Hand Paintings, Jams, and New Products, Oh My!

I haven't posted in a little while as I've been running around crazy since the Jamvention, so today is my "playing catch-up" post! I really want to give the Jamvention the recap it deserves in it's own post when I get a chance, so for now I'm going to just share a few things I've done since I got back! (Though those of you who subscribe to our free e-newsletter will get a mini recap of the Jamvention in this month's issue, going out soon!)

I saw a piece of graffiti/art spray painted on the side of a building in Amsterdam that gave me an idea. Of course I'm kicking myself for not snapping a photo of it as I did SO, SO many things in Amsterdam, but it was a graphic of a hand holding up a peace sign, and the two fingers held up were pencils. It made me think of the art supply illusion hand I had just done recently, but for whatever reason made me think of trying it with crochet hooks instead...

 Yeah, my brain works weird like that.  Anyway, I jotted the idea into my phone and went on my way. I had to give it a try as soon as I got home! Here's how it turned out!

I wanted to film this but sadly my GoPro's battery was dead.  And we artists know, you can't just stop and wait for a battery to charge when inspiration strikes.  Sorry, I'll try to keep it charged and ready so I don't miss any more future time lapse paintings! ;-)

My hand was pretty cramped trying to hold poses for photos after this, ha! But I think it came out pretty cool! And yes, I do love to crochet, by the way. I find that my best paintings are usually those that have something to do with my other passions....like my recent piano mask and honey bee designs that I entered in Illusion's contests.

After doing the art supplies and crochet hooks, it made me think of my hand as some sort of pocket knife, so naturally I had to give that idea a try...

Fun stuff!!  Earlier this week I hosted a paint jam.  It felt like forever since our fun belly jam in September, but I just couldn't swing it to host one in October this year with all I had going on.  It helped those of us Midwest artists who sadly couldn't make it to the convention this week feel better, haha! We had a small group of 4 artists but had plenty of space to sprawl out with our kits!! Small jams never disappoint though...we had plenty of chatting, sharing, and AMAZING food to sample as always!

It also gave me a chance to paint something for my November e-newsletter...pinecones!

 Of course, we love it when the kids join in to! My boys were so bummed that this jam was during school so they couldn't join in, but they love to join the fun with their own little kits when I host evening jams!

Loved the adorable gingerbread man done here by Victoria Welch, and the super cute cupcake and snowman design by Anita Beal! I did a little practice on myself and my PainterTemplates.

I have a few new items coming into the shop this month, including the "Next in Line" mats I shared in my last post.  More will be added later this week, but right now we also have these cute little petal sponges, just $4 for a set of 8, great for tiny faces:

Thanks so much for stopping by and stay tuned for more on the Jamvention!!