Hello,

New SALE in my SHOP from Aug 31 - Sept 7th midnight. Save 20% with code FIRSTSALE.

So thank you for visiting, and hope you enjoy the many art tips in my BLOG, and paintings in my SHOP and just feel blessed while you hang around awhile.

Joanie

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A Cat Lady Paints Dogs Sketchbook 2 of 4

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And here we go with sketchbook 2, by the way, these are only highlights from volume 2. These books are burgeoning with drawing after drawing, sketch after sketch.
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A Cat Lady Paints Dogs - Sketchbook 1 of 4

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Hello there I have been working on a little project the last 3 months. A dear student gifted me a big book of dog black and white photographs. Every once in awhile I need to sink my teeth into something focussed.  So I decided to learn how to paint dogs. Meet Freya my new kitty! She is always lurking at my art desk....I suspect she is an artist in Catlandia. 
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July August SUMMER FUN - animal portraits

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Hello Folks and Happy Summer officially, I have been working behind the scenes on some new and fun ways to create our animal and pet portraits. I have filled lots of pages in my sketchbook as it is my alchemical laboratory, truly. First off here's a fun little graphic for the new Theme, starting in a week. The last week in July is a Vacation week....enjoy! So please note that Week One of July for Monday students is actually June 30th. So here are some animal portraits I have been experimenting with.  Gouche, acrylic, collage, and all sorts of mixed media.  Because, why not?  It's so much Fun! Those are all from my sketchbook, below are some independent paintings....larger (though not large at all) and on paper. Low Key Bunny Experiment High Key experiment Abstract painting, collage, negative painting and finesse!  Not done with this one, I am awaiting a delivery of some new type of markers, can't wait to play some more.  Looking for something creative to do this...
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May Theme and a bunch of glorious Circle Art

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Hello fellow creatives, Let's start with announcing the May Theme: Abstracted Landscapes. You can provide your own landscapes, city scapes, neighborhood scapes.....and I will lead you thru simplifying the composition and throw in a couple of Try This Color or Technique here.....to jostle your imagination and throw you off too much realism. It will be fun, nothing to be intimidated by, I promise.  As for April, all the artists were so brave to try some iteration of the following prompts - neurographic, mandala - either traditional or hand draw, and even lettering and doodles, it was all so inspiring to see what the artists came up with. I always encourage imagination and inspiration. I offer the seeds and the artists get to interpret those seeds any way they wish. And the results? Glorious! CIRCLE ART, here we go! We mostly used watercolor/gouache, white posca or gel pen, and ink permanent pens this month.
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Student Chairs and April Theme - Circle Art

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 I am so excited to share with you my talented students' work, but first a quick note to let you know what we will be working on this month of April. Circle Art!  We can call it Round art, or Zen art, or Mandala art.....you call it what you wish but we are going to start out with Color Mixing and Theory. A whole class full of it. So that whatever we fill our circles with, the colors will sing together in the most beautiful harmonies. Wk 2 I will introduce Neurographic art which is a deeply calming and therapeutic way to make art. Another approach I will share is how to construct and/or free draw a more classical mandala....adding similar art that mirrors itself around the quadrants of the circle. It's all yours to create as you wish. But all month we will be working in this shape, without blocked in corners like our usual squares and rectangles on paper or canvas as per usual. Supplies: my recommendation is a wetter media such as watercolor or gouache, or if you prefer acryli...
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Coming Up in March: Chairs!

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In December I sent out to all my students a feedback survey. It was chockful of things they wanted to pursue further in their art. For years and years now I have come up with pretty non-repeating themes each month. Sometimes, like color theory, we will revisit this infinite subject, but always with a new twist. But one request, from those artists who have been with me years now, was to paint Chairs again. So that is our March theme.
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Magic Slippers?

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If I am not painting these days I am sewing. [After a 50 year hiatus of not sewing!] Here's a fun little project I just finished..... I love a project where I can just grab a bag of my colored scraps and finish something by day's end. Quilts are not like that!  My feet are always cold! I have an uninspiring collection of designated "wear around the house" disreputable and holey socks. But then I spied this diy slipper idea on youtube  and of course had to try it. All the better that it will use up my color coded scraps. Red won as color of the day. So I pieced together all these bitty scraps and then cut out the pattern. That's always my favorite part - patchworking fabric bits together into something new and unique. Unrepeatable.  That's how I paint in my sewing room. Joy! This afternoon, I have a blue/green pair in mind.  Fun, eh? What creative stuff are you up to? Blessings, Joanie
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Coming Up: Abstracted Still Lifes

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Ooh, this is going to be fun. We will start by taking our everyday objects, learn some basic comp osition techniques, arrange and rearrange our personal items, take pictures for a multitude of possibilities, then begin to learn a few tips to not go so much toward Detail as Suggestion !  Join us.......this month long, 4 week session, starts this coming week. There's no one way to create abstraction, but rather multiple approaches. We will cover these so each artist can experiment with the approach that fits their painting goals. As for January, per usual, we focussed on Color Theory . This time we chose quite unusual and limited palettes with a "wild child" for mixing unique and sometimes uncomfortable, or at least unfamiliar color harmonies. The results were fascinating and we each grew out of our comfort zone a bit, and some. This year, another new thing I am throwing into the mix, is a Skill Building prompt for those artists who wish to expand their skills beyond ...
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About Those Sketchbooks...

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 Hi All I got a few inquiries about my sketchbooks I posted about last week. See post here.  
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Happy New Year of Expressing Your Creativity

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 We did it, believe it or not, we breezed through yet another year. As I age, Time seems ever more mysterious. It does not seem arithematical and precise at all, but more fluid, elastic, alive and willful? And we its mere servants.
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Nov+Dec Theme: Wintery Holidays

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Hi folks Firstly, here's our next theme beginning first week of November and including the first 2 weeks of December....when we take a break until the New Year. This opens up oodles of possibilities, so think Holidays  Wrapped gifts  Thankfulness Beautiful table settings Feasts Family Quietness Snowy scenes Limited only by your imagination! Another month flew by ... And some dolls were painted!  Here are a few of mine... Wishing each of you a wonderful wintery season. Even here in Northern California, the land of two seasons, the summer is clearly behind us. Brrrr! Bring on the rain, hot chocolate and k-dramas. Lol. Embrace your Creativity! Come join us online for some painting inspiration.... End your year with a creative burst along with the most awesome, kind and dear art community. Get in touch! Blessings always, Joanie
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