Transparency Painting

A Peggy Gatto challenge! Such fun watercoloring on a transparency that was printed (& dried, of course) and covered with Golden's Fluid Matte Medium. When finished painting, turn it over to the unprinted/unpainted side.   Peggy's link here http://fridayfotocollage.blogspot.com/2010/07/sharing-latest-photo-transparency-from.html along with Jamie's free image site.........tons of images she gives away so generously! This image is from Jamie's Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/viewarteology/sets/72157619102274783/

Older Posts and Picturetrail

If you are interested, please check out "Older Posts" at the bottom of the current post.  Also, there are a bunch of pictures on Picturetrail.  The link is at the top of the Artrix-Playtime page.  Thanks for looking!

An addition to the steampunk horse.......

Here I added some metal letters I picked up on sale for $2 in a nice box.  I should have bought them all but unfortunately, I didn't.  They don't have any more.....bah!  Now I think I'm really finished with this guy.  Renee in Oklahoma gave me the "saying"!  The coloration is so different from the picture in the previous photo.  I didn't change the color....the camera's fault! It's black....not blue!
Back to the vintage look......I love it too much to give it up.  Steampunk was different and a challenge for me.

Revised Steampunk

The horse below is no more!  I painted the area around the horse grey with some drybrushed areas of metallic pewter which doesn't show in the photo......darn!  I also put a rod underneath his feet to "ground" him.
I got a chuckle when Renee said my horse had a spring in his step!  : )  Did you notice the frame is now painted black?  I think the whole thing is better thanks to some much needed advice from friends.  Click to enlarge.

Steampunk

 Yahoo group, Latest Trends in Mixed Media, recently played with steampunk ideas thanks to Sanna who offered to tutor us!  I had never done any steampunk art before and now I may be hooked!   The group is so encouraging and as many times as I thought I'd throw in the towel, there was another encouragement to keep me plodding along.  I think the chain will most likely come off and there will be scrap paper pieces of steampunk illustrations on the top side of the frame.  Not sure yet!  Oooops....now seeing the picture more closely, I notice that I tore the paper with the horse a little close to his head!  

Happy Memorial Day 2010

As the wife of a career Air Force Officer, I spent many years moving here and there with a big family.  The military is an exciting, adventurous life.....until the kids become teenagers and they don't appreciate moving away from their friends and school.  We managed to finally settle down in retirement while the boys were in their mid teens. Only one of our children entered the military but I'm proud of hubby and our son for serving.  Fortunately they both came home unscathed.  I wonder how many younger folks have a sense of what it's about....many probably think of it as a picnic day or the beginning of summer without a clue that for many, it is a bittersweet reflection of lost loved ones whose bravery has kept
America free!


I'm posting a picture of another shadow box that I did recently.  It's a 12" square box that is 1 1/2" deep. The pods are "love in a mist" from my friend Sally Paul of Dillon Beach, Ca.  She grows these lovelies there by the ocean and generously shared big bundles of them with me.  They are sweet.....like Sally! Click to enlarge.

Spectacles

Another assemblage..........love making these but finding the boxes isn't all that easy. I had a pair of old specs which I glued to the bottom. She's wearing specs, too, but they are her own! The box is about 8 x 8 inches. Vintage ribbon made up the flower on top left with an old velvet leaf.  Click to enlarge.

Lois

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Here's Lois! I love this picture of Lois holding her dolly and her kitty cat. There's a happy dog sitting next to her. This photo came from my friend Charlotte. It was a family member but I've forgotten what year it was taken. My 4 year old granddaughter said "She looks mad!" and yes, she does. It's like "Alright already....take the picture and get it over with!" I think she's adorable! The assemblage was fun to make!  Box is 8 1/2" by 10". Click to enlarge. 
  

Easter Decorations

Some Easter decorations....made last year.  No muse yet!

April Fool's Day

Well, I guess I should explain my 3 month absence.  On December 21st, I had 6 of my friends coming for Christmas brunch at 10:00 o'clock.  I awoke at 5 AM that morning with severe pain in my right side....more or less in my hip.....but found out later the pain was coming from a degenerated disk in my lower back.  I couldn't even get out of bed without almost screaming!  It took me about an hour to finally maneuver myself out of bed and then I couldn't stand with any pressure on my right side.  To make a long story short, my friends came and had to practically serve themselves and ended up cleaning up before they left!  (Real friends!) I ended up going to the hospital that night in an ambulance (which I fought all the way -- but couldn't get myself into our car because the pain was so great!).  

I was admitted and was in the hospital for a week (yes, over Christmas!). One of my sweet daughter-in-laws offered to transfer the family Christmas brunch to their house on Christmas morning.  The whole week was spent in testing, x-rays, CT scans, etc.  While I was in the hospital, several other weird things were happening to my body and when I was released, they just called it "weakness".  Hmmm.   I came home and spent most of my time in bed.  Went back to the hospital 2 weeks later for more tests, an MRI, (stayed a week again)  and 3 months later I have just begun to feel normal.  The whole thing has affected my memory, my physical ability to walk a straight line, and many other strange conditions.  Wish I could say this was an April Fool's story but it's all true and probably the worst 3 months of my entire life. So many prayerful friends and family continued to pray for me and I count it the very reason I am doing as well as I am now. Not once during this time did I have any creative ability or desire.  I was glad I had finished the ornaments! (See earlier posts)  Thus, my absence explained and I'm planning on finding my muse once again so be watching!