Jessie

Lob der Thränen

As I informed y’all last week, I began working on a new piece called Lob der Thränen (Translation: [In] Praise of Tears) by Franz Schubert. According to my teacher (and the internet), Schubert was a composer during the late Classical/early Romantic periods. This is my first piano piece by Schubert. Prior to this, my experienceContinue reading “Lob der Thränen”

Keep that Creative Fire Burning!

This week I attended a free event at one of my favorite shops in the whole wide world: Two Hands Paperie. This local Boulder store specializes in stationary and pens, but they offer a huge range of art-making classes and products to salivate over. The event I went to featured an artist named Cynthia Morris,Continue reading “Keep that Creative Fire Burning!”

#quitting

I started learning a new piece, which I am going to tell y’all all about next week. BUT FIRST, I needed to lay the Sonatina to rest. My prediction that I would be completely over that song by now proved very, very accurate. I am no longer playing it for my recital. In fact, IContinue reading “#quitting”

This One Goes Out to the Mothers!

My yearlong homemade card series continues with a card made for my marvelous, magical Mama Maloy! I felt drawn to springtime colors and inspired by the apple blossoms covering the world when making this card. Mother’s always make me think of trees and roots, the nourishing of new life from one’s own body, the continuanceContinue reading “This One Goes Out to the Mothers!”

Progress Report II: Sonatine

I am still working on this Sonatina by Kuhlau. At this point, I can play the whole thing from memory. YAY! I can also recover after making mistakes. YAY again! HOWEVER, my tempo is still hella inconsistent, sometimes my sixteenth notes sound like soup, sometimes my sixteenth notes don’t sound like soup but I missContinue reading “Progress Report II: Sonatine”

Watercolor Within the Lines

Here’s some pictures I painted this week! You’ll remember these perhaps from my geometrical drawings post, and I figured these were the perfect canvases to work on some very basic watercolor skills: painting within the lines and practicing some of my new-found color knowledge from last week My chosen color palette didn’t come out quiteContinue reading “Watercolor Within the Lines”

Egg Tempera Magic

This past weekend my mom was in town. While she was here we had an egg tempera paint session with my Little Sister (shout out to Big Brothers, Big Sisters!). To have your own egg tempera paint session, you need: Cups/some other container (the number of cups you need depends on the number of colorsContinue reading “Egg Tempera Magic”

Back to the Basics: Color Theory

I have a confession to make: Even though I’ve been painting for over a year now, last week if I’d been asked to name the primary colors I’d have needed to puzzle it out. See, when I started watercolors I did the very thing most experts recommend beginners NOT do: I bought a large setContinue reading “Back to the Basics: Color Theory”

I Painted a Shark

Last week it was my neighbor’s kid’s birthday. I used acrylic paints. I also used gel medium to thicken the paint and add a little sheen to it. Pro Tip: Gel medium makes a little paint go a long way. Anyway, this spontaneous, no-pressure art project really helped me to chill out during a week thatContinue reading “I Painted a Shark”

Dip Pen Calligraphy

I had a tsunami of work projects swamp me this week, so my time for creativity was way limited. I did however manage to stumble further into the world of calligraphy. In my previous post on this topic I shared the Beth Style Worksheet I’d purchased from The Postman’s Knock. While this is a greatContinue reading “Dip Pen Calligraphy”