"Standard Issue" in progress

Good morning bloggers and friends!  Today finds me working on my unorganized household.  Got a major start yesterday and hope to have it under control by the holiday. 

I did manage to do a girlie from my comfortable seat in the magic chair.  I started with a simple water colored background thrown together in the studio then just drew over it with a black "stabilo all" pencil and added pastels and watercolor pencils - smoothing it with a small water brush.  Those little water brushes are the bomb for working outside the studio. 

She's not that interesting but I'm planning on adding some collaging layers and journaling to her.   Right now I call her "standard issue jessi..." ha!  Really been struggling with the creativity lately and my unorganized mess isn't helping.  So, I'm heading back into the studio to clean!!!

I'm not decorating for the holidays as Mom is unable to walk still after her fall on Thanksgiving and we will be spending our time at the doctors and rehab this season.  (Oh joy.)  She is now staying with friends which has freed me up a little this week to get caught up around here.  This year has sure set us back.  I am so ready for a fresh new year!

Looking forward to seeing what you are all up to this Christmas - that is if you have a chance to post!

Stay tuned for more adventures from butterfly girl too!

Forever in art,

Jessi

Adventures with Owlet

Hello my artsy blog buddies!  Yes, I'm still here.  Butterfly Girl has been away saving the world again.  Really, she's saving my world.

I've been sooooo busy I don't have any new art to share with you but I have some photos of my adventures with Owlet, coffee cozy.  I got this cool cozy from my Friend Cameron who created and stitched him up in felt (see her fabulous Etsy shop!). 

I've been sharing him with all the hipsters at my favorite Dutch Bros. and they love him!

That day I had a rare 2 hrs. or so to play before reality set back in again so Owlet and I went searching for Edward and Bella in the forest.  It was such a "Twilight" kind of day.  Dark out and a little spooky with a misty rain falling - my imagination took over...

Oh, and by the way Cam, Jasper dog loves him too!  He sneaks him out of my purse, nuzzles him and then gently places him back by my bag.  He has never done anything like that before.  He does it over and over.  Silly dog, he loves Owlet too!

What little time I've had in the studio has been spent on making some less than spectacular Christmas cards.  I sure hope things will settle down so I can have quality time in the studio again soon!  Meanwhile, I have kept a close bond with Butterfly Girl and she has had an adventure or two with Owlet as her sidekick that I will share later on another post.  Currently she is saving the world by gently insisting we all recycle.  So I've been making all kinds of recycle journal signatures and cutting out cereal box covers for them.  More on that next time...

In the studio this week I cued up my favorite Christmas music -  Wintersong by Sarah McLachlan, and I've got a few new CD's to spin later this week too.

Ring those sleigh bells and keep arting my friends!

Forever in art,

Jessi

My alter ego - Butterfly Girl

Hello beautiful blog friends!  Just a quick post from the studio today...

A little while back in my journal I was thinking about taking Tam's course on Willowing to learn how do do whimsy and then I started thinking about comic book heroes.  One thing led to another and the next thing I know I was sketching out my alter ego, Butterfly Girl.  (That magic chair surprises me sometimes.)

At first I thought, "Butterfly Girl?"  A little simple but I decided I liked it.  So then a couple of days ago I took a scrap of old 90lb hot press w/c paper and sketched her out again.  I tried using my colored pencils again but it just wasn't working for me.  So today I messed around with w/c pencils, pastels and w/c crayons but now it's a bit of a mess plus I ran out of room on the side.  So, I've sketched her again and I'm just going to try copic markers and see what happens.  I think I need to take Tam's course, the Wonderful World of Whimsy!!!

Secretly I have wanted to try my hand at a little comic book, or graphic novel, and I bought a Bamboo Craft tablet to try as well.  There is nothing like biting off more than you can chew!!!

Only time will tell what will become of Butterfly Girl!

Music in the studio:  Five for Fighting - America Town CD, Superman (It's not easy)

I hope you are all enjoying the glorious fall colors, I sure am!

Forever in art,

Jessi

Here She comes again...

Hello-o-o from the studio-o-o!  Just in case you didn't get enough of my Goddess from Willowing's class back from the first of this year, here she is again.  She's finally finished!  Hooray the Goddess is done!  She just keeps coming back around like that mouldy fruitcake from Xmas - ha!

It is true that my life really wasn't my own for most of this year and many of my projects still remain undone.  So, I am glad to have finally finished one of the big ones!!!

 Goddess Now...

Goddess before...

I thoroughly enjoyed working on her again after all this time.  I think I will be revisiting my Mermaid painting as well but not for a while - I need to create anew!

I must admit to being very tired and overwhelmed so my muse is but a whisper.  Alas, a whisper is better than total silence so I will go with that!

My magic chair has been a hostess to my idea journal as of late and I've been coming up with a lot of fun ideas - we'll see if I can actually get some of them off the ground as I work on recuperating.

Thanks for sticking with me my friends!!!  Your comments make me feel like I'm not so alone with my heavy heart and it's lovely to know you are all still creating and sharing of yourselves - I am trying too!  Please forgive me for not answering all your comments - I'm still catching up and will be around more soon.

Music in the studio this week: DVD's    The Band Perry
                                                       Taylor Swift - Fearless

                                                       Taylor Swift - Speak Now

So, keep your fingernails dirty with bright colors under them and I will too!

Forever in art,

Jessi