Watercolor painting has been my favorite form of painting. I’ve done it for years. Now I discovered alcohol inks and I’m off and running again.
At first, I painted Easter eggs. Now I’m on to painting tiles. The wonderful thing about alcohol inks on tile is if you hate what you made you can wash it away with alcohol and start again.
4 by 4 tile paintings
I’m heading over to Sissy’s in Seymour for coffee this morning and will take these along. Some of my tile paintings are at Mama J’s work-shoppe in Black Creek, too.
Sometimes I start painting one scene and end up with something completely different. Alcohol inks have a mind of their own so no two are exactly alike–I have some 6 by 6 tiles, too.
I found a way to express myself besides using words. I’m painting again, but not with watercolors. This time I’m using alcohol inks.
Here are four of my paintings. These trees are on 4 by 4 tiles. The glossy surface makes painting with alcohol ink interesting. Sometimes it has a mind of its own and spreads wherever it wants.
There is an upside of this kind of art, if I absolutely hate what I’ve done, I can spray it with alcohol, wash it away, and start with a clean tile. If I’m satisfied, I spray the finished tile with a clear lacker and then it’s set.
These are backed with cork so they can be used as coasters. BTW: I have a few for sale at Sissy’s in Seymour.
I also, have some wild and crazy paintings, but I think I’ll leave those for another time. This is just a sample for a quick blog today.
Bob has gotten all kinds of get-well cards, but one could not be stuffed in an envelope. It had to be hand-delivered.
This card arrived a couple weeks ago, but I just never got around to photographing it. Finally, I took the time today.
This card is from our son, Rob, his wife Tara and our grandchildren: Ethan, Seth, Aryana.
A real ‘candy-gram’ from the Plover Manzkes
Here’s what it says:
“Hey Mr. Goodbar! We wanted to Take5 to tell you how Extra special you are with this Whopper of a card! With Mounds of luck we Scored bigger than 100GrandPayday as you Crunch and Munch on these Whatchamacallits. We hope our card brings you Snickers and Almond Joy. We love you… as tall as the Andes as big as the MilkyWay and more than all the Skittles in the rainbow! Hugs ‘n Kisses from Rob, Tara, Ethan, Seth, Caleb, and Aryana. We love you!
I’m pretty sure the creativity behind this card was from our daughter-in-law, Tara, but the love came from everyone. I hope I transcribed it correctly
I still haven’t had the heart to cut off any of the candy. Bob and I don’t need the extra sugar. Maybe we’ll have to have a party to share it all.
Today our daughter Rachel drove up from Sun Prairie to go with us to Bob’s monthly oncology appointment. Along with Rachel came her youngest, five-year-old Wyatt. Both had put aside work and school to be with us.
Bob’s appointment went well. The results of his blood test were all positive. The doctors (one we knew for years who we met in the hallway) thought Bob looked great. Their positive comments made us smile.
Yes, Wyatt came into the appointment, too. He said he wants his grandpa to get better.
Besides the short appointment, we had fun spending the day with Rachel and Wyatt. Here are some photos Rachel took today.
Grandma Susan advised Wyatt while he painted a ceramic tile.–Wyatt did great!Grandpa Bob didn’t have to advise Wyatt how to do the puzzle. Wyatt knew what to do.A closed window kept Grandpa Bob dry as Wyatt practiced with his squirt gun on our front porch..
All around, this day was a good one. Thanks Rachel and Wyatt for adding smiles to our day.
I have a thousand scissors around the house and all are dull. Okay, maybe not a thousand, but all that I have always seem to be dull. We have knife sharpeners here that work well, even one used ages ago by a butcher (probably a collectible). The trouble is you can’t sharpen scissors the same way you do knives.
I googled how to sharpen scissors.
The google replies said to cut sandpaper over and over with a pair of scissors to sharpen it. I did this and had a little success, but first thing is to have sandpaper handy.
The second suggestion was to take a sheet of aluminum foil and fold it over a few times. Like the sandpaper, you cut the foil many times to sharpen your scissors. My success rate wasn’t any better with this method.
I then asked the Internet for a scissor sharpener. A bunch of knife sharpeners showed up, but so did some scissor sharpeners. One gizmo was a professional model and cost over $400–since I didn’t want to go into the business of sharpening, I continued my search for a reasonably priced sharpener.
I ended up with Smith’s Jiffy-Pro Sharpener. It sharpens knives, scissors and shears. This model cost me a hair under ten dollars.
Jiffy-Pro Sharpener
I found this sharpener easy to use. Knives just zip through. Scissors take a firm hand to hold in place, but it worked well for my needs.
Directions
One extra benefit (that I don’t need) is that it will sharpen left-handed scissors too. It is designed in the U. S. but made in China.
I did not buy any other sharpeners so I don’t know if any are better. (There was another that was cheaper and one for the desktop.)
All I can say is that Smith’s Jiffy-Pro Sharpener worked well for me. Now I don’t have to buy another scissors just because all of mine are dull.
