"Fair Weather Friends" & Hummingbird Visitors

Early this week I completed "Fair Weather Friends" and this painting is now sitting on my diningroom table having dried thoroughly and is awaiting a trip to the basement for it's protective spray coating.  At the moment it looks like another birdhouse painting is in the works but I'm still figuring out exactly what size it will be, the colors, the house iteself, bird/birds or even, will there be a bird.  Decisions, decisions.......  For now though, thrilled to be finished with this large piece, it is available on ETSY -  www.artfulcreations.etsy.com  .

I tried an experiment yesterday with the hummingbirds to see if I could get even better photos then I did last time (see my post from a few weeks ago) by trying to stand outside this time, rather then in the kitchen and having to shoot through the kitchen door.

I went outside on the back porch and stood very still, as close to the feeder as I thought I could dare go and to my surprise, the sweet little female I call the "percher" came right over, to spite my presence so near the feeder.

She was the first of the hummingbirds to arrive this season and the first to feel at home enough to perch while she drank.  She didn't seem to mind me being outside at all so I was able to take quite a few nice photos of her and it really did make a difference not having to deal with trying to shoot through the screen door.

She still comes by on a constant basis each day and at least once a day, stops by with her mate or her girlfriend and they sit on the feeder and have a drink together.  Hopefully one of these times I'll be able to capture the birds feeding together with the camera , I'll keep my eyes out anyway, you never know.  (click to make any of the photos larger)

Bits & Pieces

I'm coming into home stretch with my new painting.  This weekend I'm putting the finishing touches on it and going over all the areas with a fine tooth comb to see that everything is just the way I want it to be before I call it complete....

I won't show the painting in it's entirety until it is completely finished but at least you can see the happy bluebirds painted on their garden perches for now.

This little guy had to be totally reworked from what I had originally designed as his size wasn't quite right.  After a bit of a make-over though, he came out looking just the way I wanted.

Yes, sand dollar pendants are back in my ETSY shop.  I had originally thought months ago that I was finished creating them but I find, I missed painting them very much so I decided to start offering them again.  I did however put a few rules into play so that I would continue to enjoy working on these ocean pendants.....  First of all, sand dollars were my favorite, the surface really speaks to me as a fun, creative and just plain great blank canvas to work on in miniature so, I will not be bringing any puzzle, glass or wood pendants back to life, just the ones I love the most, the sand dollars.

Second and most important of the two rules to pendant painting happiness, no custom orders .  Custom orders are only available with canvas art, not pendants.  Unfortunately, offering that kind of work on my sand dollar pendants sucked the joy right from the air when I had to create them and that equals (=) no fun anymore.  I'm stocking my ETSY shop with whatever tickles my fancy in the sand dollar department.  What I will have at any given time is a mystery and I will paint new pieces every once in a while, when the spirit moves me, which equals (=) keeping the fun in my miniature art.

"Fair Weather Friends" - From Scratch

I started a new painting about 2 1/2 weeks ago, "Fair Weather Friends" and I wanted to show how this painting (which is still in progress) got it's start in life.  The above is a section I just finished yesterday and so far, it is coming along, making good progress each day that I work on it.

The first step in the process of a new painting is one I cannot show you a photo of, because it happens in my brain.  It is the initial concept which can take anywhere from hours to days to germinate in my head.  Once that happens and I have a clear idea of what I would like to do and what size I would like to do it in, I create a sketch.  Above, I've selected a canvas, a large 20" x 20" that my new design will be created on.  First I get the basics of a happy blue sky completed before I can move on to anything else.

I have spent more time with the sky, tweaking the colors, making them bolder in areas and even though I've spent quite a while working on it, I'm not finished just yet, it will be adjusted again as the painting moves toward being finished.  At this point, what could it be?

The beginnings of a birdhouse..........

A birdhouse with Climatis  growing all around it......

Purple Climatis are now beginning to emerge and the makings of some fair weather (feathered) friends hanging out together.  A painting this size, with this much content and detail will take several weeks to complete.  Layers of color need to be built, shading and highlighting as I go and I can see already, this piece will need some additions that were not in the original sketch.  If you listen to the painting, it will always tell you .  As each painting grows and changes, it will let you know what direction to take it in, the artist just has to "listen".

Garden Perch

This week I finished off "Garden Perch" ....... I decided to go for a colorful and vibrant background of blue with touches of white and purple. Below (in the previous post) is the same painting, minus the background. My garden irises have just finished blooming for the year so I'm moving on to paint another willing subject now. I think I will pick up a nice 10" x 10" canvas, just like this piece was painted on and get to work today on another painting. 

Garden Perch & Emerging Blooms

I'm almost finished with my 10" x 10" Bearded Iris and bluebird painting "Garden Perch".  I started it this week and all the details are completed now, everything is done except the background....I'll get rolling on that this coming week.  I'm really enjoying seeing my paintings on a white background at first, I like the clean crisp look that lets the main subject matter "pop". 

We finally started to have some sunny weather again this week which allowed me to do lots of garden clean up and got me out there with my camera as well, to get photos of what is currently blooming.

I still have to plant annuals for this year but hope to get a jump start on that this week.  Lots of colorful, beautiful blooms in the garden this spring to inspire creativity.

I hope no matter what area you live in, you are enjoying some lovely blooms that will inspire you to be creative this week.

Two Custom Acrylic Nature Paintings.......

Recently I completed 2 custom orders for one of my very sweetest customers....2 - 6" x 8" paintings on gallery canvas. The first piece is "Monarch Butterfly & White Lilacs".

This piece is named "Bluebird & Peach Roses". Both paintings are set against a black background with colors surrounding the subjects done with an abstract technique. A cheerful set of paintings to have worked on recently, especially with all the rain we've had in the northeast. www.artfulcreations.etsy.com

A Hydrangea Wreath In The Making

I've started a new painting this week, one that is inspired by the Hydrangeas that I love so much in my own garden.

These up close and personal shots were taken last year when my Hydrangeas were in full bloom and looking beautiful.

I'm always amazed at all the different colors I can see at all the different stages of the blooms life. The array of amazing colors gives me great ideas for the combinations I will be using in a painting, whether now or down the road.

I've been wanting to do some wreath paintings for quite a while now and I decided on Hydrangeas as the flowers that will decorate my wreath. Above I've gotten the design started on my 14" x 18" gallery canvas. I know it is hard to see the progress at this point but just look below to see how getting some of the basics done, really starts to make the design stand out.

Here I've gotten the twig wreath pretty much down on the canvas the way I want it. I then went in and decided to do a dreamy sky like background for the center of the wreath. It took me quite a while to get the blue and white fluffy enough but eventually I ended up with something I was happy with. I may always tweak it in the upcoming days but for now, it is good enough and I will move on to the next thing which will be to paint the area outside the wreath. I'll keep posting progress on this painting until little by little, you can see it come together.

Cards, Cards & More Cards

This week I'm trying to return to my normal routine after my whirlwind trip out west and I'm also busy painting again, making new items for my ETSY shops and my website. I've been on an egg painting spree already this week, brought on by a custom egg order that I have at the moment......but I'll show egg art in another post, on another day. For now I've been making card sets from vintage ceiling tin paintings and canvas pieces as well. I especially love the 3-D effect that the cards made from ceiling tin paintings have, I love the way the detail of the tin shows up on the cards.

I'm slowing adding these card sets to my ETSY shop... http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ and they will be coming soon to my website. Until next time.......

Spring Bluebird On Canvas

Just when you thought it was safe to perhaps come visit my blog again, thinking that my bird fetish must have passed by now, well, no such luck. As you can see, I've been painting more birds. I cannot even say this is the last because I just finished another vintage tin with a Chickadee design so, stay tuned for that in an upcoming post.

As you can see, this time I painted a Spring bluebird perched on a Dogwood branch...

This little bird was painted on an 8 x 10 gallery wrapped , oval canvas. I created it as a special surprise for a friend....not just any friend, a best friend. You know that kind of person, somebody who is always on your side, there for you in thick and thin....to sum it up...JUST THE BEST THERE IS. She knows who she is ......and hopefully knows how special she is to me....Enjoy your bluebird!!

Roses & Lavender Farm Plaque

I was contacted a few weeks ago by a very nice customer of mine. I had painted a plaque for her horse's stall door years ago (her horse by the way, is one of the most gorgeous that you will ever see) and she told me that she wanted me to paint a custom plaque for her new farm in CA.

The farm has lots of Roses and Levender growing there and so those, along with the farms name, where to be the main focus of the plaque.

Of course, Colette also informed me that she really loved bluebirds so I was determined to have a little bluebird perched on some of the lettering if at all possible.

I made the plaque extra large at 12" x 22" and that way, I had the room to incorporate the bluebird without the design looking over crowded.

I wanted to do a special border for this piece as well and since this is a generously sized piece of wood, it really allowed me to get a bit elaborate in that department. The border was created from a clip art program that Chris purchased years ago. He sized everything for me and then printed it out. I am hopeless with that kind of stuff so I really needed his help in that department. I hope you will enjoy the plaque for years to come Colette.

Spring Bluebird & Hydrangea Jewelry Box

I recently finished a custom order for a Spring Bluebird & Hydrangea jewelry box. The background for this pieces is a shade of lavender purple.

I painted the purple and blue Hydrangeas on the top of the box.

A leaf and some blooms spilling over the front and sides in a couple of places.

Of course a Bluebird box wouldn't be complete without the bird himself, perched on top of some Hydrangeas. This box was created for someone that loves Bluebirds!!

A little surprise on the inside lid!