February’s Art Projects

Blog 8

As this is already the last February blog, I wanted to update you on my creative activities of the month. Since I stopped blogging weekly about my Creativity Challenge, I did not manage to keep my regular creative times going, even though I looked for opportunities to draw and to doodle when I did not have time to paint.

When I go into my studio to paint, I usually spend a couple of hours painting as I only take out my paints and brushes when I have time to paint for at least an hour and a half. Even though everything is set up in my studio, I have to change clothes and clean up at the end of a painting session. Therefore, I usually tend to draw or felt if I know that I have only a shorter time span available. Usually, I like to paint for about 90 to 120 minutes at a time before taking a little break. However, when I am very close to finishing an artwork, I am so focused that I sometimes spend hours painting without even noticing the time. This month, I was determined and finally managed to finish my double dog portrait of Alex & Candy that I had started in 2013.

Aside from this big project, I created some sketches during the recent Ottawa Little Theatre play “Of Mice and Men”, during lunch at Mandarin Restaurant, and of my husband through the rearview mirror while sitting in the backseat of our car.

I also created a heart-filled painting during the February painting party.










For my several art classes, I drew Mr. Incredible Bob Parr, Jack-Jack and Elastigirl from “The Incredibles” as well as Mario, the main character of a couple of video games. In class, I also showed my students how to draw Pikachu and Froakie, as well as Calvin and Hobbes.

To demonstrate the use of oil pastels, I drew the head of Olaf from "Frozen".

I also created a mixed media artwork of an underwater world with acrylic paints, glue, newspaper and tissue paper, wool, pipe cleaners, and foam shapes which was a lot of fun, not only for me but also for the students. While I created the painting at home to see if the materials would work in my mixed media piece, I did not show the artwork to the children but let them figure out for themselves what worked and how to arrange the pieces on their poster board.

For my upcoming Art Cafe: Say it with Flowers on Sunday, March 17, I created a doodle of a water lily. The Art Cafe is an afternoon of socializing and playful art. If you would like some more information and to register, please go to my website www.KerstinPeters.ca.

How are your art and craft projects coming along? Have you put them aside again because life got busy? I would love to hear about your progress, to celebrate your successes, and to help you to get back on your creative path. You can either leave a comment or contact me directly at info@KerstinPeters.ca.