OniOniOniArt

I really like the bees so I turned them into earrings today. They are listed in my shop  HERE Other projects using this design: Creative Sprint 2015 Day 24 Day 48 [February 22, 2020]

I finally attempted to make the Bee cards from my two-color stamps. This project originated in 2016 with a paper cut-out card, and I carved two stamps, one for each color, this year for Day 24 . To me, this experiment was a fail. It was too hard to get the stamps to line up correctly even with the register I made and the corresponding cross-hairs on the backs of the stamps. I showed them to my husband S, however, and he said he liked how they were a little off - that it gave them more personality (or maybe he was just trying to appease my grumbling?). So they're a little off! I need to come up with a better register system... Only a couple lined up good - I threw a few of them away. You can view these cards in my shop HERE [February 17, 2020]

I still have some gold & brown ink splatter paper leftover from Day 20 and decided to sketch another fossil insect. The wasp looks like an ancestor to today's spider hunting wasps with its curly antennae. I actually made this paper a few years ago and then decided it was too textured to use. The brush pen handles the texture pretty well, but there are a few spots where the metallic gold is too thick and the India ink (from the brush pen) doesn't quite adhere. [January 28, 2020]

For today I decided to reprise my old Creative Sprint project from October 2015 . I always wanted to turn it into a card for my shop, but never got around to it (huh, imagine that, Procrastinating...so unlike me!). So I decided to turn it into a two-color stamp. First I made a register, something to help me line up the stamps with (it's the brown paper under the green bee at top). Then I created transfers for the design utilizing the register so everything *in theory* lines up. One transfer is for the black color, the second is for yellow (which for testing purposes is green, because I have a green stamp pad. I use block printing ink for the actual cards). Above is the yellow stamp, in the process of being cut. After inking the completed stamp, I attempt to line it up with the register so I can mark the paper to assist in lining up the black stamp. Right now it looks like a green potato. Above is the transferred black stamp image before ...

...and just so we can all forget Day 10's post, here is an adorably over-fuzzed bee in mid-flight. [January 11, 2020]

With a New Year comes the desire to improve oneself...in other words...Resolutions. For starters, I've decided to renew my Bug-A-Day project and see where that takes me. Maybe I can get past the three-month mark this time. Maybe I won't make it past one. ;) The goal is to complete a year. So this is Day 0, because it's December 31, 2019, not January. I was really motivated this morning and eager to get started. It took several hours to color this "metallic" wasp sketch (I think it's one of those solitary parasitic wasps, which are frequently metallic). I saw the photo and was dazzled by its pretty colors. Moving forward, not everyday will be so elaborate and time-consuming, but the most important thing is just to complete something . And it isn't perfect, but that's also the point. Perfectionism can be a killer - it can prevent you from completing things, or sometimes even from starting things. I will be posting them on here and my Tumblr pa...

"Create something in collaboration with another CreativeSprinter Today" One of the Spa's clients For the 27th project, I consulted with my friend and fellow artist AS in New England. She works in a greenhouse and when asked via email what insect first came to mind, she wrote: "I think of BEES because I have been working in beeswax and I love what bees do and produce. Also, my coworker and I made a "Bee Spa" for all the fuzzy bumble bees that pass out on the ground (I think the colder temps make them sluggish?)...and we also have a "Bee Necropolis" where we lovingly put all the bees that have died." I was intrigued by both ideas - the spa and the necropolis, but decided I might have a better chance at depicting the spa. I asked AS what the Bee Spa looked like: "...[it] is a selection of lovely cut flowers with pollen offerings plus potted plants in a protected area where the bumbles will not be disturbed a...

"Make something while you are in the bathroom  or with the materials found in the bathroom today" So I did both. This is a bee made from hair thingies whilst in the bathroom.  And, um, the antennae might be made of twisted toilet paper.  [April 9, 2016]

"Make something inspired by your own name." Can you see it? I think the small version is more obvious: So far, 3/4 of the prompts (I just saw #4) are the same as the last go around with CS. It is interesting to have to figure out a different solution to the same problems. [April 4, 2016]

The completed 12" ruler. Stag Beetle - Coleoptera (Day 48) Ichneumon Wasp - Hymenoptera (Day 49) Earwig - Dermaptera (Day 50) Luna Moth - Lepidoptera (Day 59) Preying Mantid - Mantodea (Day 60) Scorpionfly - Mecoptera (Day 61) Leaf-footed Bug - Hemiptera (Day 62) Walking Stick - Phasmotodea (Day 63) Spoonwing - Neuroptera (Day 64) Tree Cricket - Orthoptera (Day 65) Cicada - Homoptera (Day 66) Damselfly - Odonata (Day 67)

This is a continuation of yesterday's theme, units of measurement inspired by an ornate antique ruler. The ichneumon wasp is a graceful creature with an insanely long ovipositor.  Perhaps I should make an actual ruler since I have two inches done now. [February 18, 2016]

You've got to love treehoppers and their bizarre appendages (commonly referred to as helmets). This one is an ant mimic ( Cyphonia clavata ). This is going to be the Year of Fashionable Ant Helmets, I can feel it! [February 1, 2016]

Agapostemon spp. A native bee on an exotic plant (a coleus flower) One of the reasons I wanted to take on a 365-day challenge was that it would force me to experiment (and if something came out bad, well then, there is always tomorrow). This was done in a loose sketchy style with micron pens. Painted with colored drawing inks and highlighted with gold metallic ink and green metallic gelly roll ink. [January 15, 2016]

This is what it feels like to have carpenter ants raid your home. I have a confession to make. As one who loves insects, there are some insects I hate . The short list: Carpenter ants in my house Fire ants regardless of location "American" cockroach (aka palmetto bug) "German/Asian" cockroach *Other roaches receive strong dislike* (written with irony, because I love Mantids which are essentially big predatory cockroaches) The sketch is of the little guest house I rent (in brown & black micron pen). The ants do raid it from time to time but the cold weather gives reprieve. That said, I still saw one this morning. >:( Death to all roaches and ants that enter my house!!! [January 13, 2016]

I spent a long day helping the LL paint a garage. Afterwards I decided to relax by watching an episode of the X-Files on Netflix, while also wondering what the hell I'd do for today's bug-a-day challenge. Then I began to wonder what Agents Scully and Mulder would be if they were insects. I decided Scully was a wasp because she is a methodical no-nonsense Amazon woman. Mulder is more of a skulker, but also deadly effective, so I thought an assassin bug was more his style. This is perhaps the result of paint fumes. Agents Assassin Bug Mulder and Yellow Jacket Scully Rendered in colored pencil and a micron pen.  Apologies to Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Side Bar: it's really hard to style hair on something that does not normally have hair. [January 5, 2016]

Day 20 Find a creative way to give someone a compliment. I sent this to my good friend LJ via email, to which she replied:  "HAHA...I love that! Such a helpful diagram!"  It was the only bug-related compliment I could think of (and LJ  is the bee's knees). Then I got to thinking about how odd a phrase "bee's knees" is. This  informative and entertaining website  helps explain its origins. Materials: textured cardstock, wing printouts, acrylic paint, glue.

Today we hiked to the base of Tom's Thumb, a huge monolith atop a mountain (in the middle of the photo above). Being a Floridian and used to flat land, this was a tough hike for me (it kicked my arse if you want to know the truth). It also got really hot on the climb down which didn't help things. I anticipate non-functional legs tomorrow. A yellow velvet ant! We walked right up to this rabbit, I suspect people feed it. Not sure what kind of lizard this is...will have to look it up and update when I'm not so tired. A little more than halfway up. My Dad photographing me taking his photograph. Almost there! The view from the base of the Thumb. Rock climbing gear is required to get to the top. It's still pretty high up at the base!