What an amazing Summer

This has been the most incredible Summer of my life! 
21 days in Italy! 21 GLORIOUS DAYS IN ITALY! I left in the middle of June, traveled to Milan for a few days, then joined some very special creative ladies to travel to Bellagio for a week long retreat hosted by Laura from www.akissonthechic.com, where we had the lovely Jeanne Oliver as our creative instructor. Then as if that was not enough, I traveled back to Milan and rode the train to Monterroso to spend time exploring the Cinque Terre! The entire trip was so much more than I ever expected it to be. I came home with amazing memories, beautiful pictures, and so many new friends! The hardest part has been adapting to being back home and getting back into my work! All I really want to do is look at all my pictures and relive the moments there amongst such beauty! It's like a dream, still floating in and out of it...

2014 A New Year and A New Attempt...

It's the second day of the New Year, and I am excited to see what the new year brings! So far it has brought me some very much needed days at home, painting in my pajamas. Yes you read that right, painting in my pajamas!! It is my most favorite thing to do, truly! To wake up, grab some coffee, read my devotional, spend time with God, then say a BIG thank you, that I don't have to watch the clock, get dressed or even answer the phone! So, do you want to see what I having been playing with?

 Faces...lots of faces...

 I am truly obsessed with faces right now! All different styles, techniques, whimsical...

 Playful, mixed media and painted faces! It started when I registered for Jeanne Oliver's online classes, and then it seemed it was all I started looking at on Pinterest...there are so many artist and so many styles of faces that it made me want to play with painting some! 

 I have been studying noses, eyes, lips...techniques for proportion...when I was a teenager, I took oil painting and loved painting faces, it felt really natural at that time in my life...kind of like putting makeup on a face, like it came to life right off the canvas.  Now, it is fun, but more of an effort...so I want to play with it until it becomes effortless!  Still working on some of these.  On my next post, I will show you the first one I started with and all the little ones that I did after that...but for now, these are the ones that have help my interest in the first days of this glorious New Year!  I know some of you have made resolutions, some have chosen words to express or inspire you for the days ahead...I have some big plans, some big hopes and dreams of what I want to do in 2014, and in the days ahead, I will let you in on some of them!  Happy Happy Fabulous New Year to each and every one of you!!!