My Cat

I went with a good friend to a painting hour at Paint the Town in Columbia, MO to celebrate her birthday.  We had a great time, and this is my artwork from that day.  It's a closeup of my kitten, Arianythra.  Isn't she adorable?  I found out that it's really hard to make fur look real, but I am pleased that I got her eyes perfectly!

My 200th Dress

Here's my 200th dress for my daily challenge.  It's truly a fancy one, with gold beads all over it!  I have really enjoyed learning new techniques and exploring my creativity through this challenge.  I wonder what dresses I will create next?
You can read all about it here: http://neesierie.weebly.com/dress-5-11-12.html

My 100th Dress!

I reached 100 dresses for my 365 Dresses challenge.  It's been so exciting to see how I've grown as an artist during this yearlong challenge.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds for me!  You can find details about the dress here: http://neesierie.weebly.com/dress-2-01-12.html

SoulCollage

11-13-11
I've been studying an interesting area of collage-making that deals with exploring the facets of your soul.  It's really been exciting to make and use these SoulCollage cards in my daily life as a source of inspiration and guidance.  You can find more of my cards here: http://neesierie.weebly.com/soul-collage-cards.html

365 Dresses

10-25-11
I've taken a challenge to create a dress a day for the next year using whatever media is at hand each day.  I'd really like to expand my creative horizons, and I feel that this challenge will help me to do that.  Check out my dresses to see what I'm creating today: http://neesierie.weebly.com/365-dresses.html

Grandmother Susan

10-22-11
I wanted to do a friendship collage for my good friend, Susan, but in actual fact, she was more a mentor to me than just a friend.  So instead I made a tribute collage for her.  Using canvas instead of pressed cardboard (as in my previous two collages), I had the opportunity to paint the background for this collage instead of merely using cool papers.  The center is the turtle, a symbol that both Susan and I cherish.  In my rendition, he is peeking out of his shell, not completely exposed to the world around him.  In the center of the flower in the lower corner, I added dimension by gluing several lentils as a symbol of the living things she and I both find more precious than silver or gold.  She wears the shawl that I have seen her wear many times and a heart necklace that symbolizes her tender and giving heart.

Two Hearts -- One Mind

10-21-11
My second collage was made for another good friend who I left behind when I moved out of state.  Her name is Melissa, and I think of her as my spiritual twin.  We've always shared a unity of thought that I found miraculous and very much a gift from God.  This collage was harder to visualize, since much of our friendship would be hard to show in images or words.  The scriptures say it best, but I didn't want the formality of the King James to make our friendship not seem as close as it was.  So I paraphrased, making the words more colloquial.  I think it works better this way.  Included in the collage are the two organizations she and I were involved in together (Girl Scouts and Primary Sunday School), as well as the fairy club I started for the young girls in town.