Here are a couple of collage sheets of tree bark and textures I made to share with Jane Davenport and Teesha Moore’s Mermaid Circus online and mixed media class. (Copyright notice: All images Copyright 2013 Erin Sparler. Please do not use these photos in their entirety and I you do share these collage sheets please... more

I took a twirl around Jane Davenport’s blog hop to promote her new face stencils tonight. Boy, there was some inspiring and envy worthy stuff. Man, these women make me want to run off to the art room and emerse my whole body in paint and paper. Now if only the baby would let me... more

In the summer I garden and draw; and in the winter I sew. Somehow it just seems appropriate over the cold dark days. For Elon’s birthday I made a this dragon that I bought several years ago at the Faire Fest. The original pattern was by The Dragon charmer.com. I think it turned out pretty... more

Making a modular multi-box organizer insert for a shelf: Here’s what it looks like… 1. First cut four pieces of heavy weight chipboard, foam core or matt board to the width and depth of your shelf- in this case 8 3/4″ wide and 8″ deep. 2. Cut two slits equal distant from the edges in... more

So I’m always looking for a way to better organize my art supplies and in particular my pen collections. Pens rarely look like the cap color and I like to make little mini sets that can be used to create a gradient. So the other day I came up with this… 1. Using the Tran... more

I got this idea from Jolie Guillebeau. She got it from “not her sister Jenica.” http://jolieguillebeau.com The first five people to respond to this post will get a print of one of my new vegetable paintings for free! You even get to pick. The catch? The catch is that you must offer to make something... more

1. Choose your fruit or object. Do you want to draw it whole? Cut in half? As a slice? Rotate it slowly to find your favorite angle. Observe the shapes inside and out. Take your time just looking at your object before you start to sketch. Let your eyes roam over the object and let... more