Art & Faeries...Do YOU Believe?

It was a good week for finding time for art! I finished two more pages for the Sketchbook Project 2011 my theme is "Below the Surface".

Rooted

The inspiration for this page came from the genealogy research I have done this year.  It's been a wonderful process discovering just who and where I come from. The tree, in it's earliest stages of bloom is a Spring tree and represents my birth on the Spring Equinox. There are female shapes to the tree. My name symbolizes the emergence of the true self, carved from the tough exterior. My roots go deep and far. English is the culture I am most comfortable with so it is held close, comforted by a strong root. The materials used on this one were pen, ink, colored pencils and watercolor.

This week my tendinitis has been flaring up so I've had to limit my computer time, thus very little time for digital art or photo processing. I did manage to create an abstract image this week which will be featured on note cards and mouse pads and will be up for sale on Zazzle, with or without text:

The Well of Lost Colors

This image was created by laying in colors in order of the color wheel on textured canvas. Then it was taken into Photoshop to create the abstract whirlpool. The inspiration is from one of my favorite books "The Well of Lost Plots" by Jasper Fforde. Since it's been a week of playing with paint and color, I imagined being sucked into a world where all the colors live. :)

I posted two photos on Flickr this week, both which I think would make great art subjects:

Carmyle Cottage, Scottish Highlands

Enchanted Sunflowers

With the tendinitis limiting my time on the computer, more time was available for art. It doesn't bother my wrist or elbow to paint or draw. But, holding my camera and being on the computer...ah, painful! So, this week I worked mostly on sketching and watercolor:

Book Fae

From my watercolor journal

Tuscan Door

This was a lesson done from Karlyn Holman's book "Watercolor, the Spirit of Spontaneity".

This book is amazing. Watercolor is the medium I have had the most trouble with but her tips and techniques have made me much more comfortable with it. I still have the same issues (control and patience) but am definitely improving with the help of this book. I highly recommend it!

Taking what I learned from this one lesson, I began a series on Water Sprites. The first one, shown here "in progress" is the Blue-Ringed Water Fairy. I'm hoping to finish her this week. I still must paint her body and wings, add in the sea details such as a coral reef and some tiny fishies. ;)

Blue-Ringed Water Fairy (In Progress)

Speaking of faeries...I have begun to notice faerie activity in my Butterfly Garden. So, I decided to build them a faerie house and today took a walk through the neighborhood to gather natural supplies for their new home. I'm sure I spotted two little faeries following me. I haven't had faeries in my yard since Hurricane Wilma but prior to that, I did manage to see a few and even caught some in this image of mushrooms growing in my garden, taken in 2007:

Click on it to enlarge it. Do you see them? Do YOU believe in Faeries??

I will keep you all posted with updates and pictures of the faerie house. Hopefully, they will be so grateful they will let me take a few pictures of them...stay tuned. :)

There will be little time for art this first week in October. It will be a week of photography outings. I'll be taking a lot of Aleve with me. :)