Feather for Our Nest

Do you remember the Doves we had nesting our front porch this Spring, thanks to them I was able to create some simple art. One afternoon my son and I where outside watering our plants on the porch when, he found a feather. I thought the feather would look really pretty framed { remember Nate framed a feather } and would be a reminder the Doves. I wanted to create a simple piece of artwork for very little money. I stopping in Micheal's and found a clearance frame for $ 1.99 and then bought a matte for $ 2.99. I sprayed painted the frame a glossy white, which is a nice complement for the clean lined frame.

For the background paper, I used leftover white linen paper from our wedding. When I placed the feather on the linen paper, it was just too much white. I decided to paint the linen paper a grey white from a left over sample paint we have.

I used a sponge brush to paint the paper. I love using sponge brushes for simple projects, they are super cheap and can be thrown away. I like the no clean up factor.

I wanted the paper to look more like fabric, so I gently applied one coat of paint horizontally and the next coat vertically. I didn't apply a perfect coat, so the background will look more textured.

Fifteen minutes later the paper was dried and the feather was ready to be assembled. The result a nice natural art piece for our home, that will remind me of the doves. I like that the art makes me smile. Next time you spot a feather think of its artful qualities.

Art Cost Breakdown:

$ 1.99 for frame

$ 2.99 for Matte

n/a - feather, spray paint, sample paint { hand on had }

$ 4.99

Eventually the feather will be hung on our yet to be completed art wall in the living room. Have you framed in natural elements for art in your home?

The Writing on the Wall

In my post last week about our livingroom, I mentioned framing a quote from a song we both love. Then I received a few emails asking what the lyrics said. The lyrics are "Love has no limit, lets spend it slow forever" the song is The Light by, Common featuring Eryka Badu. If your not familiar with the song check it out here on You Tube and listen to the words.The husband and I have been fans of Common since we were teens and I've always loved the vibe of the song, and whenever I hear it I think of my love.

I created the Lyric quote using publisher and picked a font that look a little vintage 'bauhuas 93' I kept all the writing tight and wanted the word forever to to fall into the page { that's why they word bleeds into the page }

Computer view of the lyrics

The lyrics are a deep blue in the picture it appears more black then blue. I printed the lyrics on nice linen paper I had left over from our wedding invitations. I framed it with a simple white frame and matte I picked up on clearance at Walmart for $7.00. The white matte really sets off the deep blue.

Whenever I glance at the words in the living room, I smile. Have you created your own word art for your home that has special meaning to you?

Painting Session: My Favorite Painting

A couple of days ago I shared a painting I'm currently working on for our living room, I also said I'd share my favorite painting I've done. But first the 'story behind the art' a few years ago I was in Hallmark looking at cards, when I came across an amazing image of a flower. I brought the card and decided I wanted to paint it. At that time I had only painted with water colors and kids paints. So I bought a cheap painting art book for $10 at Micheal's and decided to paint the picture using Oil Paints.

Since I painted this painted few years ago I didn't take pictures of my process. In short I hand drew the the flower on the canvas then filled the flower in with the oil paints and layered the colors. The hardest and messiest part paint this image was all the black oil paint I needed, I must have used two large oil tubes of paint. One thing I should mention, I love this painting but I have no place at this moment to put the painting the colors are very dramatic and bold. I'd say this painting is 98% done, I still need to paint the edges of the canvas black and sign my name. Without further adieu here's my first oil painting.

It was extremely hard for me to take an accurate picture of this painting, I think I'll have to re-read my camera's owners manual - some pictures are blurry, maybe its all the red and orange?

I like painting abstracts because its open to interpretation, the artist point of view and the viewers. I also enjoy painting flowers Ala Georgia O'Keeffe because flowers are timeless and captures beauty. What kind of paitings are your favorite?

Painting Session

I've been looking for some more artwork for our living room for quite sometime, most of artwork Mr. CLH and I agreed on was way to pricey for our pocketbook. So I decided to do a painting. I haven't painted in a few years and thought this would be a good testing the waters project for me. I usually paint with oil paint, however it can takes days and days for oil paint to dry and its messy to clean up. So for this painting decided to Oil Paints cousin Acrylic paints they dry super fast and the colors mix effortlessly.

When my painting is all done, I hope it invokes a sense of power, beauty and calm. Hopefully this testing the waters painting will get me painting more often. I'll have to share one of my favorite paintings I've done soon.

For the painting I used The Artist's Canvas 24x36 available at Micheal's Craft Store. I like using the artist style canvas because they are are gallery style and all the staples are hidden. Next to my canvas is another painting I'm working on.

I keep all my brushes in a simple 'flower pot' style glass vase

I bought a simple set of 24 Acrylic paints made by Reeves

I always pull out the colors I plan on using for the painting, making sure I like how the colors flow before beginning.

Shades of blue

The best part of painting is when everything wet, it makes it easier for me to manipulate the layer of colors easier.

I don't use a easel, I place my paintings on my lap { under my drawing board } or on the floor and work over the painting

I'll share the entire painting after its completed and hanging in our living room. On a side note, I forgot how relaxing painting is for me. What do you enjoy doing that helps relax you?