Friday, February 24, 2012

Old Love ~ Paint Party Friday ~ week #50



Inside this Bell Tower in Gananoque resides a quaint antique shop called "Old Love"



Last week I returned to an Old Love and to a little gem of a shop called "Old Love".
Somehow I knew this Old Love wouldn't leave me alone, and neither would I.
Last weekend my hubby took me on a mini surprise getaway to Gananoque; a place which I had visited earlier in the Fall with my daughter and husband.
I had then discovered this gorgeous quaint antique shop filled to the brim of Old Lovelies and had fallin in love with a vintage cement owl. The shop was having a sale and I had already done enough damage to our bank account with Christmas shopping and so I left with only it's vision imprinted in my mind.....and heart; I suppose it became an Old Love as well as the shop and their beautiful town of Gananoque .



"Old Love"




Of course the opportunity presented it self once more when I returned last Friday to my "Old Love" and found that the treasured owl was still there , waiting for me. Like the shop owner said: "It's got your name written on it", and  once again contemplating and stepping out for dinner, I had to really justify a good reason to purchase it........a souvenir of our little mini holiday......purrrfect ~^..^~.
So I returned to "Old Love" and bought my Old Owl Love, on sale with even a better discount the owner grasiously offered me this time around.




And so this week for Paint Party Friday I would like to share a few of my "Old Loves" with you....Old Owls and a very "Old Lovely" , a painting of violets that I am presently working on creating Charlotte's Old Love, her childhood home "Violet Wood".



Owls ~ Two Very Old Loves 






                     Albrecht Durer Owl ~ Who doesn't adore this owl, if not "The Favourite".... of all my owl illustrations.

                   Albrecht Durer ( 1471 ~ 1528)  German Renaissance Engraver from Nuremberg 



"Violet Wood" ~ Charlotte's Old Love ~ her childhood home in the Violet Wood

    WIP ~ "Violet Wood "



A found treasure of a painting of violets










Charlotte's new web for her old Home "Violet Wood "






On the back of the painting is written:

85 cents
Miss Spallin
517 Somerset
Thursday 
Call


It spoke ........ Mystery, Intrigue, Curiosity....this art piece when completed will be for sale in my Cabinet of Curiosities on Etsy....maybe , if it doesn't become another of my "Old Loves" ; )

So this is it for this week, hope you enjoyed my post. Please visit all of the other artists on Paint Party Friday.

Until next Time....

Happy Creating 

Annabelle




Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Importance of Being ... a Love Letter To Me and To You and Paint Party Friday Week 49


Dashing out the door, hubby is taking me to Gananoque for a tiny getaway, see the lovely town and beautiful art done by the area's artists so I'll come visit everyone throughout the weekend on my return. 
Graphic design is another medium I'm truly  in love with. As you can see on my two websites I have done my banners, sold banners for Etsy and blogger and continue to make them only lately I've been preoccupied with paintings and book. I have used Dreamweaver and Photoshop although I do have so , so much more to learn. If any of you want to try your hand at it try Polevore to get a taste ,where I first was smitten by the Graphic bug or Gimp, a free program which is good.
I'll leave you with some samples of my Graphic Digital work and my latest Conk Fairy door.
When I get a moment to play on here I'll add a little info for each of the the pics before hubby gets upset and leaves me behind...haha ; ) Enjoy and hope this might give you a little inspiration...until later have fun browsing my work and everyone at Paint Party Friday.









































Everyone's Gone Fishin'
Latest Artist Conk wood burning and colored pencil. You wouldn't believe how velvety soft this canvas is. So glad my girlfriend Colleen's son collected this piece for me in their wood...Thanks Kenny : )






And now , I know this is a long post but please do continue on......




Make a Wish .....




You might say this is a Love Letter to me and maybe even to you .
Something I read a very, very long time ago in Oscar Wilde's play " The Importance of being Earnest"
sparked a flame in my heart. I never thought of it in this light before now but in fact it truly reflects who I am or correctly spoken who I sincerely am.

Sometime ago, around the time I turned fifty I suddenly was taken aback by mid life's hold. I was awaken to possibilities I never thought possible, never knew existed , never knew I had.
Always a dreamer at heart, always the one to take notice the little things others did not and I quickly or should I say much later in my life realized that I too had something to share of my own.

I was able to create art and I could even write down in words what I felt and most  everyone understood them ; ) Far from a good grammarian, still what I wrote pleased me and surprisingly pleased others as well.
Suddenly, I was Earnest Worthing, happily creating art in my tiny web abode using numerous aliases when signing off or making a mark on my work. These aliases were brought on by the necessity of keeping my true identity a secret but later that all changed.

When the world turned to the www, so did I.
I totally harnessed the internet and became completely enamoured by the infinite world library it held within it's one portal....this became my new tv and virtual library; what better way to learn than from the comfort of your own home......It had it all!

Now a days there is just so much  on the net that one either has to be very selective or if your'e anything like me; constantly consuming with your eyes and hears , keeping virtual files to hold all the required informational materials seems to be the answer, only with age, that can be somewhat of a challenge; but hey, working that old brain might just keep it sharp enough for those later golden years : )

I discovered so many mediums in art and so many sources of free knowledge.
Always a collector of the past, now if I couldn't actually own it materially, I could easily keep it as an image of it on file; over night another window to the World of the present opened for me. Soon, most things -stuff was filed away in my very own virtual library without the reality of hording  the mess.
This really worked well for me and without warning, all this stuff became my muse, my inspiration to create. I no longer had the desire of owning but more a desire to retain their imagery either for art, writing or both. It became my new found love affair of my heart. Of course my weekly jaunts to church sales, yard sales and thrift stores didn't stop, probably increased to my family's horror ; )

Undoubtedly, the web continued to evolve and so did many of the free on-line sources. Now people took notice of the business possibilities that art might create with people wanting to learn some form of art medium and so free instructions became e-books or  online classes for a designated fee. I even took a few myself like others I had taken from a brick and mortar shop in the past.
Later,  videos and blogs offering free tutorials took root and with a following of readers some kind of residual revenue was generated. In time, I too was bitten by the art bug and opened an Etsy shop. The income produced from my sales would back my continual art expeditions , unfortunately most of the bill was footed by no other than my poor dear hubby ....thanks sweetie ~ ^..^~

These trivial art journeys of mine weren't the necessities of sustainability but rather in keeping a healthy  and happy mind. I suppose in retrospect a little necessity for keeping my sanity thru the tumultuous health, school and job changes that occurred in the last 6 1/2 years in our family. Art truly is a healer of sorts. It has really helped me more than I thought it would have.

In those early days of the internet I was taking an unfamiliar road....the possibilities it held, I never imagined in my wildest dreams.'' " Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference ". Robert Frost resonated much of what is true in life and what happened to me the day I discovered the light at the end of the unknown road I had travelled in the Wood....a Creative World Opened it's doors!

I read once a quote by Robert Frost " A person will sometimes divide his life to the development of one part of his body- the WishBone"
Yes, I think in the past four odd years , I've done just that. Maybe a little silly of me or a whole lot but I don't care for I no longer worry about the negative talk, it's just that , trivial and unimportant talk which no good comes of it. So I try to ignore it and carry on with what truly makes me happiest and that is creating art and writing down my thoughts while still living alas my blog posts.

I no longer try to hide my true identity because really I've always been Annabelle (hubby's nickname for me), Anna and Nana....the girl with her far away dreams.... and maybe, just maybe that one dream she keeps on her pillow may one day become true.


So I now leave you to ponder on this small journey of one such old gal named Annabelle from The Wood Beyond the World and her Pastoral Dreams. Hope this helps some of you "envision the best of your life"....we all have something to share.

Check out Oprah's site for Inspiration, Guidance and Envision Your Best Life  and create your  very own O Dream Board like I have done here......








Until next time...Happy creating  Love Annabelle ~^..^~

Friday, February 10, 2012

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DREAM - Paint Party Friday Week 48


CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DREAM
DREAMS ARE THE WHISPERS OF YOUR SOUL
THE WHISPERS THAT TELL ALL OF YOUR UNDYING DESIRES
THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART 
CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DREAM  
                                                              ~ Annabelle 2012 


A new year and a new batch of art dreamed up many moons ago.
Recently the local library in North Gower asked me if I'd be interested in showing my art work and doing their artist of the month, of course I obliged happily. Too shy to show my picture next to my artwork that my daughter M took.... still my work and name went out there; a very good thing. 
It's been some time now since I last participated in Paint Party Friday but here I am now. For many personal health reasons my muse and energy wasn't there for many months but hopefully I'm back on track, better be, because now I have another artist of the month this coming October 2012 and that's when my book will most definitely be done....wish me luck!
The main work of art I am so very happy to show case this week is my painting for my storybook I'm working on. 

Done on wood panel board, wood burned, and painted with ink and acrylics.

♥ HALLOWEEN TWILIGHT  


Twilight is turning dark and grey,



The Spooks are coming down the way


Tis Halloween and this night they say,



The Witches will dance and sing and be gay.


Meet Cassie and her dog named Boo




Of course my usual spider and web is never too far and the little saying I've written along the bevelled edge of the painting with some gilded dandelions, stars, wheat and cattails.
Need to take some pictures of the writing...too dark to see here.
I'm still not sure of the Witch's name although the title "Cassienadognamedboo" is my Etsy shop's name which hopefully I wouldn't tire of too soon : )

And here is more art work that I've done in the last month...


 The Woods are Lovely Dark and Deep 

 Robert Frost...."Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"

A Piece of RoseWood given to me by my father, of course what better way to use it than to in-still one of my very favourite poem excerpts ....a reminder of the spiritual calling of the wild wood and immortal poetic words of Robert Frost.
I think I'll make more of these....so many poems I adore and maybe some of my own.













♥  Snowcat 

handmade from recycled wool blanket and hand embroidered





 Who the Owl  
Again same as the SnowCat




Blue Heart 




    Charlotte in Love 





Cherry Blossoms 



Blue Bird of Happiness 



Pumpkins and Hoot the Owl Under the Tree of Enchantment 
....Don't you just adore this tiny miniature weeping Pussy Willow?





 Last Fall I asked the farmer down the road from me if he wouldn't mind if I gathered a few pumpkin stems from his field..... Happy he obliged... ..Thanks for sharing ; )

Whimsical Pumpkins  



And finally a Rose wool felted vine garland ♥ 
Adore the twine covered wire I found for it






And now enjoy the words to the song sung by no other than one of the most romantic crooners of the thirties in the UK

Al Bowlly ~ Close Your Eyes 



Close your eyes 
Rest your head on my shoulder and sleep
Close your eyes,
And I will close mine.

Close your eyes,
Let's pretend that we're counting sheep
Close your eyes,
This is divine.

Music play
Something dreamy for dancin'
While we're here romancin'
It's loves holiday
and love will be our guide.

Close your eyes
When you open them dear I'll be near,
By your side
So won't you close your eyes.


Until Next Time Happy Creating 

Annabelle 

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