Bend is gorgeous all year round, but I love when it is in color....this is basically just the start but the colors are just
so vivid this year. We don't have hillside after hillside in flaming foliage but we have an abundance and it is just
beautiful. This photo was taken in Drake Park with the Deschutes River in the background which runs through the middle of the town and is just an artists' dream.

When ever we have icy fog this is also where I "fly to".
To the very left you can just barely see the birch weeping willow which is just beginning to turn yellow. One more week and everything should be prime.

Enjoy your fall.

Wintery Handpainted Lampwork Necklace

My daughter and I are working on some

necklace kits with more detailed pictorial instructions than my previous kits. This is the first one and I really like the way it turned out. The design is handpainted on 3 small jewelry dominoes and has handmade lampwork, pearls, and swarovski crystals with some sparkly small delica beads and Tierra Cast spacer beads. It is a quick easy design and the beaded portion works up nicely.

The kit should be available for purchase shortly.

Pumpkin Lampwork Beads

My daughter made me a set of pumpkin

lampwork beads....and is working on the

spacers I wanted. Aren't they just the cutest? I took the photo on a mirror so that you can see the lines and stemwork goes all the way around the beads. I am anxious to get them worked up into a fall

bracelet..... See her work at: http://www.dragynsfyre.etsy.com/

http://www.dragynsfyre.artfire.com/

YVONNE KRESAL

Yvonne Kresal was a design artist that I learned by when taking classes at a local Tole Shop.

My teacher loved Yvonnes' designs so as a result we painted and learned a lot from this design artist. Barb was a great teacher so it was a "double win/win" for all of the students. Many of Yvonnes designs were winter so as a result I felt an immediate desire to learn her techniques for snow, trees, ets. I have all of her books, and her designs are relaxing to paint and a delight to finish and enjoy. Yvonne was an inspiration and mentor to me during my early years of learning.

The first time I "entered" anything was our local small town fair, doing a mixture of Yvonne Kresals design elements put together on a saw blade. And the blue ribbon first place was exciting.... faded with time it hangs in my studio with pride. (Photos are shown above)

There is much to be learned studying this delightful artists designs. All of the surfaces I painted using her designs are still hung in my home and enjoyed with fond memories.

SEE YVONNES LATEST DESIGN IN THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER issue of PAINTING magazine on sale NOW...... A delightful candle box.... My box will be ordered soon and I can hardly wait to paint with Yvonne again.

Photo taking Day

Today was one of those days when you just have to take your camera and go outside...I didn't have to go far before my camera was snapping and this is just
one of my "favorite of the day" shots.

I prefer to take my photos between 3PM and 5 PM depending on the time of year because I LOVE shadows/reflections. Enjoy....

SEASONAL BUTTERFLYS

A SNOWFLAKE IS WINTERS BUTTERFLY..................
What a neat statement and so true as I look forward to that first "nice" snowfall
of the season which is a "given" .... I love so much about fall and winter. The colors of yellow, orange and red. The smell of "burning" leaves and pine needles.
That chill in the air which provides a "warning". The scurrying of people as they make the last minute preps for winter, just like the chipmunks.

And winter........ahhhhhhhhhh. Goodness but it is beautiful. White, prickly, soft, blue, cold, icy, the smell of snow, the smoke of chimneys, fog, sunshine, brightness, glimmer, a fire in the fireplace, hot chocolate, a good book/magazine, a soft blanket throw, my fur baby cuddled on my lap.........ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

ENJOY THE SEASONS.

Pretty Flowers

Thought I would share these with you. Happy Fall my friends.

Hair Cut for Feather Edge Brush

There comes a time in every artists' life that there is a need for something that doesn't exsist. When that happens you "improvise" with what you have on hand.
Such was the case when I was working on a Teddy Bear. I wanted something narrower than what I had, and what I knew was available. I took a Langnickle feather brush and cut down both sides leaving just the middle "hairs" for painting with. Now I find that I use this brush a lot for grasses, small work that I enjoy doing, Santa's beard, mustache, etc. I don't recommend using a brush bigger than 3/8" for the feather brush as the bristles are the longest in the middle. Too long and they won't be as "stable". This one works great for what I need.

10/07/10 Painting Magazine

I have just received notification from the Editor of Painting Magazine (Irene Mueller) that the current issue (which has my necklace design shown above) is ready to be mailed. It should be
going out to subscribers first and then to newstands...

The wood focal piece and the necklace construction instructions will be for sale on my Etsy site.
I have offered this as a total kit (with supplies) with the exception of the chain and beading wire, and tools needed for crimping and wire wrapping. The cost of the kit is $40.75 and the kit includes only top of the line supplies from Tierra Cast, handmade etched lampwork beads by Dragynsfyre, etched white furnace glass, the wood focal piece, and the beading instructions/how to's. SEE my ETSY site to purchase.

More Serious Playing ???

This is a mixed media/assembelage piece that I am working on. Since it is my first piece I find I am working a bit slower as I try to decide the best way to "connect" and/or adhere. Tomorrow I guess I will need to invade my husbands garage for some drilling.....

This is the top of my piece. A round, painted, canvas with a stamp face, Swarovski crystals for eyes, ( I have abnormally big eyes so eyes are an important factor in my pieces especially when they are painted. With this stamp I still wanted to accentuate the eyes to give it more of a lifelike feature...so that the eyes would follow the viewer as they moved and the sparkle of the Swarovski crystal draws your attention....) .

The canvas face portion has been glued to a leather and waxed straw drink coaster which was a "found set" at a local thrift store.

I am waiting for paint to patina on the arms/hands so that they will be ready for drilling tomorrow. What are the arms? Would you believe minature boat oars?

SO much fun.

Playing

I have been playing and experimenting with some new metallic paints and patinas ... which is the background color on 9 resin/ceramic type dominoes (which have no design on one side) and are glued together.

My other play was the zentangle giraffe. I saw it done somewhere, and I am sorry that I don't remember just where or by whom, so I wanted to give it a try as it was a really cute. I painted the giraffe a cream color and then used a brown Micron pen to do the zentangle "effect". Zentangles USED to come easy when I was in high school and doodled my book covers and 3 ring binders but since it has became a popular art form I am fighting the "stigma" of "art" vs "fun".

I liked the way the artist had done this giraffe as she or he kinda made it flow instead of having it more sectioned off. I know I have a long way to go but it was fun, it is a learning thing and practice will make a difference, or so they say and we must start somewhere. So....be kind.

Mushroom Update...

Today when we were outside we noticed that we have two more groupings of mushrooms coming up in the gravel of our
drive.

Barb, our next door neighbor knows a lot about plants, bushes, trees, etc. so she came over and told us that the mushrooms are Shaggy Mane and that they are not poisonous, and in fact can be eaten. I like mushrooms but I think that I will "pass" on trying these.

Some information I found from the computer is: "Shaggy Mane mushrooms (copinus conatus) is a very common, visually distintive mushroom with a really nice flavor. It is quite popular, and is amoung the four mushrooms listed back in 1943 as "the fool proof four". The Shaggy Mane mushroom's most salient hallmarks are the bulletlike shape of the cap, which is covered with delicate white scales. One cannot handle the Shaggy Mane mushroom without getting bits of these white scales on the hands. The mushrooms cap "melts" into an inky black goo, starting at the edge of the cap. The Shaggy Mane mushroom fruits on the ground, primarily on lawns but even on bare ground...it has even been known to push up through gravel, hard packed soil or old pavement. Its season runs from spring through autumn".

See below for photos I took of the mushrooms growing in our lawn...and my stepson in Pennsylvania had the same mushrooms growing in his yard.

I just finished these two rather ghoulish Halloween ATC's for a swap I am in. The first one is a laser wood skeleton piece that is mounted onto a wooden ATC. Swarowski crystals were added ....the second one is a ghostly apparition on a dark Halloween night....sprinkled with just a smidgin of Glamour Dust. A Swarovski crystal was added right at the bottom of the moon. Once I knew what I was going to do...they worked up quickly.

Well, it is the 1st of October. Time to set new monthly goals, prepare for winter like my fat cheeked little friend, start thinking about Christmas, the time change, Halloween, and time for me to scurry off with my design book and do some serious painting.

I am working on an altered art assemblage piece and have been "collecting" some awesome elements to use and I can hardly wait to begin the actual construction. So much to do, so little time.

October is a fantastic month here in Bend, with fall shows, cool temperatures, warm sun and maybe even some unexpected treasured moments.

Have a wonderful creative month everyone and most of all have fun.