Fabulous front porch

Hello all! So I'm not normally one of those people who decorate for every season. I am big on decorating for Christmas every year, and I switch out some of my decorations as I get new ones, but I've never been what you would call a "Seasonal Decorator". Some people get a little crazy, we've got a family down the street from us who have their entire yard fall/Halloweened out! But this year, I got a little hankering to do some fall decorating, and I got a great deal on some pumpkins from work, so I decided to make our front entryway cute and fall-ish. Here are a few pics of what I did:

My bargain pumpkins!

The pumpkin on the right is actually a dark plum colour, but the funky florescent lighting in my kitchen makes it look black.

I LOVE mixing my own colors. You can get 'em exactly the way you want 'em!

This is my front door...pretty blah. (There's not usually a bale of straw there. haha)

I cut leaves out of felt, and pinned them to the straw bale.

I painted scrollies on the big green pumpkin. They're kinda my thing. :)

I made a yarn wrapped wreath for the front door. I am so proud, I think it turned out quite cute!!

Anyway, I had a great time today flexing my creative muscles! Thanks for reading!

***Jess

Deals!!

So today online, I happened to notice that Michael's was having a big sale this week on their art supplies!! (buy one, get one for a penny to be exact!) Since I love all things "bargain", I gathered my hubby and we trooped up to Michael's to get my hands on the really big canvases I've been wanting for a tryptic I plan to paint for my living room, but couldn't afford... until now. :)

I got 4 for the price of 2!! They are 24"x 48"

I got 4 new brushes for the price of 2 also!

Acrylic paints were on sale too! .77 each! 

I am so proud of my deals, that I wanted to share them with everyone!! If you do any painting, you should totally check it out! Hopefully with these new supplies, I should have a few new pieces very soon! 

***Jess

Newbies!!

I'd like to welcome two new pieces today! 

The first is called "Love Defined" and it is an acrylic 12 x 12 tryptic. It is my first attempt at this style and I enjoyed making it so much, I believe I am going to do one for my living room of another Scripture!

The second is "Guard your heart" and it is an acrylic 12 x 12

I'm so excited about these two pieces! They are my vacation pieces! :) As usual, if you're interested in any paintings, feel free to email me at: foxfirehalo@gmail.com 

***Jess

YAY!

Just a quick announcement that I should be posting a couple of new pieces tonight! I'm SO EXCITED! Check back soon!

***Jess

Artist Spotlight: Alphonse Mucha

This is another artist that I knew by work, but not by name. One of my favorite art styles is Art Nouveau. I love the detailed, yet "cartoony" look, and I love how Nouveau artists (especially Mucha) usually portrayed women. They were more delicate and beautiful, instead of just a rotund, nude woman like they had been painted and drawn for so many years prior. (Don't get me wrong, there were still some naked ones, just not as many, and for that I am grateful.) In the case of Mucha, I love the way he portrayed hair and garments. He paid attention to every strand of hair and fabric. It made for some pretty stuff.

This one reminds me of me; a girl who can be all dressed up, but still a silly girl.

 






This particular piece is called "Summer" from a group of the four seasons.

Such a talented man! I hope you've enjoyed these pieces as much as I have!

***Jess

Testing, Testing 1-2

I am testing out a new blog managing program called Qumana. Hopefully, if it all works properly, I'll be able to do more blogging and less fighting with blogger!

Powered by Qumana

Artist Spotlight: M.C. Escher

All through school, I was obsessed with this man's art. I actually didn't know who drew these pictures until I was in probably 11th grade. Up until then, he was just that "dude that draws those crazy awesome pictures". I had a Math teacher that I totally bonded with because of her love for Escher --and because she is a really awesome person--. She liked him because of all the geometry and math in his art, I just liked him because of his art. :) (Math was not my strong subject.)

This one has always amazed me. I don't know how he drew this so acurately. Apparently, he was very familiar with the look of his own hands.

This is one of my faves. I am in awe of anyone who can capture reflections so well.

I hope you're enjoying my artist spotlights. My goal is to show off people who are truly talented, and possibly answer your questions that you may have had of, "Who painted that?" or "Who drew or sculpted that?"

More to come.

***Jess

Hog Toms - WPS!

So, my friend Sarahbeth asked me to paint some Toms for her with an Arkansas Razorback theme. I had seen painted Toms before, but I hadn't attempted them yet. But, since I love Sarah bunches, and I'm always up for a challenge, I decided to give it a go! It took me about 3 hours to paint them, but once the creative juices started flowing, it became pretty easy! (A fact that I seriously attribute to the Anointing, because in my own abilities, I couldn't have done it half as well.) So here's the result:

 

WPS = Woooo Pig Sooie!

 

She loves zebra and I knew from the beginning I wanted to incorporate some zebra in there, but I had never painted it before. Turned out pretty good for my first try!

 

 

 

The Hog was a miracle...it was the last thing I did, and it was DEFINITELY GOD all the way! :)

 

Sarah loved them, and I liked painting them so much, I think I'm gonna do some more! If you know anyone who wants some personalized Toms, hit a sista up!

 

***Jess

Artist Spotlight: Bob Ross

I love this man. Seriously. I grew up watching Bob Ross and his "happy little trees" and "little water falls". Say what you will, the man could paint.

I LOVED it when he would mask off a painting and then pull it off at the end of the show. It was like he was magical! haha

Every Saturday morning, I sat transfixed watching Bob paint beautiful landscapes from his imagination.  He was such a gentle, awesome man and he will be missed, but he is busy trying to paint the landscapes in Heaven. I will always be a fan!

***Jess

Artist Spotlight: Alisa Burke

Ohmygoodnessilovealisaburke!  A friend of mine introduced me to her a few years ago and I fell in love with her sheer amount of talent and well-rounded abilities. She's one of those people you love to hate... seriously. Everything she touches automatically become amazingly cool and artsy. I love her art so much because she is not afraid of color, and I'm the same way. She also is very doodle-y in her paintings and sketchings and that's the way I am too. I think it comes from a waaay busy brain. LOL! Anyway, I wanted to spotlight her as one of my faves, and I've included a few pics of her art/craftiness. Enjoy!

These are pumpkins, people. Pumpkins. See what I mean about her not being afraid of color??

I'm not a fan of clutch-style purses, but I would totally carry this one.

She made this ring out of shrinky dink stuff that she drew on and it came out so cute!!

I L-O-V-E this pillow. Seriously, I think I could marry it. (Kev wouldn't approve) 

She has a really awesome art/craft/sewing room that she photographs a lot. I like it because it gets messy, just like mine. :)

This is a big quilt style painting she did on top of an old painting that she didn't like. She's frugal. I like that. 

Every so often, she does a "peek inside my sketchbook" blog and shows what art she's been doing. Again, the doodley-ness abounds.

This is a paper wreath she made and did a DYI on her blog complete with step-by-step instructions and photos!

See? She's so stinkin' artsy! I hope to be a fraction of the well-rounded artist she is!

Well, there you have it! My homage to Alisa Burke! She's a blogger too, and if you want to learn how to paint, sew, create, cook, or do any of the stuff she does, check her out:  http://alisaburke.blogspot.com  But proceed with caution, she's ridiculously talented and it can be quite overwhelming! :)

<3<3<3 Jess