Art Rocks is Rockin' Again!

Last Friday, we were visited by the cool kids from Prairiewood Transition Center!  They were such a fun, joyful group of artists!  Each student painted a wooden hand cutout that we provided for them.  We discussed briefly how important our hands are, and the many things we can do with them, such as eating, painting, waving at our friends, and picking things up.
 

Here are some pics of the artists at work.....almost always with a smile on their face....simply delightful!

Sarah was really fast, so I had to provide some paper and markers to keep her busy while everyone else finished up!  :)

When asked whether they preferred listening to music while they painted, they wholeheartedly agreed that music is a MUST when creating...so we rocked out to a little Rolling Stones and Tom Petty.  Does it get any better than that?  I think not.

They were really happy to be here with us in the studio....and we were happy to see them.





I have to give their creations a nice shiny coat to protect them, and the hands will be going up on display in the store by this weekend.  If there's one that tickles your fancy, come in and purchase it!  All "Art Rocks" purchases made allow us to reinvest in more projects for these lovely souls to work on!  Next meeting is mid April, and I can't wait!

AWAKEN.

Here's a recent canvas I've completed....inspired by thoughts of spring, renewal, and shaking off the gray of winter.  YES!

Bosco is here!

Hello friends!  Just popping in with a quick hello to introduce you to the newest member of The Dreaming Bear family!  His name is Bosco, a two year old chocolate lab.  We adopted him from the local city shelter, and he is just sweet as can be. 

Having loved Luke so much, and now, loving Elsie so much, we've often thought how great it would've been to have them both together.  We imagined all the funny things they would do together, and what a calming influence Luke would've been on Elsie.  We got serious about looking for a new companion on Friday, and found Bosco right away.  Perfect timing!

We've spent a few days acclimating him to the house...and this afternoon, we are going to try a couple of hours in the studio and at the store.  He is doing pretty well with his training...but his favorite thing is to jump up and lick...so we will have to work on that!  Not everyone wants a tongue bath from a lab!

As the weeks go on, you'll be seeing more and more of him around The Dreaming Bear...stop in and say hi!  He loves making new friends!!

Paper Painting Is Great FUN!!!



Howdy!  I'm sitting just inside the window here at The Dreaming Bear, watching the most gorgeous snowflakes falling all around!  It's beautiful!  It's a good day for a hot cocoa and some fuzzy socks!

It's also a good day for some paper painting!  For my birthday, my hubby gave me the latest video from Interweave:  All About Faces by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  (yes, he is THAT good at gift giving!!!  I'm a lucky girl!)  I watched this video over the weekend a couple of times...and it's great!  Julie is a fabulous teacher...very upbeat and fun to watch!  She shares all sorts of tips and techniques for incorporating faces into our artwork.  A certain project really caught my eye...and that was making a collage face out of all sorts of patterned fabrics.  In my case, I'm going to start with paper....so Angie and I have been making lots of different patterned papers using acrylics, watercolors, free hand drawing, and stamps.  FUN!! 

This is really free....no overthinking allowed.....just slapping colors and patterns together on a whim.  However it turns out is just fine, because these pieces will be cut up into smaller bits that will be used in a collage! 

We are off to a pretty good start....building up a stash.....but we still need more!!!

I love the zig zags that Angie made....

This one ended up being my favorite....it reminds me a little of a batik.

Soon, I'll get to work on those collages and share them with you.  What are you doing today?

Fun with faces!

I've recently completed a grouping of faces....something I've avoided over the years....intimidation, mostly.  (believing they needed to look a certain way) But when I started really paying attention to the faces in art that I responded to, those faces were the quirky ones.....the "not so perfect" faces were the ones I loved the most.  So one day, I said, "to heck with it" and just started painting these fun and lively girls with their giant eyes, and strange proportions. 

And you know what?

It was fun!  Yes, fun!!

Wishing you a day of fun!

Another Project Finished! Woo Hoo!

 I've been thinking about spring a lot these days....and it's starting to show up in my work...bumblebees....flowers......yes!

This is an old rocking chair that has been given a second chance at life.  A little rough around the edges, but with the top layer of colorful goodness, it's ready to rock again!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Those who love deeply never grow old; they may die of old age, but they die young."
-Sir Arthur Wing Pinero

"When you love someone, you love the whole person, just as he or she is,
and not as you would like them to be."  -Leo Tolstoy

"Love is the true means by which the world is enjoyed: our love to others, and others' love to us."
-Thomas Trahern