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Notes from the Garden - January Newsletter Edition

 
 
January's Featured Image

 

Mouse in Cup I haven't named him/her yet. I'm thinking that I may use this image in the next Adventures book. We'll just have to wait and see.

How you ask? I've been taking a few art lessons from a couple of guys Aaron Blaise and Chris Oatley, who have worked at Disney. (I have always wanted to work there but so far life has taken me in a different direction.) So both these guys have websites and fantastic digital art lessons that I would highly recommend. I can already tell that anything I do from now on will take at least three times longer to accomplish with all the little things I have learned, taking my work a huge step forward and changing my world for the better.

 

 

Past issues

Dec. 2014

Nov. 2014

 

 

 

      

 

 
 

 
 
Adventures Through The Enchanted Door

The Characters in Clay

It all started with a ball of clay. The figurines came to life and the stories followed.

The first thing the grandkids do when they come over is run directly to the dry aquarium that I've converted to a Fairy house. (Psst....the acquarium also insures that the kids can't reach them to play with when I'm not looking.) It's been the same for about a year now and it's time to make some changes. I'll be looking for small furniture and making a few new clay figurines. There is a local greenhouse that I am going to visit to pick up some new plants and I've gather some moss from my gardens in the backyard. Then we'll concentrate on making some more fairies to play with. I think it's time for Abella to come join the fun.

Stay tuned for updates.

 

        

 

 
 
 

 
 
Second Glances, An Introduction to Seeing

They're called

Pareidolia

Pareidolia (/pærɨˈdoʊliə/ parr-i-doh-lee-ə) is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.

In his notebooks, Leonardo da Vinci wrote of pareidolia as a device for painters, writing "if you look at any walls spotted with various stains or with a mixture of different kinds of stones, if you are about to invent some scene you will be able to see in it a resemblance to various different landscapes adorned with mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, plains, wide valleys, and various groups of hills. You will also be able to see divers, combats and figures in quick movement, and strange expressions of faces, and outlandish costumes, and an infinite number of things which you can then reduce into separate and well conceived forms."

See....we're not going crazy after all. To find faces and object amungst other things is quite normal and people have been doing this for quite some time. Now, can you imagine cave women checking out there new caves and inspecting the walls first to find just the right image on the walls before they moved in? It could be why they started drawing on their walls. lol

Bryce Rabbit, just one of many findings at Bryce Canyon National Park. Do you see him in the middle laying on his back with his feet up?

        

 

 
 

 
 
Featured Note Cards

Grief

It was very early on a warm July morning when I went out onto my front porch to sit in my rocker and soak up the sun. It's a perfect way to start my day. As my eyes adjusted to the bright sun I noticed the Hostas had finally bloomed and were covered with a heavy dew. I immmediately went back into the house to grab my camera. I knew it wouldn't take long for the sun to dry out the petals. What a beautiful blessing I had that morning. The weeping Hostas reminded me of tear drops on this quiet morning knowing that the sun always comes back up to dry those tears away.

I've always enjoyed George Anderson's books and with his permission was able to use this beautiful saying to make this the perfect gift for anyone grieving the lose of a loved one. This 5x7 photography card is blank inside and comes with a matt that will fit perfectly into a 5x7 frame.

 

        

 


 
 

 

On a Personal Note

 
 
Oh what fun it is to play!

I hope you all had a great holiday. Family and friends are so much fun, but now it's time to get to work. I've been blessed (sshhh don't tell my husband) with some time off from work during the slow winter season and I intend on using as much of it as I can to play in my studio.

Last month my drawing tablet broke leaving me feeling like a fish out of water. I hadn't realized how much I relied on it to draw. Needless to say, I didn't get done all the things I had wanted to accomplish in December as I had planned. As an artist, you just have to have a drawing tablet to do any kind of digital art because trying to do artwork using the computer mouse is like drawing with a potato. It just doesn't feel right. So I bit the bullet, as they say, and bought the one I've been dreaming about for years. A Wacom Cintiq 13 HD, which is a tablet/monitor that I can hold on my lap and draw directly on the surface. I can now draw just like I would if I were drawing on a piece of paper. I hadn't realised just how much easier it would make my life. It's a little pricy but well worth every penny. If you are a serious digital artist, there is no other choice, you need one. For the last two weeks, I've felt like a kid with a new toy and rightly so. What a joy it is and I know it's going to help with my artwork. Well, that and the intense art lessons lined up for the winter months.

Little Megan here was my first victim.I bought some new fur brushes from Aaron Blaise and needed to practice. Oh what fun! Be sure to check out my facebook page for more fun practice images.

Stay warm! It's time to play.

Ann