there is Magic behind every Door! Art Journal

I had a bit of fun over the weekend and created this in my Strathmore 7.75×9.75 inch Watercolor Journal. I painted it mostly with acrylic paints but what I love about using a watercolor journal is the thick 140lb paper which stands up well to just about anything. I have thoughts I journaled on the first layer followed by watercolors, then decoupage, gesso and acrylic was the last layer.

I love roses but I’m a little rusty painting them so I’ve decided to add them to my daily art schedule so I become more fluent in painting them.

Hope this inspires you in some way, thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

Mountains Abstract Art Journaling

I wanted to have some fun creating watercolor abstracts in my Strathmore 8.5 x 5.5″ watercolor art journal. To create this fun design simply add your watercolor paints to the paper (leaving them fairly wet) and cover it using plastic wrap. Set it aside to completely dry. Then remove the plastic wrap and see what fun shapes you have.

For this design, I saw mountains emerge and went with that. Some areas turned out too light so I used colored pencils to give it more depth and to define the mountain tops a little more. It was still needed a pop of color so I added I added pink flowers and of course finished it off with a little bling.

Hope this inspires you in some way today. Have a fantastic weekend and thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A beautiful quote by John Lennon featured on my art, wishing you a very Happy Valentine’s Day💖🌹

“Love is a promise; Love is a souvenir, Once given never forgotten, Never let it disappear.”

💟Never stop believing in the power of Love💟

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Share the Happy💖

Studio Update – Online Class

This week I’ve been busy working on a new abstract plus I’m enrolled in an online course called Birdsong & Blossom by Lindsay Green a very talented floral artist in Northern Ireland.

These birds were a warm up exercise for the class and I wasn’t crazy about them at first but I kept my faith and found it amusing how one by one, each bird took on it’s own unique personality. By the time I finished I was in love with them and thought they turned out pretty cute 😊 So stay tuned as I’ll be posting the finished painting shortly.

I recommend hopping over to Lindsay Green’s website and browsing her art and online classes. You can also find her on Instagram at @lynsaygreenart.

Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend, thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

“Every artist dips his brush into his soul and paints his own nature into his paintings.” ~Henry Ward Beecher

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Mountain Sunset Art Journaling

Painting trees and mountains is something new for me. I got a card in the mail with a beautiful sunset painting on it and thought it would be fun to create it in my Linden Art 5.5×8.5 inch watercolor journal.

It was certainly a learning experience. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, some of which I was able to fix while other stayed. Overall it turned out pretty good. I’m not totally thrilled with it but I do love the sunset background and this color combination. Plus I had lots of practicing to paint trees 😊

Hope this inspires you in some way today. Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

“As practice makes perfect, I cannot but make progress; each drawing one makes, each study one paints, is a step forward.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

Photo by James Wheeler on Pexels.com

Little Girl with Valentine Balloons

Creating in this 6×12″ Strathmore Watercolor Journal can be challenging due to it’s size and shape. But I’m down to my last couple of pages in this journal and wanted to create a little whimsical Valentine painting and this is what I came up with.

I did a sketch first and then painted everything but wasn’t happy with it because it looked too plain. So I ended up adding splashes of color. I finished it off with a little shading using a colored pencil and pen plus glitter for sparkly magic.

Hope this inspires you in some way today. Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

Studio Update Yello’s BIG Solo

This is a new 4×12 inch canvas I finished over the weekend. It’s an adorable painting with a textured background and 5 beautiful little birds. Instead of painting flowers I thought it would be fun to add more interest and accent this piece by using paper flowers and leaves. I also added a quote “Sing your song.”

Since this is painted on a 1.5 inch thick canvas, this artwork is ideal as a shelf sitter making it the perfect décor for a desk, shelf or counter but can also be hung on the wall.

‘Yello’s BIG Solo’ is available in my Etsy Shop, if interested.

Hope this inspires you today, thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

Studio Update – New Abstract

I hope your weekend is off to a good start! This is the 16×20 inch abstract painting I’ve been working on in the studio. It’s easy to overwork a painting, always thinking it needs more but I’m calling this one finished.

This painting is a stunning piece with lots of texture plus fun splashes and drips of colors. There are a lot of layers which peek through in different places making it all the more interesting. It has a very happy and uplifting vibe to it.

Now the real fun begins, I need a name for it but I’m coming up empty handed. Would love to know what you see and/or feel when you look at this painting so I can give it a title😊

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing from you!!

Share the Happy💖

“A true artist is not one who is inspired, but one who inspires others.” ~Salvador Dali

Mixed Media Inspiration Angel

I’ve been waffling different ideas of how to combine my love of inspiring quotes and phrases with my art. I love painting angels because they give so much peace and serenity. Then I remembered an old book I had in my library by Kelly Rae Roberts, “Taking Flight.” There was a project in the book that inspired me.

I looked to my past angel paintings in my journals for more inspiration and created a sketch on a 9×12 inch piece of watercolor paper. After I painted her, I added the phrases to her dress that I thought went well with the main motif of believing in yourself.

In the creation process, I experimented with new techniques; some worked out great while others were a complete blunder. But I just rolled with it and ended up having lots of fun. It was quite an adventure to say the least! Below are images for my finished art.

Would love to know your thoughts, thanks for stopping by!!

Share the Happy💖

Whimsical Bird Painting

Sometimes I like to do a practice run in my journal before painting on a canvas. Because I do a pencil sketch first, it allows me to easily change the design before I start adding the color.

This is “Marvelous Martha,” and she was created in my Strathmore 6×12 inch watercolor journal with watercolor paints, colored pencils and pen. I’ll have to make some adjustments when I paint her with acrylics on the canvas but the overall design will be the same.

So stay tuned, more to come with Marvelous Martha…

Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful day!!

Share the Happy💖