How to make art without a studio

My Laptop! I have been playing with Windows Paint again. It is my favorite "toy". I still don't have a workspace (so much to do to make it workable, sigh) so I have been getting my art jones done on my laptop. Here are some of my projects.

The above post includes a link to the Graphics Fairy's Blog where I got some of the vintage images.

Some pics from early this morning

The rose settee is made from 2x4's. I have a lot of paint that I get at the "return" bin from various sources. Our house is going to be very colorful.

The pomegranite tree has finally set one blossom, we will be eating this fruit around Christmas time.

That is my garden in a box, made from 12 railroad ties. I made a top for it to protect the plants from varmints at night. During the day I leave the top up so things can get pollinated.

The laundry/shower set up next to one of the date palms (so handy for hanging things). The big bucket is for the washing, the two smaller white ones are for the first rinse and the fabric softener rinse. The piece of lattice is for draining large heavy items that I can't wring out. I also hang my husbands jeans on the palm stubs to drain them between buckets.

Hello Cloth Paper and Scissors Artists and Fans

Hello. I just joined the Cloth Paper and Scissors website. CPS is a magazine devoted to the art and artists working in mixed media. I used to watch their program on KVCR when I lived in the city and developed a bit of a girly crush on Pokey because she was so open to new things and very creative herself. I got a subscription to the magazine from my best friend Judy for my birthday a couple of years ago and found heaven. I also have been a subscriber and contributor to Somerset Studio, and this magazine just blew me away. Everything is so original and inspiring. The website is super because it is a huge community of artists, encouraged to participate in the website ittself. There are galleries, forums and free demos, and even a shop. Just follow the link below.

In celebration of this I am offering a free journal spot right here on my blog. Just click on the pic and expand it, then "save picture as" to put it into your files. Enjoy.

http://clothpaperscissors.com/

New Facebook Fan Page and a Gift

I have just launched my Fan Page and have opened up two discussions. I am also offering a gift on the Fan Page. The Fan Page is dedicated (at this point anyway) to Journal Spots. I love making them and using them. I have started a new project called Pirate Map Journal Spots and am offering one of them on the page. Just follow the instructions to capture it and then you can print it, and use it. One of the discussions is for the work you did with it. I will start a Gallery Album as soon as I get submissions. I just love all things "pirate" and last week when it was raining and I couldn't go outside, I decided to try a project from a magazine. It involved National Geographic magazine pages and a Citrus Solvent. I loved the look of some of the results and decided to make them look like old maps. I am going to add some of my drawn corners to them as well. But in the mean time, go to the link and get your map and play with it a little and let me know about it. I will post your work in the Gallery album.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1350140319#!/pages/Donnalda-Smolens-Fine-Art-Fan-Page/340254153261?ref=mf

Thank You DebsCrochet for the Sunshine Award

What a cool thing to find on my blog today. I love it. Especially considering that there is some real sunshine today when it was predicted to rain. Did this award have something to do with it? OOOOO Spooky. Thanks again DebsCrochet (she has an etsy shop too, same name)
Here's a link to her blog too.

http://debs1967.blogspot.com/

Some End of 2009 Musings

Well, this last year was certainly exciting for me. I had the experience of being evicted, had to completely uproot in 30 days (no mean feat in ittself), moved back to my desert house, lost my cherished cat (Kitty Boy Floyd, I still miss you so much it hurts) and went on Social Security as my only income.

Now I am at a very peaceful space. I have been knitting socks, gardening, and still cleaning a house that was pretty much neglected for 10 years. I have learned how to reframe a window, set in glass, make some outdoor furniture, and learn to not hustle for that big nut I used to have to crack every month. This last one actually took quite a while. It was like I was on vacation and would get a sudden anxiety attack about not having gallery showings lined up, or part time jobs to follow through on. I would find myself getting scared and then realize there was nothing to be afraid of, I could just drop my shoulders, and enjoy the here and now.

Sure I have limits now, but it is okay. My limits are not that bad. Here are some photos of the beauty and peace I am now a part of.

Some Art Stuff Journal Spots Tutorial

I love making art on my computer. Journal spots are a great way to learn about what you can do with Windows Paint. This is a program that comes with every computer with Windows installed. It is usually under accesories. The flood fill tool is the little bucket. Just click on it and choose a color for the left mouse click and one for the right mouse click. The right mouse click will be the color of the negative spaces when you cut things out.

After the flood fill, you can free form cut or use the square to cut out things. Just drag them over to the right like a trash pile. Then you can begin to draw with the pencil or paint brush. There are various widths. Experiment off to the side, you can select and copy to put them into your square. I like to make one cool design and then copy and paste it many times. To get variations, just rotate it from the menu at the top. It is under image. You can flip it or rotate it to make it slightly different. If you think it is too big, just find the little blue dot at the corner and when you see the double pointed arrow on your mouse pointer, drag it to the size you want.

Now the fun begins, select the parts you want with the square select tool and click copy. Then click NEW from the file menu, don't save the one you were working on (like throwing out the trash) and click paste on the new file. There is your square all trimmed and neat. You can continue this process until you have the design you want.

To resize or make this ready for printing just select your saved image and use any photo editing tool, or even the printing wizard from windows. You can use the wallet sized selection to make this into a full page of journal spots.

I made the borders on this one from the above technique. You may use it for free. Enjoy.