Today I am adding layers to the postcards. Pencil marks and scratches. I had a burst of energy at about 9:30 last night. It didn’t last long, but I did get quite a bit done. Some cleaning and what you see here.
Layer of Light
I found a great discounted frame at Hobby Lobby. Solid wood. Just over six bucks! A steal. I think it may have been rejected because a couple of the corners don’t match up well. I used a black nail file and fixed that right quick. Haha.
I had no idea if it was a standard size. I knew I could find something to fit. I worked in framing years ago, and I can’t resist a great deal on a frame. Luck was on my side! It is standard, 8 x 10. Woo Whoo!
I knew I would paint it. Of course. You know me. It had a red undertone, and I wasn’t keen on it. I will add several layers. It will be darker and look slightly aged. I’m hopin’. Stay tuned.
Frame Update
I finally made a start on the Sandy Sandy class I won on Instagram. She will be doing more giveaways, follow her if you are interested. Her work is stunning and she is a wonderful teacher. (Thank you Sandy! And thanks to Christine B. or Kat V.R.! One of you tagged me for this.)
I have started on the videos that are included. And I have some sketches ready for painting. I don’t have a lightbox, so I use my computer screen to transfer the reference images.
Sketching Sunflowers on Yupo and Paper with Sandy Sandy
“I am working with the enthusiasm of a man from Marseilles eating bouillabaisse, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to you because I am busy painting huge sunflowers.” Vincent Van Gogh
An idea came to me while reading UPPERCASE. I thought the subscription cards would be perfect for some postcard art. The card stock is heavy, and some of them have nice patterns on the back. I also found a flyer with a nice weight.
Pens
Sometimes I amaze even myself. LOL. I am kidding. I was trying to shove some pens back in their drawer but it was not going to close. Finally, a light bulb went off, and I tried stacking them in the opposite direction. Voilà! And DUH!
Love Notes postcard exchange helped to pass the time. Haha. Is it the end of the month already?! This round we had the option of going digital. I chose that but found a stash of stamps, so I mailed the cards as usual. I was offered a side swap from Kelly, and eagerly agreed. For the side, I painted the Prickly Pear. Thank you, Priscilla Martin and Kelly Collin-Coulter for brightening up my mailbox and month!
Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one. – C.S. Lewis
My good friend has asked me to post his call for help. He is working on two awesome applications. If you know anyone with the skills he has listed (below in bold), please share this info with them. Thank you for taking a look 🙂
A Call to Arms for Designers! With the threat of Covid-19 affecting us all, many of us are trying to find ways to help stop the spread of this pandemic through various methods. At Pandemic-Watch we are in the process of developing a mobile app that allows users to opt-in to providing anonymous location data. That data can then be compared to reporting known and suspected symptomatic users and notices sent to those who have crossed paths (with-in the possible transmission time) with a known or suspected person. In addition, we also have a project (Medic-Watch) to aid our Medical Heros! Most medical facilities require exposed staff to phone in and answer a health questionnaire each day. Many of the exposed staff are overworked, short on time, and exhausted! So many fail to report daily. This leaves the administrative staff to initiate calls or physically track them down to gather important health data. Our Medic-Watch project provides a mobile app to collect this data on a given schedule, thus making it easier and less time consuming for the staff to comply. The user can provide a schedule of days and times for the app to open and request their health status. The data is then provided to the medical facility(s) they choose on first use or add later. Our two projects are in great need of volunteers. One of our most significant needs is for designers and UI/UX designers to help in the design of our products. If you can design a mockup of a mobile screen given some criteria (such as input fields, and text to display) and make it look modern and professional, we need you! Both projects are open source and seek to help stop the spread of the pandemic. The anonymous information they collect will also be provided to medical researchers to help in understanding the spread of future epidemics. So far, our team consists of software developers and epidemiologists. We need web developers, designers, and marketing people, pandemic experts, etc. The projects are both open source and free to anyone to use, modify and further develop for their own use. As long as it is not for profit. If you would like to take part and have any talent that could be of use, please contact me at pandemic.watch2020@gmail.com