Coloring Fad!

Adult coloring books are very popular and are being sold everywhere. I admit to owning a collection of coloring books of all sorts. I have started coloring in a few of the newer type that are supposed to help with stress, etc. However, they require a lot of time and I get bored and never finish. Then I picked up a book of postcards to color that looked less formidable and started coloring, and then I grabbed my paint and brushes to give it a more completed look, and here is the finished product.

 

 For all of you lovers of coloring, I used Staedtler colored,

fine point pens (0.3 mm). They are great for all the tiny detail work. I used acrylic paint for the sand, water, sky, and border.

I started coloring this different picture of a large butterfly, but the spaces were so big I didn't want to use up my pens, so I found that if I outline the details with ink then paint over them I can see the designs under the paint and can use the pens over the acrylic paint and it looks great. But if I paint over the designs without outlining them in ink, you cannot see the designs at all. Hope that makes sense. 

 

This made me realize that I have missed painting and wanted to paint a seascape. I realized that I would need a frame for it and there was this frame which would make a base for a mosaic. Then I remembered that I had some sea glass and dug around in my closet until I unearthed the box they were in. I found some Smalti glass that reminded me of water and I placed that in a border around the picture. I started gluing pieces in place and had been only working on it a few minutes when the lights went out. The storm had caused a power outage. I gathered some candles that I have and placed them all around my work area and continued to mosaic. I sent Christi a text to let her know what happened:

Me: I am at my work table upstairs doing the beach glass mosaic by candle light

Christi: Just be careful. Don’t burn down the house.

I knew you would say that

And don’t strain your eyes in the poor light.

100 candles! What poor light?

We’re doomed.

I have only a small amount of the frame to mosaic and then I will grout it with sandy colored grout, throw some beads in to make it more cohesive, and of course, a touch of grout glitter and it will be ready for my painting to be placed inside. Oh, I still have to do the painting, but I have done some preliminary sketches already completed.

About the previous mosaic that I was going to finish around Christmas, I have just recently started to create the templates needed to finish the background and the remaining design elements. I admit that the Holidays took precedence over my attention and time. Like so many others, I believed that I could do it all. I forgot the energy and undivided attention that creating a mosaic takes. I cannot just parcel it into five or ten minutes here and there, and expect that I can create anything of value. By value, I mean a true, thoughtful expression to share with you what the glass is inspiring me to say through mosaic.