soaps and polar bear cookie pops

For Christmas gifts for my coworkers this Christmas, I made Oreo cookie pops and soaps.  I found massage soap molds and used lavender essential oil and dried lavender to make relaxing soaps.  They are so fun to make!

Mama's House

When visiting my mama's house in Alabama over the holidays I took a few pictures of her creative masterpieces.  My mom enjoys going to garage sales and thrift stores to turn old things into something new with a few coats of spray paint.  Below are two projects using stencils and spray paint and also the before and after of dining room chairs. ~ JM

Using stencil and spray paint on wicker cabinet and a sisal rug.

Before and after of a chair.

Creative Writing

Earlier this month the Portrait Gallery had multiple writing sessions using the portraits as inspiration for our stories.  The theme for the session I attended was "Understanding Others".  This is a wonderful creative exercise for anyone and anywhere!  The assignment was to concentrate on two different portraits and write a story of how these two different people could have met.

Writing prompts:

• Write down all the details you see that tell you something about who each person is.
• Mimic their postures one at a time.  Hold each person's for a moment.  What did you learn?  Write that down.
• With all the insight you now have about these two, look at their faces carefully.  Combine what you've observed along with their expressions in your mind.  Now, write a few sentences in his or her voice about your first subject's highest aspiration.
• Now do the same for your second subject.
• Begin a story with one of your chosen portrait's settings as your location and your two subjects as the main characters.  Imagine a reason for each being in that location, why are they there? How are they each feeling in the moment that they meet?  What will they think of each other?

First few sentences of my story:

Moria squealed in delight as her mother drove her to school.  It was field trip day to the farm.  Her second grade classroom learned all about the farm and was excited to see it in person!  When Moria and her classmates arrived at the farm they were greeted by the owner, Ms. Mae.  Ms. Mae was a proud woman who took pride in sharing the joys of animals, nature, and farming to others.... -JM

I chose these two portraits as my subjects:

More portraits located here.

"Woman with Rooster"

"Mavis in the Backseat"

Scrabble birthday gift

I saw this idea on Pinterest and it was the perfect thing to make for my little nieces for Christmas!  Rather than drilling holes and using wire to use for attaching...I used pretty string.

magnetic scripture/saying holder

For my project this month, I made a present for my mom.  She loves camping. I found fun stickers and then made cards with different saying and Bible verses that I hope she will like!

Letter Press | Burlap Cross

I was in MN recently for a high school reunion.  I had a chance to meet up with my blogging buddy, Nancy, and we did a creative activity of letter pressing!  We made a miniature book.  If you are ever in the Minneapolis area check out Minnesota Center for Book Arts.(Click here for link.)

Showing off my skills

Single page book

Letter press

I also made a burlap cross and gave it to my blogging buddy.  The craft store had this fall theme strip of burlap.  Once I brought it home I researched on burlap crafts and found many examples of burlap crosses.  ~ JM

Burlap Cross

Baby Cookies

I wan't to make some appreciation gifts for my kids teachers and bus driver. I also had been wanting to find a chocolate chip cookie recipe that tasted like sweet martha cookies at the fair.  I found this recipe and it worked for both! I was able to make bags for the neighbors too and sample plenty because 1 batch made soooooo many!

Felt Crafts

With left-over felt sitting around from an earlier project I wanted to make a pouch for my e-reader.  With some embroidery thread I quickly made some triangular designs and put a few stitches on the edges. If I had just a bit more material I would have made a flap with a botton to fastened it shut.  I also made a heart-shape bookmark which opens at the top so it fits the corner of the page. I saw this idea on Pinterest. The bookmark would have worked better if I had thinner felt material and  I should have put the closing stitches closer to the edge.  ~JM

Next time I will practice more and hope to do stiches like the ones below that I found on Pinterest.

Street Art

Graffiti is "controversial and expressive form that’s been conveying messages and transforming walls from ancient Rome to today. Rooted in social and political dissent and laced with a sense of danger, modern graffiti has exploded both as a raw and powerful street medium and in works that have made their way into galleries and museums" (Smithsonian).  

Ted-Ed describes the history on graffiti seen here.  The video asks is it art or is it vandalism? 

I visited Wynwood Walls when I was in Miami. It is a neighborhood filled with street art. 
(Click here for Wynwood Walls Info)

Wynwood Walls

I drew my initials in a street art style on paper.  I used this website for instructions on "how to draw graffiti names".  Some tips I learned:

• write your name in pencil or chalk
• turn the letters in blocks or bubbles
• connect some of the letters
• add feet and arrows
• create a 3-D effect
• blacken your sketch line
• add color
• set it against contrasting background

  -jm

Rock Art

While in Central Park, NY City this summer, I saw an artist who made beautiful pictures with rocks.  I found these rocks on the beach and made a family portrait with them.

Photographs (Part 2)

As previously mentioned I took a class called "Exhibiting and Selling Your Photographs".   It was really informative and it was wonderful to hear the experiences of the instructor and other class participants who had showed and sold their works.  Here are some methods to get your art seen and sold:

• Juried Exhibitions
• www.photoreview.org/wordpressindex/publications/newsletter/
• Coffee Shops/Restaurants
• Easy way to start
• Just ask the manager
• Art Festivals
• Art Leagues
• Resident Artist Programs
• Artist Cooperatives
• Galleries
• Rental Space
• Your own website/Social Media
• www.squarespace.com
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Register the copyright of your image
• http://copyright.gov/forms/formva.pdf

I am excited to take additional classes this Fall that will stir my creative mind.  There's a great line-up: basket weaving, children's book illustration, self-publication and more!  I will post updates on what I learned.  - JM

Minnesota Nightlight

I made this night light with a jam jar, blue rocks and river rocks from the dollar store. I found the small LED lights at Michael's craft store and they twist on.  I like how it looks like water in a Minnesota lake!

Photographs (Part 1)

My photograph won second place at a contest where I work!  This got me thinking about entering other contests.  National Geographic and the Smithsonian are major ones to compete in.  I will take a class titled "Exhibiting and Selling Your Photographs" in a few days. My next blog post will focus on what I learned.  Below is my "award" winning  photo where I used a "sketch" filter. The setting is Little Havana, Miami of neighbors playing dominoes. - JM

Domino Park (Little Havana, Miami)

A view of the photo with 2nd place trophy.

Barnes Foundation | Anyone Can Draw

June was a fun and busy month that I wanted to share two things. First, I am slowly earning credits towards an art history certificate.  I received a credit by visiting the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.  The Barnes Foundation has a large collection of Degas, Cezanne, and Picasso.

Barnes Foundation

Second, I saw an encouraging Ted Talk on YouTube that focused on how we set limits on ourselves including the belief of our drawing skills.  In actuality, anyone can draw!  Here are my drawings I did from the video. The link to that video is here.  -JM

 

Swan Pond

My favorite winter decoration is the swan pond in the 1st picture.  The swans swim around the pond by a magnet underneath.  I am always sad to pack it away, even though I am happy when Spring arrives! This year I had an idea to try to transform the pond into a spring/summer atmosphere..this is what I came up with..I think I will add a park bench and some bigger trees..but I am so happy to keep my swans swimming all year round :)

Art Deco

A year ago I posted an entry about Art Nouveau which has a curvy, swirly style.  Art Deco occurred afterwards in the 1920s and 30s which focuses on straight lines.  When in Miami recently I saw a plethora of Art Deco buildings.  With a template of Art Deco typography I wrote the alphabet and my name.  I also drew a Macintosh Rose which was popular in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements.  I also sketched two Art Deco design I saw on Pinterest.  -JM

Art Deco buildings in Miami, FL

Art Deco typography and design examples

Polymer Clay Pen

I learned how to make the marble look with the clay that I baked onto pens.  I think it looks more like camo :)  The pens feel very comfortable and are fun to make.  I found this idea on Pinterest.

Portraiture

The National Portrait Museum always has wonderful displays. Portraits are works of art that record the likeness of people. Below is a picture from the museum.  My goal was to draw portraits.  The internet had many tutorials.  The second picture uses a technique of squiggly lines.  The last picture focuses on proportions and lines to use as guidance when drawing a face. - JM



Display at Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery



Squiggly Technique

Proportion Guidelines

Paint Night

I have been wanting to go to a paint night for a long time and then a friend gave me a certificate to go and we went together. It was harder than I thought, but fun.  This is supposed to be my hubby and I on a romantic canoe trip watching the northern lights :)

Good Friday

At our church we were given the opportunity to make a piece of art having to do with Holy week. This is mine, representing the time when Jesus died and the temple curtain was torn in two. Before praying and reading about this in depth...I had never fully understood the significance of this.  What an amazing thing!

Book Art

I saw a display at the National Museum of African Art called Artists' Books and Africa. Artists' books are works of art in book form. The accompanied primer to the exhibit showed many great examples of artists' books.  A description from the museum's web site states: Artists’ books build on the traditional codex of sequentially bound pages. These visual and tactile artworks play with the codex format in fanciful ways, pushing the boundaries with sheer unexpectedness. Below is a snapshot of the primer.  Plus, my own form of book art. ~JM

Altered book examples.

"The Lotus" (book art)

Ping-Pong

There is an interesting art installation contest that is due tomorrow (3/4/16) re-using more than 500,000 plastic balls, called "Re-ball!".  I want to enter it so I bought twenty-four Ping-Pong balls to see if it is feasible thing to do!  Last summer the plastic balls were used at the Building Museum in DC for an exhibit that represented a beach.  Now the Dupont Underground will re-use them via ideas by the public. Here is the Contest Information.

If I were to enter the contest I would obtain very large,  tall clear cylinder containers filled with decorative hand-painted plastic balls placed throughout the space.  This would be an enormous feat because painting twenty-four plastic balls was time consuming! My at-home version is using a small cylinder vase. - JM

Before | After

Contest Winner-Raise/Raze by Hou de Sousa

"The Beach"(L) | Dupont Underground (R)

Yarn Doll

The doll on the left is very special to me because it was the first thing I ever saved up my money to buy as a child.  The one on the right is my attempt to make a similar version :)  There is room for improvement, but I was happy how it turned out!

Sign Language

This month my goal was to learn some basic sign language.  There is a new student who is deaf at the school I work at and I want to be able to talk to her.  I have learned "what is your name, nice to meet you, how are you" and a few other words. I think she likes that I am learning and I will keep it up.  I have been learning by watching u tube teachings. :)

Oil Pastels

I first began with a pencil sketch. With simple strokes I started with dark colors and then blended in with lighter colors.  The two pictures I drew below are from a beginners tutorial on YouTube (Paint Academy channel). Here is the link.  ~ JM

Gingerbread Playdough

For Christmas presents for my kids and others, I made a recipe for Gingerbread playdough.  I found this idea on Pinterest.  It smells so good and I attached a cookie cutter so the children could pretend they were making cookies.