ABC Wednesday - Z is for the finale, the end of this round!

We have come to the end of this round! 26 weeks of sharing so many fascinating posts.

Z brings us to the end. Will we be beginning a new round next week? Stay tuned!

I was surprised at just how many Z artists there were, many of them Chinese and Japanese artists.

here are 3 I chose to focus on:

Francisco de Zurbarán (1598 – 1664) a Spanish painter, known primarily for his religious paintings. His nickname was Carvaggio.



Marguerite Zorach (née Thompson) (1887 - 1968) an American painter, textile artist and graphic designer ( she was married to the sculptor William Zorach)

 

Anders Leonard Zorn (1860 – 1920) one of Sweden’s foremost artists who was a painter, sculptor and printmaker

Be sure to visit the wonderful participants of this super fun meme here.

Sunday Weekly Wrap-up

The first week of January has passed and I have been able to create daily. I'm enjoying my heart project so far - in some ways the cards are turning into a bit of record of certain days.

Jan.3 - heart of jewels/stamped card

Jan. 4 Collage/Tissue paper

Jan. 5 Watercolour/collage A Garden of Hearts

Jan. 6 Collage, using my Gr. 3 pix ("Heaven smiles softly/and hears every wish")
Jan. 7 A Birthday card - for me!

Jan. 8 A celebration card

Jan. 9 A collage with painted paper hearts

I have completed 2 ATC swaps this past week - one a new one, of inchies (yes, one inch square cards!):

the other - ATCs with Text:

I am continuing with A Photo a day - usually, that has been of sky. Here are a couple of my favourites from the past week:

Of an icicle

Drawing and journalling haven't fared as well! I am slowly working on a drawing course but hopefully will have some to show next week. I haven't started Millande's journal course at all.
I got a gift card from Chapters from a student at Christmas and finally went last weekend to spend $25. Well, I did plus another $55! But I did buy 4 new art books which I am already enjoying:
"A Daily Creativity Journal" by Noah Scalin (he even has a great blog)
"Inner Excavation" by Liz Lamoreux
"The Fundamentals of Drawing" by Barrington Barber
"The Artist's Muse" by Betsy Dillard Stroud
Have a great week!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Shadows were in great evidence yesterday. The sun came out and threw shadows around the yard. I was able to get a few. Here are a couple:

Be sure to visit the great shadow chasers at Hey Harriet, a super fun meme run by Tracey.

Weekend Reflections

I haven't taken part in Weekend Reflections for a while. But, I was home today (sick again! - and on my birthday!) and when I looked out side this afternoon, the sun was shining and it was great for photographing. So, I got a bit of needed fresh air (all bundled up!) and took a few photos. Even got a couple of reflections.

I also liked the way the sun reflected off the icicles.

Be sure to visit the great participants here.

Sky Watch Friday

Watching and photographing skies has always been a joy. Taking part in Sky Watch Friday is a way to share that joy.

Looking back at photos I found some favourite shots from a couple of years ago (this week has been mostly cloudy).

Be sure to visit the great participants here.

ABC Wednesday - Y is for Unknown artists

Once again it is time for ABC Wednesday. This week we are to focus on Y and continuing with the art theme, it was a challenge this week to find Y artists. I definitely did not know any of the artist. I did choose 3 very different artists.

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun - a Native Canadian artist from British Columbia (born in 1957) who paints very political paintings

 

William Frederick Yeames (1835 – 1918) was "a British painter best known for his painting " And When Did You Last See Your Father?" , which depicts the son of a Royalist being questioned by parliamentarians during the English Civil War." Wikipedia





John "Jack" Butler Yeats ( 1871 – 1957) was an Irish painter. (His brother was William Butler Yeats)

Be sure to check out the great participants here.

A New Year, New (and old) Challenges

Happy New Year!!!

Sunday Weekly Wrap-up

Two weeks of holidays have finished, with the return to school tomorrow. I'm not feeling as rested as I should, as I spent most of the holidays not feeling well. But i am once again on medication, so hopefully I will start bouncing back!

My word of intention this year is BALANCE and I am really aiming to balance work, family, health, art and spiritual. I thus need to organize myself better.

I saw the cardiologist last week and tho he assures me my heart is ok now - my numbers were higher than he wanted. So I have 6 weeks to do something to bring my bp and cholesterol down or else. So we are going to really focus on better health all year.

I have begun several new challenges , with my ultimate goal to be more creative this year, work on skills, especially drawing, on a more regular, if not daily, basis.

I began the New Year with a look back to 2010, using the prompts from Reverb 10 as well as questions I had used last year. It was very necessary and enlightening.

 

I created my calendar for January and I am going to use it as a record of my year. Jill at Third Age Musings is hosting this 12 month challenge.

I have also started a year long daily art project. I had seen hearts that Heloise created last year and she has inspired me to do a similar project, but in ATC size.

Jan. 1 - Heart 1 (collage with painted papers)
Jan. 2 - Heart 2 (Zentangled heart with sharpie markers)

I will also continue with Project 365 - taking a photo a day. Here are some of my favourites from this past month:

I love Jamie Ridler's idea of creating Vision cards and my goal is to create several this month.

There are a number of Journalling, Sketchbook and drawing courses/challenges which I will complete as I am inspired to.

I will definitely continue creating ATCs at ATCsforAll. Here are some cards for a recent swap:

Decorated elephants:

I was so excited today to find out that I was one of the winners on Wish Studio's fantastic giveaway! I won the Tranquility prize - I will be receiving so many lovely gifts! Thanks so much Mindy!

May everyone's dreams, intentions and wishes be fulfilled this year!