Wordless Wednesday -Wildflowers

Imaginative Landscapes

Yes, that is what they are.  Imaginative Landscapes.  In art terms, I call them Expressionistic landscapes.  

Well if you want to get into the nitty gritty, imaginative is more of a "Surreal" term but there is nothing surreal about my paintings.  They are only imaginative because I know what these landscapes look like in real life but I am imagining at the moment.  Depending on my memory, if you will.

But, I digress.

These are some of the "Expressionistic Landscapes" I worked on this weekend.

The giclee prints are now for sale in my Etsy store

Desert Sunset

  

Red Rock

Desert Storm

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Certificate

I had plans.  Actually I have had many plans.  I have a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Art (Painting) and one of those plans was to get my teacher's credential and teach, preferably art.  I was about a semester away when my boyfriend and I decided to get married. We hit a hiring freeze for teachers in our area. He has a really good job.  I know I wanted to stay home with the kids so...I never finished.

Fast forward 8 years later and 10 years of teaching art experience.  I have recently been asked to be the Art Masterpiece coordinator for my son's elementary school.  It is the first year for the program and it has been a lot of work.  In case you don't know, Art Masterpiece is a program that uses parent volunteers to teach curriculum themed art projects.  It truly is a great program and I am excited for it to begin.  And since it is the first year and we don't have that many volunteers, it looks like I will be teaching about every other week!  Wow.

I think I may ask for an honorary certificate.

Returning to the Art Scene

Well, I have to tell ya, I need to be creating art.  Like, all the time.  I took the summer off because we were moving to a new house and summer is busy with the boys home all the time.  But fall is on it's way (it just barely dropped below 100 the other day), and that means I can go back to creating things again.

So, this week I am updating my Etsy site and slowly filling it with art prints.  At least for now.  With this economy, original stuff is sitting around but prints are still affordable. Thank goodness!  Here are a few of the goodies I have on there so far.

 

  I think one of these would look great in your house, don't you?

Check out my Etsy site at www.creativeflairart.etsy.com

 

Nalgene Up-do *UPDATED*

Yes, I did.  i up-did my Nalgene bottle.  Summertime means my bottle goes into overtime and I see it 

ALL DAY LONG.

This is my bottle before. I tried to rip the bumper sticker off but that's as good as it got.

What you need:

water bottle

mod podge (I used gloss)

your favorite paper

cutting tool

paintbrush

Measure out the height and length of the paper

Paint the Mod Podge on the bottle.  I painted on a section, stuck on the paper, glued, stuck, glued, stuck.  You get the point.

Make sure you pull tight as you go to avoid air bubbles.

Put a final coat of Mod Podge on to seal it.

And there you go, my beautiful new water bottle. 

I tried this with my son's Camelbak water bottle and the bottle started falling off from water condensation.  Not sure if it was due to the bottle or the fact that I was anxious and used a semi cool water bottle.

Let me know how yours turns out.

Martini Apron from Zazzle

Well, I finally opened a Zazzle store. I thought I start off with my martini painting and put it on an apron. It looks pretty good. If my husband was an apron guy, I'd get one for him. Come to think of it, I need a new apron. Maybe I'll get one for me. Anyway, check out some of the things I created.

  

Martini Apron from Zazzle.com

Does anyone out their use this site already?

Lego Addicts

My boys LOVE their Legos.  They can spend hours in their room creating things (which is so great for mom around dinnertime).  Anyway,they recently saw some kids holding their creations in the last issue of their Lego magazine.  

That's all it took.  They're hooked.  

They keep coming up to me with their "sculptures' and asking me to take their picture so they can send it in.  

They are determined to make it in the magazine.

  

We are in the middle of getting our costumes ready for Halloween.  They wear the pieces non-stop.

Boys.

Double Olives

You may have seen this title before.  It was a Wordless Wednesday photo that I took of my husband's martini glass, frosted with olives.   Right before he poured the martini.  Remember, because you read all my posts, RIGHT?

Here it is, just in case you missed it.

Well, it got me all excited again, so I thought I would paint it.  I had a lot of fun doing it and added glass gel beads to illuminate the glass.  Also I added a touch of iridescent green to the olives.  Pretty cool in the right light, and not to over whelming.  

I really like it.  I am going to put it in an art show I have coming up this Wedensday.

What do you think?

 

Ahi Bruschetta- again because it's THAT good

I know I have posted this before but really, it needs to be posted again because this is just soooo good.

So you need something for that party or you just want to chow down for dinner, this is the dish.

Recipe Courtesy of Home Cooking the Costco Way

I tried this recipe for a holiday party we hosted and it was a big hit.  Very easy to prepare too!

8 oz fresh ahi tuna (with good red color)
2 Tbsp minced green onions
3 Tbsp mayonnaise                                                             
1 Tbsp seasoning: equal parts black,
white, red pepper and garlic powder                                                    
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 Tbsp Chinese mustard



Baguette sliced into 1/2 in slices, lightly toasted
Pickled ginger and dill for garnish

Mince tuna with a sharp knife into 1/4 by 1/4 inch cubes (or as uniform in size as possible).

Place tuna in a bowl and add green onions,mayonnaise,seasoning, sesame oil, sesame seeds and mustard.  Stir to blend.

Mold the tuna into a small cup and garnish with dill sprigs.  Serve with toasted baguette slices and pickled ginger on the side.


Makes 8-10 servings