Randomness...

I thought that I would give you all a break...also I just ran out of things to post. :P

My brother and his moose

 Zoey is our special baby goat. :)

Mother and father

Becka

 Sarah and Zoe

Simply cute.

My once-was armory

 Daisy Bounce

Sarah's giant lynx

 Chugiak range

Buddy, the "Funny guy"

Our dear departed Benjamin and Peter 

 Shadow and Daisy when they were kids. :)

I like this picture of Becka.

~Elizabeth Joy

Finished...

At last!

 By Elizabeth

By Sarah

By Sarah

Pardon the bad photography.

~Elizabeth Joy

Christmas is almost here...

...and art class is over (sniff). Mr. Bates (our teacher) is starting another one in spring. I would like to go again...we'll see.

     I finished my last painting last night, just in time. Sarah was working on her last one until 3:30p.m right before the art display! It started at 4:00 and is being held at the colleges library today through Thursday. There was a guy there, who we kinda know who's an artist too, also a game guide and professional hunter. He carves really cool realistic wild animals on belt buckles and antler pieces and bone and stuff. Anyways, I was telling him that I really like bears, painting and sketching them, and that I wanted to do a charging grizzly or something of the sort. He got all wide -eyed and said that if he saw it he'd probably shoot at it. I thought that a little funny...and strange. Why would someone shoot at a painting of a charging griz? Well, it turns out that he had been charged, numerous times, by grizzly, and had been attacked (he showed us the scars on his arms) by one, and saved himself by reaching his arms into the bears mouth, grabbing its tongue and choking it to death. Now THAT...would scar me enough to have the jitters anyone mentioned charging grizzlies!
     He and his wife are a very nice couple and he is very knowledgeable and experienced, and gives us some really good idea's and pointers. He commissioned Sarah to paint a portrait of his hunting dog. :-).

Tis' the season! And so everybody I wish you a very merry and Jolly Christmas and new year!! May it be filled with blessings. :-)

~Elizabeth Joy    

Finished and unfinshed oil paintings

I'm almost finished with this painting. Does it look familiar? I posted the original picture of it a while

ago.

 The reflection under the boat needs a lot of work.

This is Sarah's unfinished painting of buddy. My oldest sisters dog. We love him, hes such a funny guy.

 In the original picture the tip of his tongue is sticking out. One of his goofy features. :-)

Sarah painted this oil a few years ago of Lady, the family dog. She's such a sweety.

This picture does not do it justice. The glare from the light doesn't help.

I painted this for a costumer a year ago.

I just finished this oil in class.

 

I don't really like how the river turned out. I need some practice in that area.

~Elizabeth Joy

Animal Rocks

This is what I have been doing all of last week.

The photos aren't very good, sorry.

I painted them for a craft fair that I am going to tomorrow. :-)

~Elizabeth Joy

A time for everything

Its winter now, the snow is deep, the snow machines are out, and summer is just a faded memory in my mind.
Projects unfinished have been set aside, waiting for summer to break forth its bright, warm, rays. Other projects, that were previously tucked in a dark and neglected corner  awaiting for dark, dreary winter, have now commenced.

I never did start my caribou painting...I decided that putting the bear in the painting with the caribou was a silly idea. Scratch that.

The model ship I was working on was put aside. I probably wont pick it up again until summer.

 Art class has been canceled for two weeks. Meanwhile at home I finished one of my oil paintings from class. I'll post it sometime. :-)

Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming! Which means lots of fun painting creations, and craft shows.

~Elizabeth Joy

Cartoon Wednesday

Yaaahhhooooo!!!

Cartoon by Sarah

Scanes of our life

~Elizabeth Joy

Rebekah's art

I am in utter amazement at my eight year old sister. Her artwork is amazing! She certainly is fare better then Sarah and I were at her age, and I'm sure she will pass us both up.

She did these at seven and eight.

I helped her with this one. It was her first acylic painting.

I'm so thankful for my little sisters. :-)

~Elizabeth Joy

Cartoon Wednesday

 This squerrel though that I was a tree.

Poor Sarah! :-D

Cartoons by Elizabeth

Scenes of our life

~Elizabeth Joy

Something else for a change.

I'm painting this in art class...

                    ....for someone. I'll post a picture of my painting when its finished.

~Elizabeth Joy

Cartoon Wednesday

Cartoon by Elizabeth

Sarah and I, scenes of our life.

Cartoon Wednesday

Cartoon by Elizabeth.
There's a story behind this... :-)

~Elizabeth Joy

The old timer for an old timer

Sarah did this little guy a while ago, straight from her imagination.

.

She made him for an old timer who lives in the back woods of our property. :-)

~Elizabeth Joy

Cartoon Wednesday

Sarah's cartoons.

~Elizabeth Joy

Belated Cartoon Wednesday

Cartoon by Sarah

Yeah, so I wasn't able to post this on Wednesday...sorry, I hope you'll forgive me. :-) 

~Elizabeth Joy

A boy and his Dogs

My twin sister did this drawing and I just love it. Isn't it cute?

-Elizabeth Joy

Announcing Cartoon Wednesday!

My twin sister and I have a series of fun cartoons that I think y'all would enjoy! And since everyone who has a blog has a Wednesday 'something' I thought it would be fun if I had a Wednesday 'something' too. Cartoon Wednesday. Starting the 28th Sept Wednesday of next week, I will post a cartoon that will, hopefully, make you smile.

Note. Most of the cartoons will be my twin sisters, her being more of the cartoonist than I am. ;)

Fall and what it brings

The leaves are golden and crisp, the tundra has turned a crimson red, and the peaks of the Chugiak range are white with snow...
...God's beautiful creation. God is so good to give us such beauty. I think fall is the most beautiful and inspiring season of the year. I love it....
..my hand is itching to paint it.    

My life of late consist of:

School (of course), art class (more on that later), digging holes and constructing buildings; experimenting and making cheeses and other products with whole goat milk which we are blessed to have from our two goats. 

Speaking of goats...milking in the moonlight with owls hooting and coyotes barking is plain spooky at times...but it can turn from spooky to spectacular in minutes. I was blessed to see a show of the Northern Lights while I was milking! Sparkling stars + Northern Lights + a  full moon + wild noises that seem to echo all around you = You run around the yard ecstatic with joy and awe, milk pale in hand, and milk sloshed in your boot, no more afraid of the creatures of the night.

Along with all of that, what fall normally brings here in Alaska; hunting and harvesting.

~Elizabeth

Don't give up.

I often look at my painting desk in my little corner...dreading the task to sit down and pick up my paint brush. I love painting, don 't get me wrong. But once I stop, just for a day, the task to pick it up again seems so hard. I guess you can call it pure laziness (as much as I hate to admit it). It takes weeks...months even, to gather up enough courage to face my neglected desk and paint brushes. They can be intimidating let me tell you.
Right now I have a cat rock that needs to be finished, or begun...I haven't quite started it. :-/
There is a craft fair in November and December that I need to get ready for. I like to be prepared, though often I end up preparing for it a week before. Ask me why I like to be prepared??
I have a pile of rocks and some wooden boxes to paint, light-switch plates to find screws for, paint over, and wooden ones to sand.

Today my twin sister and I were helping my dad with measuring tape, string, stakes, and geometry (okay, not so much the geometry). We were helping prepare the foundation for a cabin that were planning to build on our land. He was telling us how much he loved writing, and all he wanted to do was be a writer. He reminded us about the importance to keep pursuing the talents God gives us, and to use those gifts to glorify and honor Him. He told us that most of what he does is to give us children the opportunities that he never had. That really struck me and made me so grateful for all that God has given me. Especially for my dad. It amazes me at how many people I've heard say, "Keep doing it. Don't ever give it up."
Well, I'm here to say that, I'm not going to give up, I'm not going to stop doing what I was gifted to do...I'm going right now to face my desk and those haunting paint brushes......on Monday.


-Elizabeth Joy

Bookmarks and a Painting

I painted these bookmarks for a couple of my friends. I cut and shaped the card board and painted these dragons with acrylic paint. Their a lot of fun to do. :)

 

I love dragons. Their just so, so, cool!

I did this painting a while back for my dad to go in his office at work.

 

~Elizabeth Joy

Projects cotinued...

I'm working on a ship model, (a clipper ship to be more precise). This will be the third one I have done. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of them, so you'll have to wait until this one is finished to see what they look like. :) I'm going to model this one after a ship I saw in Poland, The Bounty, which supposedly was the ship they used in Pirates Of The Caribbean.

Please excuse my bandaged finger. :-/

                                

I know it doesn't look like much right now...                                

...but it will once it's finished, so stay in tune. The wood I am using for it is alder. I really like it.

 The other project I'm working on is this painting...

 

I still have a lot more to do on it as you can see. This is painted with acrylic.

~Elizabeth Joy