An abstract Floral

I'm finally taking Wyanne's art play class and this is a painting I did applying many of her techniques. It was really fun!

latest portrait

This is the portrait I did for my sister-in-law Ana and her husband, James wedding present.

My First GoC Art Class!

See their art!

Under the Tuscan Sun

A wonderful friend has commissioned this painting for her dear sister. It was so fun to paint and I love doing commissions, because I often end up painting things I never would have done and it opens up new creative horizons for me. Thanks Karen!

Latest Portrait

I just finished a portrait of my friends, Rod and Keli for their wedding gift.
I gave it to her last night at her shower and I think she really loved it!
This was my first attempt at a portrait with acrylic on watercolor and I really enjoy this medium. I thinned out the acrylic alot with water for glazing and then used it more thickly for coverage. I also used some colored pencils for accents.

Killer Whale Collage

Another sample for GOC Learning Art Class! Please click to see my new kids art blog.
Our first class will feature the art of Eric Carle illustrator/author of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". If you are a fan of his, you will love this blog. It is filled with links to videos of his books, interviews, lesson plans on his books, links to his blog, his web page and demos of him explaining his art techniques. He is truly an awesome person!!

Come Visit My New Blog!

Gifts of Creation Learning Art has officially opened! Come by for a visit!

Latest Drawing

This is my first portrait sale through ETSY! I'm so excited. So far, the customer seems pleased with the photo of the drawing. IT ships out tomorrow!
The customer had me draw a picture of her mother, holding her baby - so grandma with her baby girl!!

Children's Art Class Idea

These are some sample pieces of art for an art class I may be teaching this Fall.
They are mixed media collage on canvas. The style and technique is taken from Eric Carle, children's book author and illustrator. Here is a link to his website and a technique demonstration. The tissue paper was painted in different colors laid down right next to eachother and allowed to dry. The canvas background was painted with acrylic paint. The sandy bottom was painted then covered with a then layer of golden acrylic medium glass bead gel. The dried painted tissue paper was then treated with effects made by painting some netting material with black paint and then pressing it to the tissue. Shapes were cut to look like fish, shells, seaweed etc and glued on the background with modgepodge. The canvas edge was painted black. A white gel pen was used to add detail as well as a fine brush dipped in black. The whole thing can be finished with acrylic gloss medium.

Giveaway Winner Announced!!

My husband drew the name out of a plate for me and...........The winner of my latest Bible Trivia Giveaway is...................Kathy Markes!!!
Thanks Kathy!
She will receive the decoupaged office supplies pictured below.
Thank you to all 6 who entered! I really appreciate it. Come back to visit often as I
will be doing more of these from time to time!

"Happy Garden"

Here is my creative offering for 8/8/10....painted with joy and posted on

ETSY

for 25.00

Bible Trivia GIVEAWAY and now a Member of Giveaway Scout!

MY latest giveaway is this darling little set of desk items decoupaged with my artwork! The original painting used for this set is still for sale on ETSY by the way.
All three items, the little journal, plate and box will be shipped to the winner. Here are the rules:
1. Visit my new blog posted here and read the posting- giftsofcreationspirit - just click, and leave a comment.
2. come back to this blog and leave a post that tells what you thought of the post...
3.EMAIL(limarose@juno.com) me(don't post) the answer the following three questions which are found answered somewhere on the blog or in the scriptures listed....
a. what is the name of the king who threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the fiery furnace?
b. how many times hotter did he make the furnace before he had them thrown in?
c. what was their crime?
d. fill in the blanks from the passage the story is taken from, it says...not even one_______on their _____was scorched.
3. Answer by midnight Thursday, August 12th On Friday, August 13, a winner will be drawn randomly from a pool of bloggers who correctly answered the questions and followed all the above instructions. Your giveaway will be shipped out to the winner(just email me your address) on Monday.

Happy searching! LET THE FUN BEGIN!!

Giveaway Scout is a giveaway search engine. Users subscribe to receive updates on the latest giveaways. http://www.giveawayscout.com/

A Gift for a special 4 year old!

My niece just had a birthday and I decided to give her a hand-painted pencil box full of goodies - pencils, markers, special paper, stickers, etc. I hope she loves it...I won't be selling these on ETSY though,....way too time-consuming for the price people would want to pay there!

OH BY THE WAY!! I am announcing my new Blog today!!! Gifts of Creation Spirit
IT is a place for writings and musings of the spiritual sort and about things that the God of the Universe is trying to teach me!Please Check it out and leave me a post!

ETSY TReasury of ART!

Colorful Artsy Walls Treasury

Latest Painting

I am entering this 24 x 30 in a juried art show called "Judy Nicholson Foundation Art for Hope" I will find out today if I will be able to exhibit in the show. If I make it, This is my first juried show or exhibit! If not, it will be for sale on ETSY.

A commissioned logo!!

I friend asked me to come up with an idea for her logo, business cards and tags for her new kids clothing line...Here it is,,,,What do you think?

Also, I am working on a 24 x30 original acrylic on canvas floral still life with bird...IT is for a show that is juried and I want something special to enter. I'm still not totally finished or happy with it...so I will post when done.....getting close though..maybe tomorrow!! IT's due July 15, I guess I need to hurry!!

Artful Paradise Treasury

Artful Paradise

Here is a treasury of beautiful artsy home items I created to promote my ETSY Team Christian Artists and Crafters.

I've Been Featured!!

Thanks to my friends at Etsy Christian Artists and Crafters...I was featured on their blog today:
http://teamchristianartistandcrafters.blogspot.com
This was the item featured.
I also got in this banana flower treasury:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c333eedb3de8eef63af181f/going-bananas

Thanks to my new friends!
Also thanks for the treasuries I got put in!!

I got featured in this treasury:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c337c2bb3de8eef3cda221f/palm-trees
for this painting:

Blessed Be Your Name

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

portrait

Creativity Boot Camp - "ornament" and "drizzle"

ORNAMENT


DRIZZLE



I'm running out of time to do paintings every day because this week I'm working on a portrait of a mom and child for father's day!! So I'm posting photos. I'll be sure to post the portrait here when I'm done!

Creativity Boot Camp "Fly"

Acrylic on Canvas 9x 12.

Creativity Boot Camp post - "fluid"

So far, for the first week, I have really loved creativity boot camp. I dont know how long I can keep up since there's a new prompt daily and most everyone else just thinks of an idea, goes "click" and their work is done!! I have to think of an idea and actually render it with paint on paper somehow. My media is mixed media, so I did cheat and submit a photo for "grow" so anyway....The journal prompt was to think of how you are stuck in your creative style and break your own rules and do something new...I dont really know if I did that, but I have been doing a lot of faces, flowers, birds and butterflies lately so I went back and just did a plain old still life. I am a little intimidated by painting glass so I thought I'd try it again....BTW...I LOVE olive oil and lime.....it makes everything taste great!!!! (maybe I'm part italian after this and the tuscan picnic entry..., well, I've just been wanting to go there my whole life....maybe on our 20th anniversary!!) This is like a 4 x6 as most of these creativity boot camp entries have been. I like these projects because they are small and doable in one day. At least, I'm challenging myself to not get bogged down and to do something quickly and fluidly and just see what turns up!!!!

Creativity Boot Camp - "Multilayered" and "Heavy Metal"

THe rose (HEavy Metal) was done in acrylic on watercolor paper with modeling paste for texture and gold paint for highlights.
The bird(Multilayered) was painted in acrylic on watercolor paper from a photo I took in Nassau,Bahamas at Ardastra Gardens. The bird is an East African Crowned Crane.

creativity boot camp - "Picnic"

Day 2 theme is "Picnic"...I dont know where this came from, but I just started drawing on a little piece of watercolor paper (5x7) and then painted. I painted acrylic on watercolor paper....I will put this in my art journal with the word picnic on the page somewhere....THis is a scene of where I would love to have a picnic...in Italy somewhere...Also, I have grown just in this 2nd exercise...I wanted to loosen up in my painting style, which is VERY hard for me to do so I used a paintbrush that was a little too large for this size painting and a little too used to have any kind of a real defined point in the hairs....its a little stiff too, then I kept my contacts in, which do not allow me to see as sharply and clearly as my glasses.....this helped alot to keep things not so tight and hard edged...and I really like the results....

Creativity Boot Camp Post "Ivory"

i am excited to be a part of
creativity boot camp! I don't know how long i can keep this up, but I'm going to try! Here is day one assignment "IVory" I have decided to work in mixed media in an art journal. I took the photo of some special shells and a sand dollar I picked up at Fernandina Beach, FL, about 15 miles from my house. THe shell necklace I bought as a souvenir on Coco Cay while on a cruise with my buddies from work.The day I found this sand dollar, I had just moved to JAX, FL a few months earlier because of my husband's job change and was feeling rather lonely and sad, missing all my old friends. It was a rough time. At that particular moment, my feelings told me I didn't know if God was even aware or cared what this move had done to me. I thought if I found a sand dollar, that might cheer me up. I had never found a whole one in my entire life, not all the times I went to the gulf shores of Padre Island, TX when I was a child, not all the times I visited the FL panhandle beaches when I lived in GA, not on any of the exotic beaches I travelled on the several cruises I'd been on. That day, I kept finding many pieces of broken ones, but none whole. IT was a cold, cloudy, depressing day and a bitter wind was biting at our faces, but we felt the need to walk the beach anyway. I finally prayed, Lord, I know you're always there, but it would really mean alot to me, and show me that you really care, if you could please just let me find one "WHOLE" sand dollar. Then the very coolest little miracle happened, it was low tide and we happened upon a sand bar that was surrounded by water and a little bridge of sand that led to it. Right there as the surf pulled back were beautiful, shiny, wet, white, sand dollars EVERYWHERE....more than I could ever imagine finding at one time or place!!! I started picking them up...all different sizes and soon my pockets and hands became full, so I used my husbands pockets. We soon realized they were so brittle and breaking in the pockets so we just carried as many as we possibly could carefully hold in both of our hands as we walked back to the car!!! I was so ecstatic and could hardly believe that God answered my really seemingly trivial prayer in the great scheme of things, but HE did!!!...When we got back to the car, I counted 21 sand dollars! I was so overwhelmed that the God of the Universe, of the sand and sea, had planted these lovely treasures there just for me to find...Now, I don't want you to think that every time I pray for anything this happens...no not like this...God always answers but sometimes its much more subtle or you have to wait a really long time. This day, God showed me that He is still in the miracle business and that HE can do whatever He wants to do WHENEVER HE wants to do it and HE is still God, despite whether we like it or not. , This is a journey for art, but also getting in touch with my creator and the giver of art (see my poppies post earler)... I not only want to keep creativity in my daily life, I HAVE to do it...it's therapy and joy in the midst of ....whatever I'm going through at the moment...It's a time to create along side the God of all creation..right within my own spirit...

Winner Announced - 8 ACEO bible trivia contest!!!

I am also attachinga photo of my art for the weekend...it's a sign for my friend's beachhouse!!...As I said in the original Blog post, I was going to have my husband pull out the name of the winner this morning and post it before church. But, he was sleeping in , so I went ahead and pulled out a name myself and it was Regina. But then, I had computer issues and could not post the winner until this afternoon, so I decided to start over and let my husband pull the name out as I had stated I would and he also pulled out Regina's name(this was meant to be Regina!!)...so the winner is.................

Regina!!!
RGR Designs
http://rgrdesigns.blogspot.com/
Other entries included:

Rebecca
www.smellyrhino.etsy.com and
www.smellyrhino.com

Jocelyn
www.newcreationz.etsy.com
http://jocelynfriisart.blogspot.com/

Rebecca had the most interesting of the 3 correct entries so I decided to post her's here. Thanks Rebecca, your contest entry to the bible trivia contest was quite entertaining!!!
Here it is:
"Ok, I went to a Jesuit College and studied Judaism, and Christianity..but, really, I just drank beer and studied boys. I don't remember any of this stuff, but I guessed with what rubbed off on me and some common sense. I tried to confirm by googling, so yes, I studied a little. Here's what I came up with!

1.What 3 colors of thread/yarn are in the finely twisted linen used to make the 10 curtains of the old testament tabernacle?
Well, there had to be the three metals: gold, silver, and bronze. But I'm going with the regal colors, since I'm a fashindiva; Blue, Purple, and Scarlet, mixed with linen from the now extinct Jerusalem Linen animals.

2. What winged creature's image was to be worked into the linen?
I'd say the Phoenix, because it was really hot in Babylonia, but it would probably have to be cherubs, some angel action.

3. Where did the yarn in 3 colors come from? Well, who else but from the Israelites, naturally. There wasn't anyone else around! Pretty much a captive audience. Seriously, whoever had an open heart!

4. In this ancient detailed and artistic design, who was the master designer giving the instructions and who was the project manager in charge of production receiving the instructions?
Um, duh. The great designer of the state, Betsy Rossenblatt, (great great great great great great x10) grandmother to Betsy Ross; (they dropped the end of the name when they went to America). Maybe Her; and God and Moses.


Well, that's my best guess!
Cheers,
Rebecca"

ACEO Giveaway.....ENDS Tonight!!!!

ANswer the bible challenge questions below for a chance to win....ONLY 2 entries so far...your chances of winning are very high right now!!!!!!!!!

This is one of the ACEO prints the winner will receive on printed on premium stiff watercolor paper...its so cute!!!

Blog ACEO Giveaway.....Bible Art Challenge!!

I'm Giving away the 8 ACEO prints (2.5 x 3.5) of my artwork pictured, (25.00) value to the winner of a random drawing. Names will be written on tiny pieces of paper, put into a bowl and my husband will draw out the winner. To have your name put in the pot.....

1. Answer the bible challenge questions correctly and send privately to limarose@juno.com (don't answer on the blog or others will have the answer!!)
2. comment on this blog post that you have emailed me your answers.
3. answer the questions and comment here before Saturday 6/6/10 at midnight.

The Winner will be announced on this blog Sunday morning, June 6, 2010, along with the correct answers. The Winner will be contacted by email to your mailing address for the giveaway.

Who can answer the following bible art questions correctly for a chance to win???:

Warning: This will take a little research!!!


1. What 3 colors of thread/yarn are in the finely twisted linen used to make the 10 curtains of the old testament tabernacle?
2. What winged creature's image was to be worked into the linen?
3. Where did the yarn in 3 colors come from?
4. In this ancient detailed and artistic design, who was the master designer giving the instructions and who was the project manager in charge of production receiving the instructions?

Happy Researching!!!!