PASTORAL DREAMS ~ WHAT DO YOU DREAM OF?

"You are entering the mysterious fascinating world of dreams, where the rules of reality do not apply."

~ Dream Moods.com

Do you Dream with eyes wide open or only in your darkest sleep?

Do you see the Dreams you Dream in Vivid Technicolor , Black and White or only in the faint wisps of smoky ghosts that remain behind, haunting your every daylight hour?

Do you love the curious and mysterious realms that are secretly tucked within the crevices of our earthly landscapes or in the microscopic tunnels of our strange and beautiful minds; they might even be the more intriguing of the two for each brain describes the embodiment of flesh and blood that belongs only to you and no other human being.

I dreamt up these two digital graphic designs some time ago, basically pondering on what Dreams really mean.

I am a dreamer and it has never been a secret I kept to myself, for to me "a dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight and see the dawn before the rest of the world."

I have difficulty in remembering my dreams of the night and therefore I sapor in my daylight dreamy hours, these dreams I have with eyes wide open enlighten me with endless magical realms.

So, I thought for this week ,since I've been enjoying some quality family time ( my husband and son just returned back from their jobs out west) and  not really doing much for painting or working on my show case for Denise's Etsy Shops promotions( will definitely be getting to it this weekend)  that I would share some of my inspirations, and sketches for possible paintings.

Oh, and the quote you see at the top of this post is from a site called  http://www.dreammoods.com/ .

I'll have to pay them another visit and explore their site, looks interesting; you might like it as well.

Dream Sketches of moon, stars, lichen, forget -me -nots, dandelions, bubbles and butterfly

The paper I sketched on was already sparkled ( a little treasure I picked up at a church sale) , must try to find more of it.

And this little painting with an angel and gargoyles I discovered at a thrift store in Aylmer Quebec. It doesn't have the artist signature , wish it did. Anyway, it's beautiful and it inspires me.

And finally a little reminder of lost treasures. This diminutive beautiful pussy willow tree near my home was just right for picking a few fuzzy branches and maybe even take the one with the nest. My daughter said that I was possibly stealing a tiny bird's home  but it didn't matter because even before I could reach the branch I fell into waist deep water…lol! Anyway, long story short, I returned a week later to see if the ditch had dried up and wouldn't you know it….. the tree was gone, nest and all, it was bulldozed over….progress?????

At least I have this pic to remember it by : )

Leaving you with a very lovely song for today….HAPPY Paint Party Friday

When reading the comments on Youtube some viewers felt that Leonard Cohen in this picture looked a bit like Al Pacino , Dustin Hoffman and Adam Sandler. I suppose he does remind me of Al and the  other two but to me he is the one and only Leonard Cohen, the poet of our time. O,O Enjoy !

The Painted Owl ~ Etsy Treasury

A Little Bit of Whimsy O,O Latest Treasury for Etsy I created. As you all know I adore Owls so here are some of the many owls that I fancy, aren't they just Magical???

'The Painted Owl' by HUSHSWEETCHARLOTTE

Magical Painted Owls with a touch of Whimsy .Enjoy the gallery OvO

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

Just a Distant Memory

Thought it would be nice to share this VINTAGE photograph on PPF that my husband created with his camera while on our honeymoon in Bermuda. It was 1982 and back then we had a regular Canon camera.

He took two individual photographs , one a portrait and the other of me looking at something in the ocean; can't remember what it was, it was sooo long ago....now it's just a distant memory. 

Once he took those two pics he then layered them together and got this image you see here; it's probably one of the few pictures of me I am comfortable showing ...haha.

Anyway, I thought it be fun to change the colouring of the photograph up a bit. I wonder what my dearest thinks : )

1982 ~ Original

                                                                         Dean Filtered

Sorry for misleading you folks. The first photograph you see in this post was entirely done with the canon camera. What  my husband did was take the first picture of me in the water and then took the second picture on top of the first picture creating a double exposure - the film didn't advance; a feature of the Canon camera A1 SLR we had back then. No special editing programs were used.


As for the second photograph, I used Flickr Avery Program with their filters , not photoshop. Hope this clears things up a bit.

Painting in Photoshop and creating digital art is so rewarding and amazing art work can be achieved.

My son got me the program , now it's a matter of applying myself to learning the program, perhaps between painting breaks : ) I love incorporating original paintings into the digital art work, always gives quite a surprise at the end .

Five and Half Wishes ~ Pictures I want to Paint

Sharing paint works and future goals this Week #6 Year 3 for Paint Party Friday …Thanks Eva and Kristin for hosting, much appreciated! 

#1 Always Dandelions and Moons

#2 A Fairy's Tree……...  heavy with blooms , it's branches almost touching the ground.

                                                                 

 #3 CATS…...Karson the Church Cat

 Dirt the Ghost Cat in his many forms ~^..^~

Somehow Dirt disappeared and Ellie appeared…he was our big fat house cat

#4 Charlotte the Ingenious Spider in her many homes and travels….especially around Gothic Churches and Homes

#5 More Witches but different from Cassie

And for my 1/2 Wish I would like to paint inside the Forgotten Wood of " Guardians of the Forgotten Wood "

"Guardians of the Forgotten Wood " ~ Annabelle Original 

Print of my Original Acrylic Surreal Painting

The landscape looked barren, empty, silent and still……..DEAD…..a picture similar to almost that of a zone hit by an atomic bomb.Once a tranquil apple orchard and pine forest filled with the sweet buzzing sound of honey bees, bird song and wild things….now only a stark open field ominous and haunting in it's deep dark earthy brown cover of over turned rich earth, a reminder left behind by the lifeless trees that now lay naked in stacks waiting on their final journey .
Near my home once lived a beautiful apple orchard on a hill . The property sloped down the hill to a towering pine forest with a gravel road lined on both sides with more tall pines which wound it's way up the hill to a concealed house near the old orchard.
It was beautiful, wild and peaceful, very picturesque in every season; an ideal country place. But soon the influx of people commanded more homes nearer to the city centre and money dictated the land's final fate! Seeing the destroyed wood tore at my veins and I thought "Do they too, feel the pain when their heart is torn out "?

And so I was inspired to paint this landscape of a wood that was somehow over looked by the human , hopefully forgotten by unforgiving developers forever!

 At the entrance of the wood three joined trees, decayed and dead, you could say they are the ghosts of the wood , now watch over it. A blue bird joins in on the watch.

This is a reproduction of my original acrylic surreal painting. 

~ Surreal ~ Having a oddly dreamlike quality

Title : " Guardians of the Forgotten Wood " © Anna Laura Livinal Belanger / Annabelle

Happy Paint Party Friday to everyone,

Annabelle

Guardians of the Forgotten Wood ~ Surreal Whimsical Fairy~ish Painting

I am sharing this painting for Paint Party Friday Week #5 Year 3

"Guardians of the Forgotten Wood " ~ Annabelle Original 

Print of my Original Acrylic Surreal Painting

The landscape looked barren, empty, silent and still……..DEAD…..a picture similar to almost that of a zone hit by an atomic bomb.Once a tranquil apple orchard and pine forest filled with the sweet buzzing sound of honey bees, bird song and wild things….now only a stark open field ominous and haunting in it's deep dark earthy brown cover of over turned rich earth, a reminder left behind by the lifeless trees that now lay naked in stacks waiting on their final journey .
Near my home once lived a beautiful apple orchard on a hill . The property sloped down the hill to a towering pine forest with a gravel road lined on both sides with more tall pines which wound it's way up the hill to a concealed house near the old orchard.
It was beautiful, wild and peaceful, very picturesque in every season; an ideal country place. But soon the influx of people commanded more homes nearer to the city centre and money dictated the land's final fate! Seeing the destroyed wood tore at my veins and I thought "Do they too, feel the pain when their heart is torn out "?

And so I was inspired to paint this landscape of a wood that was somehow over looked by the human , hopefully forgotten by unforgiving developers forever!
 At the entrance of the wood three joined trees, decayed and dead, you could say they are the ghosts of the wood , now watch over it. A blue bird joins in on the watch.

This is a reproduction of my original acrylic surreal painting. 

~ Surreal ~ Having a oddly dreamlike quality


Title : " Guardians of the Forgotten Wood " © Anna Laura Livinal Belanger / Annabelle

Print Size : "12 x 16" 


Available on Etsy  " GUARDIANS OF THE WOOD "

A Polar Bear Swim for Alfie the Mouse ~ New Painting

My new Fairytale Painting 

"A Polar Bear Swim for Alfie the Mouse "

A Cat's Tale

I have hesitated to write until now……why you ask?

Well it's like this, I have been spoilt rotten in the last few years with quite a few noteworthy gifts, one being my new Mac Book Pro Retina Laptop I got for my birthday a month earlier in February : )

I had mentioned on a earlier post how every time I come across a penny on my travels that I never miss the opportunity to pick up the lucky penny and put it in my pocket. Well , last month my son wanted to go to the Mac store at the Rideau Centre in Ottawa to purchase a MacBook Pro Retina for himself and so we all went and accompanied him on his excursion, me oblivious to the fact that I would be coming home with one as well. 

On our way there I came upon not one but two pennies and I as usual stooped down to pick them up and placed them in my pocket.

After spending a considerable time in the store, the parking ticket my son had been gifted from a young girl when we had arrived was almost expiring and so I said I would go back to the car and wait for them. It didn't even dawn on me why they were okay with me going back to the car when it's always the kids that do the trek…...that should have given me a clue to their off the cuff secretive plan.

Upon their return back to the car I spotted my son holding onto a box inside his coat, I was surprised he  had bought it. Thinking back, it should have registered to me how the box had looked way too big for just one thin laptop …..he was really holding two : ) 

When he sat in the front seat he turned around and stretched out his arm with the box and said "Happy Birthday ", never letting go of the box and then quickly took it back and said…. "just kidding".

Then once again, for the second time he turned around and handed it back to me and said

" I'm serious, Happy Birthday!" He might of played the trickery more than two times but I can't really remember, I was so over whelmed with surprise, after all they said it was never planned and they had just decided in the store since I had mentioned to my husband numerous times that he could buy me one for my birthday next month, being half serious and half joking…..he took it seriously : )

Well, I was floored, never in a million years would I have guessed it!

So with this little tale being said, and actually it really is my tale , not the cat's, picking up the little pennies from heaven did bring me luck.

As you can see even the cat has been transfixed to it ~^..^~

picture from Seconds and Pixels ~ Matt

p.s. Will soon be posting a new painting that I am presently working on.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO LIVE IN FAIRYTALE LAND

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHAT IT WOULD BE LIKE TO LIVE IN FAIRYTALE LAND….. THESE COMMERCIALS ARE A GEM, INGENIOUSLY CREATED AND EMBUED WITH THE FAIR-ISH MELODIES ONE WOULD EXPECT UPON THEIR ARRIVAL TO THE MAGICAL REALM BY THE SEA…. COMPLETELY ENTRANCED IN A DREAM!!!!!

SINCE THEIR INCEPTION THEY HAVE CAPTIVATED ME AND NOW I FIND MYSELF TOTALLY OBSESSED WITH THIS FAIRY LANDSCAPE AND DESPERATELY WANT TO VISIT AND LIVE THERE!!!! .

SO WHEN YOU ARE FEELING LONELY WATCH THIS AND THE OTHER NEWFOUNDLAND ADS  AND YOU'LL QUICKLY REVISIT A VERY SPECIAL SECRET PLACE IN YOUR HEART BACK WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG  : )

oWLS AND pUSSY CATS

HAPPY SAINT VALENTINES DAY  ~ WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART BEAT ???

OUR SWEET HEARTS….OUR KIDS….OUR FURRY BABIES….OUR FAMILIES….OUR BEAUTIFUL BLUE PLANET ……OUR MYSTERIOUS CURIOUS UNIVERSE WITH IT'S ENAMOURING MOON AND STARS AND WARM SUN….AND ALL OF EARTH'S NATURAL TREASURES ….

I was quite surprised when i went back to the folders to look for a picture to post for Saint Valentine's Day and realized a lot of my art was inspired by hearts, owls and cats…. and some.

So for today I thought it would be nice to share some of my art work with you.

Of course here is " The Owl and the Pussycat " going out to sea, well floating in mid air in a sea of President Tyler morning glories.

One of my first owls I painted , unfortunately I played around with it too much, ruined it beyond repair and ended up throwing it away. I still do have the frame…in pieces.

One of the sketches I did for Paint Party Friday…..haven't attended since last fall. I think it's time to pay them a visit very soon.

Adore this digital drawing my daughter M did of our dear departed BIG FAT HOUSE CAT ELLIOT " ELLIE ANGEL"Spot the heart???

Another digital drawing of Elliot by M…another heart near his neck

Then I discovered the Artist Conk or shelf mushroom. my mother in all always painted on these mushrooms, an inexpensive way to create art. I simply adore wood burning into them , their fragrance is beautiful. This is "WEEPS" named after one of  Farley Mowat's pet owls.

If you ♥ Weeps ♥  he is available on etsy.

Then one day my husband brought me home this beautiful gorgeous brown velvet mushroom.

I haven't come across any more but hopefully this spring some pop up.

As you can imagine, i was listening to Bing Crosby when I did this mushroom : )

If you ♥ him he is available on etsy

An ink painting of a ghost cat " Dirt the ghost cat " 

If you  ♥ him he is available on Etsy

I think think this little owl embroidery wool applique is probably my first attempt at the craft and therefore decided not to sell him.  ♥ 

Another wool applique of a snowcat and again decided to keep him : ) ♥ 

And this Treasure  - Chest I created with found crystal fossils dating back to the prehistoric ages. I made a glass bubble heart collage . It is kind of hard to see in this picture but it's a love letter in a envelope with a stamp and heart ♥ glued down at the base of the treasure chest. Again I fell in  ♥  love with it and decided to take it off etsy.

This FAIRY'S TREE was a work of love for me. I had found the gorgeous crystal heart rock on one of my fossil hunts and decided it was the perfect base for this lovely whimsical fairy tree. If you love ♥ fairies, crystals, hearts and old trees like me then maybe you would probably like this Fairy's Tree. I eventually sold it to a very lovely gal in the states. I'm sure she enjoys it as much as i did and still do even if it's not here with me : )

a LOVELY cRYSTAL HEART FOSSIL  ♥ 

A little feathery bird nest for the FAIRY'S tREE.  ♥ 

Do you love ♥ STORMY WEATHER ? I do.

 Clouds , rain, dew drops ,thunder, lightening ,windy swaying trees, all of it!!!

This is a soft sculpture i made with vintage buttons

If you ♥ it , it's available in my Etsy shop.

Another crystal heart fossil.

I adore "CHARLOTTE'S WEB"spiders and webs and so this Charlotte's Chair evolved.

If you love CHARLOTTE ♥ spider and her chair it's available on Etsy.

A BURLED PIECE OF VINTAGE WOOD IS THE BASE FOR THIS CHAIR.

RUSTED OLD BALL AND CHAIN MAKES THE WEBBING BACK FOR THE CHAIR

AND HERE IS LOVELY CHARLOTTE

A TIME PIECE , AGAIN INSPIRED BY CHARLOTTE

ALSO AVAILABLE ON ETSY.

MORE HEARTS…THIS ONE SOLD

EVEN A MERMAID LOVES A HEART.

Again some of those precious crystal fossils were incorporated into this sculpture.

 MERMAID SCULPTURE IS AVAILABLE ON ETSY

VICTORIAN TUSSIE MUSSIE ….A GIFT FOR A CUSTOMER.

BLUE HEART….ANOTHER GIFT 

CHERRIES AND RED POSIES HEART

AVAILABLE ON ETSY.

BLUE BIRD OF HAPPINESS HEART….

AVAILABLE ON ETSY

MORE WOOL FELTED HEARTS, STILL HAVE SOME IN STOCK.

ANOTHER HEART ….GIFT FOR A LITTLE GIRL

SWEET HEART ROSES HEART….SOLD

HEART BOTTLE SCULPTURE.

"CHARLOTTE IN LOVE "HAND EMBROIDERY 

AVAILABLE ON ETSY

I ♥ SKETCHING ♥ 

THIS SKETCH WAS INSPIRED BY THE MOVIE "THE COLLECTOR" AND CHARLOTTE OF COURSE

BLUE CRYSTAL CHARLOTTE, SHE IS ALSO AVAILABLE IN MY SHOP

  

AREN'T GLASS MOSAIC BALLS MAGICAL???  ♥ 

 ♥ 

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE  THIS BOTTLE THE PHOTOGRAPH AND THE BACKGROUND PAINTING…THINKING OF KEEPING IT ; )          ♥ 

 ♥ 

THE LITTLE MERMAID IN COLLAGE…SOLD

 FEATHERS OF A DEAR DEPARTED FRIEND….SOLD THE BOTTLE BUT I STILL HAVE QUITE A FEW FEATHERS BELONGING TO BANDIT  ♥ 

DON'T YOU ADORE ♥

 THE SEA ?

 A LITTLE BOTTLE BELONGING TO BEA

HOW ABOUT ♥ CASTLES AND AMETHYSTS ?

OR "PEEK -A - BOO MINIATURE BOOK"

FAIRY DOORS?

CASSIE THE WITCH AND A DOG GHOST NAMED BOO

HAUNTED OLD TREES WITH SPOOKY OLD FACES ALTHOUGH HIS LOOKS KIND

FAIRYTALE STORIES CAPTURED IN GLASS DIORAMAS

AND WHIMSICAL DREAM CATCHERS AND KEYS

 THIS ONE MY DAUGHTER M MADE

♥

DRAGONFLIES AND OLD VINTAGE BOTTLES

 LOVE ♥ TO CREATE OLD LOVERS EYES , ESPECIALLY WITH VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHS

OF MY MOTHER'S EYES ♥

  THIS NECKLACE HAS BEEN SOLD

♥

♥

♥

 THIS NECKLACE HAS BEEN SOLD ON ETSY ♥

ANOTHER LOVERS EYE

 ♥

AVAILABLE ON ETSY

WELL THIS WAS INSPIRED BY THE MOVIE "THE TUSCAN SUN"

AND AGAIN I DECIDED TO KEEP IT RATHER THAN PART WITH IT.

 AND MORE SKETCHES…THIS IS A PASTEL 

 ♥ TO WORK WITH PASTELS BUT BE WARNED……USE FIXATIVE

LOVE WORKING IN DIGITAL GRAPHICS

WAITING ON MY NEW LAPTOP TO REWORK THIS DESIGN AND THEN IT WILL BE AVAILABLE AS A PRINT ON ETSY♥ 

♥  ♥ ♥

♥ 

LOVE TO PAINT CATS AND DOGS, SPIDER WEBS, SPIDERS AND GHOSTS,STORMY RAINY DAYS,RAIN DROPS AND DEW DROPS, LITTLE WRENS- BIRDS, BUNNIES AND MICE, FOXES AND DUCKS, DANDELIONS AND SEEDS ,SPOOKY FAIRYTALE LANDSCAPES….I SUPPOSE MUCH OF WHAT NATURE INSPIRES ; )

 ♥

ONE OF MY FIRST DIGITAL GRAPHICS WITH A MOON WHICH I PAINTED IN ACRYLIC.

"LOST IN DREAMS" IN THE RAIN AND DEW DROPS UNDER A GOLDEN MOON

AND OF COURSE THE BANNER FOR MY ETSY SHOP ALTHOUGH I WILL NEED TO CREATE ONE FOR THE SHOP'S NAME " CASSIE AND A DOG NAMED BOO" AS WELL AS A NEW ONE FOR "PASTORAL DREAMS" MY BLOG

AND FINALLY MY SELF PORTRAIT WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON ON ETSY. IT IS A ORIGINAL CHARCOAL SKETCH AND THEN INCORPORATED WITH DIGITAL ELEMENTS.

SO , THAT'S IT FOR NOW. 

HAVE YOURSELF A VERY HAPPY SAINT VALENTINES DAY AND HOPE YOU ENJOYED VIEWING SOME OF MY ART WORK.