Where oh where have I been?

Well I have been very busy as my husband and I are having an exhibition in Calgary in a few weeks.

Its pretty exciting to have a show with the man whom has been so super supportive to my artistic ways. He puts up with my overtaking the whole house with alternative art and sewing projects all the while just smiling and giving encouragement while ignoring the messes I make. Such a joy to share art and life with him.

Also I will have some paintings at...

In Edmonton next weekend. I am happy to be busy painting and showing my work.

Happy days, the sun is shinning, the birds though have been slow to come north but I don't blame them as we had snow three mornings this week. On monday eve we went for a walk and the rain/sleet started once again and lo what do we behold but a swan troupe dispenses from the cloud cover flying low looking for a spot to land to wait out the squall. 

Have a wonderful week, hugs!

pencil portraits

A portrait of my beautiful nephews and niece recently completed. I chose graphite 2b pencil (my favourite) and 3b as a soft medium with which to work the portraits and then to add a subtle bit of color and link the children together I washed in the background and parts of the clothing with watercolor. The portraits are drawn on quality Arches watercolor paper. I found out years ago never skimp on supplies, always use the best available.
It has been a while since I have drawn or painted people portraits and quite enjoyed doing this piece.
Years ago I lived in Manitoba and painted many portraits in pencil and chalk pastel. I enjoyed taking courses at the Winnipeg Art Gallery to have access to models and great teachers, it was my love and passion then and quite enjoyed seeing clients so happy with the finale results. I have painted children, centurions and also memory portraits of loved ones who had passed on.

Today I posted nine more new paintings at:
 http://teresastiebenart.blogspot.ca
enjoy!

of birds and bears

Well I finally had a light filled day enabling taking photographs of my latest paintings, so you see I have been busy the last while, though have not been posting. To view all of the new 5x5 inch acrylic paintings (there are nine new ones) go to http://teresastiebenart.blogspot.ca

I had to do a little research and learning to set up my new camera to capture truer colors than I was previously getting, thank goodness it was an easy learning curve this time, its amazing what a difference a few minor setting make. 

 "When the honeysuckle is heavy on the vine"

 "The art of conversing with nature"

 "Singing along with Willie, Waylon and the Boys"

I was pretty frustrated this week with drastic weather changes causing severe bone pain and sleeplessness which of course make it harder to cope so most of the week was spent in the recliner with a heating pad, hot tea and books. I finally gave in to pain-meds last night to enable sleep and glad of it as I managed to rough in three small paintings today. I probably over did myself but with having a down week and upcoming exhibitions I have to put the push on now.

Ah so looking toward spring; someone said its already here, but I don't believe them as out my window is piles of snow four feet high.

Well what can I say but enjoy the song while the singers on stage, hugs!

winter is back with us

Thoughts of sunny summer days and birdsong fill my thoughts as I view the whiteness of falling snow that lie silent on my world today. Hugs and warm wishes to all.

Back in the saddle again

Well truthfully there is no saddle involved but we did go out to the countryside for a winter picnic yesterday afternoon and what a wonderful day it was. To begin we had bright sunshine, o-so -glorious sunshine. Its a wonderful day when there are no chem-trail clouds blocking the sunlight.
I moved to Alberta years ago even though I don't relish the cold I loved the bright blue clear winter sky, sadly these days planes crisscross dumping who knows what all crap into the environment that causes cloud formations. If you don't believe watch the sky for a year and see how some days planes leave spurts or trails that form cloud cover rather than dissipate and dissolve as regular plane trails do. Its unbelievable I know, but I believe what I can see and I have watched these plane systematically checker the sky with trails or grids or spurts and an hour or so later, voila, the sun is not seen only man-playing-at-God-cloud-cover. Is this the cause of Asthma and sensitivities being on the rise? Our environment is continually under attack by greed;  one day maybe our Mother (earth) will give a darn good shake and toss us mutants off her back.

When one realizes that great civilizations have come and gone throughout history one must wonder did they bring about their own downfall due human greed of always wanting more, of wanting whats our neighbours, of wanting "all" there is to one selves rather than sharing. Greed, its a consumptive illness and it surrounds our lives like an ever eroding disease. This time of year its so apparent with the garbage that is uncovered by snow melt, we are a disgrace to the wonderful planet God gave us to live well on. As society on the whole we have failed at the living well part haven't we? Grassroots people are rallying more and thats a good sign, a sign of change, and hopefully our leaders will see there is a better way to live than raping and pillaging our Mother. Lets bless her with love and giving back in a good way in return for all she graciously gives. For without clean air to breath, fresh water to drink and unpolluted earth to grow our foods in we have nothing.

I didn't mean to go on a rant this morning it all just came out, and more, thank goodness there is delete, lol. Onward now with yesterday; that thought is kinda like living in the past isn't it?

Mom and last years young-un.

There was a group of eight does and young out in a field but they saw us coming from miles away and headed lickity-split for the shelter-belt. Arriving near the abandoned farm we were lucky enough to spot these two stragglers momentarily in the open. 

 Love this image of curiosity.

 Porcupine, this is the best shot I could get through the tree branches. Such sweet creatures to behold. I find it exciting to meet these cute fuzzy spiky rodents. I was hoping for a bit of action or a face shot at least but he casually shifted position, curled in his head, then went to sleep, so we trudged through the snow back to the road and left him be.

 Fore-bearers of spring, the Horned Lark migration is in full force, we saw three separate groupings of them, smallest was a group of three and largest was about eighteen. You can see their heads poking up out mid field. We had our lunch and afternoon tea while watching them, ah I love going on picnics.

Further along the gravel road we came across more larks, don't they blend well. These are real long shots as the larks kept quite a distance. I was shooting 7D, 300m lens with extender and this is a highly cropped image as well.

Headed homeward we encountered a winter squall, it was quite beautiful watching the wind stream snowflakes past the window. This drive by shooting is a keeper only for photo reference for paintings for the effects it captured of blowing snow.

Going past Elk Island Park the buffalo were within view of the highway so we stopped to watch them for about 15 mins, such magnificent beasts.
Well its snowing here again, so much for the three days of sun forecast. May all have a great week, I know I will as I am busy painting for an upcoming exhibition in Calgary this spring. 

Hugs!

Friendship Muse

As mentioned previously, I enjoy making special one of a kind gifts. This is "friendship muse" which was made of course for a close friend of mine. 

Friendship muse is wearing the latests style fascinator (an antique button) atop of her wind-blown tresses. Her face is painted with inktense pencils on material that is used for stiffening material in garments.

Initially I had found a free pattern online for a similar type cloth doll but as with free items there can be a catch, such as the item turning out to not even vaguely looking like the item its supposed to. Anyhow after getting half way through the first doll I realized it was all wrong, so I set down with pencil and paper and drafted my own design. Much more fun. Also this muse needed to stand up and embrace life, no laying around for her.

Today I was looking at fabric bird patterns in a library book and set about to copy a few, but alas my mind never sleeps tending to cause dismay following others patterns as I look at them and see too many unnecessary steps and set about redrawing. I guess I never have been one to draw within the lines, follow rules or patterns set by others, preferring instead to make my own way.

Have a wonderful weekend, hugs!

Gift given, joy received.

Every year we take in the Nativities display. This year I entered one I made.

I heard it received many wonderful comments which I was glad of as it was a gift for Daniel and his wife. Daniel gets his students to make interesting Nativities and I decided to give it a go. It took me about a year to find all the pieces that would fit into the tiny frame.

 I was going to post the write-up about it but have decided to let viewers decipher it in their own way.

Enjoy!

 Last year I commissioned owl hats for our grandson and son. Well I didn't want daughter-in-law left out so decided to teach myself how to crochet and after many days watching and following along youtube videos I made four different hats, though one was real ugly and was taken apart. After days of making, deconstructing and making again I got to the point of less mistakes and at that point I felt skilled enough to make the special hat and this is it. As the boys hats are similar for change I made loopy eyelashes and gave it fun ear tassels. I must say the sharing of info on youtube is wonderful.

 I like to make one of a kind special gifts for loved ones. Though I designed this fella myself I realized once made that this softie reminds me of Mercer Meyer characters from books I read my children years ago.

 I found the plain denim back boring and didn't know how or what to do rather than leave it plain. My husband suggested "give him a backpack" and voila, it worked; together we make a great team. The pack has just enough space to tuck in a matchbox car.

 Of course a hand stitched felt heart embellishment topped off the character, isn't he cute. I heard our grandson packed it around for a few hours when he opened his parcel which brings joy to my heart.

On the sad side though I made a special designer gift for a special girl and it got lost in the post, seems they said it was delivered though the intended never received it, argh it has caused so much stress, tears and disappointment for me that I dread to post anything of importance again.
I really pray for the parcel to be found and delivered to the rightful recipient asap.

I pray for blessings, hugs!