Enjoying my retirement one painting at a time. Interspersing my thoughts with my Handpainted porcelain (painting), decorative painting, glass painting, watercolors, ACEOs, Alcohol Ink Art, colored pencil and acrylics.
Today as I knelt in church I couldn't help but think of all the Men and Women who have given their lives for
this country. May all them and all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in Peace.
My thoughts were automatically taken to those who currently serve or who have served this country and the sacrifices they make. Not to mention their families, husbands, wives, children, mothers and fathers. So my prayers of thanksgiving and protection are for those people as well.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day and remember it's not just about the cookout.
It's sure been warm here. We've got spring for the first days of winter here on the East Coast and I'm really enjoying it.....well enough of the weather report. Today's post for Paint Party Friday is a butterfly watercolor ACEO. I love butterflies. There is a bush next to my parent's which always has a ton of butterflies on it.
Recently I've gotten in to card making. I was thinking one day that it might be fun to combine my art with my card making and so my Art on a Card was born. It's an original ACEO in plastic adhered to a handmade card. So it's a Greeting & Gift in One!!!! The ACEO slides easily out of the plastic. The card is blank inside. I have 4 so far in my shop. More to come.
What happened to summer? I know it's not politically correct to wish for global warming but today I could use just a bit.
Summer is my favorite time of year. Maybe it's because I was born in summer. Or maybe it's just because I'm an informal kind of girl and summer is all about informal, flip flops and shorts....but whatever the reason, I just wish I could have summer year round. How about you?
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The watercolor ACEO shown above is available in my ArtfulPurpose shop on Etsy. Here's the link: Beach Walk
Well last week I missed the PPF. I had things painted just didn't get to blog about it. Well this one I painted while I was in Ocean City, Md for Mother's Day weekend. It was so beautiful that morning I couldn't resist. It's an ACEO. The nice thing about painting an ACEO (2.5 x 3.5 inches) is that you can easily carry your painting supplies and paper along with you.
This is the first time I have participated....the theme is May flowers. Here's my entry. It's called Fresh Picked.
It's available in my Etsy shop, ArtfulPurpose....click here to go to the link.
Another fabulous Paint Party Friday. Today's PPF post is an ACEO. It is watercolor.
It's making me a little crazy because I see something wrong that needs to be corrected. If I get time today I may try to change it. But for right now, it will have to stay this way. It's already in my Etsy shop. Oh my. Well can you see it? Take a guess. Saturday I'll post a comment to tell you what's making me nuts and we can compare notes.
Anyway on to another subject. I was watching the news this morning at the devastation in the south. It breaks my heart to see the damage and the loss of life. Keep those affected by the storms in your prayers. They are most certainly on my mind and in my prayers. I hope none of you are affected by them.
Boy the weather was nice Thursday after a bout of rainy days, it was a welcomed sight! All this rain will bring beautiful flowers which reminds me of this little ACEO I painted recently.
It's available in myArtfulPurpose etsy shop: Click Here
This is going to be a fun Friday for me. I'm taking my grandson to the Train Museum in Baltimore. I've never been but I have heard some awesome reviews of it. They even have train rides there. Hopefully we will be able to get on one.
Well Dad is out of the hospital. He seems to be better but his breathing is a little irregular. I guess it will take time to get back to normal. He had his follow up doctor's appointment today and came out with flying colors. Now he goes to the heart specialist in 3 weeks for a follow up too. Just thought I'd update everyone but enough about that....now to painting.
Here is a little Spring Lamb.....it's a watercolor ACEO. Easter's coming when the Lamb of God gave His life to save us. Hallelujah!!!!
So I decided to put up 2 this week. Both are ACEO's. I like both of them and couldn't decide. I went to Michael's Craft Store yesterday. Big mistake. I always end up spending tooooo much money there. I was poking around and saw some water soluable crayon pastels...who knew. And of course the moment I got home I had to play with them and here's what I ended up with. It's the water soluable pastels & ink. It's what I call "happy art". I needed some happy art today.
I also bought a set of new soft pastel pencils. A little pricey but I had a 40% off coupon. These are much thinner than the old ones I have so they are easier to work smaller. It's the Archangel Raphael. He's one of the 7 archangels. Healing powers are attributed to Raphael. In the book of Tobit he was sent by the Lord to heal Tobit of his blindness. He is considered the patron saint of medical workers and travellers.
So now I have 2 blog posts to write every Friday...my usual Friday Feature...below and also something new Paint Party Friday. I almost forgot about it. But better late than never! LOL
Here's my first Paint Party Friday post! It is a pastel ACEO. I love to do pastels but find it more difficult smaller for some reason so I don't do as many of them as ACEO's. But I was very pleased with the way this one turned out. I love lemons and that old saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade". I try to do that as much as possible sometimes I am not so successful.
Last weekend when I put up my Sunday Sketch I put up a doodle I did when my cable was out. I just did it with a couple of pens. No big deal. Just doodling.
After I posted my link to my Sunday Sketch, I had a couple of people tell me that it was a zentangle.....who knew? I had no idea what a zentangle was. Turns out it some sort of mediative drawing or doodling. According to zentangle.com "Zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating new art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity. Zentangle provides artistic satisfaction and an increased sense of personal well being"
They also call it a "elegant metaphor for deliberate artistry in life" and also "mediative". You can buy kits and books...they've taken doodling to a whole new commercial thing. I was amazed people would pay money to doodle!
Then I did a search on Etsy. There are a lot of zentangles on there. But for me, it's just a doodle. I do that when I'm bored. I always have. When I go to meetings my notes are filled with doodles. So inspired by the beautiful doodles or zentangles in color, I decided to do another this time with the DAWG Team Ocean Quest in mind, and enhance it with watercolor and here it is. I
It is available in my Etsy Shop at this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/69525379/mixed-media-aceo-original-sea-of-life
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!
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
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.
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.
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!
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!
So, I was thinking the other day....art should have a purpose besides being collectible or something cool to hang on a wall. Mine needs to benefit something greater than me! So I pulled all my fine art out of my Etsy shop and created Artful Purpose...the purpose of that shop is to donate 25% of the earnings to a charity. Of course my favorite charity is the Little Sisters of the Poor!
St Jeanne Jugan icon I painted for the Little Sisters
Did you know they have to raise $25 MILLION in less than 2 years?!? If they don't they will have to move out of the St. Martin's Home where they serve 75 elderly poor residents. Now if it were me, I'd be shaking in my boots but Sister Rosemary, God Bless HER, just says St. Joseph & St. Jeanne Jugan will help us. I don't doubt they will, Sister.
Now I know I don't make enough money to donate $25 Million to them (I sure wish I did) but I try to give them what I can, when I can and I hope that through reading my blog or seeing it on Facebook or Twitter you will consider helping them out. You know,
every dollar adds up. We can all do this together.
Please take a moment to watch Mother Loraine's talk about the campaign & the renovations which are necessary.
Remember, we Baby Boomers, one day we may find ourselves one of the elderly poor. I don't know about you, but it gives me comfort to know that the Little Sisters are around!
So please donate. However, if you cannot donate financially, donate through your prayers. I believe in the Little Sisters, your intercessory prayers & those of St. Joseph and St. Jeanne Jugan. AND I believe that God gives us miracles!
