A vintage find

I found this cute little tea cup in an antique shop.I don't know how vintage it is but I could not pass it.

The colors and the design are so beautiful!

At the bottom there is a sigh : Royal Albert ,England.

Summer Challenge #14 and #15-quickies

These two sketches were done with my non dominant hand ,in my case my right one.I read in a magazine that it is a good warm up if you experience a creative block.I have tried that before and I liked the effect you get using your so called "weaker hand". To draw and paint these sketches I used some faces from a magazine as an inspiration.I used ink pen, Pilot, and my favourite watercolor pencils Faber Castell.The first one was done in my sketch book and the second one on regular note book paper.The size is 6x9.

Watching the parade-summer challenge#12 and #13

Here you can find some sketches drawn from life.They were completed with Pilot ink pen and Faber Castell watercolor pencils in my sketch book ,size 6x9. Last weekend we had a parade in our city.

As I am a parade lover I try not to miss it and take advantage of it.I usually take a lot of pictures for my reference files.Really,where can you find so many people of different ages sitting and standing in so many different poses,clowns,beauty queens ,school bends,old cars ,old fire trucks and what not?So,this year I even managed to make some sketches from life.I could have done more if my daughter was not so excited and loud attracting people's attention to us,especially to me sketching.

Two New Sketches From MY Summer Challenge

Here you can see two more sketches from my summer challenge I have started inspired by the Wet Canvas web site. Both were painted with watercolor pencils.For the guitar player I used ink pen Pilot.The size of the sketches is 6x9.The photo reference is from my own photo archive.

Our Garden

Here you can enjoy pictures of our garden or may be it is right to say my husband's garden.Gardening is his hobby and I am just an admirer.I like to take pictures of the flowers and the plants and recently I have got interested in buying decorations for the garden.

Some Sketches From The Swimming Pool

I did these sketches from life when waiting for my daughter at the swimming pool.I used Pigma Micron ink pen and Faber Castell watercolor pencils.The size of my sketchbook is 6x9.

My Creativity Took A Different Turn

I have planned to knit a warm set for the winter, a hat and a scarf for the cold days.I could never find the right time and the inspiration as well.I would look in the stores for something to buy but nothing would grab my eye.
I am glad that the inspiration finally came to me reading the wonderful blogs of so many creative people,who share their talents and ideas with the others.
And there you are, my hat is already finished.At the moment I am working on my scarf.
Isn't that strange that somebody would start knitting in the heat of the summer?Maybe there is something wrong with me or i need to express myself in a different way but I am having fun.

An Old Sketch

I am in a creative block now.I do not have anything new to post so I am offering this old sketch.It had been done in one of my sketchbooks with Millennium ink pen.

Summer Challenge#6 and #7

These are the last two sketches of my summer challenge.They were completed in my Mead sketch book with Pilot ink pen and Faber Castell water color pencils.I used my reference photos from our trip to the small city of Decorah,Iowa.It is a charming little city with preserved old buildings,art galleries and cute gift and antique shops down town.In the first sketch you can see an interesting building downtown Decorah and in the second a couple of musicians singing for some kind of charity at the Farmers' Market.

Summer Challenge#4 and #5

These are my next ones from my summer challenge in water media.Both sketches are done in my Mead sketch book,size 6x9.The first one is completed with ink pen Pilot and watercolor pencils and the second one with ink pen and light watercolor washes.I like the ink pen pilot for its bleeding features when disturbed with water.It gives more character to the drawing.

The new challenge

I started a new challenge.It is a part of the Water Media forum at Wet Canvas.They started a challenge called 100 Days of Summer.The participants promise to complete a certain amount of works in water media during this summer.Everybody decides for her self how many works she would like to complete.My goal is to complete between 30 and 50 works,paintings and sketches.Here are the first three ones painted with watercolors and watercolor pencils.

Show And Tell

I had hard time finding my cell phone in my purse or my back pack.I will get very frustrated when it starts ringing and I can't find it and when I find it they will stop calling and so on.I started thinking what I could do about it and I came with this idea.I crocheted this little case with this big button to keep it in.And now it is easy for me to see it and find it in my purse and I am so proud of myself .And it makes my husband and my friend Stela laugh how easy it is to make me happy and I agree with them yes, the little things make me happy.

Ballerina

This is a sketch from my old art journal.Drown with ink pen Millennium in my journal made of recycled paper.The color of the paper was brown and I applied another wash of yellow and brown watercolor.
I am really frustrated that they stopped importing this kind of ink pens from Japan because they were very good quality and the price was very reasonable.I used to buy them from Hobby Lobby and Wal Mart,but now you cant find them anywhere.
Otherwise I am doing good.I am glad that finally the weather warmed up and we can stay outdoors and enjoy the fresh air and also go on a bike rides on regular basis.

A Trip To Stockholm

On Sunday we went to the picturesque little town of Stockholm in Wisconsin.It is on the Mississippi river and is famous for its Summer Art Festivals.We went to their Art-fest last year.The town is really very cute with its old houses,galleries and gift shops.We had fun time browsing in the little shops and walking in the streets although the weather was cold and windy.The only bad experience we had was in the local cafe when we had lunch.First the sandwiches were overpriced and second they tried to cheat us on three items of our order,charging us more than they were supposed to.We fixed the problem but it spoiled the impression of the city.

Actually This Was The First One

This was the first watercolor. I had painted it before I decided to turn that sketchbook into a challenge.I already posted it in my other blog and I am posting it here in order to show the wholesome project.

Hurray!I Am Done With My Challenge!

I am finally done with my watercolor challenge and I am so happy about that.Now I am free to start something else, like an acrylic challenge for example.
This one is watercolor number 15.I am impatient to post it because I like the way it turned out.I still have one more to post but it is a nude and I did not want to post them together.Actually the nude was the first watercolor I painted on that sketchbook but at that time the idea about the watercolor challenge was still too vague.
I am not going to post one of the watercolors because it was not very successful.That is way they will be only fourteen.Anyway completed this challenge with the satisfaction of a job well done.I learned a lot and I dare to say i improved my skills in this media.

Watercolors #11 and #12

I am on my way to wrap up my watercolor challenge.At the moment I am working on my last one but it may take a while because it is a busy landscape .Here you can see an old man with his goat and a peony in a bottle.The peonies are kind of challenging flowers to paint and I am not very happy with the shape of the bottle but as a whole I had fun painting it,I mean the painting.I drew the old guy with the goat with a blue watercolor pencil first and then painted him with watercolors.I like the way he turned out.

It Is Not Here Yet

All the sighs are present but spring is not here yet.The weather this spring is horrible.If it is sunny it would be windy and cold,if it is warm it will rain or be cloudy and gloomy.It is not fun to go on a bike ride because it is so windy every time I decide to go.The last time I went on a bike ride the wind knocked me off my bike and I hurt myself.I am afraid I am getting a weather depression.The art is the only thing that keeps me with my marbles.

watercolors #9 and #10

These are the next two watercolors I completed as a part of my challenge.I did not have much time for painting the last week or so.I was too busy at my day job and also my daughter was sick for more than four days so I had to take care of her and there was no spare time at all.
In the first painting I tried to use limited pallet of colors and to achieve realistic water reflections.In the second one I was inspired by the city of Veliko Tarnovo in Bulgaria,which is famous for its picturesque view because its location on the slopes of several hills.I have always wanted to paint it in acrylics or oils and it will be my next project in one of this media.

Show And Tell

At the beginning of this month we had a sale of used books at work.For a couple of dollars you could stock on books for reading,get some videos and DVDs and some other stuff.I got some books for me and my daughter but the things I was most excited about were the vintage ephemera I found there.As you can see here I bought some old greeting cards,personal photos and vintage images.I also bought some body's collection of vintage Valentines.One of them was dated 1939 and was from the teacher to the student.This is my newest passion and I could not help it to brag about my latest findings.