What are your works of art?

This is so boring, but my works of art are, well, art. Not necessarily good art, mind you, but I paint. I paint almost exclusively for my children, but I love doing it so I guess I do it for them and for me.

Here’s my latest, a gift for my oldest daughter’s dorm room. Sorry for the crooked picture. A photographer, I am not.

I like to make the presents I wrap look special. There’s nearly always some connection between the wrap and the present itself, color or theme or association or something, and I fuss over bows and ribbons and tags. No two packages under our Christmas tree will be wrapped alike—at least, not of those I wrap (which will be probably more than twenty).

In fact, the whole holiday decoration scene is something I put a lot of effort into. I want to create a magical effect. And when I’m done, yes, I do like to sit back and admire it. Give me lots of colored lights, candles, shiny things, and sparkly things, and, well, I guess I’m in bliss.

I write.
Not my art? E publishing.
Also my art, my daughter. Currently that project is suffering a block.

Gifts for charity fair

Decorations

Make-up. I only really notice the artistry when I try new colors, which isn’t often. Also, my nails. I don’t do anything special, but I like picking the color, how they look when finished.

When I had a acreage; the lawn, mulch, plants and trees were like art to me. Keeping things trimmed and green and beauiful.

When I gift wrap I take it pretty seriously, but I rarely wrap now for “green” reasons,

vacuuming the carpet is quick visual satisfaction for me, but I am not sure I would label it as art, and I would not consider it soething I created.

My children are my works of art.

I started writing poetry in earnest this year.

Photography

I drew loads of stuff when my kids were little, cartoon characters mostly, Disney/Looney Tunes/Tom & Jerry. They went up in their respective bedrooms, a few still hang in my daughters room to this day.
They’re pretty damn good drawings, but what makes them a work of art is the smile they put on my kids’ faces, that shit is priceless.

I love drawing. I make abstract paintings. I am also a DIY enthusiast, I love decorating my home with DIY crafts.

I sketch, play a little guitar, write.

But once I had a nice little 1910’s craftsman cottage on a big corner lot. It consisted of a big boring lawn, one lone Norfolk pine, and an old detached wooden garage in the back when I moved in. Soon, I put in winding walkways paved with old, worn, red brick. I only planted flora that would either give fruit or color. I built a large, comfortably furnished, lattice gazebo with a ceiling fan and a home-made brick oven and grille between the house and garage under my huge mango tree, (my first). Within a couple of years, the gazebo became covered with a three kinds of bougainvillea: bright red, fuchsia, and an orangey-yellow. Weird, but it really worked. Huge bougainvillea.

Within a few years, I had a beautiful garden of 17 fruit and nut trees, including Mango, Clementine, Tangerine, Loquat, Kumquat, Papaya, Guava, Pecan, Peach, Banana and Plantain. They provided badly needed shade and privacy in the harsh Florida sun and among the usual nosy neighbors. There were bougainvillea archways along the walks and the surrounding picket fence. Passion flowers, gardenias, hibiscii in a variety of colors, birds of paradise, blue hydrangea—the place was an explosion of greens and yellows, reds and blues, and fruity perfume throughout the year. The trees provided shade for the flowers, the flowers provided shade for the ground cover, and the ground cover ensured that I would not have to mow much lawn in the hot Florida sun. Birds and butterflies showed up.

I created a garden that I had envisioned when I was still in grade school. I daydreamed of this while working on ships in the Baltic Sea. I partially grew up in Florida and I knew what would grow, what to do. I didn’t listen to old codgers who insisted that if I put in fruit trees, I would soon have fruit rats. Never happened. It was just another excuse for these old snow birds to have their sterile, easily maintained yards, I guess.

But this garden became my work of art. Works like this—live works—are never really finished as there is always something to add, take away, change. And it grows and dies and changes all by itself.

It is now being lovingly tended by my good friend and ex-wife. When I’m in town, I sometimes drive by slowly and check it out. We sometimes have coffee and small pastries together in the afternoon like we used to. A couple of times a year I join her as has our mutual friends over to eat stone crab or cook steaks under the gazebo and I can enjoy precisely the purpose of this little place.

Today there is very little to hinder me from making my whole existence a work of art, but must admit that I miss a nice garden with the soil and climate conducive to growing almost anything. I miss creating a storybook adventure of winding covered walks with all the color and smells, but I’ve realized since those days that the garden is only the physical, outer manifestation of the real deal—that which is happening inside.

I’ll draw landscapes or something abstract on the back of the envelopes I send whether they’re personal or for business .

=o)

I am a decent musician, and have a little home-recording studio which includes a 16-track digital recorder, several guitars, bass, synth keyboard, programmable drum machine and a condenser microphone.

It is so much fun to create songs from scratch without any debate with the “other band members” regarding what to work on next, because….I AM the other band members…

My works of art are astrophotographic, and I do it for me.

My works of art are my paintings. I just started a few weeks ago and I have really started to love this new hobby. Here is my new one. It’s far from being art gallery quality but it’s only my 2nd time picking a brush and it’s a wonderful stress reliever! I also really enjoy photography. Again, just another hobby of mine but here is one of my favorites. Also this which happens to be my fluther pic :)

@ItalianPrincess1217 : I loved the painting! You are really talented!

Yeah, that really is good, Princess.

(Just remember our ‘Golden Rule’.....A thin paint will always stick to a thick paint….)

Photography. Mostly of the desert :) :) : ) :) :) :) :) :) :) )

@augustlan I love it. Simple but beautiful.

@Jeruba I used to do that to some degree with the presents. I appreciate a well thought out and time consuming wrapping can be. The holidays are wonderful to let out the inner child. Not many people truly get that. I always start out scrooge and get sucked in.

@Jonesn4burgers always love to be in the company of writers, welcome to fluther, we haven’t exchanged greetings..

@YARNLADY how intricate and special. I love textures and having three dimensional projects must be fun. Do you plan them out use patterns or play it by ear?

@JLeslie how true everything can be beautiful. And gardening is just great for the soul. But I disagree vacuuming where you leave the carpet tracks is fun, its like mowing patterns into the grass.

@elbanditoroso living art, just don’t tell them that!

@zenvelo how many of us plan on doing it and don’t. Glad someone is.

@anniereborn so many possibilities it can never grow old and helps keep ones eyes open for moments. A new way to look at the world.

@ucme I.think that is awesome. I can totally picture you on some plaza when your kids are grown sketching quick cartoons for the children passing by.

@Smitha I am envious. Sometimes when I go on pinterest my head spins or my friends project ideas for their kids parties etc boggle and amaze me.

@Espiritus_Corvus I love your.description and wish to be immersed in the world you created. How intimate and tranquil and sensory it so
unds.

@1×102303 si
@1×102303 I haven’t welcomed you yet either. Good to have you around. And thanks for adding more beauty and randomness to the business persons day.

@OneBadApple music is pure expression when it isn’t a conversation between musicians I would be interested in what yours says.

@Rarebear who better to do it for. Since we will never get theiire it seems the next best thing. I know this isn’t astro but the northern lights are really fun to capture. And take a bit of work to and equipment to get a decent shot. Something to keep in mind.

@ItalianPrincess1217 very beautiful thank you.for sharing.

@deni maybe in about 6 months I will be doing that too. It is easy to overlook.how beautiful it is.

A beautiful post, @Espiritus_Corvus. Thank you for sharing that vivid, evolving picture.

@Unbroken I start with patterns, but I always end up personalizing them.

@unbroken I wish I could. I’m too far south and too urban.

@unbroken Not fun, but satisfying for me. One house we lived in mybhusband wanted the no footprint carpet, which also means no vacuum lines. I still don’t know how I felt about it, or if I would do it again.

@Smitha @OneBadApple @Unbroken Thank you :)

try this

@Espiritus_Corvus: Any chance of photos of your “bee-loud glade”? I am already drooling at the verbal description.

I enjoy making things. It’s an instant-gratification thing I think.

Right now I’m working on aprons which are good for painting and crafting. They have a bunch of different sized pockets for your brushes, mini-pallets, shears, measuring tapes, boxes of pins… I need to find a saw and a 2” PVC pipe, because I want to attach rings for hanging a hand towel. They also roll up and button shut for easy travel. I designed them when I was going to paint a mural at a friend’s house, and wanted to have somewhere to keep my brushes out of the kids’ reach.

I paint quite a bit. Here is my newest jellyfish painting. And this and this are TARDIS paintings I actually sold. Like, woah. This is my eye from a Pinterest challenge. This is Pokemon for my son’s bedroom, and this was a gift for my little brother.

I enjoy costuming. I guess “garb” is more appropriate than “costume”. I don’t do much cosplay, but I like period dress and LARP style costuming.
this is my son as Bilbo Baggins, and this was my son as Frodo four years before (look how he grew into that waistcoat!)
this and this are examples of my Renn Faire garb.

…that’s probably enough for one post. ^_^ Sorry.

Let me be the first to say it….You got talent to burn, young lady….

All VERY nice….

* blushes * Thank you, @OneBadApple

Watercolor paintings, poetry, teaching and making people comfortable as my guests. Also, being a friend and sometimes being a mother.

My main crafts are digital painting, writing, jewelry-making, and needlefelting! All bring joy and fulfillment to my life. I wouldn’t be the same person without my hobbies.

^ I’ve been wanting to try needlefelting. Do you have any pictures of your stuff? I’d love to see it!

^ Sure! Actually while I was at it, I uploaded a bunch of images of all my above named crafts (except writing for obvious reasons).

I’m a major bird-nerd, and birds are such colorful and fun subject matter, so I have needlefelted a lot of birds. Here are some close ups: pileated woodpecker, owl finch, and my favorite, the white breasted nuthatch (nuthatches are unique among birds in the sense that they walk down trees face-first). Those are just the ones I have with me at college (I keep them on my lamp as pictured), there are a few more at home. I also like to make functional things. I made myself these arm warmers earlier this year (one of them is exclusively needlefelted, the other is a combination of sewing and felting). Here they are unrolled.

Jewelry! Jewelry-making was the hobby that kept me sane during the Year Of Many Surgeries. I made a ton of jewelry during that time. Here are a select few favorites.

Painting! I also paint a lot of birds. Been practicing portraits lately too, and also love drawing scenery and miscellaneous photos that catch my eye.

Okay I’m done, haha.

I am in awe of your prowess.

Tell me you have an etsy store. One of those pendant necklaces needs to be mine.

Also, you should totally needlefelt some boobies

And your paintings rock. That elephant/bird scene is great!

Beautiful work @Mariah Do you take VISA ??

Jesus Christ, so much genuine talent walking around among us….

And I suddenly became very alert, straightened-up in my chair, then clicked on SK’s link and it was…....birds.

Damn-fine birds, but still…..just birds….

Desired reaction achieved.

Everybody loves boobies. ^_^

check

Thanks, you two!

Seek, funny you should mention it, I am felting a tit tonight.

I had an Etsy store during the Year of Many Surgeries but now that I’m busily back at school I don’t maintain it, which is kind of a shame. Was there one in particular you wanted? I can’t guarantee I have the supplies to duplicate any of those, especially here at school, but when I go home for Christmas break I could whip something up for you. Definitely let me know!

Dammit !!

I also felt a tit tonight, two actually.

I want the Boobies. So I can carry them around and tell people to feel them. Hahaha. I’m still in middle school.

This one is a strong contender for favorite. I have a thing for rocks. ^_^

@gailcalled I have nothing digital of the garden itself. I think my ex has some, but with people in them. Both of us keep a very small footprint on the net, but I’ve been sorely tempted during this last voyage south to get a photo account like yours or Augustlan’s (I like the sparrow, Big A. Looks like the cover of a book of poetry) and document these adventures. I understand, however, that we lose the copyrights when we publish on the net; that the site gets exclusive rights to our photos. Is this true? If so, that is grossly unfair and, although I probably will never get published, I wouldn’t give them anything on the principle of the thing.

@Everybody: We have a really talented group here. Thank you.

I literally designed and had built a house over a period of maybe 10 years in Vermont but I had to stop and move. At the time I knew it was my creation/work of art. It was never finished and the people who bought it never had the creative ability to make it was it was meant to be.

I have to remember not to feel sad about it. If I started again today it would a very different place anyway.

@Espiritus_Corvus If you upload your photos to Photobucket.com, they say you retain all rights to your content. If you want to be extra sure, you can add a watermark to your photos, too. We’d love to see pictures from your travels!