Painting the Purple

16"x20"
Oil on canvas

I finished up another one.... probably my last painting of the year. I started this painting earlier in the year... like March/April... and never finished. 

So, obviously there's a Raven's theme going on here... the raven... the football... the purple.

But I actually painted this with something else in mind. For the past couple of years I've walked in the PurpleStride to raise money for pancreatic cancer. The walk in DC is usually around the June time frame. Purple is their color. My original intent was to sell or raffle off the original painting or do something to raise money. But then I had a conflict and couldn't do the walk this year. So then the painting never got finished. Until just a few weeks ago.

I'd still like to keep my plan. Even if it's a year later. So once I get my act together and figure out what I want to do, I'll post about that. Stay tuned.

Maryland-themed Art

Recently we went through a one week period where things seemed to be breaking everywhere. The shelves in the pantry where collapsing. We had flying ants in the house. And my decorative shelves in the living room fell off the wall.

It was very sad. There was a lot of broken glass.

Rather than go out and buy new shelf decorations (Mike calls them knickknacks) I thought I'd make do with what we had around the house. Then I decided to make something. You can catch a peak of our Baltimore painting hanging on that wall. So sticking with the theme, I decided to make some Maryland-inspired art.

Quiz: What wildlife makes you think of Maryland?

Answer: Blue Crab, Baltimore Oriole, Black-Eyed Susan

I don't think the Blue Crab is officially anything to Maryland (except an awesome meal), but the other two definitely are: the state bird and state flower!

So I found some pictures of each online and began cheating tracing.

I wanted some fun, bright colors for this. I considered going with a solid background, but decided instead to be a little more crazy. Either probably would have turned out just fine. And I even kind of like how they look when the design is just outlined.

After a bit more coloring, here is the set.

When they stand up the crab picture is a little unbalanced. I should have noted the poor craftsmanship before starting. Oh well.





So there we have it. Showing my Maryland pride yet again.

It's Friday Friday Friday

What better way to spend a day off than to run errands? Of course if I'm going to run out I might as well take care of a few other things. Like visiting Michael's.

Backup. Or visiting the Goodwill Superstore first.

Why? Well, because occasionally I find wonderfully inexpensive things there. Like used frames that can be spray painted to look brand new. Or these puppies.

They were five dollars. That's right. $5.00.

Ok, back to Michael's. I needed to pick up a few things for a project I will be working on in the near future. Can we guess?

Another hint: It is related to my one of my Pinterest boards.

 

Although I'm not a regular cake maker, I have had spurts of success in the past. This whole fondant thing still eludes me though. And the last time I worked with it I regretted it. I'm hoping this time goes better. I am also trying out a new brand to see if that helps.

(Side note: Just spent 20 minutes looking for a picture of my last fondant experiment. No luck. If you're curious, it was white, square, and had a Colombian flag on it. There may be a reason why I did not document the event...)

The other interesting part of my outing was the mayhem going on at the grocery store. Lots of balloons, purple, jerseys, and other Ravens paraphernalia. Oh and a news crew. At the grocery store. 

I get the whole Ravens thing. But party at the grocery store? Really?

Of course, then again, I'm the weirdo that photographed the whole thing.

Baltimore Birthday

I turned 28 this year. Only two more years until I'm thirty. I swear I was 21 just yesterday....

This year Mike and I did a very adult thing for my birthday and visited an art museum. Specifically, we visited the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. Its been sitting there all this time and I've never been. And its FREE.

 

 

 

 

This guys would have been a better fit in my Halloween post.

Although the armor, and sculpture, and jewelry, and other random stuff is neat, I'm more of a fan of the paintings. I must have been entranced, because I forgot to take pictures, except for these two.

 

 

And some pictures of good ole Baltimore.

 

 

 

 

We concluded the festivities with lunch and beers at Victorias. All in all, a good day!