Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Inspired by...Dina Wakley!

Last Saturday I took my first "live" art class with Dina Wakley and I'm SO GLAD I did!! Oh my goodness, the energy in that room! It was just AWESOME!

From the minute Dina walked up and introduced herself, I felt as if I'd known her forever. She's probably one of the warmest people I've ever met, totally approachable and outgoing, with a natural talent for teaching. Each time we were called to "gather round" we eagerly did so, and watched as she explained the next step in our process. If you don't know of Dina you probably live under a rock. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that you've seen her art in your travels. Her gorgeous grunge style artwork is easily recognizable, and it's everywhere! I'm tellin' ya, this girl ROCKS!

I'm pretty used to working at my own pace, which is a great deal slower than those who are two or three decades younger than me, and with the quick pace of the class, I didn't do my best work. But it was fun, and creative, and Dina told me that my pages were gorgeous! So inspiring! Did I tell you that this girl ROCKS!?

An added bonus was Dina's "Ipod" version of her upcoming Faces class. Within minutes, we were drawing our own faces! Okay, I didn't draw a face, but several of my fellow students did. I think I need the whole class for that, but if I happen to add a face to my book, I'll let you all know.

The sad news about this class is that it wasn't long enough! Apparently, we were enjoying ourselves so much that time got away from us and !poof! it was over! I tried to take some pictures but everyone was saying goodbye and moving about, and the commotion was non-stop! Dina was hugging everyone, and I was hugging everyone, and it felt like I was saying goodbye to my BFF's! It was an inspiring, crazy, whirlwind of a day and I can't wait to do it again!

Thank you, Dina. Can't wait for your return!

DINAWAKLEY.COM

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

NaNoJouMo Day 7 & 8

I'm still lagging behind but I'm sticking to it! I think my taste in music isn't quite as hard rock as Dawn's (guess there won't be any Motown afterall) but that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying it! Quite the opposite. All of these songs are familiar to me and I probably appreciate some of them more today than I did back then! There's still time to join in and see all the great art that music makes!

Day 7 - Who Are You? ~ The Who

Day 8 - Tiny Dancer ~ Elton John

I had a little fun with this one - wondering if anyone will notice.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Day 5 & 6

I'm so behind! I was only a couple days behind when I took the weekend off and had fun! I went to a class with Dana Wakley and I'll tell you more about that later, but know this.....Dana rocks!

Day 5 - Gimme Shelter ~ Rolling Stones

Day 6 - Crystal Ball ~ Styx

Happy Monday! I hope it's a beautiful one!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

NaNoJouMo Lives!

I've been slowly putting my pages together for NaNoJouMo. The theme this year is "Classic Rock" from the 60's and 70's. We're 8 days into it and I haven't seen one Motown song yet. Where are The Supremes? The Temptations? Just kidding! I'm sure we'll get there. These songs can put you in another place and time so quickly, and Dawn is really digging deep into the past for these babies. My first four days:

Day 1 - Take It Easy ~ The Eagles

Day 2 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond ~ Pink Floyd

Day 3 - Paint It Black ~ Rolling Stones

Day 4 - Walk This Way ~ Aerosmith

I love this last one with those crazy legs I've been saving!

Have a great day and see you soon with more NaNoJouMo!

Monday, October 29, 2012

Dia de los Muertos

My first ever image for Dia de los Muertos. I loved doing this! I had to use a picture from a magazine since I can't draw faces, but I love the way it turned out! I had so many ideas in my head that I could have made ten more images, until I realized how long I'd been playing with this one!

Lesley posted a great video tutorial she found on making images from pictures. I wish I had seen this before I made mine, but it makes me want to do another one!







Yeah, I like her...

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Nanojoumo is coming!

It's been a year already since I followed Dawn DeVries Sokol's Nanojoumo prompts and she's gearing up to do it again. So I am as well! Click on the link and read all about it. It starts November 1st so you have time to gear up too!
NANOJOUMO

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

I used color wash and color inks on the background. Just sprayed them all over the page, along with some water, and slammed the book shut! The beautiful colors that emerge are sometimes stunning! Although this wasn't one of those times. :) I really didn't use anything new, it's all leftovers and old $1.00 stamps, except for my Stampendous flowers stamp that's been buried in the closet for far too long. The lady's head and even the flower pot came from old magazines, and the border is from old background pages.

I feel like I could have done more on this page but then I feel that way on most of my pages. There's always next time!

Have a great day!