Category Archives: Art Groups & Activities

So Thankful

 

So Thankful. Mixed media on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

So Thankful. Mixed media on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

 

The global postcard ‘heART exchange” is on again. I am late to the party, but I made the deadline. Whew! Even managed to make bookmarks from the scraps! Louise Gale hosts, she is amazing! One of my art Super Heroes! I have taken part before, and maybe you have too. If not, check it out! There are several swaps each year.

Very simple. Create three postcards, and get three in return. I created these with stamps, texture sheets, a nail head, a stylus, and a palette knife.

I was under the gun, trying to beat the postwoman. Save myself a trip into town. In my haste I made about 10 mistakes.  Addressed the envelope upside down, then forgot to take photos, and had to cut one open with a xacto. Ha ha! The recipients will have a good laugh. And now I am hoping that I did not switch two of the cards, while I put them into the envelopes! Fingers crossed!

Can you see where I had to squeeze forgotten letters in? LOL In my defense, I was also receiving important news at the time, so a bit distracted. Yes, I can spell thankful. LOL

 

Happy Messy Desk

Well, I did not want to share earlier, and no worries. All is well. Or will be soon. Our Thanksgiving was a bust. But we will all be together in celebration next weekend.

My folks both came down with the flu. They have not been this ill since 1993. Just heard from the doctors that Pete has pneumonia, and they will be keeping him in the hospital for three days. Scary, but glad to know he is in good hands. They have him on oxygen as his levels were low. He is also diabetic, so we have to be extra careful.

Mom is heading home with antibiotics for treatment. They are both at the tail end of the flu, thank goodness. Contracted from neighbors at Bible study.

I won’t be visiting him in the hospital. I have meant to post about this, but the holidays did not seem the right time.

Good news is, I have FINALLY found a doctor that knows what is causing my chronic cough.

HALLELUJAH! AMEN! THANK YOU SWEET JESUS!

The gerd is one aspect, and the acids from my stomach may have damaged my lungs some, still waiting on test results.  I found paperwork from previous visits in So. Cal., stating that my esophagus is ‘dilated distally’. I showed him the finding, and now we can do something about that too. The doctors never mentioned that to me before, we just moved on to scheduling for the next visit.

And I have asthma. Hallelujah, a definitive diagnosis! And my lungs are down to 25%. Not good, not good at all. But he is confident he can turn things around.

When I left the doctor’s office, I cried. Gave thanks to God over and over and over. Called a friend. Called my Mom. And cried some more. I have had these issues since 2007. The cough is what led me looking for an answer. And led to my Lupus diagnosis. A late December cold. Overworked and not sleeping enough. You know how it is. But three months later, I still had a cough.

I had honestly, just about given up.

So no hospital for me! I can’t afford to add to the list. But I am sorry, I won’t be able to keep Pete company. ( I know he won’t want me there. 😉 )

Prayers most welcome!

 

Late in posting this, and I shared it on IG. But you can get a closer look here. A slightly different view of Mingus.

 

Mingus Morning After. 2017 SMD

Mingus Morning After. 2017 SMD

 

So yes dear friends, so much to be thankful for!

Thanks for you good thoughts and prayers!

 

 

 

Six more days of sales on the way!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Bits

 

Fresh Start. 4 x 6 Acrylics on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Fresh Start. 4 x 6 Acrylics on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

I like this better now. Not stripes, now there is a flow. Having a hard time getting the colors to scan true to life. The brightest green is not nearly as neon. And the tone in the bottom right corner is more sap and less avocado.

Fresh Start. 4 x 6 Acrylics on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Fresh Start. 4 x 6 Acrylics on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Not sure where I will take this next, but I do feel it needs a bit more work. Contemplating. Here is a reminder of where it started.

I have painted, a little each day, haven’t taken the time to edit and post. I conquered a major project. Well, half of it at least. I scanned all my family photos. Been meaning to do this for, well a decade at least.

The wildfires of 2007 made it more important. I have good friends who lost three homes in one family. Parents and two sisters. One family on the La Jolla reservation lost 20 homes. Sisters, cousins, parents. It was devastating.

I worked at the Rincon Harrah’s Casino, and could not get to work the day the fire started. A good friend was already working, and she was trapped, with many others, for three days at the resort. No safe way out.

I spent a week in my apartment. Ash was falling, the sky was tell-tale red. Dozens of huge Eucalyptus trees in the complex were destroyed by the high winds. The tree in front of my balcony was torn in half. My back was to it, and it scared the you-know-what out of me. Walkways were blocked, parking was blocked. If anyone needed to drive out of there, they were out of luck.

My place was miles away from the main fires. If you are interested, here are some links to more details.  After seeing my friend and her family lose precious family photos and heirlooms, I made it a goal to copy all of my photos, and digitize them for safekeeping.

I figured five days, it took seven. The second half of the task is to crop, name and file each one. Then back them up so I have the files in two locations at least. Later I will restore any that need it, but honestly, that could take years.

Big load off my shoulders though. Having the scanning done.

Back to art.

Mini Mountains. 2 3/8 x 3 3/4. watercolor on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Mini Mountains. 2 3/8 x 3 3/4. watercolor on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

This tiny piece was just a few minutes of play before lights out. Meant to be a sunset, but it sort of reminds me of fire too. More late night play below. Both Caran d’Ache Neocolor II on gessoed Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper.

 

Wings. 4 x 4 watercolor on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Wings. 4 x 4 watercolor on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

After working on Fresh Start, I had paint left on the palette. More work on one of the first abstracts from the beginning of the month.

 

Simple Start. 4 x 4 Acrylic on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Simple Start. 4 x 4 Acrylic on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper © 2017 Sheila Delgado

I started Laly’s class, and her building of layers was in my mind. So there is more to come with this I think. Here is the before.

 

Simple Start #2. 4 x 4 Acrylic on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Simple Start #2. 4 x 4 Acrylic on Arches 140 lb. cold pressed paper © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Still paint on the palette, I  grabbed an ATM card, and a scrap of paper and started again.

 

First layers. 3.5 x 7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fresh Start

 

Fresh Start. 4 x 6 Acrylics on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

Fresh Start. 4 x 6 Acrylics on paper. © 2017 Sheila Delgado

New sheet of paper, and paint in my palette. Couldn’t decide between brush or knife. So I  went with my fingers. I knew I would get a completely different look.

Work in progress, acrylic on 12 x 12 gallery wrapped canvas. sheiladelgado.com

Work in progress, acrylic on 12 x 12 gallery wrapped canvas.

I didn’t mean to be so stripey. So I will be doing this again. Another fresh start! You may not remember, But I created a background like this for a Scripture gift for friends. More what I had in mind. I used my fingers for that as well.

And it took two attempts to get it right.

Looking forward to more painting fun! Hope you are enjoying creative time, or maybe just relaxing time!

 

 

 

Click on image or link below.

 

Sunday, 10/8/17 – 
Monday, 10/9/17 @ 11:59pm PT