Face Off - 9/30/22

Welcome to the Friday Face Off for Sept. 30, 2022.  Some news first. Last Saturday, I suddenly had a pain in my right shoulder after driving about 90 miles. I thought it was just a muscle kink, but  oh no. The pain increased as the day went on.  By bedtime, I was in agony and could not find a position to sleep in that wasn't painful.  I spent the night huddled in a very awkward position on the sofa getting a little sleep but certainly not good sleep.  The next night was similar but I did sleep a bit more. 
Monday I went to the MD to find out what was happening. Was it a rotator cuff tear or strain? Was it an impinged nerve?  I really didn't want to have surgery - and miss being in the play.  ARRRGH. 

The doc did some manipulations and asked lots of questions. He palpated the areas and told me the "bad news" - which, compared to my worst cast scenarios, was good news.  I have bursitis that is inflamed and is causing muscle cramps/spasms.  Of course it is my dominant hand.  So, my creativity has tanked. And the muscle relaxer is knocking me on my tush.  I did manage rehearsals this week -  with some adaptations. My director was lovely to understand and adapt. His main concern was "will it affect the ukulele?"   I told him "I WILL manage."  

So to the faces for today: First is a sketchbook drawing of a friend of mine. He fell asleep watching TV in the recliner so I grabbed a sketchbook and drew him lightly snoring. 

This next page is a notebook from my work days. I would sketch during meetings.

Oddly this helped me to remember much better than if I took notes. 

If I took notes, I would end up writing a grocery list or maybe an idea for

a poem or story.  That is just one of my many quirky characteristics. 

I am sure I "wasted" several work pens sketching and practicing shading techniques. Ha ha

Honestly, I bought most of my own pens because I could get the ones I like.

This is my birthday month so my family will be celebrating Saturday 

with a nice lunch. As I am on a medically supervised diet to reverse my 

type II diabetes, I will be making a cake with no wheat and no sugar. 

And yes, it will be delicious! (Virta Health is my diet plan.) 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off 9/23/2022

For today's Face Off, I am sharing this pen drawing done over a watercolor background.  This started by just playing with watercolor paints to see "what would happen, if...."  

The man in the picture is purely from my imagination, as are most

of the faces I create.  I used black sharpies in both fine and extra-fine

sizes for a variety of line widths. I also used a white paint

marker to add the white accents. 
I always have fun drawing, I don't know why I don't do more drawing. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is great fun

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

In other news,  I am now in rehearsals for a musical play with 

the local community theatre.  While it is hard work, I am 

having a great time.  We will be performing

"The Rocky Horror Show"

I auditioned specifically for the Ensemble because I know most of the songs

already.  The director has placed me in a cameo as the "Father of the Bride"

in the opening number.  Also, I may have some solo lines to sing in a

song or two. I am certainly not hesitant to take that on.  I have 

become far more confident in my singing ability in the last

couple of years. Hopefully at some point I will have video clips to share with you. 

For now, here is a video of me singing a bit of  the opening number. 

I hope the video works for you. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off 9/16/22

Welcome to the September 16th version of the Friday Face Off.  For today's "challenge" I have created another quilted face using both batik and hand dyed fabrics.  I love working with both of these fabrics when I am creating.  The colors are richer because they penetrate through the fabric.  Batiks are also a type of  dyed fabric rather than a printed fabric.  This means that you can use either side of the fabric (in most cases) to create as you wish. 

The background for this face is a lovely red/orange that blends into a rich yellow. 

Belinda

The hair is all made of batik fabrics as are the clothing and the nose. 

I believe that all of the other fabrics are hand dyed. 

While nearly all of the quilting is done with black to achieve 

a sketched quality, the face is quilted with a green thread. 

The background is quilted with a yellow thread. 

Soon, the piece will have a black fused binding added.

Then it will be mounted on a black-edged art canvas for ease of hanging. 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is a great opportunity

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Red, Orange, and Yellow

Painting fabrics with Dy-Na-Flow paint is so much fun!  I wish I had lots of space to do this so that I could paint several in a single day.   But with limited space, I have to do one at a time.  Of course there are some "paint catcher" pieces of fabric underneath the bigger piece.  I do like to avoid any waste. 

Saturday afternoon, these are my materials: damp white cotton fabric, three paints and three foam sponge brushes, a water container and a water spray bottle, and of course my cardboard base which is shrink wrapped. And, as usual, I bring my playful spirit.  This is fun, there can be no failure, because the fabric will always be useful. 

The colors are Sun Yellow, Bright Orange, and Brilliant Red - a wonderful analogous warm color scheme.  Here is the wet painted fabric.  It will take a day or maybe two to dry fully. That is due to the humidity level today and for the next few days. (can you say "rainy?")

If this is like the previous piece, it will dry to lighter colors. I purposely put the red dots in the yellow area, but I had hoped they would spread out into less circular shapes.  Ah well, those dots may be just what I need when I am ready to use this fabric. 

If you are wondering why I used three brushes let me tell you.  I am using the paint directly from the bottles. I simply do not wish to contaminate the paint with another color. If I were putting the paint into smaller containers, I could have done this with one brush.  I would have only needed to rinse the brush after each color. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday Face Off Sept 9 2022

Somehow Friday arrived "too quickly" this week.  Honestly, it has been a busy week.  

Today's entry into the Friday Face Off is a quilted face.  A local friend told me that it looks "much more normal" than my other faces.  I opted to use a single fabric for the face and neck.  The background is one of my painted fabrics. 

The colors are not true in this photo, but I could not get them to come out correctly. 

 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is a great opportunity

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

In other news, I  auditioned for a musical play with the local community

theatre. This was the first audition session and only six people were there 

to audition. After the singing part of the auditions, we were taught a couple of

 dance combos for a couple of songs in the show. When we were finished, 

the director spoke to us and said "All of you are in the show.  You all did

well and we can use you." So, I will be performing in this play 

at the end of October.  I am sure it will be hard work but also a lot of fun. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Results - Painted Fabric

Several days ago, I posted about some fabric that I had painted.  The photo at that time was of the wet fabric.  After it dried,  the color had dispersed and was too pale for my liking.  Back to the painting area, where more paint of the same blue was added.  No more of the purple was added.  There are two pieces. One of those was used as the "drip catcher/clean-up cloth" so that very little paint was wasted. 

First is the larger piece, which is 18 by 16 inches. The texture in the blue area was added at the second 

painting stage by sprinkling some ice cream salt (large crystals) over the area. 

The second piece is 17 by 12.5 inches. As it was beneath the larger piece, it also has some salt texture. 

This looks very much like a fantasy landscape to me. 

Either one or both of these pieces can be used as background for one of my 

quilted faces. Or they may both be cut up and used as pieces for quilting. 

Or....well there are a number of ways these could be used. (notebook covers, 

placemats, etc.) 

I consider this experiment highly successful. And certainly, I will play with other

color combinations or perhaps single color textured pieces. 

I love being able to just play around with supplies and find joy

in the creative process.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Friday - Face Off Day

I have done some sewing work this week but no new face creation.  I did try to use some wax pastels, Cray-Pas brand, to do a quick face.  It was a disaster and reminded me that I bought those to create linework  and resists on acrylic paintings.  I simply do not have the skills to use them for anything else. At least not yet!  

After writing the above, I decided to goof with the drawing before I trashed it. I added an eye-patch.  At least now it is less strange. (You can only imagine how bad it was before, right?)

Right-Eye Reneé

 I have decided to share some face photos from the past.  First up is the Silver Angel from Merida, Mexico.  I saw this fellow one Sunday in the Grand Plaza.  When he stands still you could mistake him for a statue. But the sunglasses are a clue. I suspect he does not want the silver makeup/paint that close to his eyes.  The costume is wonderful. You may notice the bag at his waist.  When anyone gave a tip, however large or small, he would reach into the bag and provide a slip of paper to the giver.  

Of course I had to find out what it was about. 

After giving him a tip, he handed me a slip of paper with 

a saying/proverb/quote in Spanish (of course.) 

Upon returning to my lodging, I used google to translate it. 

I then searched for the quote. 

"Life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile."

Interestingly, that is from Mark Twain. 
It continues, I found, with this:

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.

Yes, indeed.  We do regret the things we failed to do more than those we did. 

Next up is a ridiculous picture of me as the chef's face. 

Totally absurd, but I regret nothing about this photo!

 

I am linking up with  DVArtist for the Friday FaceOff.

  Clicking the link will take you to her blog.  It is a great opportunity

 to see how various people interpret the challenge.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.