Spring Paintings....

There hasn't been much of a spring feeling here in NY, with more snow just dumped on us this week but I'm thinking spring anyway, creating some smaller paintings for the new season.







 

"Whispers Of The Season" is 8" h x 6" w and the little wren in the painting is enjoying the first days of spring.

 



"Spring Robin" is 12" h x 4" w tucked away in a purple tulip he is happily enjoying the blooms.

I think at this point I might be painting a tree next or perhaps an abstract or maybe, a combination of both....who knows, I think I'll decide that once I get started.

Reflections Of Spring

This week I finished "Reflections Of Spring" an English Iris painting.  I'm feeling all about spring these days, really only wanting to paint happy paintings.  I often like to pair the canvas shape with the proportions of the subject to make it look as natural as possible.  This particular piece is 12" h x 4" w and I think the canvas suits what I wanted to do with the composition of this painting nicely.

This week a new digital camera arrived in the mail for me as well.  I had my original one for only 4 years and in the last 6 months, it became harder and harder to take photos and get the camera to actually work.  I mean geez, it was a compact little digital camera for casual use, it certainly never got put through the ringer by me so I was bummed it didn't last longer, I really expected it too.  Once I got over the offensive (to me anyway) idea of shelling out money right now for another digital camera, I'm really glad that I did.  This new one is wonderful, almost just as small as the last (important to me) and wow, the detail shots I can get with it.  When Chris took these photos today, I was thrilled, the detail shots really reveal the layers and texture of the stucco along with the blend of color.  Now that the pain of having spent the money is over and done, I'm really glad I got it.

Have a creative week....think spring.

"Branching Out" Abstract Triptych Treescape

"Branching Out" is the newest treescape triptych to make it out of my studio, recently sprayed with a protective matt finish and currently drying in my basement. 

I wanted to do a multi-canvas painting and knew that I had something in mind that was really contemporary and abstract but I also wanted lots of texture, so I decided on a triptych treescape.

First I always play around with different shapes and sizes of canvas, orienting them different ways to try and decide how I want to lay out the painting.  Once that portion of the process is decided upon, I can than go ahead and make my sketch.

While I'm creating a sketch, I also start on my background which can take a couple of days for a painting this size as there are layers or color applied that must dry before others are added.  A heavy application of stucco gives the tree branches really thick texture.

 

The finished panels are placed together for the last time, just to make sure everything looks just right and the completed painting has emerged.





"Spring Pleasures" Completed

Yesterday I finished painting "Spring Pleasures" and just in time too as I needed some spring cheer to help deal with the blizard we got yesterday.  Shoveling out in the biting cold wind with a foot and a half to two feet of snow in some places is just one of my favorite things to do.... (not even close) .  I know I sound a bit snarky about it all and well, snow makes me very grumpy.  All I can say is....Orlando here I come, there is nothing in the NY winter that I will miss, not even a little.

Now it is revealed that my woodland creature is a happy little chipmunk nestled on one of the tulip leaves.  The tulips, leaves, chipmunk and some of the background swirls are 3D with a texture you can see and feel.  A stucco medium was used in these areas to create this texture.

This painting measures 24" h x 8" w x 1 1/2" d.   I hope the yellow, pink and magenta bring cheer and make everyone think of the color and warmth of spring ahead.

Bits & Pieces Of "Spring Pleasures"

This week I started to work on a new painting, which was probably due to my desperate desire for spring and all the color it brings with it.  "Spring Pleasures" is underway and is full of fun and really happy , bold spring color.  I think I'm mostly done at this point, lots of little things to adjust and work on though so as not to jinx myself,  I'll only show little bits and pieces of it until it is fully completed.  So,  it looks like there is a pink tulip somewhere in this painting..............

also lots of swirls of bright cheerful colors..........................

I think I also see leaves and a foot and tail of some sort, a woodland creature perhaps?  Maybe one I'm painting for the first time....hmmm.   Perhaps next week I can show the entire painting once it is fully finished. 

 

This week I received the prettiest earrings in the mail, they are from Miss Val's Creations -   www.missvalscreations.blogspot.com .   I fell in love with this set on Pinterest and had to have them the more I kept looking at them.  They arrived in the mail today and are prettier in person than they are in the photograph.  Val is also guilty of getting me extremely addicted to Pinterest but that is another story so for now I'll stick to the earrings....I love them, thanks Val.

Painting Tiny - Bite Sized 3D Artwork.......

This week I decided I really wanted to paint small and so I went to my basement stash of canvases and ferreted around for a while until I finally found what I was looking for, some of the smallest sized canvases I have on hand, a 6" x 6" and a 4" x 6".   "This piece is "Sunburst Monarch" full of color and happiness.  I think I will make a tile trivet out of this design.......

I also felt like painting a dragonfly so on the 4" x 6" canvas I created "Jeweled Beauty".  Both paintings are created using acrylic mediums so they are 3D, you can actually see and feel the texture on each piece.  I'm finding textured work really has the effect of making you want to reach out and touch it when you walk by.  It is really fun to feel the different levels of textures under your fingers, very tactile.

Aside from painting, I'm dealing with a house that is in a state of flux at the moment (no end in sight either).  Some of you might know that Chris and I are moving to Orlando this year. We closed on our house the week after Thanksgiving and we will be moving away from NY in a little over 4 months so these are the start of some crazy busy days for us.  We're going through all our belongings, trying to throw away what we don't want to move with us , organizing everything and even though we'll have movers when the time comes, we're packing our more precious items ourselves. We're very excited to get started on our new journey and I dearly wish we could leave now but we have to wait a few more months, most likely till the end of May.  At some point when the time gets closer I'll have to pack up my art studio but not quite yet, I will keep painting for many more months, until the last minute basically.  I always find I miss painting when I'm away from it for too long.

Cattail And Dragonfly Painting In 3D & Blog Vacation

The latest piece of art to come off my easel is "Wings Of Glass" , my first 3 D acrylic painting.  I've always loved cattails and of course, dragonflies so I decided to make them the subject of this particular piece.  This painting measure 16" h x 8"w x 1 1/2" d.

The part I loved the most about creating this painting was the 3 D aspect....the cattails, leaves, dragonfly and part of the background, were done with mediums.  The dragonfly is comprised of a (glass effects) medium and the rest of the above mentioned areas are done in stucco.  The final product is a painting that you can see but also feel as well, the texture is really fun to run your hand through.  To see the effects close up, click on the image above to get a better look.

Next on my list for the new year will be more 3D paintings and I got the idea yesterday, while feeding my dogs breakfast ( why then you might ask.....I cannot possibly say) to create a series of multi canvas - 3D - Bonsai paintings.  Cannot wait to get started on one of those in January.  For the time being, I'm taking a bit of a painting break to enjoy the holidays.  Have a great Christmas everyone, see you in the new year

An Abstract Tree-Scape

This week I got the bug to work on a contemporary piece, a quadtych (4 panel) tree-scape, "Extensions".  Sometimes when I'm planning a multi canvas painting, I will run down into my basement and grab a bunch of assorted sized canvases and just begin by arranging them in all different configurations on my studio floor.  I play around with the layout until I think I've got something that pleases me , as I try to keep in mind the design that I want to create as well being that has a great deal to do with the sizes of the canvas and the layout I have chosen. 

This piece has a very abstract background of different slashing shapes (((( and ))))) .  Many times with my paintings I work with  very wet surfaces and watery paints so I must lay the canvases out flat.  With this piece the varying background colors and shapes were done very wet, while the foreground tree branch was done in a dark, bold...thick black acrylic paint.    

The end result was exactly what I had in mind for this painting when I started it, contemporary, colorful and abstract.  All artists have a varied and unique process for their creations and for me, when I'm doing a multi-canvas painting, I like to play around and arrange things and then experiment with color to determine what the base of my painting will be built on. 

Painting A Butterfly Garden

What has everyone on the east coast been doing these days, aside from dealing with hurricanes?  I cannot answer for everyone else but for me, I've been painting a butterfly garden on gallery canvas.  First though, let me thank my blogging friends who wrote to check on me and my family, it was very kind of you and I appreciated your concern and the time you took to write.  We came through the storm very well at our house, no damage at all, not even enough rain to flood the basement.  We were lucky. 

I know I sure needed a break from thinking about the hurricane so I've been busily painting away this week to finish my latest piece.  "Butterfly Garden" is painted on an 8" h x 24"l x 1 1/2" deep gallery canvas.

It is sometimes the perfect remedy for what is going on around me, things that I cannot control, like hurricanes for instance, to lose myself in a new creative endeavor. 

I have had a few people over the years ask me if I accept layaway for my paintings.  Yes, I do offer layaway and am happy to do so on any piece of artwork.  If you see something you like but would like to pay for it in smaller, more bite size pieces, feel free to contact me and I will tell you all about it.

Things are going well with our house in Orlando as well.  We just had the home inspection yesterday and all went very well.  I wanted to post some inside pictures as the current owners have done a really beautiful job on renovations.  The above is part of the master bath (this is the first time in my life I will ever have had a master bathroom) they installed a beautiful cabinet for the sink, granite counter tops and a lovely mirror.

 

 

 

The master bathroom shower above has gorgeous tile work and it is huge.  The kitchen has granite counters, stainless steel and totally refinished cabinets, with a lovely tile floor.  It is an eat in kitchen (also something I've never had before and am looking forward too) that part of the photo is off to a side we cannot see right now.  It will be fun to show more pictures when we move in months from now but I want to wait as the other parts of the house have the homeowner's decor and furnishings.  I will wait till we have painted and decorated as we would like, before I show the rest.

"Hideaway"

A couple of weeks ago I finished a new painting, "Hideaway".  I've been going through a bit of a birdhouse phase with paintings, whether actually created or still brewing in my imagination so I decided to once again construct a little birdhouse that , this time has been tucked away in a patch of pink climatis and is home to small goldfinch.  I created this painting on a 10" x 10" gallery wrapped canvas.

Thanks to the wonders of photoshop and being lucky enough to live with someone who is skilled in using it, I was able to get the background taken away to offer this piece with a little more variety for art licensing.  Two designs for the price of one so to speak.

First, before I work on the canvas, I start with a sketch that I create on tracing paper.  Once I had my sky background painted in I was then able to trace the design onto the canvas with a minimum of erasing needed.

Here I've just started to get the bare bones of the design painted in.  Before I can work on shading and highlighting, there must be a base to work from.

Slowly and surely layers of color are built ..........

Until finally, an almost complete birdhouse has emerged on the canvas.

The same painstaking process starts with the flowers now, little by little I'm building the color until finally.....the finishing touches can be added.

At this point (and it always happens soooner or later) I either get lazy about taking more photos or I just plain forget and because of that, you will have to jump ahead and view the finished piece.   

This week I got a proof in the mail for my first ever note card and envelope set.  This is a picture of the card unfolded.  The image was cropped to fit a 4" x 6" format and on the back of the card I have all my contact information, website and title of the painting etc....  Really cool to finally see it in person this week and I'm looking forward to getting the box of these finished cards in the mail next week..  I'm starting to work on another batch as well as I know that if I start now, little by little, I will end up with a good supply of different designs in stock.  When we move I want to do craft shows and display paintings, tile trivets, note cards and tile murals created from my artwork.  Our big move is only 8 months away at this point and while we have a while to go yet, time flies by pretty fast and it will be here before we know it.  Next month is house shopping.  (that is what makes it feel like a reality).

Pink Hibiscus In Bloom & The Wonders Of Photoshop

**I'm taking a blogging break for a week or so to finish enjoying some of my vacation time**

This week in my perennial garden the pink hibiscus have started to bloom, they are a summer favorite of mine as they always put on such a pretty show for about 4 weeks during the season.

I use a lot of my black eyed susans that have started blooming for cut flowers to bring in the house and sit on the living room coffee table.

With the black eyed susans, I like to cut them to bring them inside after a good rain or after I have watered, that way I find they will not wilt but will last for many many days.  I also run freezing cold water over the ends of the cut stems, which also seems to help.

The hibisucs I cannot cut and bring in, they wouldn't work as a cut flower but they sure are pretty to look at and photograph each year.

I hope you have beautiful blooms in your own garden each week to look forward to and photograph as they put on their summer show.

Ok, on to wonders that don't have anything to do with nature, this particular one centers around the amazing things that can be accomplished by using Photoshop.  This past week when I submitted "Fair Weather Friends" to my licensing agent Laurie, she asked that I change the types of birds in the painting to better suit what they are needing to make the image more usable for them.  

To keep my original painting in tact I decided to create the chickadee, goldfinch and wren that Laurie asked for on loose sheets of unstretched canvas and insert them into the orginal image by using photoshop.  Above is the goldfinch, I painted this bird leaving out the areas that would be in front of him in the painting, so he could just be slipped in behind  the purple climatis petals.

The end result is a pretty cool variation on my original theme.  The original painting is left in tact and a second digital image is created using the newly painted birds.....the finished product is two very different bird house scenes.  These changes of course did not magically appear with the waving of a wand (I wish) I did the painting and Chris (the husband with the photoshop chops) created the new digital image for me.  He did a great job so thank you photoshop for existing in the first place and thank you husband for all your hard work on this image.