*Fall'n behind...but with a Give Away!!*

Here I am!! Oh my goodness how fast the time flies!! I finally broke through the 'art freeze' number my brain was in!! For some reason, I was soo excited about the ideas of painting Autumn themed art but I couldn't get anything out!! That's part of the reason I hadn't posted any artwork plus I still have to take care of cleaning my house, cooking dinners and spending time with my husband and family and of course my puppy angela too!
*****
In fact, I was planning to paint all Saturday since my husband Artie had to work that night...but when my adorable Goddaughter/neice Lexi wanted to stay the night...I couldn't say no! So instead of drawing and painting (which I need to do completely undistracted!), there was no other choice but to play payday while watching 'Speed Racer' and then since I promised to do a project with her...which she chose to paint (who knew?)...here she is into her own little artwork:

So I just wanted to post this to let you know that I am a bit behind with what I was planning to do. :) But I promise I have alot more artwork on the way...I have only begun to paint!! lol! It's crazy cause I have like literally hundreds of ideas for paintings I want to do...I literally have dreams and wake up and go "oh, that would be cool!" - lol! But I am sooo excited with a few drawings of Autumny Angels I drew last night and I can't wait to paint them!! Here's a peek at them:
I've got so many ideas for Autumn alone so I'm going to focus on painting a few before actually 'revealing' them. Here's a peek at one piece I'm working on:

*****

*Also in the continuation with my 'Latina Flair' series, I've decided to use the women of my own family for inspiration starting with my beloved Grandma Prudy...she was one of the most beautiful women on this earth. I kid you not when I was a little girl I thought her name was Grandma Pretty! lol!

*I drew my version of one of my favorite vintage photos of her. I drew this on Sunday as I was waiting for the 'art freeze' on fall art break through! lol! Again I was surprised of how well it came out. This is literally my first attempt at portraiture work. I'm planning on painting this for a Christmas gift for my grandpa. Here's a peek of that:

*I'm also gonna be working on one of my favorite pics of my mom in her 'Disco Beauty Queen' days, and one of my favorite pics of my sis and I together. I'm not saying this conceitedly, so please don't take it that way, but there is alot of beauty in my family...not just on the outside but also the inside. The women in my family are so beautiful that we all at one time in our youth could've "done something with it" according to the world's standards but instead I am sooo proud of what I've seen all of us do with our beauty....

*We kept it inside...by sacrificing our own selves...my grandma Prudy was the greatest example of that...she gave of herself in her cooking and creating wonderful times for us to share and passed that torch down to my mom and then my mom to both my sister and I. My sister is more like my mom and grandma but mainly because she was blessed with children and I'm like that but in a different more 'spiritual' and artistic way. Well, I didn't mean to go into a 'family' biography of beauty! lol! That's just what I hope to capture with my work.

*****

Well, I know that this is like the longest blog post I've ever rambled on in!! lol! So I do have a little something to give away!! Especially if you've taken the time to read this whole blog entry! I just couldn't post without a little give away! This is a fun piece for fall...of course a pumpkin! Please excuse the picture but I was in a hurry to get this all posted! It is an actual painting but on canvas paper, it has a little collage going on in the pumpkin and has a little bling! It includes the scripture: The Lord Bless & keep you. -Numbers 6:24

Just post a short but sweet comment...letting me know how the Lord has blessed you! I will let my Artie do the honors of picking a number! The winner will be chosen this Friday, when I hope to have all my 'Autumn Art' ready to post and present to you! and with that...May the Lord Bless and keep you! :) Gina

Reflection #2 - The Moments that Matter

It's been an amazing year of growth for me on so many levels...but mainly in my self discovery. For decades I've wasted time in looking behind me instead of looking forward. It is something that I have regretted but at the same time, I'm making sure to learn from it so that I won't be wasting not even another day, hour, minute, or even a second of my life wallowing in things that we cannot change.

I can't say that the past doesn't come back to haunt my mind ever, but when it does I'm able to charge through it...almost like grabbing it and putting it in it's place. I've learned to stop focusing on those negative experiences so much and to start allowing myself to enjoy the simple and joyful experiences of what's happening in my life NOW!

I've also realized that in focusing on the negative, we can't truly enjoy the wonderful memories of our past with our loved ones. The hugs, the warmth, the laughter, the moments that are like treasures in our hearts. Those are the things that I'm sooo appreciating now...those are the moments that matter...those are what I want to remain in my mind as I look back. Those are the BLESSINGS from God...and they are really what matters!

Fall Intentions...

Hello there! I really intended to post yesterday with some really cool fall themed artwork and offer a give away of a print of one of them...and I still do...but it won't be until Monday...so if you could please bear with me!! I completely forgot that I was going to be watching my baby niece Zoey on Friday and so on Thursday when I remembered, I noticed that my house had fell into the hands of 'Cre8v Chaos'!! This usually happens when I get in the 'Cre8v Zone' ~ I paint and create in a frenzy and when I'm done and see the 'Cre8v Chaos' I realize it's time to get the household back in order!!

So on Thursday I got into a cleaning mood and even cleaned up my dusty front porch and put out my favorite fall decorations! Starting with this adorable Autumn Angel that I painted years ago when I was into tole painting! She's the perfect welcome on our front door for autumn!

And on the left side of the door I gotta put out my little scarecrow and since this plant doesn't flower I add some faux fall flowers!

and can't forget to decorate our home's centerpiece with the autumny look!

Then yesterday I had the pleasure of watching my adorable and oh so cute baby niece Zoey!

So I apoligize for fall'n short on what I had intended on doing yesterday! ;) Please do come back Monday...it will be an Autumnal Celebration!!! :)

*Margarita* + {Mexicana Girl} = 'Latina Flair'

For my Mom & Dad! Thank you for asking me to do this for you!

Well I am really loving 'Margarita', she's my Mexicana Girl from my Latina Flair Face Series! I really had a lot of satisfaction upon completion of this piece. I loved creating the background and then found it hard to even paint on top of it...lol! Then I painted in the hair and skin and blouse but hesitated on the face for a bit until I felt more confident. Upon completing 'Valentina' I recieved the confidence to move forward on 'Margarita' as if directly from 'Valentina' herself! ;)

Since this was painted on a 16"x20" canvas I really felt like I was putting on make up on her face! That was the funnest part! I used to be really into make up and even took cosmo classes to be a make up artist so that part came in really handy for the shading, highlights and placement of the 'blush'! lol! I decided that the black outlining was not necessary to make her stand out for this piece as the shading and highlights and deep brown tones on the hair did that for me!

The quote I used was one that my mom chose...she's a singer so this is really appropriate for her! The only mistake I made was that my mom gave me that quote to use on a different project that she wants me to do for her and I misunderstood and thought she wanted me to change what she had originally wanted me to put on it, which was supposed to say 'Latina Flair'! Ughh!! Good thing it was my mom!! She really liked it with the quote on her painting anyways so it worked out...but I gotta make sure next time!!

I think I'm gonna have to paint another one now and put 'Latina Flair' on it but I'll try some different colors for the background! It's amazing how fast I am picking up on my faces without taking any formal classes. The first time I painted 'Margarita' I was thrilled with it but this one really topped it. The detailing I put into the eyes was about an hour long's worth of work!

***Special Thanks***

I want to take the time again to thank Paulette Insall for sharing her talent on her videos on youtube. She offers classes and if I had the money I would've definately taken them! Her videos alone have been sooo helpful and the only reason I was finally able to get my eyes painted more confidently! Thank you Paullette!!!

*******Coming Soon*******

Pumpkins and Angels and Sunflowers...oh my!!!

I loooove the Autumn/Fall season and I loooove drawing and painting sunflowers and pumpkins so of course I gotta do an Autumn Angel canvas!! Please come back on friday to see some samples aaaaannnd I will be having a 'give away'!! Can't wait to show you!!

*****************

I'm especially happy because that makes it easier for me to actually go outside again now that Fall is here!! I hope you all will have a wonderfully blessed Autumn too!! Cre8tvlyYrs, Gina :)

When love blooms...

you can be sure to find 'Valentina' The Guardian Angel of Love. I am sooo happy with how she came out!

I was thinking of adding a quote about love or at least the word love on this but my husband thinks it would take away from what the painting is saying...as he put it..."it already has love written all over it!" Isn't he cute? I love my man...he's the best!! I was blessed with such a wonderful husband who is understanding of all my 'issues' and of course too, my love for art...of course he knows he's the #1 Art that I love!!

My Artie (as I call him) is so much the reason that I have even been able to open up myself in my artwork and paintings. He believes in me and my God given talent. Really what I create with is all from God as I have only taken a few art classes here and there throughout my 40 years but never really got to 'study' like I would have loved to!
My dream was always to be in an art academy...you know like in 'Fame'? I loved that show back in the 80's and I'd dream of being able to go to a school to just express myself with my art in all forms...singing & dancing in musicals or in operas, painting, drawing, writing poems, songs and stories, sculpting, playing the piano and chello...those were all the things I'd always dreamed of doing. At least I am doing some of my dreams! That's part of the reason I named my first 'Latin Flair' painting 'Dreamer'! If only I had the courage to pursue my dreams when I was younger...but I hate to think that it's too late so I keep hoping to reach all my dreams some day still!

*******

Well, enough of the rambling...lol! I actually had been working on 'Valentina' on canvas for a while and then was afraid to paint he face in...but then when I began to paint 'Margarita' for my parents piece I realized that I wanted to make sure and get the eyes and skin tone more polished...so that was the push I need to get 'Valentina' finished. I was able to get the look with that painting to now get this one complete...so here I am so far:

I actually am gonna finish up the details tonight and on this painting I will handmake the flower and decoupage it on the finished painting. I'll also be adding the word 'sing' and a beautiful quote about singing. My mom is a singer so this is gonna be perfect for her!

----The Creative Business Update----

*'Valentina' the main painting as painted on the canvas as well as the 'Sing' Latina Flair piece will be available as a print only in the etsy store soon!

**I will also be working on some fall themed angels and artwork this week to go into my etsy store as well as on ebay! the original paintings will be selling on e-bay starting bids will be $10 - $15 and the prints will be available on etsy from $5 to $10 each.

***Be sure to stop by this coming week and tell your friends as I will be presenting a special give away piece this coming week as well as 1 print!

****Keep in mind****
I also do custom artwork commissions which start at $20 and up depending on the size and complexity of the subject matter so contact me at cre8tvlyyrs@msn.com for more information or inquiries. Please contact me soon if you'd like them done before Christmas! I need at least 2-3 weeks depending on the subject matter, so please keep that in mind too!

*****Have a blessed weekend everyone!*****

Working on a special project...

I am so excited to be working on this special project...it just so happens that my 'mexicana' face is pretty well liked in my family! So much so that my parents asked me if I could create one just for them! At first I thought my mom wanted a print but she actually wants me to create her an original. So I am working on a 16"x20" canvas and soo excited to do this for them! Here's where I'm at so far:

The background is a bit more warmer and less blue tones than the last painting. I also added splatters of gold here and there and my dad specified that he wanted that 'brownish edged' look, so I did a brown wash on the edges for an aged/inked look. Some of the papers I decoupaged with are actually papers that I designed digitally...in fact the leopard, and red music papers were from a kit I created for my mom. I'm going to add a little more bling to this also. I can't wait to see this when it's complete! I know it'll look even better than my first painting which was an experimental/sample piece to begin with! Here's the art sample piece:

Right when my mom seen the sample art she called this style of face 'Latina Flair' and I have decided to officially name her "Margarita". Especially after a bit of discussion with my family when we last got together for a bar b-que and everyone kept mentioning that I should paint on wine glasses and stuff...I thought she'd be perfect to paint on margarita glasses! Definately a fun Christmas gift project! (I hope my family won't see that part of the post! lol!) They also want me to look into getting 'Margarita' on purses somehow! So who knows...it could happen some day! ;)

I've also been working on other whimsy stuff...got a new more whimsier looking angel that I'm working on...she's still in the experimental stage so I'll post the 'finished' projects. I'm also working on 'Valentina' on a totally pink acrylic painted 16"x20" canvas. I'm also painting another 8"x8" one, which I will be selling as an original.

**********************************************

Well I better get going now...gotta put on a pot of beans to cook to go with the beef roast I got in the slow cooker! I'm trying to learn to cook meals that I can use the leftovers for the next day...so this beef roast, beans and mashed potatoes dinner tonight will be *Red Beef Enchiladas with beans and rice* dinner tomorrow! I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! Cre8tvlyYrs in Christ, Gina

A peek into my little art world...

Hello there! Just thought I'd share a peek into my art room and what I've been up to in there! I have been wanting to finish up adding little fun touches to my Art room and so I was so thrilled with the outcome of my little gallery wall...

Here's the finished part of my gallery wall but before it wasn't so cute & whimsyness! As you can see below...I had some 'creative clutter' creeping in there that arose from the 'creative frenzy' I was in that I had to take care of...especially since I can't work well when things get too messy. I like to see my art supplies too much...lol!

I was most 'happy' with the way these soo cute and whimsy shelves I 'altered' came out! My niece Selena has already hinted to me which one she would love me to make her. I will post more of these pictures in my flickr gallery later so that this post won't be too long...lol!

There is much more work I'd like to do to decorate my little art room but we need to focus on taking care of our other 'household' responsibilities first. When the time is right the wall color will no longer be off white and the flooring will be different, that's for sure! In the mean time I've added little 'pops' of color with my artwork, arts & crafts supplies and other handmade items!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my mini tour of my little art room! I will be blogging some more art work that I'm hoping to finish up soon in the next couple of days! God bless and b cre8v! :) Gina

9/11 Rememberance...

I've been a very busy bee since I last blogged! Before I post a bit of what I've been up to, I'd like to first pay respect to what today really is...as I know that many of us were forever changed from that tragic event of 9/11. I'll never forget how much it impacted me spiritually as well. I have my flag up in rememberance to the day that heaven received so many beloved souls at once.

Announcing...

I'm so excited to announce that I finally got my etsy store set up with some art prints! I included some older artwork as well as my newest art! I have so much that I will need to add them sets at a time. I will also be offering some original work and other altered artsy stuff in the near future. ;)

*******Special Announcement*******
Are you looking for a special gift for Christmas or Birthdays?
I also can take requests for artwork subjects and I'm open for any commissioned artwork as well. If you see some of my work and would like me to create a personalized version of it, like the background color to match your decor and special words or a name, that is no problem at all! Please contact me at: Cre8tvlyYrs@msn.com for your inquiries.
*********************************

Since I already wrote a long 'reflective' post yesterday, (lol!) I thought I'd end this announcement with one of "My Favorite Quote of the Day" (MFQotD):

"Where the Spirit does not work with the hand, there is no Art." - Leonardo DaVinci

Reflection #1 - Through a Field of Flowers and Butterflies

Being the sensitive spiritual artist that I am, I often create whatever comes to my mind and then other times where the spirit leads me. Sometimes, I feel led to just write...really deep and insightful things that I normally put in my art journals or in my prayer/reflection/bible study journal. I feel as though there is so much I'd love to express in my art and writings but feel like I am holding myself back.

It's actually something that I've noticed I have done all my life...always afraid to take that leap of faith into the unknown. Yet, I know that I trust the Lord...I know he loves me and will take care of me. I am now daring to venture into that realm of the unknown...and honestly it scares me to tears. But I know that I have to and that I can because my Lord is with me.

Sometimes, however, with all my intentions to just let go...I keep holding on...like in holding on to a kite. My Lord is telling me to let him take my dreams to new heights...as he puts wings on our dreams...I say ok, let go, but wait...here I am holding on to that single thread like the string on a kite...afraid that I'll lose sight.

It is that constant struggle...but I am determined to keep trying...until I finally do let go. I am thrilled of where my Lord is planning to take me...and a little afraid at the same time. Like that moment when your sitting in the seat of a brand new rollercoaster ride. You see the world all around you and the dips and highs...waiting in anticipation for the ride to begin it's "take off"!

That's exactly where I'm at right now in my life...seriously to the point that I feel the fluttering in my belly and slight headache of being overwhelmed by it all!! Oh Lord, please never leave my side as I step forward, only because I know you are there holding my hand...and help me to be brave when you are asking me to step forward on my own...like when a father is teaching his daughter to walk...so that one day she may be able to run through a field of flowers and butterflies!

The Dreamer Within Me...

"The Dreamer Within Me" - August 2009

*******

Well I've been crazy busy over here trying to finish up some artwork as well as keep up with so many ideas for new artwork coming to my mind. I am still trying to set up a slideshow and gallery but have to watermark the pics first. As for my recent works...lately I've been so inspired and encouraged to try painting Angels and faces. At first, when I began to draw & paint again I was doing a lot of whimsy flowers and my favorite flying hearts. Then about a year ago I felt like drawing Angels & faces but kept putting it off mainly because I usually struggle with the face proportions.

I recieved my first confirmation in March of this year to pursue my "Angelic Art" when I felt this urge to draw and all of a sudden within 10-15 minutes, I had drawn 2 completely different angels! I really feel that these were divinely inspired because of how quickly and flawless they came out. It also seems like ever since I've drawn those angels that it has been easier for me to draw faces. So far I have began working with one of those images, titled "Valentina ~ Guardian Angel of Love". I have created a couple of looks of this image that I painted on Canvas papers, here is the first one...

*******

*In this look she's got the dramatic auburn hair and soft pink dress. Created with acrylics and then outlined in black ink on a 8" x 8" canvas paper.

*******

*I decided to try out a new look for her with pink hair! (I just couldn't resist!) Created with acrylics and outlined in black ink on an 8" x 10" canvas paper.

*Prints of these will be available on etsy soon!

*******

Before I go any further, I feel that I have to give props here to the people who have been a great inspiration to me...although there is many I've come across through the years, these ladies have helped to propel the dreamer in me...Paulette Insall and Kelly Rae, just to name a few! When I first came across their sites about a year ago, I knew I wanted to go in that direction but didn't feel ready...as far as having to do with my self-esteem. But ever since I turned "Fabulously forty" I feel like my self-esteem blasted off! Anyways, I just wanted to take the time to thank them for sharing their talent and insight with me and others!

I especially want to thank Paulette for being so genuine and sweet! I had sent her a message with a link to my first painted face that she had inspired me to create and she totally made my day by even posting a comment about it! Seriously, that really was another confirmation for me that I am headed in the right direction!

*Here's a look at that piece that's titled:

"The Dreamer Within Me"

*Original drawing of my "Mexicana" face.*

*This is the background after some awesome inspiration from Paulette Insall's video on her site!

*Here's the completed piece of Artwork!*

There are so many dreams that I have dreamed...things that have come to pass and things that are to come. The dreamer within me will never stop...it is what brings me inspiration and the courage to keep moving forward. It is what brings me hope to continue in this journey of life.