Illustration Friday - Stripes

Envy

The new IF challenge prompt, Stripes, brought to mind an old charcoal portrait. I tweaked it a bit in P.Elements just for kicks.  If you feel inspired by this theme create & post your interpretation. Be sure to add a link over at IllustrationFriday.com. Or you can just visit them and enjoy the variety of striations other folks are sharing.

Did you know that leaving a comment here enters you into a new random drawing? On 12/1 two lucky readers win prints of their favorite pieces from my Etsy shop or blog. Giveaway is open worldwide. Click here for details.

Thanks for popping by. Best wishes for a creative day!

Sunday Sketch - Margot

Margot -Charcoal & Conte on 18" x 24" newsprint 

 

 

I spotted a Sunday Sketch post over on Diana Evans' blog this morning & thought that sounded like fun. Also tossed the 2 words into Google & found all kinds of drawings posted.  Check it out if you have the time - or, even better, play along!

I'm supposed to be getting out the backhoe to clean Little Dude's room today, but this was far more entertaining. Sorry the picture is a bit crap - still having some camera woes around here. So I had to hold the paper in front of the webcam to catch a shot.

I love sketching big & loose - haven't done that in a while. And the paper is a fantastic size for blocking most of the mess in my room - haha

Studio Tour #19 - J. Elizabeth Johnson

Eyes of The Tiger ACEO by J.E.Johnson

Welcome! New studio tour today!

Victorian Rose ACEO by J.E. Johnson

This week we are off to Oklahoma to visit with the multi-talented artist J.Elizabeth Johnson. I originally met Elizabeth on Etsy where she has two different shops to accomodate her various styles.

WindandHoney.etsy.com houses a variety of colorful "mixed-media assemblage & collage art."

While JEJohnsonPortraits.etsy.com is where she sells her detailed animal portraits

Leopard Journal by J.E. Johnson

and custom pet drawings & paintings.

Custom Original Pet Portrait by J.E. Johnson

Elizabeth champions a number of worthy causes including Etsy Artists For Animals. She has also donated artwork to the Haitian relief shop, HeartsForHaiti.etsy.com. (More about this after the tour.)

Since she has kindly greed to show us around her creative space, lets not keep her waiting:

JEJ: Welcome to my studio. Over the years we have lived in several houses and my studio space has varied. In one house the only space available was one large kitchen drawer. Most often it has been a corner of our dining room. So now I am truly enjoying this studio. I have a good sized second story room that has two walls of windows with lots of great light and two closets for storage.


JEJ: The drafting table is where I do graphite and colored pencil portraits. I have used an antique iron headboard to display images that serve either as inspiration or as reminders.


JEJ: You can see into my largest closet. It is filled with storage drawers containing all kinds of found treasures just waiting for their artistic home to be created.


JEJ: There is also a bed in the closet window for the cats. Yes, there's a window in the closet. Funny what you find in old houses.


JEJ: My worktable is the birthing place for my mixed media collage work. The smallest case in the middle on top of the table is my inspiration box. I fill it with seasonal items or with pieces that might work in a project I'm doing. It helps to develop a creative atmosphere and also keep those items close at hand..


JEJ: The antique record cabinet in the corner is the perfect size to hold completed drawings of 11" x 14" or smaller. I rarely use larger paper so it works great for me. The chair back mounted on the wall was a found treasure. I'm still waiting for an inspiration for what to do with it. Any ideas?


JEJ: My parents bought this rocking chair when I was a baby. It has been my favorite chair my whole life. I spent moody moments in it as a teenager. Later I rocked my babies in it and I rocked my lion in it. And now most of the time when I am online, I am in this chair.

Click Here to read the story behind this photo

JEJ: Along with my online business and doing commissioned works, I also teach art classes to children and adults. My newest adventure in teaching will begin this Spring. I will be offering online art classes through my website Wind and Honey Creations.

JEJ: Also this Spring I will be offering an Online Art Retreat. I'm still working the details out for this project. It will be a group project like going away to a weekend retreat but you can do it in your jammies and your favorite chair. It promises to be a lot of fun.

Elizabeth, sounds like a blast! I look forward to seeing what you come up with next. Thanks so much for taking us through your studio today!

Want to see more of Elizabeth's world & art?

She's donated these 2 pieces to the Hearts for Haiti shop

Dare To Be Free Glicee Print by J.E. Johnson

where all proceeds will go to Doctors without Borders.

Wild Lion Fine Art Print by J.E. Johnson

Plus she will pay for shipping to the buyer.

Here are some other places you can find this busy & talented artist online:

Website: http://www.windandhoneycreations.com

Etsy Shop #1: http://windandhoney.etsy.com

Etsy Shop #2: http://JEJohnsonPortraits.etsy.com

1K Markets shop: http://windandhoney.1000markets.com

Blog: http://windandhoney.blogspot.com

Did you enjoy this studio tour? Please leave a comment to let us know. (By the way, all who comment are entered into a random drawing on 1/28. For contest and prize details, click here.)
Also, please tune in on Feb 6th for the next studio tour. Hope to see you there!

Bella & Wenchie

Trust Me

Playing with a drawing of Etsy SteamTeam member Wenchie today. Hopefully she won't mind the liberties I tend to take when putting my spin on a portrait. Not sure if it is done yet. I am at that walk-away-for-a-couple-of-days-so-I-can-get-a-fresh-perspective point.

If you get a chance pop by her Etsy shop Wenchie's Sacred Relics . She's got some fabulous pieces like this necklace:

Chastity in Chains

Yay! The artwork for the Twilight book club on ZNE is up. Looks like only a few of us played for chapter 1. I'm hoping more members will jump aboard as we get further in. I think you can see the other entries if you click HERE & just scroll down the page. Here's my final piece.

Bella

Supposed to be cleaning the studio today. Spent too much time puttering with everything I found. As usual. So, the place still looks like a cyclone passed through. Sadly, this is the neatest corner in the room. Sorry the lighting is so lousy

I did take a bunch of scary before shots but I think I'll wait until there are afters so I don't thoroughly embarrass myself.

By the way, no Thursday Giveaway this week. Great prize for next week though (if I do say so myself ). The lucky winner gets a customized art box. Click HERE for details & pics. Then just leave a comment before noon (EST) July 9th to enter the random drawing

My sis & her husband are visiting for the weekend so I may be scarce. Chomping at the pencil, um, bit to find out what tomorrow's IF prompt is though. Like I don't have enough projects to finish, eh? Silly me. In case I don't make it back in time, I want to wish everyone a great weekend! Have fun!

Monday's Muse meets Musical Mondays

Oh, I had a dream
It seemed I stood alone
And the veil of all the years
Goes sinking from my eyes just like a stone

-from Nostradamus by Al Stewart

Sue's Girl Life size charcoal drawing

Reading some interesting blogs tonight & decided to get a head start on

Over at Moss Hill Studios JoAnna Pierotti is talking about Mothers. Leave a comment on her blog about your maternal influence - you could win a space in one of her online workshops.

The charcoal drawing above, Sue's Girl, was a gift for my mother several years ago. My Mom is an interesting woman. We've not always had the best relationship, but it has certainly never been dull. We are very different in many ways, but one thing we have in common is a strong belief in intuition and dream. I fear I'm sounding a bit flaky, so I'll leave it at that.

A visit to Joy To The Blog introduced me to Musical Mondays, a cool idea that starts over at Good Mourning Glory. GMG is also running a drawing for free music. Click on the button & check out the details.


Tonight's music has been background. Mostly Al Stewart's Rhymes in Rooms. One of my favorites is Nostradamus. Unfortunately the only versions I'm finding to share have dopey background stuff going on. So instead here's Clifton in the Rain

Waiting 1 & 2

Oh she looks
but there's nothing to see.
Still she looks
saying come back for me...

Waiting

Been listening to Al Stewart's Fields of France again.

I mentioned a bit ago the dozens of Polaroid Transfers I need to list at ArtSnark . Well, I seem to have the attention span of a gnat lately (not to malign the gnat). I listed some but still have dozens sitting in the studio.

Got bored tho. Tired of waiting to create! So, I decided to slack off responsibilities once these 2 lovely ladies came calling. They're both relaxing in the etsy shop now. Just click the pics to pay them a visit.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Waiting for Spring

Missing You

Thinking about love & loss
my heart goes out to so many of you at this time
this is for you my friends
you know who you are
You are in my thoughts and prayers

Sneak Peeks & Sweet Sales

Just past midnight & jump-starting my weekend sale!

Now through midnight Dec 1 get 20% off PLUS Free Shipping on all items in my etsy shop, ArtSnark's Artifacts.

I've also added 3 new pieces. Here is a peek at 1. This is just 1/4 of the image - To view the full piece just click on it.
(this is where the sneaky part comes in)

Here's another glimpse

More to come & probably a couple of PIFs over the next couple of days so keep checking back!!

The Rogues' Gallery

Just re-listed a few pieces in my etsy shop . I've got a gang of shady characters lurking in the dark alleys of my mind ...but....been busy with life stuff so I haven't been putting my pencils to paper as much as I'd like. Itching to get started again. It's getting a little crowded in here ;D