Found some vintage artwork drawn over 20 years ago. Larger than the scanner, couldn't get the whole drawing in. Drawing in colored pencil on Bristol drawing paper. Drawn in the late 70's or early 80's. See the "Love" influence. No peace signs though.

I have decided to auction some of my "Blue Christmas" murals. These large murals were used on our church windows at Christmas time one year. The colors are mostly the same so they could be hung together. If you would like more photos email me!

I am only in the picture so that you can see the large size of the canvas. Painted on medium weight cotton duck.


Other paintings (below) are painted with oil paints on medium cotton duck and mounted on stretchers. 

Items sold by Louisiana2 on ebay
 Louisiana2 items for sale @ Ebay.com
or
Nancy Jones Art at etsy.com. Just type in Nancy Jones Art into the search area.
NancyJonesArt @ Etsy.com

Some of these come with free shipping and a guarantee of happiness or return for refund. I list new paintings over time.

Thanks for dropping by,
Nancy

"You can buy the whole box....", he said.

Finally people are having garage sales again. I found a couple of good ones in town on Saturday and for the first time I was offered a box of crystal, glass, and other goodies that the owner had not opened yet. He had gotten them at an estate sale. So I took a chance and bought the whole box. These are a few items from the box.

I think the first item is a condiment tray from the 50's or 60's. It's in perfect condition. I don't think it was ever used. I love the little sprig of green on the cover of the jar. Two plastic spoons that match. The color is not exactly yellow but more of a yellow with a tiny touch of green. This would be fun to use at church when serving hamburgers or for a casual event at the house. I prefer not to offer mayonnaise or catchup directly from the jars or bottles.

The gold rimmed glasses in the second picture look unused and are from the 50's or 60's. They look like Candlewick by Imperial but I think are Boopie by Anchor Hocking. I love these! I love circles and they have glass globes all around the bottom of the glasses. They look very 50's to me. Remind me of my grandmother.

It takes hours of research sometimes to find out who made some items (because I don't know anything). But the cute mushroom glasses have their maker on the glass. Couroc. I see that most of similar ones that are listed on ebay have the gold rim rubbed off but these are in very good condition and have their gold rim and gold mushrooms. They are from the 1970's. There are many beautiful Couroc trays listed on ebay but not so many glasses. The company made a number of designs including owls, roadrunners, tiki houses, and mushrooms.

I remember my mom having mushroom and strawberry decor around the house in the 70's. Everything in our house was gold and olive green. I am still not big on olive green because of that over-exposure. Or at least not large items in that color like couches. It was actually more of a pea green mixed with some yellow. But I do like mushrooms and strawberries.

I am going to keep the Boopie glasses but sell the other items to pay for the garage sale box.

I am using my Boopie glass this morning. The pitcher I also got at the same garage sale. We always break our glass pitchers and I am tired of using plastic ones. So I got a good deal on this 1960's vintage pitcher with gold trim and cool handle. Absolutely not chips or damage to the glass. I was so excited to find a vintage beauty - that my boys will break - probably soon. But that is what happens to glass, right?

I would rather get something pretty from the garage sale and enjoy using it than an expensive one that I have to worry about every time someone picks it up. There again this is the first time I have seen a pitcher that I liked from a garage sale that was a good price. Maybe I should be careful with it....

Once I figure out who made the other items in the box I will add pictures of them also...or maybe I could add pictures and you could tell me who made them. Off to the library to get books on vintage and antique crystal.

Recent artwork:

I Love You

My husband likes to say "I love you more than ...." and he says a new thing each day. Today he says "I love you more than coffee." And that means quite a bit coming from him. I tell him "I love you more than peanut butter." Love

It is good to marry your best friend.

Crazy Shoes

While taking my mom to the orthopedist, I see a man wearing odd looking shoes. I am going to ignore him and his odd shoes because he is obviously just wanting attention. Mom, of course, asks him about his strange shoes and starts a conversation. I am intrigued. He has the same foot problems as I have but has been "cured" by these shoes.

I write down the name, and yes, today I have a pair on my feet, too. They give me the feeling of walking on the floor, but my feet don't hurt like they usually do when I walk on the floor barefoot. There is some support on the sole and the flatness of the shoe allows a natural gait as opposed to an inch or more heel in walking shoes. I am kind of embarrassed to put up a photo.

Should I say the name? Fila Skele-Toes. If I don't keep them, it is because they are rubbing one toe - not sure why maybe a flaw in this one pair.

Lesson: Don't laugh at what other people have on their feet!

A Winsor and Newton Series 7 paint brush came in the mail today (#4). Excitement. Alas, the brush bristles divided when I painted with it. This is the best paint brush I have ever ordered. I am going back to my old brand. Hope the company will take it back.

Started this watercolor in pencil. Filling in with watercolor paints.

I will go back in and use black ink over the pencil lines. 9 inches wide, about 7 inches tall so far.

ACEO's made yesterday.

Esther (Elaine) Nelson Rodgers

 Fried Grits

I tell my husband I will not throw away the grits that are not eaten. My grandmother (photo above, born around 1898) would take the leftover grits and fry them later in the day to go with another meal. Crispy on the outside ...mushy on the inside, I'm sure it was tasty. Wouldn't you think they would have to be in their congealed state and not stirred up? Oh, and fry it in butter. Sprinkle bacon bits on top.

Yes, I too eat leftover grits. If you add enough stuff to them they get better and better. I always add onion powder and garlic powder now days. Trying not to add salt, so I add bacon bits instead, like that doesn't add any salt to it.

ACEO

I turned my 4 by 6 painting into 2 ACEOs

ACEOs are fun size little artworks (2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches) that people collect from different artist. Sometimes they are framed in groupings, collected like baseball cards or they can be used in scrapbooking projects. I have used many small art pieces in scrapbook pages. It adds a touch of color and interest.

On ebay there are all kinds of ACEOs. If you look for a little while you can see some fantastic artists selling their miniature paintings, maybe just to get their work out into the world, and they are originals, or at least some are. And some look just like large paintings, but are miniature. I saw one artist who recreates famous paintings, they sell for quite a bit, but are amazing. And they are tiny, tiny, tiny. Imagine a wallet size photo, about that size. I better not look at them too much or I will bid on some of them - I may already have, oops.

My cards on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251083456308?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 

Art and Life or 

The Puppy Project

My art projects end up all over the house. One box, prepared for painting (gesso, sand, gesso, sand), was in the family room waiting to be painted. Our pup thought it looked just right for sleeping, especially since someone had thrown a blanket and a pillow into it.

I think I am finished.

Beginning of a new 4 by 6 watercolor. First drawn with pen. No pencil.
It's a good thing my son hasn't gotten around to pulling up those little trees next to the house. I was able to use one as a model. Plants sit still longer than people to model.

I wanted to show the "Opera" pink color. I think it was a secret color for a while. It will give you amazing oranges and pinks and purples. Today I am using Holbein Opera, Grumbacher Ultramarine Blue, and MaimeriBlu Green, Verde. I have not found any brand better than another. I have not tried cheaper brands (cheaper than Cotman). Except little pan sets when my boys were kids and those were actually fun and made fine pictures.  Although if you stick with one brand for a while you will not buy colors that are almost the same in another brand. You buy the better brands for lightfastness, intensity of color, and quality pigments.

I did buy a little Winsor Cotman set of pan watercolors to have when I travel. They are fun.

If you are worried about what is best to do you can always just buy Winsor & Newton Artist watercolors. They have a fine paint and a good assortment of colors or should I say colours. There are many sights that will list the top watercolor brands to buy.

Most watercolor classes start you off with only 3 to 6 colors anyway, you don't have to buy very many.

Last week I found my little Lanaquarelle pad in the cabinet, lost and neglected from use. I love this hot press version for watercolor pencils because if I decide not to use water on it the pencil looks smooth and good as a drawing. Pencil drawings do not look good on other watercolor paper without washing them with water.

Orange Peel

If you want your kitchen to smell tasty and delightful, boil orange peels. Boil them with water 3 times and pour off the water after it cools off. Then the 4th time only add sugar. Slowly cook that until it look clearish and you will have candied orange peel. Cut it up, roll it in sugar. People really love this treat.

Makes your kitchen smell good all day and you get candy at the end.
Nancy

Scanners

My mom bought an Epson scanner so I could scan in the family photos. I researched and found that the one with digital ice was best for photos and slides. I ordered the V500 Photo about a year ago. Not all scanners can scan slides. This one does a great job with slides. You can even see images on slides that you thought were black or almost black.  So I am the first person to see these pictures, basically. I uploaded them to flicker.com for family to see.

I also use it for scanning in artwork, then I can tryout different colors with a drawing using Painter, that is Corel Painter. I think it is my favorite program. Or maybe Adobe illustrator is my favorite, just a favorite in a different way.

This is something I did for a screensaver in Adobe Illustrator. I learned Adobe Illustrator when it was first bought for the office I worked for by taking the instruction guide with me on vacation and reading it. When I got back to work I was able to play with it until I could work easily with it. I have a newer version now, so I am learning again.

If you want a copy of this purple owl, leave your email address in a comment and I will send the purple owl to you. Indicate if you want png or jpg.

Working on the front porch in good light. This is actually how I work. Just a handful of items, go sit in a good location, location, location, and draw. If I stay too close to the kitchen people start asking for food, and sometimes I forget to feed them when I start drawing - oops. 

I love my array of colored pencils, watercolor type. I overlap them to get interesting effects. Whether I apply water to them or not they are great to work with. I tried a number of different brands and this one (Faber-Castell) is my favorite. I bought their mega box of colors and trade out favorite colors into a smaller box that I can carry around with me.

I usually carry a box of these pencils with me to my mom's on a trip. 

Faber-Castell

http://www.fabercastell.com/art-and-graphic

I use their Pitt pens also. 

Finished last night. Watercolor on watercolor paper. Pen and ink. I remembered to sign this one.

Artwork from this week: The purple one I finished today. It reminds me of Perelandra, the world created by C. S. Lewis. If you having difficulty with visuals his book is filled with amazing imagery, vivid descriptions of all types. I think the sky was actually gold in the book but I usually add a little to what I read with my own ideas. The foreground is the warm water that the main character finds himself floating in when he first gets to Perelandra. There were high waves of the ocean and floating land masses - which were hard to latch on to.

One of my favorite books - Perelandra. Wish I could make a connection to goodreads.com. It is a great place to find books and a good way to keep up with what you have read and want to read.

That painting above is starting to look different to me. The colored area is starting to take on shapes that I didn't know were there. As watercolor dries it actually changes and developes unintended effects. Most people enjoy these little surprises, I do.

Many times I gravitate towards this smaller paper size for working with pen and ink. About 4 by 6 inches. Is it ok to write with sentence fragments in a blog? And not punctuate correctly? Don't know.   My son told me I could pay him to proof-read my blog for me....I told him I could pay him with milkshakes. He didn't proof-read anything yet.