This week I got a little creative! My brother recently purchased a JEEP. He quickly learned in JEEP culture there is a thing called “ducking”. DUCKING is when you place a rubber duck on someone else’s JEEP. That JEEP owner then puts the duck oh\n his dashboard- JEEP culture calls that your pond. Growing up, one of my brother’s and I’s favorite movies was ALIEN. This past year, there was a a series based on Alien- it was named ALIEN EARTH. Great show!! There was an alien character in it that stole the series! It was a mini octopus looking creature that would become its host’s eye. I thought it would be funny to “DUCK” my brother’s JEEP with a rubber duck that has been now taken over by that alien.

I created a tiny alien and cooked it on a stand made of a tooth pick and aluminum foil.

The Duck that became the Host. 😂 Now time to paint the little alien and glue to the duck’s eye

HeeHee!! So fun and my brother loved it! Honestly, for $3.49, your creative possibilities are endless! Go grab some Sculpey clay and make something! Also, watch Alien Earth if you haven’t already. 😁

Xoxo-Apes

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1. My container is a cigar box. Whenever we go on vacation, my fiancé finds a cigar shop to get a cigar and I get a cigar box specifically to be used for a travel art kit. It’s a wonderful way to get a souvenir to forever capture a special memory.

2. I LOVE watercolor! I make my own watercolor palettes using Sculpy clay and empty mint tins. I create separate wells with the clay, bake in the oven to harden the clay- once dry, I fill with watercolors.

   

   

   3. A tiny porcelain dish I got at an antique store on a vacation.

   4. A tiny glass jar I put water in. You can get a pack of 5, at the dollar store, for $1.25. These are amazing! They DO NOT LEAK!!

   5. Glass water dropper, again purchased at the Dollar Store- 2 pack for $1.25.

   I use this to re-wet my watercolors.

   6. Pencils from golf courses that we visit. I have so many! Also doubles as a souvenir, most times, the pencils usually have the name of the golf course on them. They fit perfectly!

   7. My favorite-A brush holder I made out of Sculpy clay in the shape of a dachshund. I painted it and might have added glitter paint as a top coat. :)

Here’s a few examples of me taking my kit around and painting!

Go collect your favorite art supplies, create a a kit that means something to you- filled with art supplies you love and make some art! :)

Xo-Apes

I’ve always loved Georgia O’Keeffe- maybe because I was born and raised in New Mexico, which means I was aware and raised on her beautiful art since I was a kid. I remember studying her art in first grade. My mom and I went to this exhibit 3 times because I enjoyed it so much! One visit I decided to sketch this beautiful O’Keefe painting next to a Moore statue…

The fun part is, I did this sketch only using a Crayola crayon pack I picked up from the cafe we ate at lunch :). The one thing I noticed, this visit, was Georgia O’Keefe often focused in on one subject and painted it LARGE.

Photo: Geeogia O’Keeffe Red Cannas 1927

Almost like looking at an object through a magnifying glass. I decided to try this principle myself. Once I got home, I went out in the yard to look for something in nature I wanted to paint. I chose the most beautiful gold leaf with speckles. the challenge was to paint it large- MAGNIFIED!

Here’s what I painted that afternoon using the inspiration I took from the exhibit that day! I used Acrylic on canvas. Cheers to museums keeping us inspired! Today is Friday, two more days ‘til Musuem Sunday! Go visit a museum and get inspired!

Xo-Apes

Here’s a photo of a total Yatzee one afternoon! I went on a run and my neighbors had put out a bunch of frames and canvases- I quickly ran back home to get my car and come back to collect the treasure! I was part of a group art show that the theme was Hollywood and one of these discarded treasures were perfect for such a piece!

Get out the gesso!

With a few coats and it’s ready to go! I love Golden paints gesso and I got this gesso paint brush from the art store years ago and it’s held up!

I made sure to tape around the edges of the frame- used masking tape from the dollar store- it performs like painters tape!

Tada! The final painting! Here’s another quick example of another Upcycle painting I created for another group show

…gesso …

.ready to paint

…tada again! New art! My suggestion to you, next time you see a discarded canvas/frame on the side of the road, pick it up and have some fun creating something new! Remember art is joy!

Xoxo- Apes

I love the humor of an odd couple! I also recently purchased the most beautiful fluorescent pink paint and wanted to use it for the under painting-pink is my favorite color. :)

At first I wanted the fish to be the focus, and then have the cat to be part of the background. I started with a canvas of 8x8:

This was fun, but still wasn’t what I was going for. I decided to pull an idea from my sketch book and explore the idea of the cat with a fish bowl on top of his head…

This was still not doing it for me. I put this on the easel with the first paining and left them there for 2 days. This allows me to have them always in view, in my studio, while working on other projects. One morning, it hit me- the cat would be so irritated and sarcastic about having a fish bowl on his head. I grabbed my pencil and immediately sketched the idea.

When I paint, I always have a brand new canvas, off to the side, where I can put unused paint from my pallet- I refuse to waste paint! At this point, I had a canvas of extra yellow and florescent pink sitting off to the side. I decided to grab it and use it. I quickly sketched the idea on the canvas with black paint and flat brush.

THIS is what I was going for! First I tried the cat as all black…

…this was close, but not quite what I was going for…back on the easel… Then a spark! Make the cat multi colored! I grabbed a piece of copy paper and old school crayola markers to quickly sketch it out.

Finally got it! Time to add some color to the cat! Mixed up some orange and went to work on the underpainting.

Time for the final touches

…. And then finally finished! Tada! Framed and ready for the show!

Remember earlier I mentioned I keep a canvas panel off to the side to use for extra paint left on my palette? Here’s a look at the one I used for the left over paint.

Excited to see what this will become! Thanks for reading. :) xo-Apes