Oh Dem Bones, Them Jumpin' Bones!

Did you know that this fun Halloween-time childrens' song is actually an old traditional spiritual song, written by African-American author and songwriter James Weldon Johnson? Well hells bells, neither did I!  And even more interesting, the lyrics are based out of a chapter in the Bible; Ezekiel 37:1-14, where the prophet visits the Valley of the Dry Bones and prophesises that they will come alive by God's command. Wellllllll doggies, I just had no idea! And that concludes our bible study for today........

"....the toe bones connected to the foot bone, the foot bones connected to the ankle bone...." makes me giddy for Halloween!

So on to my Skelly paintings... I created these spooky little characters on 4x5 stretched artist canvas, painted in acrylics and embellished with German Glass glitter, rubber stamping and other ephemera. The details were done with pen and ink which adds that special finishing touch. 

See them on my Etsy store!

Painting a little bit of Winter

These are my latest little creations. I say little because these are petite canvases of 4 x 5. They are done in acrylics, then embellished with decorative papers and distressed letters. I was so charmed by them when they were finished, I didn't want to sell them!

I'm working on a few more right now. I know, it's close to Christmas and I'm a bit behind in my seasonal creations, but I can't create by the season. I have to feel it, or it doesn't happen. I could paint snowmen all year long, even in Summer. Right now, I'm feeling a bit candy cane-ish, so we'll see what I might come up with! Ho Ho Ho!

Come to the Halloween Carnival!

Welcome to the Halloween Carnival!
UPDATE: This piece has been sold. Didn't make it to Etsy before someone snatched it up! Thank you!
Here is my long awaited canvas I've been working on for several months now. I had no idea when starting it, that it would take so long to complete but I'm glad I endured the process. I found I could only paint one section at a time while I had the "picture" in my head. As I got visions in my minds-eye, then I'd move on to the next section. There are 6 sections; each one depicting something Halloween-ish.

It's also a bit of a different type of painting that I've ever done too, as I incorporated elements of altered art (which I really enjoyed!), and different textures of papers, glitter, and painting techniques.

I've titled this piece "Halloween Carnival", as it reminds me of when I was a kid, the local park would put on a Halloween Carnival. Everywhere you'd look, there was something different and festive happening; costume parades, games, a haunted spook house, and either a play or puppet show. The air would be scented with the sweet smells of candy apples and cotton candy. Candy wrappers would be strewn on the ground serving as paths to the next booth.



I remember being so excited at all the Halloween festivities going on around me, overwhelmed at where to go first, meeting up with other neighborhood kids, trick or treat bags spilling as we'd make our way through the crowds ridding ourselves of our adult chaperones hurrying to catch up with us. Seems like just yesterday.....Hope you like it!