Mexican Inspiration in my Sketchbook

Posted on May 1, 2015 by ruthlane under sketch book

I did take my art supplies and sketchbook with me to Mexico. Since we did a lot of relaxing on the beach, I had time to add some inspiration from my trip.

This zentangle page was done on the airplane ride down.

The tropical flowers were abundant around our condo.

This isn’t necessarily a flower but I saw a lot of these colors.

These little mushroom like structures were all over the beaches. We sat under one of these nearly every day.

I had screen printed this page quite a while ago but I added the deeper green and the “coconuts” one day on the beach. I saw lots of palm trees as well.

I played around adding black and white ink to this already painted page.

And since I’ve been back, I have seen a lot of these little Glacier Lilies. So I decided to add this one to my pages of Montana wildflowers.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Toto, I’ve Got a Feeling We’re Not in Montana Anymore

Posted on April 26, 2015 by ruthlane under Travel

A little inspiration from our trip to Mexico last week.

Spring Inspiration

Posted on April 17, 2015 by ruthlane under Inspiration

It’s a beautiful day here, the sun is shining and it’s finally warming up a bit.

I saw these choke cherry leaves started to bud out through the kitchen window and decided to take my camera to look for spring inspiration.

Here’s the beginnings of one of my columbine plants.

And the periwinkle are starting to bloom.

Symphony hasn’t decided if she should come help me or just wait on the patio.

Almost a quarter of the daffodils are blooming. I just love the spring time yellow.

I’m not sure what kind of tree this is but it has white blooms. Love those beautiful, fat buds.

Here are some tiny lupine leaves popping out. These get to be about four feet tall by July.

And the last bit of spring inspiration is the tamarack or larch trees. They are a deciduous pine tree that loses its needles in the fall and regrows in the spring. I really like that bright, yellow-green of the new growth. What is your inspiration in the spring?

Swap with a Forum Member + Daffodils!

Posted on April 10, 2015 by ruthlane under swap

I did a swap with another Felting and Fiber Studio Forum member, Elizabeth. She was cleaning out art supplies that she was no longer using and showed us some of the stuff. Of course, I couldn’t pass up ink and refillable pens. Thanks Elizabeth for a great swap.

So I got these in the mail, plus some extras including the sequins waste, palettes and water-color papers. I haven’t had much chance to try the inks but they are iridescent.

I did do a quick monoprint by dropping some gold ink on glass, then I pressed the already painted brown paper down on the ink. The gold is pretty shiny.

These are the water-color papers. They have the paint on them, you take a wet brush and swipe paint off and apply it to the page.

Here’s a quick sample of all the colors. They don’t look the same on the paper as they do once you get them wet, that’s for sure.

And it’s officially spring here. The first daffodil bloomed today. I have over 500 bulbs planted and when they are all in bloom, they are impressive.

I weeded around them last week and broke a few off. I didn’t think they would bloom but they did so I have some in the house as well. So Happy Spring and thanks for stopping by!

Woolly Goodness

Posted on April 3, 2015 by ruthlane under Carding, fibers

I showed a few of these over on the Felting and Fiber Studio recently but each evening I have made a few more batts. Thought you’d like to see all the woolly goodness!