Yesterday I was folding laundry and turned on the TV and I found BOB ROSS on the create channel. I remember watching him when I was a kid…lol (yup weirdo). But I would get locked in an totally mesmerized! So anyway I did the same thing yesterday..haha. So after I folded my laundry, fully inspired by his love of all things nature…and squirrls I got out my oil paints and gave it a try. Photo below shows my attempt. I think it came out pretty good, although he added few more things than I did -I left out the gigantic tree in the front, the happy little bush underneath and cozy cabin. I was tempted to add in a squirrl to one of the trees too..lol All in all this took be about an hour to complete. And I think it looks pretty good…but not quite as good as Bob’s. He’s totally the landscape master and he’s making it all up too. No photo referance of anything! I’ll have to keep practicing. But what do you think of my attempt?
Not too bad for my first try. Look him up on youtube, give it a try and show me yours!
When I am not with my kids or creating my own artwork I teach some art classes at my local community center. I started a preschool class when my son was a year old and now he is 9!! I can’t believe I have been at it that long! But I love it. Preschoolers are so much , usually very enthusiastic but can loose attention very quickly! My kids always came to the class with me and I remember times when my son would smear some paint for 5 min. and then jump up to run circles around the room! But he always loved helping me wash up the brushes at the end:)
This is an old photo of my son, but this is the project we did this week. Van Gogh Sunflowers. I give the kids blue and green paint and mix it with some sand and the kids smear it all over their paper with a fork and spoon-or some jump right in with their fingers!! I love to include lots of sensory experiences, especially for the young kids. Sometimes I even mix spices or peperment extract etc. to the paint.
Last January I started an after school painting class for about 6-10 year olds. I let them paint on real canvas which for some reason is always a big deal for kids! We do a different project each week and I show them different acrylic painting techniques and usually bring in an artist for inspiration.
This is the project from this week! Some Kandinsky inspired circles. And we talked about color mixing. I gave them each blue, yellow, red, black and white and they got to mix up their own colors and paint in the circles. Our 45 min. went by super fast! And the kids were so quiet and focused but we were still not able to finish! So I’ll update with pictures of the finished products next week!
About 2 years ago my daughter was the flower girl in a wedding, she was 3 years old. My mom made the dresses for both flower girls, and they were the cutest things, ever!! I was standing with the girls just before they made their grand enterance into the church and down the isle. They were giggling, chatting and both leaned on the windowsill peeking out at all the guests as they arrived. Heads together, toes dangling above the stairs, it was the perfect moment! So i quickly pulled out my camera. And I have been wanted to do soemthing with it ever since! So finally this week I turned these sweet flower girls into a charcoal drawing.
Aren’t they the cutest!? Let me know what you think! Do you have a special picture you would like drawn in charcoal? I’d love to draw one for you! And don’t forget to check out my etsy shop Puprlejoyart or look me up on facebook;)
This week while my kiddos where at school I decided to try my hand at drawing some portraits of them in charcoal. I have always enjoyed working with charcoal and I am pretty happy with the way these came out. But for me they represent so much more than just a nice picture of my kids. I chose photos of my kids that captured a fleeting moment and all memories tied to it.
The one of my son is from last summer, I remember him laughing, his smile wide with missing teeth, baby teeth and grown up teeth. It was a month before he turned 8 years old and we were on vacation. He was playing cards with his dad over breakfast, and I snapped this photo mid laugh. As I didm it struck me how fast he is growing up, and I wanted to remember, forever, him as he was that day.
And the one I chose of my daughter is from last spring. We were spending the day at the mall so she could spend some of her birthday money from her Great Grandma. We had pretzels for lunch and an ice cream treat, and then we were walking by the Build-a-Bear store, and she always asks to go in there and I always say “no it’s too expensive”. But today I said “Yes!” I remember the look of shock and excitement on her face! So we go build a special birthday bear with a heart and button in her hand that sings songs from Frozen-her favorite movie at the time. Then afterwards she proudly carries the bear, she named Margaret, all over the mall. So I snapped a photo of her happy smiling face to send to Great Grandma.
I often feel my heart breaking open every time I think about how fast my babies are gowing. But I am learning that they grow just as fast as they are supose to. And I can’t change that by wishing time to slow down. Instead I chose to embrace where our kids are right now and this is a very good place to be. But this is why I love being an artist mom, because I can take a photo of a moment and then capture the memories in a hand drawn portrait. Of course when my kids saw these they said “Now do one of Daisy!” our beloved, lazy cat. So I chose a photo of her in her favorite pose-sleeping!
She’s not quite done yet, but I ran out of charcoal!
If you like my portraits and would be interested in having me draw one of your babies or fur babies let me know!
It’s 9:30 am on friday morning. My kids are at school. My house is quiet. Yesterday my son turned 9 years old and I have been a stay at home mom since he was born. Three days ago my daughter started kindergarten and so for the first time in 10 years I have no kids at home with me. It seems almost surreal. I put them on the bus walked back into the house and thought, “what do I do now?” Well, on the first day my husband and I went wine tasting and we said “wooo hoo!!” lol
But then I got to work, and am doing something I have thought about doing for years. As I sit here drinking a cup of coffee I am creating a website and store to share and sell my artwork. I have been loosly selling paintings over the years while staying home with my kids. Mostly commission work, paintings of peoples kids, pets, paintings for nurseries or wedding gifts…but it was always just here and there whenever I could squeeze in a few minutes to paint. But now, Here I sit, just me and Rachel Ray -she’s cooking mashed potatoes- and I am making a store.
Well, that’s all for today! I hope you like my work. I’d love to here from you if you have any questions or just want to say hello! Please check out my work for sale on my Etsy Shop www.etsy.com/shops/purplejoyart
And stay tuned as I will be adding more 🙂 Have a wonderful day!!
