I got this cool wire torso for a steal and for Halloween I filled it with my Japanese Maple leaves. She stands about 18 inches tall and I love her hip being akimbo. :)
I got this idea to do a face that only shows up on the leaves as you look through the trees and drew a quick sketch (with my non-dominant hand) so I wouldn't forget.
Doodling and a quick ephemera house.
A close up of my paper towel face.
I love Lynne Hoppe's work and it has inspired this portrait. I used my non dominant hand to draw the face. The background was from a paper towel that was used as a clean up rag, then I ripped it into squares and glued it down with matte medium, painted it with gesso and then sanded it. I drew the face with an ochre pen then watercoloured it. I also added pencil crayons and water soluble oil pastels. I love the textures.
home is where the heART is
A misty fall view out my art studio door this morning, the Honey Locust tree has turned golden and the lighting is quite amazing.
This is where I want to be right now. :)
I love working on backgrounds in my journals. This one is done with gesso and a paper towel, then fluid acrylics on top.
I was playing around with my fan brush and Sumi ink, adding it to many pages. This next one started off with Sumi ink, which isn't permanent so to avoid smearing it I was tried using Portfolio Oil pastels over top and had a lot of fun with it.
This next one too is with Sumi ink and oil pastels. I love how the fan brush leaves lots of white spaces in the brush strokes. 
I have just fallen in love with all things teal. Here is a background with 3 layers of different teals (or turquoise).
Teal and mauve, why not!
Kell and I got together last weekend and the word of the day was Funky.
I was inspired to work with stencils after getting the second issue of Art Journaling from Stampington. Love this new Journaling magazine!
It also inspired me to use my sewing machine. I used text pages from my Russian text book to create this star spread. The star is fabric sandwiched in the paper then stitched.
Here is more text pages stitched and then ripped to create the frame.
The next piece was started with a wash of Sumi ink and then I used a gold gel pen and doodled all over it around the stencils and frame. I painted with Quinachridone Crimson as the main accent colour on this spread.
More doodleing
Working again in my "I am my art" journal . . .
I painted a whole set of coasters in green, gold and red. I did them really quickly and spontaneously with my palette knife. In this one I clearly saw a horse and rider jumping and outlined it so you can see it too. ;) then it found a place in my journal.
I love this red page spread that I created with bubble wrap. This weekend I created the heart and thought it belonged on this page. For the heart I used about 6 pages from a German bible and stitched it to a piece of cardstock that already had some textured paint on it. then I stitched the heart shape and then carefully ripped all the layers over the heart till I got down to the textured cardstock and then I painted it gold and red.
You can see in this closeup all the ripped layers. I like it.
The Freshest Red. An afternoon snack, fresh picked off the tree. This is my coffee table in my studio. Are these apples red and shinny or what!
Outdoors in the sunshine. The red colour is actually truer on the shot from inside the house with the flash, but that sunshine was just so welcome and hard to resist. 
It took 12 years but I now have all 12 in the collection of Chinese Zodiac postage stamps by Canada Post. I don't have it absolutely complete. Each year they issue two First Day Covers, A regular local stamp and an international stamp and a souvenir sheet, but I have at least 2 items for every symbol. I reserved this journal I made with my most favorite Japanese paper just for this purpose. Its funny Once I had the whole collection I was getting overwhelmed at the thought of starting in it. Well I am finally over that now and working away in it. 
The first issue stamp was Year of the Ox. Here is the souvenir sheet and a regular stamp. I copied the background colours for my background too. Somewhere I found a rubber stamp of it and the Buddha is my own photo from my garden.
I got inspired to do a portrait. What can I say I am still learning! The red maple is also my photo from my garden and at the bottom the Year of the Tiger stamp.
Then follows the 2 First Day covers for Year of the Tiger.
Year of the bunny is next. I had fun with paint on this spread. It is very rich in person and this one particularly doesn't translate to the screen at all.
That's all so far but I will be working more in this journal now. Stay tuned. :) 
I got my Studio door stained this weekend along with a bunch of yard chores I have been wanting to get done before the weather changes. It has been a fabulous September and I have enjoyed it so! It is nice to get everything painted and tidied up before the rains come. Sometimes it seems like once it starts it could carry on for a long time. Now that I have my studio I can escape into paradise!
A paint squirt that really appealed to me. ;) I thought I could be used for a "J"
This is a piece of Yupo with Alcohol inks daubed on. What fun this was. I did it over at Rachelle's place last weekend. We had a great time!
This is myself and Rick Ellwood my contractor hard at work putting up the siding of my art studio. NOT! :))) 
Here it is finished. I even got it painted already thanks to Scotia Painting. Go Ken go! I love the colours! A soft gray/green with a lighter trim. And the colour name is Artful Green. Is that kismit or what! It is so serene and calming and fits in with the surrounds perfectly.
I am so happy to see the end of that tar paper! Next I have to get my door stained. The weather here in Victoria has been fabulous this September and promises to carry on for a week or so yet. Ya! That should give me an opportunity to finish off the details. Now it is as pretty on the outside as it is on the inside. I am really happy how it all has turned out. :)
This is a recent page I did in my Hat Journal. This is Boggie in the infamous "Fedora". What a classic!
I recently splurged on these new horse bookends for my studio shelves. I am very fussy about my equine art and these are just so cool in my books. :) I like how each horse is different too not just a mirror of the other one.
As well as the siding I am getting a counter top for my north wall (shown below). Again this is the before picture where the counter will go. I so love my studio! It is glorious to have so much space where I can pull a table out and have friends over or have a big project going on or even 2. I feel so blessed.
Outside on my deck I have a collection of benches pots and chairs and oh what is that little green dot on the table???
Why its a Pacific Tree Frog trying to warm up on the metal table just after the sun disappeared and it started to sprinkle. Ah he is all curled up trying to conserve body heat. Isn't he cute?
While I was watching him from my studio he suddenly came to life and hopped right toward me and climbed in the potted fern right beside my door. He sure blends in with that fern. Can you see him?
Spot is stuffie number two. He is about 30 cm or 12 inches tall. He is not quite finished yet. His tail is not attached and I may still give him a mouth. After all a dog needs to woof! He is a Canvas Terrier. :)
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