Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn, and Caldron Bubble

Happy HallOween

The Garden Called

THE GARDEN CALLED.........

Therefore I have no paintings to post but I really wanted to participate in Paint Party Friday today so I am sharing another revised version of my Etsy shop banner I did around the same time I stopped blogging in May.  

I have been busy gardening, cleaning house and enjoying some of the glorious summer weather boating . I find the Spring and Summer season keeps me more outdoors and less inside and by the time I finish with the chores, shower and eat I am totally wiped and ready for bed!

Next week I will share a painting I'm working on and some of the garden art I recently did. Have a great weekend and enjoy the weather wherever you are!

Until later,
Annabelle

GhosTales ~ Etsy Shop Banner

GhosTales

My new Etsy Shop Name "GhosTales".
I really wasn't too happy with my old shop name ( CassienadognamedBoo) and wanted something along the Ghost theme since I seem to be drawn to spooky dark fairytale type art. I played around on Photoshop and came up with this design......temporary of course. I'm still working on a better composition and the Lover's eyes.

 Click on GhosTales to see a larger format.

Thanks Eva and Kristin : )

PaintPartyFriday

Until later,
Annabelle

IN DREAMS WE GET TO LIVE IN AN IMAGINARY WORLD WE BUILD

Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake?

~ Leonardo Da Vinci

My Answer

In Dreams we get to live in an imaginary world we build, nothing stands in the way of our inner visions of the night, our minds empty of thought and open to the time and space of our dream. 

~Annabelle

Still working on eyes and will be for a while. I haven't put much thought on a name for the series since I am experimenting with an assortment of styles, realistic and imaginary.

The eye sees!

Another eye I drew and painted with water colours.

More realistic than the one from two weeks ago "Come a Little Closer".

Not sure if I will use this eye in one of the frames, just testing it out.I think I want a more beautiful eye for these particular frames.

And I finally remembered to check the mail at the post office yesterday. This is just gorgeous Sherrie aka Giggles! I love it!!!

Haha, my best friend!

Need to keep this in mind. Sometimes I let work sit there forever and forget it : )

And always remember!

Thanks a bunch Giggles! I will always cherish your quote book and keep it on my coffee table, use the bag to keep my iPad and books when I go to Chapters for my coffee and book fix : ) 
I'm not so sure if I will use the cards. I just might keep them for myself until the right occasion that merits them comes along.

Until later,

Annabelle

EYES

"Missed the last train home.

Birds pass by to tell me I'm not alone.

Well, I'm pushing myself to finish this part,

Can handle a lot,

But one thing I'm missing .....is in your eyes."

"How did it get so late so soon?"........I know, it was the bloody sugar!!!

This past week has been total confusion and disorder, a brain all fogged up and not from the shower.
I am totally fed up with the number of pills I need to take to keep the diabetes in check.
I noticed all of my aches and pains surfaced when I began taking them and so I did a little experiment and didn't take them for a few days, the aches disappeared but the sugars went up. I know my doctor will not be happy with my little investigation but then again I needed to know what was causing the sharp needle pains since all of my other test results were negative.So now it's back to see her and find an alternative route or even better stop eating the stuff I love : )
Needless to say I didn't do much of anything and I wasn't going to post today but then I thought I could share this digital/sketch I did quite a while back. It's a self portrait in caricature. The butterflies and birds , spider webs and spider, the roses and stars ,the old laces and the Pisces sign all describe me. As for the crown , I'm not sure!
I think I will keep this weekend nice and quiet , go on a few walks with the kids and the dog and pick a few pussy willows, always a tradition at this time of year. Maybe the fresh air will entice me to get back on track with the eyes "COME A LITTLE CLOSER". Haven't come up with a name for the series but I can work on that too.
So that's it for now. Take care and enjoy the holiday!

p.s. I'm not sure who left the comment about the light font but your right, I will get to it in time, thanks for the heads up.

Eyes by Rogue Wave ~ Enjoy!




cardifffilmsociety Thanks !


HAPPY EASTER and A HAPPY PAINT PARTY FRIDAY 
Thanks Eva and Kristin

Until Later,
Annabelle

COME A LITTLE CLOSER , THEN YOU'LL SEE

Photo Courtesy of  

Reni Gamble ~ Rumiwater

Dreams are a mystery, they are the night fevers that fabricate the delirium of which intoxicates the mind.

Sometimes they come creeping into the room at night with prophetic visions of days of future passed,

immediately the voices are back asking the symbolism of the Dream.

Carl Gustav Jung believed Dreams were a way to communicate and acquaint oneself with their unconscious; a window into one's inner soul.

William Shakespeare said the eyes were the window to one's soul,

And Helen Keller said the most beautiful things in life could not be seen or touched , but felt with the heart.

The dreams, the visions, the eyes, all symbols as well, all telling their very own tale of their heart.

"Cold - hearted orb that rules the night

Removes the colours from our sight

Red is gray and yellow, white

But we decide which is right

And which is an illusion"

~Moody Blues

aND SO THE dREAM (a past dream)

of the

Malocchio ~ The Evil Eye

I'm in the elysium of an evil eye after trying my hand at water colour painting of a Lover's Eye.

Although I'm far from happy with it's horrid gaze it has given me some thoughts to ponder on while creating it. I want to make a series of eye paintings , some beautiful and haunting,some more on the creepier sinister side for incorporating into my Haunted Lover's Eye Spiderweb Frames. 

If you look at the previous post "A Little Fairy Spider by the Name of Charlotte", you can see the frames I'll be using for the next Haunted Lover's Eye in the collection.

"Come a little closer, then you'll see

Come on, come on, come on

Things aren't always what they seem to be"

***********“Come a Little Closer” **********

I was just having a bit of fun playing a little game of “looking for a clue to the identity of the drawn eye in the photograph”. I placed the eye on top of an Ouija Board to convey it's invisible form with the yes and no words barely noticeable, kind of saying “ Yes I'm “The Spirit Eye”, no I'm the Evil Eye or Witch's Eye, the Witch Hazel bottle also being one of the clues. Anyway, didn't really spend a lot of time on the game just thought of it as I posted it. Still a big kid at heart : )

p.s. I don't use the board for it's intended purpose ( I'm a scary cat) I just use it for a Halloween prop.

"Do you understand the things that you've been dreaming?"

 While painting I listened to this song from my daughter's collection, M truly has opened my mind to the current wave of music played on Vampire Diaries , Pretty Little Liars , Castle and other similar programs. I love all sorts of genres , especially the classics and music of the past but some of today's scores are finding their place in my collections as well.

Enjoy : )

Interesting symbolism throughout this song. "Come a Little Closer"by The Cage Elephant.The most blaring ones are The Third Eye, Planets, Possible Drug References, etc. ~ Covertpolitics

Please take the time to pay a visit to the artists on Paint Party Friday. Thanks Eva and Kristin for hosting.

"Time flies by, they all sang along

Time flies by, they all sang along

Time flies by, they all sang along

Time flies ~ bye, bye "

~ Cage the Elephant 

Until Later,

Annabelle

A LITTLE FAIRY SPIDER BY THE NAME OF CHARLOTTE

It was she, Charlotte the Spider who designed and built some wonderful enchanted cottages in the countryside and by the sea. The Fairy Spider even made some pretty pendents for people to wear who admired her story and wanted to show their undying love for her to the world.



Here are some of Charlotte's past creations of SpiderWeb Homes and Adornments

While on her travels Charlotte acquired an extensive collection of antique architectural elements .

One of particular interest in her purchase was this pair of Antique Victorian Regency Gold Frames.

 " The lady is slightly more faded than the man". 

Of course because of their age they have cracks and some discolouration but to Charlotte that's what gives them their alluring beauty.

They measure 5 inches by 5 1/2 inches

Pictures of the Antique Victorian Regency Gold Frames courtesy of Carla Rae

So Charlotte, have any ideas ?

Until later,

Annabelle

CAT BREAK ~^..^~ "SUN IS SHINING , THE WEATHER IS SWEET"

I am laughing and laughing looking at this picture! So cute! Reminds me of the wolf in the fairy-tale - pretending to be grandma! :D

***A comment I was left on Flickr ……Purrfect fit!

While busily de-cluttering the house, my painting got put aside and so for this week I'm sharing this picture of Elliot (Elly Angel) all dressed up like Grandma ~^..^~ and a quote by E.B. White.

This is my second round of Spring Cleaning for this year and more scheduled before those brightly yellow daffodils are dancing in my garden. Yesterday, my husband and daughter helped me pack the truck and bring boxes of  stuff, a collection of tv's and even a much loved wire bird cage ( don't believe in caged birds) for donation to "HOUSE OF LAZARUS" in Mountain….my favourite thrift shop. I almost donated two wool coats but remembered I was saving them for Penny Mats so out they came from the clothes bag destined for HOUSE. 

Of course, once I was there I couldn't leave before I took one quick look around for artful elements : ) 

Didn't find any, thank God, however I did buy a book……"CHARLOTTE'S WEB" which jogged my memory to see through a commitment I never completed.

Sometime ago I  met a gal with her grandson named Frankie at the Salvation Army store in Kemptville and I had promised the little guy the book but silly me, absent minded old gal that I am lost their number. All that I recall is that she worked at the hospital so I suppose I could try that connection and see if I can get this fabulous book to him, if not , hopefully I'll meet up with them again: )

So ,while I may be preoccupied with daily chores of life it doesn't deter me from being inspired for the next  work of art. So instead of dreading the thought of dirt and dust filling my nostrils and head and just plain procrastination and talk about cleaning , it's quicker to get the job done and before you know it, a spacious room awaits with boundless possibilities .

Oh, and as you can see I revamped my website "Pastoraldreams" and my other website "Thewoodbeyondtheworld" (keeping two sites in case one gets lost :)

 The pictures of the Dandelion and Old Man's Beard are old imperfect photographs I took a while back, I just digitally enhanced them so I suppose they would count as digital paint, right?

SUN IS SHINING, WEATHER IS SWEET

Thanks for uploading this song cielzinnn

Thanks Eva and Kristin for hosting Paint Party Friday

Until Later ,

Annabelle

A PLACE OF FAIRYTALES AND DANDELION DREAMS

“If I’m honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all.”

― Audrey Hepburn

I have dreamed all of my life to escape to a world that may just exsist after all. A place far removed from Human Society to one of a Humane Society. Somewhere quiet, serene, still beautiful and untouched by the human hand where all of God's creatures great and small are your neighbours and friends and of course some humans mixed into the equation for casual sporadic conversation when one feels the urgency to refresh their earthly presence.

I created the above banner "Tansy " many moons ago for my Etsy shop but never used it for the simple fact I was too lazy to go back into Dreamweaver to remove the name. Now, many years later I think I will tackle the work on the weekend since hubby rekindled my desire to work on my graphics when he brought home a business card with a picture of me in Bermuda on our honeymoon that he had designed; it definitely wouldn't do unless I want business of a different sort and with liabilities attached of false advertising lol! : ) So now I'll have to rethink the banner and a business card that will more suit the kind of work I do : )


It's funny how thoughts of the day play in the dreams of the night; many wonderful musings came to me as I slept and this was one of them.


The Dandelion Door ~  A Fairy's Home in The Countryside

Like the Spider Fairy Door, The Dandelion Door was constructed in the same way….see last post

I love the idea of a peep hole so it too got one.

A beautiful piece of drift wood was used for the tree which was attached to a slate base with a metal screw. I then nailed the door to the tree , the nails being both ecstatic to the design and purposeful.

Now a word of warning …. I should have known this and I did but still made the mistake because I was overly anxious to see it finished and resulted in losing the work.

This was my first attempt at drawing, wood burning a dandelion on a piece of birch wood needless to say, I nailed it too close to the edge and it broke! I love the design I drew so i will recreate another one when I get more wood. 

So that's it for this week. 

Don't forget to visit everyone on Paint Party Friday and thanks again 

Eva and Kristin

Until later ,

Annabelle

The Fairy Spider and her SpiderWeb Door

A work in Progress

I had a small wood circle and thought it might lend a touch of whimsy to a Fairy's Door so I went about creating a little Fairy/Hobbit Door. The shape of it reminds me more of a Hobbit's door to their home but being such a tiny door I thought it was meant more for a Fairy, actually a Fairy Spider would suit it best : )

Materials Used

Wood Circle

E 6ooo Glue

French Vintage Glass Button

Art Deco ? Earrings

Upholstery Tack

Inks

Silver Leaf

Wood Burning Tool

Sorry but when I wrote this post it was early morning and I was half asleep so I forgot to say that the spider web , spider and flowers were first sketched in followed by wood burning and then the silver leaf was applied.

I started with a light sketch of the web and Fairy Spider and then applied the silver leaf to the Fairy Spider and her web. I then went over the web threads with a metal tool to give a thinner touch to the Spider Fairy's web threads. The silver leaf is wonderful in mimicking the glittery gossamer silken threads created by the Fairy Spider. After that was done, I worked in the colours with inks. I also thought it be great to have the Spider Fairy know at all times who comes knocking at her door by enclosing a Peep Hole at her door.So I drilled a hold in the centre of the wood circle and added the glass button, when the Fairy Spider Door is placed in front of a light source a light shines through…..magical. 

I will now need to attach the Fairy Spider Door to the burled wood base 

and then I think I will add this Spider Fairy Door to my Etsy shop, I just can't keep holding on to everything : )

So until next time signing off and don't forget to visit everyone at PPF!

Annabelle ~m..m~

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Old Weir Bridge Killarney Ireland 

 “May your thoughts be as glad as the shamrocks, may your heart be as light as a song, may each day bring you bright, happy hours that stay with you all the year long.” ~ Irish Blessings 




Vintage Postcard courtesy ~ TSS PHOTO

Cottage By the Sea

Mixed Media Collage Painting ~ Cottage By the Sea

Sorry for the bad the pictures. ……Will try later to see if I can get a better image of the entire painting .

I have been meaning to do a mixed media collage painting for some time now. After much acquired inspiration from artists like Carolyn Saxby, Louise O'Hara, Morag, Marji , Linda K and Serena Barton and visiting numerous artists on Youtube I was armed with enough knowledge to tackle the painting….."Cottage By the Sea".

I first started out painting the background , the mountains and cove and applied the cottage painting I had from before. I then added the Old Lace (dyed with coffee) for the sun, sea stars and the birds (Swallows) which I tried to emulate a "murmuration of swallows" but it didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned them to be; oh well, next time. The waves were also done with Medical Gauze as well as with the Old Lace.
The mountainous hilly range, the sandy beach, the cove and the sun were built with modelling paste . Once the paste dried, I painted what was left uncoloured with acrylics, inks and reInkers.
Finally, adding a smidgen of gold leaf to the sun, mountains and horizon line, sea stars, netted waves, water, cottage windows and cove worked fine in creating the setting sun's glitter upon the landscape below…...Just love the gold leaf pen! And another tool which also came in handy was my heat gun. It worked beautifully in creating depth and dimension in the hilly terrain and sandy beach.

So now I think I would like to add to the painting a film of bees wax but not sure if I can depending on what I have underneath which is glazing liquid and if that's okay, will have to read up on that or maybe some of you might know; love to hear from you if you do.
 Of course there are many things that could be better with this work like shadows and light , the waves and the sky, the murmur of birds, etc etc etc but as a whole, I'm happy with this painting.
 I can't wait to work on another MMCP and explore the multitude of college elements, so much fun!!!


***
* Side Note…Do you paint while listening to music and if you do , do you somehow find it influences your brush??? Or even after listening to a song?

While nearing the completion of my painting and after listening to "Starry Starry Night" I tripled the width of the horizon line into a mountainous range and didn't realize it after I read the lyrics to the song. I also found the sea stars and sun and the cottage gave thought to Vincent's work : ) I suppose I really do love his work!

Music is a higher revelation
than all wisdom and philosphy.
Music is the electrical soil
in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.

***

~ Materials used  ~

Canvas Board

Old Lace ~ Sun, SeaStars, Waves,Netting, Swallows, 

Medical Gauze Material

Baby Mussel Shells ( found in my bag of mussels I steamed ) Lovely meal and bonus treasure : )
Vintage Flowers

Old Book Cover Binding

~ Acrylic Paints , Inks & ReInkers ~

Blue

Orange

Yellow

Brown

Blue

Green

Red

Violet

Purple

White

Gesso

Molding Paste - Modeling - Pasta Moldeado
Glazing Medium

Gold Leaf Pen

Submitting my mixed media collage painting ~ "Cottage By the Sea ", to Paint Party Friday
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAINT PARTY FRIDAY AND A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVA AND KRISTIN!!!
Leaving you now with this beautiful song….Starry Starry Night  by Don Mclean





Thanks to wysty67 for uploading this video




Until Later,
Annabelle