I've just made a short video on using an ink converter in the Sheaffer No-Nonsense and Viewpoint pens.

Sheaffer No-Nonsense and Viewpoint Pens and Ink Converter 

A new addition to my Saint Michael studio - currently overseeing my beadwork.

ACEO-size artwork is a wonderful size to work in.  Always 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, the uniform size can be used to depict either simple designs or complicated drawings.  A very portable size to work in as well.  I have completed oil paintings, watercolors, gouache paintings, and of course pen and ink drawings in this miniature format.

ACEO "A Simple Cherry" Prismacolor colored

In August of 2015, I lost my father.  Since then I have been focused on making Quilts For Veterans in my father's honor.  Until the terror attacks in France.  Even though we still honor our veterans, terror attacks leave no veterans, only victims.  We all need the Protection of Saint Michael. I will be again drawing my icon-style images of Saint Michael.

the art of being an artist is very emotional.  When I was hit by lightning, my emotions became "level" in some ways.  Two days ago I felt that after 6 years, my color perception had returned.  Yesterday my father had a medical emergency and is in ICU as I write this.  His prognosis at this time does not look good, and all the thoughts running around me are of my childhood and Dad.

It's funny how things happen.  I have trouble verbalizing emotions because I am a visual person.  And my acute sense of color, of hearing color instead of seeing it, if "me" is back, then now more than any time I will need to draw in color.

I've done 2 small oil pastels since yesterday.  Art has always been the way I speak.  The oil pastel I just started has a bright red background - are those emotions over my father, or is red the color of the sky I see?

I may have had somewhat of a breakthrough since getting hit by lightning.  While getting ready for a doctor's appointment, I noticed the shampoo bottle top is black, not blue as I have thought it was for months.  It's black.  I may have gotten my color" back" since getting hit by lightning.

When I got hit by lightning, my color perception had gone to gray, and because I had been a colorist, this was a real problem.  Using color hurt my head, hurt my thinking, hurt my eyes.

I have been drawing in brown, until yesterday when I unpacked some paints.  I had tried, maybe a year or so ago, to "push" my perception back, even by starting a go-fund-me page to purchase the best oil pastels for their color range.  It hadn't worked, because color still hurt.

If my shampoo bottle is black, if this morning, I finally saw it the way it is and not as a deep blue, then something may have kicked back in. !!!

Last week my doctor wanted to check my lungs for damage from the lightning strike, 6 years after it happened.  I don't want to lose one thing to gain another, but as an artist who strongly followed Vincent Van Gogh's style, having my color back would be something special.

Look for some oil pastel work in the next few days......

Starting Seeds of

 African Violets, Streptocarpus, or Sinningias

Members of the Gesneriad family of plants

These seeds types are all very, very tiny, resembling dust.  Although very small, and handling has to be done carefully, once sown, they take little care until they germinate.

 

1.  I use a basic soil-less mix to start all my seeds.  You may also purchase a soil-less mix specifically made for seed starting.

 

2. I fill a small pot or seed pan with the soil-less mix and then place it in a bowl or container of water about 1 inch deep.  This is to dampen the mix, and it is left in the water-bowl until the surface of the soil is damp.

 

3. I place the seeds into the palm of my hand, and then hand-place the seeds onto the “soil” mix, but you may find it easier to lightly tap the seeds out of their packaging onto the soil.  The goal is to place them just on the surface without having them all in one spot.

 

4.  They are NOT covered with “soil” but left to sit on the surface.

 

5.  I cover them in a couple of different ways.  The easiest way is to place the pot or pan in a gallon-size zip lock bag, and then place the container in good light.  They should be in bright light, but not direct sun, and it is best if they are in a warm area, 65 to 70 degrees.

 

Another method I have used is to convert a ten-gallon fish tank to a germinating tank.  Using a dry tank, two inches of damp clean sand is placed on the bottom.  The planted seeds, already in their pots as prepared above, are placed on top of the damp sand.  The tank is covered with the typical lighted full cover for the tank when using it for fish- with a fluorescent light.  I keep the light on in the tank for 12 hours a day.  If the dampness of the sand is kept at the right level, no additional watering is needed.  The combination of the light, moisture, and a closed environment, allow almost carefree germination of many seed types.

 

Gesneriads can take from one week to several weeks to germinate, so I make sure I have allowed plenty of time before giving up on a seed batch.  Once they have germinated, when they are about 1/8” to ¼” tall, I either move them to individual one inch pots, or re-pot them into a square, shallow pot to grow on.  I keep them covered at first, and slowly expose them to being uncovered by removing whatever cover I have used for an hour a day over several days.  Soon you will have lots of little plants! :)