Bird In The Hand Primitives

Primitive Folk Art Designs and Finished Items
By: Robin Leuschen

" Who you are is God's gift to you........ What you do, is your gift to God !"

Friday, February 27, 2015

Expanding my Artistic horizons .... Lol


Yes I added an "lol" at the end of the title sentence. I'm not getting very far , but I have the " want to"..... That counts for something doesn't it ???
I've posted about this in FaceBook and was thinking that maybe I shouldn't have ??
I've been doing my beloved primitives for at least 12 years now. I've watched tons of talented successful primitive artists , doll makers, quilters, punchers hookers,,,, suddenly stop doing primitives and go down another path to pursue another love.... Shabby chic, vintage, Victorian......modern even, in their artwork , home decor etc... And years worth of a fan base or devoted customers and followers drop like flies. 
Soooooo.... Before that happens , because I know I've been uuuuber blessed with so many friend and supportive customers and followers,,, please don't think I'm abandoning my primitive style. 
I do know , though that many if my blog friends here and followers are from many different creative genres. I like that !!
I like being we rounded. One look at my physique and you'd know that !!! ( always have to add my little morsel of self deprecation... Just in fun. 
But... In to my subject for today. 
I've always kept some kind of " art journal" or notebook with sketches, notes ideas, pattern directions and daily thoughts. I'm not consistent though. I have 6 months between some writings. 
But I always go back to it. 
Here are some of my first ones That I covered with some decoupage or fabric and trinkets. 

Then I did my last one in a wool Applique cover I had made. 


Ok. If any of my friends see what I pin on my Pinterest, they know that I've fallen in love with Art Journaling. Lol
I've been pinning everything under the sun that has anything to do with art journaling. I started years ago gluing ideas I doodled for designs , into composition notebooks .... 

Well, I fell in love with what I call REAL Art Journals about a year ago. 
I have 100's of pins on my Pinterest. I've watched videos and read tutorials on materials to use, techniques etc.  
I never pretended to have a talent for face drawing either. Not my FORTE....
But I watched s few tutorials on face drawing , not necessarily realistic faces but artsy types. 
I decided to try my hand at that and a basic art journal page. 

I had fun for sure. I like playing around with paints and colored pencils and I even used bubble wrap to do ghe little yellow circles for background. Lol
I'm going to keep learning and having fun. I like the freedom this art venue has. I get to use mixed mediums. It's just.... FUN !!
Seeing that I've actually been in a real FUNK lately.... I was hoping going in a different direction would help me out of the winter blues. It's slow but I'm at least getting some enjoyment. 😊
I've also always been drawn to German Scherenschnitte ,,, I love some of the old images I've seen. So primitive and not perfect. That's my style !!! Lol 
So here is a little something I drew up and cut out. I pasted it into a piece of scrapbook paper that I distressed and framed it with a cheapy $5 wooden frame that I used an old broken screw driver to gouge a design into the edges and I painted and distressed. 


I cut out another design I will post a pic of next time. 

Monday, February 2, 2015

A new design...and....WINNER !!!


 I have been drawing a bit lately and came up with a new design I am going to use for a pattern, but have not decided exactly what to do with it yet......
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 Well, I managed to only be a few hours late picking the winner , rather than a week .....lol
I had 76 entries for the giveaway..... 3 lovely folks commented but opted out of the giveaway, being seasoned wool rug hookers and hoping to give a chance to someone newer to the fiber arts...
So that left me with 73....I love Random.org ....the number the generator gave me was #23...

RHONDA  SMITH !!!
I'll email you in a sec Rhonda, and get your info to send this and a few other little goodies out to you !!!
Thank you everyone for the super sweet comments ...it means a lot to me to have supportive followers !!!
Robin