In a Jar ...........

Awhile back my ACEO eBay Group held a challenge based on what you could find in a jar ... with the subject jar being an old fashioned canning jar.  I came up with three versions ....

"Sunflowers In A Jar"

"Dandelion Bouquet In A Jar"

"Fairy In A Jar"

I am happy to say, the challenge worked out quite well for me because these three ACEOs sold really quickly on eBay!   Thanks to the wonderful equipment we now have, prints are still available in my Etsy Shop.  

This week I am working on a new challenge, the theme is "Fish".  On June 1st, I will be posting all the "Fish" themed ACEOs to eBay and Etsy.  I like the way they are coming along ....

Take care and be happy!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

My Third and Final ACEO Challenge ACEO

Outside of our kitchen garden window we have an arborvitae that stands at the east end of the window.  We also have a family of squirrels that nest in the tall blue spruce in our front yard.  The squirrels gather and bury nuts all over our yard, later they will dig up their little treasures and many a time I have been working in the kitchen and a motion will capture my attention outside of the window, I look up and I'll see a little squirrel happily munching on a tender nut morsel. 

This happened again today and inspired my third and final entry in The ACEO Challenge which I have titled "Garden Window Visitor"....

Happy Day all!

Karen Anne

Pisces aka Two Salmon - a new zentangle inspired illustration

 "Pisces aka Two Salmon"

I have been having fun creating illustrations using zentangle inspired patterns; in this illustration I had drawn the border first, because my inspiration GPS just wasn't working. As the border was coming to completion I kept thinking of salmon (why salmon? I don't know!) so I went with this theme and the result is the drawing you see in this listing. I like the way it turned out and hope you do as well! The original drawing was done on an 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper, but I have reduced it down to be able to offer it in ACEO format.

Two New Watercolor Illustrations

It has been awhile since I have posted anything on my blog, basically because I have been busy trying out my new Niji Waterbrushes (brushes with a water reservoir), Derwent InkTense Pencils, and Yarka Watercolors.  I really haven't tinkered around much with watercolors since I was in 8th grade, many many moons ago!  But I am working on a project and the need for the use of watercolors arose so I decided to experiment with them and see what results I could achieve.

I learned about the Niji waterbrushes while watching a YouTube Tutorial on Derwent InkTense Pencils (they are inks rather than watercolors) and decided to order myself some from DickBlick.com, a great place to shop for art supplies.  I really like the Niji brushes as they provide a source of control that I love, the Derwent InkTense colors are vivid and bright and work well with Yarka watercolors.  Once the Derwent InkTense colors are dry, they are permanent so I find they make a wonderful base to use the Yarka paints for shadowing and finer details.

I am no pro when it comes to watercolors, etc. but I found the results very much to my liking and thought it would be nice to share them with you and see what your reactions are.
The following are the two illustrations I have been working on over the past two weeks.

"Fairy Garden Fairy Home"

"The Enchanted Well"

I'd be delighted if you would let me know what you think of the results!

Karen Anne