been working on some miniature porcelain pieces in the form of pendants and a number of pieces for the spring challenge for the Old Farmhouse Gathering Team (OFG Team) I belong to on Etsy. I don't have photos up yet since they are still in the works. But look for four footed mugs, a porcelain egg and an adorable small dresser tray. Oh and I shouldn't forget, a little teapot shaped hinged box. It's so cute. I cannot wait to post the photos.

Here is a piece of porcelain I recently put up. It's a toothbrush holder with a matching cup. Can you tell I'm finished with winter? I'm ready for summer and the beach. Here's the link to the listing on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66762506/handpainted-porcelain-shell-design

So stay tuned for more porcelain to come your way with a spring/summer theme because I'm done with winter! I hate to say it because I LOVE snowmen. I have quite a collection of the little guys but I put them away until next year! I'm ready to pull out my bunny collection!

Friday Feature

Today I'm taking a break from the "heart" features. I decided today to feature my new team, Catholic Etsy Artist Guild.  I was poking around one day on Etsy and found them. I'm tickled pink to be a part of TeamCatholic on Etsy.  For me being Catholic is not just a religion but a way of life. It's in the pores. I could never leave my faith so it's nice to find others with the same mind set.


Pictured below is a treasury I put together for TeamCatholic entitled "Hail Mary Full of Grace"  Not all of the artisans on TeamCatholic make religious themed articles.  So the next time you are on Etsy, search for "TeamCatholic" in the Tags & Title search for some awesome art and craftsmanship.

'Hail Mary, Full of Grace' by ArtfulPurpose

Featuring TeamCatholic .

Hail Mary Art Print... AutumnDaisy $7.00	Our Lady of Lourdes... TheRecycledCat... $14.99	FREE SHIPPING Rosar... LaudeArts $84.99
Framed Print Religi... ArtfulPurpose $19.95	Yellow Rose May Cro... CherubinoCraft... $5.00	Vintage Image of Ma... thevelvetheart $
Keys to Mass for Ch... juniperplum $15.00	Riverstone Rosary B... GracefulRosari... $	Our Lady of Perpetu... AxisMundiDesig... $14.00
Rhodonite Gemstone ... AngelosTreasur... $24.00	Madonna and Christ ... AxisMundiDesig... $9.50	Handmade Croatian P... prayerbedes $15.00
Mary Mother of God,... Art4thesoul $20.00	Our Lady of Guadalu... janallisfinede... $40.00	Madonna and Child B... LadyinBlueShop $10.00

Treasury tool is sponsored by Lazzia.com A/B image testing.

Happiness on Hump Day!

Well this has been a wonderful hump day.  For one, I won 3rd Place in the ACEO Online Magazine for my ACEO "Oh My". Angela did an interview with me. Here's the link:  http://www.angelasartarea.com/aom_interviews_jan2011_winners/joann_y_wheeler

I was pretty tickled because it gave me a forum to promote the Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Martin's Home and their Capital Campaign.

Speaking of which, in the last 2 days, I had 2 sales there. One for 3 religious ACEO's and another for 2 framed prints of my religious icons!  Soooo 100% of the sale went to Little Sisters!  I was happy to be able to give them $90 in 2 days. If this keeps up, who know I might help make a dent in that $25 million...well maybe not because that's alot of painting. I did another 4 religious  ACEO's and put them up in my shop:  http://artfulpurpose.etsy.com/   I did one called "The Appearance" (the Blessed Mother), St. John Neumann, Jesus in the Garden & St. Rose of Lima.  Speaking of St. Rose. My favorite quote of her's is "Let all men know graces comes after tribulation."

So as a reminder all religious painting sales are donated 100% to the Little Sisters. Other sales, 25% goes to them. Have a blessed day!