A Hydrangea Wreath In The Making - Part II

I've made quite a bit of progress on my Hydrangea wreath painting since I showed photos of it the last time. When I left off with my progress, the above was the last thing we saw.

I've made a lot more color decisions since then, including the colors of the Hydrangeas themselves. First though I had a lot of fun playing in some very wet paint, swirling and twirling colors all around, to create the multi-colored green background above. I love working with very wet paint and although it takes some time to dry, I like the results I get.

I also decided to use the blue shades I'm working with to fill in the spaces between the grapevine wreath. At this point though I've lost some of the wreath as it got painted over and also, I had wanted to define it and make it more bold.....which leads us onto the next photo to see some of the results........

Here I've reworked the grapevine wreath to make it pop out from the canvas. To do this I used a couple of different browns.

Here I've painted in a few of the leaves...again working with the paint very wet as I was enjoying the results. I've also decided on the color for my largest Hydrangea. It will be a beautiful blue, fully opened bloom. Here I've done some of the basecoating to lay the ground work for the rest of the bloom. My Hydrangeas are a bit time consuming to paint and I use quite a few colors on each one but again, I seem to like this process and most of all, the end result.

This shows the finished bloom...fully painted and detailed. Months ago as I was painting some Hydrangeas, I develped the method I like to use for them and realized it was a bit complicated for me to remember so I wrote everything that I did down, the colors, when I use them, where I use them etc... Now every time I want to paint Hydrangeas, no matter the colors, I always look at my notebook . I find keeping a notebook full of colors, ideas and techniques that I had a good experience with, really works well for me. Sometimes when you have a result that you are happy with you think you will remember how to do it the next time....this just isn't so, not for me anyway, that is why I've started writing things down.

I'm trying to be very diligent about taking photos of this paintings' progress so I'll be posting more as I go along.

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.

Worldwide Miniatures Club

Didn't I say I've been painting some extremely small miniatures these days?? I was contacted several weeks ago by a very nice lady, Joy, from Australia, who found me through my ETSY shop. She is part of a worldwide miniatures club on Yahoo and as the name states, they have members all over the globe.

Joy asked if I would be willing to paint some very small mini's for her club and because I like a challenge and was quite intrigued, I said I would do some work for her.

If I ever thought that eggart was small and hard to work with, I think I have rethought that notion. The spools are a bit difficult to hold and because of the way they curve, a challenging surface to paint on.

The thimbles however, are the biggest challenge because they are just, in a couple of words, super tiny!!! I actually ended up painting the thimbles by sticking them over one of my fingers(after all, that is what they were meant to do) and that made creating the design a bit easier then trying to just hold them in my hand.

So these little ones have been shipped to Australia already and are probably, by now, on their way to their new homes around the world. I will be doing some ongoing work for this club so I'll have more photos to show of new mini's as they are completed.

Tea & Hydrangeas Vintage Ceiling Tin

I just finished painting my latest vintage tin, Tea & Hydrangeas. I decided to do a series of vintage tins with teapots, cups, plates, lace doilies and of course.....florals. I'm calling the new collection: Tea Time.

This one started out by antiquing the whole piece and creating a frame for my table scene by painting the inner edges a soft blue.

I decided on purple and blue Hydrangeas on this one, purple being the Hydrangeas on the cup itself and the blue sitting just inside and next to the teacup.

I thought a gold rim and edging would be lovely on this teacup so I added some gold around the rim, handle and bottom.

The barest indication of some far off blooms can be seen in the upper section, right underneath the vine. I like doing this as I think it really grounds the image.

What would some afternoon tea be without a beautiful vintage doily to go underneath all the lovely tableware?

The next two weeks I'm taking a much needed vacation from painting. I will endeavor to not touch my painting supplies or projects for a full two weeks. It wont prevent me from thinking of new ideas but, I need the break so I can regroup. When I come back I'll be showing some more tea time tins as I just purchased two beautiful old tins, one is gothic and just gorgeous and will really suit this new collection quite well I think.

In the meantime, while I'm on vacation, I'll be taking lots of day trips to great places and will be uploading all my photos of our days away in the week or so to come. After years of wanting a tiny camera that could fit into a purse, I'm getting one. This will enable me to take it everywhere and hopefully get some great shots.

Have a wonderful holiday!!

Butterflies & Hydrangeas Jewelry Box

I'm finding it a bit harder to blog about new artwork lately, with all the gardening I'm doing and new blooms I'm taking photos of, it seems there is always something new appearing outside these days. This is a piece I finished a couple of weeks back, my Butterflies & Hydrangeas Jewelry Box.

This box is actually heavily distressed and antiqued. I really wanted it to have a feeling of being a time worn piece.

I did the antiquing one night after all the painting was done, I was in my kitchen, it was midnight and I was working on this box over the sink. Chris was actually playing a concert so this is when I can sometimes get the most work done in the evenings, the nights that he is working.

I've been on a real butterfly kick these days so I had to add two to this box.

There always has to be a surprise when the box opens so this time, I put a full Hydrangea bloom on the inside upper corner.

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!

Butterflies & Hydrangeas Vintage Shabby Chic Ceiling Tin

I just finished this 12" x 12" Butterflies & Hydrangeas shabby ceiling tin. I'm very pleased with the way this one turned out. I started out by antiquing the tin before laying on the design. It was only my second antiquing experiment and I have to say, I like the technique and I'm pleased with the look it gives the tin and the design.

I've been on a real butterfly kick these days. Who knows how it ever starts, I've just decided I need more butterflies in my life I suppose. You'll see what I mean when you see some of my other recent works....lots of butterflies.

I've also really been perfecting my Hydrangea technique and once again, took notes on how I did everything and what colors I used. You may think it's silly but you don't always remember what you did to achieve a certain effect so when I do something I like or use a color I like, I take notes on how I used it , when I used it and how everything came together. I actually have a notebook with ideas, techniques and colors. I find it very useful to refer back too.

So I decided to paint some of my favorite Hydrangea colors from my own garden, which are blue and lavender/purple.

Keep an eye out for more butterflies flying your way in upcoming posts. I'll be listing this piece some time today on my ETSY site.... http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ .

Honey Bees Everywhere

I recently finished a mailbox & plaque set that I had a ton of fun with. A customer contacted me because she wanted a special mailbox and sign for her family. Her husband is a bee keeper and also sells honey and she wanted a special set of pieces reflecting that passion.

I really wasn't totally sure for awhile how I wanted to approach this design. I had some ideas but nothing had been set into stone. So, when the time came to start the project I asked my husband Chris to print out a font that said "bees" to him. He chose the font you see here. When I saw it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the design, I knew I wanted to take a very whimsical route. So in this particular case, the font gave me inspiration for the design. It isn't the first time that this has happened actually. I painted colorful bees flying all around, trying to fly toward their whimsical little hive. I also decided to do something really fun by painting the black short lines behind the bee......kind of like what I've seen in cartoons in the past, showing where the bee has been flying.