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new year

Bring It On!!

Watercolor in Handbook Watercolor Journal 3.5 x 8.5 inches “And let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been before.” — Rainer Maria Rilke Doesn't that sound like marvelous fun?! It does to me! I am more than ready to welcome the new year, but I have also taken the time to say goodbye to 2010...... .....I've reflected on...

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15 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 31, 2010 by

The Power of A Word

Have you heard about word-of-the-year idea? Simply put, the idea is to choose a word to guide you through the upcoming year. A lot of folks have adopted this practice over setting resolutions. I find it works well in tandem. The word you choose becomes a touchstone that remains with you throughout the year. (Check out Christine Kane's post for more info.) Two...

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20 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 30, 2010 by
artistic growth

Glancing Back, Gazing Forward

I've been working on my end-of-year review and before I started it, I was a bit....disappointed in the year. I had expected fireworks, fanfare, parades, and all manner of festivities. After all, the last half of 2009 had been filled with all of that and more. I'm not sure what made me think it would be more of the same, but I did....

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13 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 29, 2010 by
artistic growth

What Are Your Artistic Goals for 2011?

It's that time of year, again...we're gonna get off the couch, lose weight, get organized, see our kids/parents/family/friends more, clean out the garage/basement/bedroom, go to church more, go to the park more, work less, work harder, play more, play harder, enjoy nature more and on and on and on. If you're like me, you sit down at this time of year and come...

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10 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 28, 2010 by
Inspiration

All Dress Up And No Where To Go?

Santa Chickadee in Grey Ink Scrap Paper Sketchbook Parties, festivities, out and about shopping, cooking, baking, wrapping, celebrating, family and friends dropping by.....and then, done. Over. The week between Christmas and New Year's has always seemed a bit like suspended time to me.  Like we're collectively holding our breath, waiting for something to happen. Like for the new year to begin. This morning, I felt...

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9 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 27, 2010 by
Christmas

May Your Stockings Overflow!

Watercolor and Ink 3 x 8 inches Scrap paper As Christmas relentlessly marches towards us, the cleaning/decorating fury is at full throttle here at the Ferlita household. With this type of manic activity, there are always a few hysterical, umm, hilarious moments that have the potential to become long-lasting memories. Or blackmail material. Either works. The stocking sketch was inspired by some of the recent...

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19 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 23, 2010 by
Christmas

Make A Joyful....Mark!!!

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Remember the fun we had in kindergarten and elementary school learning to make marks on the page (or wall)?! Every piece was a masterpiece. We became quite indignant when someone did not recognize that blob of green and blue as a bear! Somewhere along the journey, we tend to lose that joy...we adopt an attitude that every piece most "count," most be good...

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10 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 20, 2010 by
Kate's book

New Blog to Check Out!!!

I am absolutely thrilled to be telling you about a new book, Artist's Journal Workshop: Creating Your Life in Words and Pictures by Cathy (Kate) Johnson. Most of us know her as the (Quicksilver Workaholic and she is!!) Kate's been journaling a long time and realized the importance it has played in her life as an artist and writer. She put together a class...

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11 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 18, 2010 by
artwork

Boomer's Buddy

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Here is the second in the Boomer Series. This is Seth, Boomer's best buddy and he's let love get the best of him... "The Price of Love" © Laure Ferlita 4.5" x 6" (11.42 cm x 15.24 cm) Watercolor and gouache on paper "Seth sat shivering, despite the bright warm starlight. Try as he might, he could not figure out how he came...

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13 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 14, 2010 by
Animals

Christmas Magic

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The attic door swung wide and free, And box by box, we began to see, Some lights, some tinsel, maybe even a tree! Christmas was finally here, weaving its magic all through the house! Everywhere you looked, creatures were stirring, and not one, a mouse! _________________ We spotted a huge tree free-grazing in the back 40 of the attic—it was so majestic! The Tree Wrangler lassoed the...

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11 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 13, 2010 by
Chris

Boomer's Friends and...Others

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In the prior post, we see a disturbing side of Boomer as he makes the squirrel go "boom!," but that may be explained by the images below. Bob the Squirrel was quite the jokester and Boomer was....well, Boomer just too easy to pick on! © Chris Ferlita Boomer tried to ignore Bob, but the squirrel was relentless....and so the games began.... © Chris...

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10 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 10, 2010 by
Chris

"Booming" With Possibilities

13 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 09, 2010 by
Chris

More From Our "Guest" Artist!

11 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 08, 2010 by
daniel smith

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Christmas shopping just got a little easier! Please click the Daniel Smith logo in the right sidebar to enter the web site. When you're done selecting those fabulous new art supplies, check out and enter the code WRAPPING as the promotional code on the address information screen to receive free shipping! Now wasn't that easy?!!! Ho-Ho-Happy shopping! ...

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No Creative Thought(s)
Dec 07, 2010 by
family

Slow Down, Already!!

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The insanity of the holidays is already upon the Ferlita household! A couple of years ago, we did a yard sale in December...because of a myriad of crazy happenings, life snowballed and I was putting ornaments on my tree on Christmas Eve—with a party started that evening at 7! It was NUTS! Last year, we decided to overhaul both studios...in December....sheer nuttiness, but...

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13 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 06, 2010 by
for sale

Boomer Finds A Ball...

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....a bright, shiny, Christmas ball! Boomer and the Ball 4.5" x 6" (11.43 cm x 15.24 cm) Watercolor, gouache and acrylic ink      Boomer stood looking at the shiny bauble with a quizzical look on his face. He was glad no one was around to see what he had found. What was it, he wondered. He'd pecked at it to see if it...

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20 Creative Thought(s)
Dec 01, 2010 by
greeting card

Making a Holiday Card

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Jacqueline of Art in My Heart asked how I created the snow effect in the new blog header. Here are my steps: 1. As this piece of art was created for the purpose of using it as a greeting card and I may change the greeting on the front, I opted to use Photoshop® to create the greeting rather than paint it in...

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18 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 29, 2010 by
painting

Festive Changes!

Time to spruce up the blog for the festive, holiday season! And who better to help than a few of my feathered friends?! Oh, and now it's snowing! I hope your holiday season is off to a fabulous start. We had a wonderful 4 day weekend with family, food and lots of fun! We're getting ready to pull our decorations down from the...

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18 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 28, 2010 by
funny

Too Much Information (TMI)

Be warned! This may be far more information than you ever wanted to know about me.... ________________________________________ I am not a housekeeper. Never have been, and I dare say, never will be. Despite a strong desire for a sparkling, pristine, clean house, I have little to no enthusiasm for housecleaning. I have far better things to do and can ignore housework like nobody's...

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21 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 24, 2010 by
nola

A Near Miss

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NOLA Sketchbook Watercolor on 140 lb. Arches CP 3.5 x 8.5 Inches Click to enlarge Though this says Garden District on it, in truth, Kathy and I spent very little time in the "proper" Garden District. It is amazingly easy to get turned around in NOLA. After comparing notes, we realized that we had passed through the Garden District but did not actually...

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15 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 23, 2010 by
journaling

Here's Your Sign...

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...sometimes, I get overwhelmed and disoriented as I blaze a trail for this new life of mine. It seems the Universe knows and understands this about me. Quite often I receive directional clues. They come in a variety of forms, including fortune cookie fortunes, quotes from friends and on occasion, an actual sign. They help me get back on track, find my way...

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21 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 22, 2010 by
nola

Another View of New Orleans

There was So Much More to New Orleans than either I or Kathy were expecting to see/find. If you're interested in reading about Kathy's take on New Orleans, hop over to Catching Happiness, where she talks about our recent trip! There was So Much More to New Orleans than either I or Kathy were expecting to see/find. If you're interested in reading about...

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No Creative Thought(s)
Nov 20, 2010 by
imaginary trip

I Thought I Knew....

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Sketchbook from New Orleans Trip Watercolor and Ink 8.5 x 3.5 inches I thought I "knew" New Orleans. After all, we've all heard stories of drunken stupidity on Bourbon Street, right? And Mardi Gras is just another excuse for more drunken stupidity, right? I couldn't have been more wrong! Kathy, of Catching Happiness, and I have just returned from the Crescent City and...

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16 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 18, 2010 by
art tips

Modifying A Palette

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In my post about being a palette junkie, I mentioned that I modified my palettes and a number of folks inquired as to how I did that. As I started to write the post about modifying palettes, I came across a piece of info about the glue I use that gave me pause. I wrote to the company to get clarification. I'm going...

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8 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 17, 2010 by
creativity

Mixed Media, Mixed Results

Watercolor on Tissue paper with Ink Handbook Watercolor Journal 3.5" x 8.5" I recently saw an article on using spray adhesive to attach a piece of tissue paper to the page, over a sketched subject, where you then watercolored on top of the tissue paper. In the example I saw, the color diffused and the wrinkles in the paper added texture to the...

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12 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 10, 2010 by
from life

Things I Love About Autumn

Watercolor Handbook Watercolor Journal 8.5" x 3.5" I love the Autumn season for the gifts it brings in the way of "fallen" treasures (leaves), glorious color and the cooler temperatures. I also love the way soup tastes once the weather cools off. My mom is the champion soup maker of all time (in my book)!! One of my very favorite things is herbal...

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17 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 09, 2010 by
from life

Time For A Fire!!

Watercolor in Handbook Watercolor Journal 8.5" x 3.5" And cool enough to enjoy it as well! This is our copper fire bowl that we use when the weather cooperates with cool temps and there's not a lot of wind. I sketched and painted this with the help of my 3 canine friends, one of which managed to get a good amount of pigment...

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12 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 08, 2010 by
ink

Fabulous Fall...is Here!!

Ink and Watercolor in Handbook Watercolor Journal 3.5 x 8.5 inches We've had rain (yay!!!! much needed!) for the last few days. Today, we awoke to gloriously blue skies, much cooler temperatures and wind! The leaves are coming down fast and furious. Don't think we're going to have much color this year. The piece above was done in about 30 minutes, start to...

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16 Creative Thought(s)
Nov 05, 2010 by

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