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I’m Back!

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I’m back from vacation, which was lots of kid-filled fun, and ready to get painting again. Hope you are ready to join me.

Janet's dog.

Janet’s dog.

We have our Pet Portrait class coming up next week, Saturday, July 12. Be sure to register and talk to me about your portrait by this Friday so that we can plan your prep and pattern.  Don’t have a pet, you can still join us.  Paint a friend’s pet or find a magazine photo or I have plenty of cat photos to share.

Our seminar with Ros is only 21 days away but there’s still time for you to join us. Contact me now or register on line.

Tree 4 seasons

Registration is open for our Summer’s End ArtFling!

Come join us, paint, and enjoy the cool.

Liz

 

Just off the Easel

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In case you don’t already know, we love painting Dorothy Dent designs at Artful Endeavors.  This week we’ll start a new design, the Brook, which I just love. I enjoyed painting my sample and am looking forward to sharing this beautiful painting with my students.

I thought you might like to see my painting as I progressed.  Dorothy paints in oils but I use acrylics for our classes. Although I’ve enjoyed oils in the past, I have discovered that I’m allergic to some of the products.  And, there is very little we can’t paint in acrylics since they are so versatile.  I use the wonderful DecoArt Traditions and of course Americana, my first acrylic love.

Here’s the beginning of the sky and water area.  This is about 3 layers of adjusting.  DecoArt’s new Americana color Blue Haven is a wonderful color, medium light value, not too greyed, a happy blue.

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Step 1: background sky and water.

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Step 2: adding the background trees and foliage for the large foreground tree.

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Step 3: Adding the tree and sunny grass.

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Step 4: Adding rocks and beginning the water.

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Step 5: Sunshine on rocks and working on the water.

I love the colors in this painting.  Such a pleasing combination.

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Finished! Complete with splashes and accent colors.

Sale on On Line Classes!

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Drawing Faces

Drawing Faces

Have you heard?  Most of my on line classes on Creative Workshop are on sale during the month of June. 40% off!  Now is the time to take advantage of this summer offer.

You have 24/7 access to my classes and if you rewind I will repeat anything you like as many times as you like. I don’t mind at all.

Creative Workshops, thanks to Gail Schmidt’s dedicated efforts, is a wonderful on line class site. Class are seldom-ly removed unless they are just out of date, so you can enjoy the class at your own pace and even see it again if you like.

Gail has excellent directions for using the site, too.  Here’s how it works.

You can find more details about my classes here:  details

Let’s have some creative fun together!

Mastering Decorative Painting Basics part 3

Mastering Decorative Painting Basics part 3

Summer’s End ArtFling Sept 5 & 6, 2014

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With Gail Schmidt and Liz Miller CDA

Join Liz and Gail for another mixed media adventure.  Gail will teach for one day and Liz for another.  This is our “no stress, just fun” workshop where we explore different media to create our masterpieces.  

Gail teaches on Friday.

I’m posting a sample of her mixed media painting style, but your painting will be entirely your own, created with your favorite colors and your choice of subject from Gail’s selections. 

Gail says that the techniques she uses, texture, paint, stencils, stamps, printed images, and messy fingers (yours) in layers and more lovely layers can easily be accomplished even by a novice.  You can’t go wrong.

 

side view 

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Liz Teaches on Saturday

 

We’ll continue our mixed media exploits using Pan Pastels, acrylic paint, and colored pencil to create a painting ready for the autumn season. We’ll set the mood for our

Night Hunter.

Again our techniques are easy and exciting.

Night Hunter Liz Miller CDA

Night Hunter Liz Miller CDA

 

Mark your calendar and get ready to join Gail and Liz on our mixed media escapades.

We’ll have more details for you soon!

 

That’s Sept 5, Fri, with Gail, and Sept 6, Sat, with Liz.

ArtFling Progress Update

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1622209_10152197578879926_7582341212188916927_nThis painting is awesome, exciting, thrilling…..

This is the painting that Gail is sending to the studio as our Mixed Media Painting sample. It’s such a beautiful design and you can join us for our ArtFling, Sept 5 & 6, 2014.  Mark your calendar and I’ll have details for you before long.

I have my idea for my mixed media painting, just need to get my subject decided and work out the details.

Summer’s End ArtFling 2014

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Let’s have some mixed media fun.

For the past several years my friend Gail Schmidt, awesome mixed media artist, and I have held a workshop that we call ArtFling, wonderful creative fun.  We’re in the midst of planning our next Summer’s End ArtFling for Sept 5 & 6, that’s Friday and Saturday. If you haven’t joined us before this is your chance to join in the artful-ness.

Gail has been working on some wonderful mixed media paintings and the last one especially has us inspired for our workshop.  We’ll create a delicious background for a collage design of which you have some options.  I love this design especially.

Gail 2014

side viewBut If you aren’t into ladies Gail will have some other options.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m working on my ideas and will have some information for you soon. I’m thinking mixed media in the sense of watercolor, colored pencil, pastel….  possibly perhaps.

If you would like more information on our September 2014 Summer’s End ArtFling make sure you are on our email list for workshop and seminars.

In the mean time you can still register for our seminar with Ros Stallcup, July 20-26, 2014.

May-June Happening at Artful Endeavors

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May and June are packed with painting fun at the studio. Summer is approaching and now is a good time to plan your studio time.

Chalky Paint finish

Chalky Paint finish

Remember:  “You never find time, you have to make it.”

Do something for yourself and just go ahead and add your painting time to your calendar.

OK so what is all this painting fun?

  • Our Assemblage class/Play Day is this coming Friday and I looking forward to experiencing all those creative minds at work.
  • I have my order in for the DecoArt Chalky Paint and am expecting it to arrive soon! We have loved using this paint and I’m excited to be able to share it with you. You can find more information on the DecoArt web site.  We have another class coming up on May 20, 10am -3p when we’ll have fun using this paint on furniture or decorative items. I have lots of product to share so plan to join us and learn all about the Chalky Paint.  Register by May 14th.
  • Wed am is painting a beautiful sunflower in watercolors starting May 14. I still need to get our sample painted but I’ll post a photo when I get it completed.
  • Our Wed evening class was postponed last week with the storms coming through so our final project, the Old Coach House, is now on May 14. This is a primitive style design by Rebecca Trimble that was in the Aug 2012 Paint Works. Beautiful vibrant colors.
  • Our Cary class starts the Red Window this evening, postponed from last week. Storms again.  On May 27 we’ll have fun repainting one of my originals that I painted at the nursing home for the residents. I love the design and we want to do an improved version.  Blue Moon.
  • On Sat, June 7, 11:30-2:30p, we have a fun Goldfish painted with acrylic inks, acrylics, pen, and a drinking straw. Hope I have your curiosity piqued. Be sure to add this one to your schedule. This class is appropriate for kids, 8yrs and up, and adults.web-Goldfish
  • Our June Play Day is the colored pencil that I’ve been promising. I did my version of Lydia Steeve’s kitten. So cute. Mark your calendar for Friday June 20, 10a-2p.  So the web site won’t let me post the photo of the kitten but you can see it on my facebook page.
  • Ros’ painting should be arriving before long. I can’t wait to see how Ros interprets our ideas for this summer. But you don’t have to wait to register. Register now.

    Sunday House

    Sunday House

  • And our schedule is filling with more weekly classes.

You can fine more information about these classes on the class page along with photos, assuming that I have the sample completed. Go ahead and register on line, send me a check, or drop by the studio.

I’ll be out of the studio this coming Monday, May 12. I’m going to Gail and Leon’s house to pick up our Ros surfaces… and see what mischief Gail and I can stir up.  Have a good Mother’s Day.  I’ll be sure to give Gail’s Mom hugs.

I have our family beach trip coming up June 22 – 28th and looking forward to it. No class that week unless Carol comes up with a treat.

Speaking of treats… Gail and I are starting to talk about an ArtFling later this summer….  We’ll keep you informed.

Keep watching the schedules for updates later this week. I have to go Zumba! right now.

Liz

Paintin’ and Cracklin’ and Sandin’ and Waxin’

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My computer is back and getting up to speed with it’s new mother board. It’s so nice. What did we do before computers? I remember having to do a lot of cutting and pasting to create a newsletter, not to mention folding, stapling, and mailing ….

I hope you’ve been keeping up with the blog where all my news has been for the last couple of weeks. With my computer in the shop I wasn’t able to send out a newsletter so I had to rely on you to check the web site.  Be sure to check out the upcoming classes.

We’ve been busy painting a wide variety of projects.  We’ve started new canvas projects in our day Raleigh class, Hodgson Mill,  and Cary evening class, Boy Fishing using our version of an old masters technique.  We’re learning lots of new techniques and practicing some of our usual favorites.  We’ve had fun with Tjaps batik in a Sat class and on Wed evening with some excitingly creative effects and outcomes.

This past Saturday a group of students and I experienced working with DecoArt’s splendid new Chalky Finish Paints and Mediums.  After discussing many design possibilities including distressing, crackling, stenciling, and more with these terrific products, each painter tackled their own small furniture piece with and eye toward how they intended to use the piece.  Here are a few photos to share our fun.  Follow the link above to find out more about these great products.

Ok the web site dosen’t want me to upload some of my photos of the student’s projects. I’ll add them a little later when I figure out the difficulty.

But here is my stool that I gave you a glimpse of earlier.

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I forgot to take a photo of the first stage but I added areas of orange and bright green to give the effect of past paint jobs that are being  uncovered by the crackle.  That’s right, the next step was to apply the crackle medium in areas. I decided not to do an over all crackle on this piece.When that was dry I applied the top coat of red.  It was exciting to watch the cracks begin to occur even before I had finish the red coat.

web-stool-stage-2-top The red will work nicely in my house.

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Then I decided to add a stencil for character.  I’m pleased.

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Now what will I work on next?

Here’s Carol’s red rocker. It turned out so cute.  Those are kitties on the seat.

I’ll have more photos of the process as soon as I can get them down loaded.

Carol rockerAnd I finished my blue revival chair. Love it!

Chair with stencil in progress

Chair with stencil in progress

You’ll see our student’s work on Artful Endeavors’ face book page.