A Work In Progress....Completed!!!

My Chickadee and Petunias faux window is now completed. I did drop the ball on some part of this but I will get to that in just a second. This piece was painted on a deep gallery style canvas that is 1 1/2" in depth and measures 16" x 20" in overall size. I love painting on gallery canvas because as you'll see below, the canvas has no staples around the sides, they are clean and smooth, allowing for the design to be carried around to each side. This of course means...you need no frame, which is something I love about this style of canvas.

The above photo is where we left off in my last post about this painting. The flowers at this point have all been completed, the sky and background are done and the bird is the next thing that needs to get finished. I also started the window panes at this point as well..... just laying the base coat in.

Well, here is where the bad part comes in.....I had honestly meant to take more photos of the window panes in progress since my last post but as you can see, I got so carried away painting that I went straight from the second picture you see in this post, to the finished piece. Since you missed so much of the window panes, I will tell you that it was a detail oriented and time consuming process that I used 4 different colors to complete. I wanted the window frame to look as if it was old and chippy , the white paint fading and chipping off to reveal the wood color underneath. I also liked this frame so much because I love the contrast between the dark and light areas, giving it depth and dimension.

Here you can see a close up of the little chickadee and some of the shading and highlighting on the window frame.

All sides are fully painted to give the illusion of an actual window. I hope you've really enjoyed the window process and I promise next time to not forget to take pictures towards the end.

A Work In Progress....

I'm sometimes asked by people where my inspiration comes from, where it starts and how I develop each individual piece as I go along. I recently started a new painting and I thought it would be fun to show it from the beginning stages, not only the first brush strokes but the concept for the work itself.

Many times, it all starts with photographs I've taken....then an idea takes root in my brain and I start mulling different concepts over and over in my mind. Sometimes they turn into paintings and sometimes they get put on the back burner for another time. You may remember the above photos from the summer, I really fell in love with the beautiful pink Petunias I saw and I took many photographs of them.

In fact, those pink Petunia's led me to paint this ceiling tin.....one of my favorite tins that I've ever painted. Seeing those pretty pink Petunia's inspired me to take lots of photos....reviewing the photos got lots of design possibilities brewing in my mind and that eventually led me to the design of my Chickadee and Petunia's on vintage ceiling tin painting.

I purchased this deep, 16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas weeks ago and actually bought it with something totally different in mind to create on it. As I looked at it more and more I decided to put my original idea on hold and came up with something totally different instead. I've always loved painting faux windows and have done a few different kinds but none on gallery canvas yet. I also really loved the above Chickadee and Petunia's that I painted and wanted to rework and expand that concept into something else. That is when I decided to create a faux window using that design as a spring board for a new idea. This photo above shows the very beginning stages of work, the window panes have been drawn on, the design sketched out and the beginnings of the sky have been started. Also to the left, you can see the remnants of my daily caffeine pick me up. : )

Here you can see more of the sky completed and the ground work for the background greenery has been painted in as well.

Here I've started to create the pink Petunia's. I still might go back later when everything is finished and tweak the sky and background greenery...for now though, I will leave it as is and keep moving forward with the design. I'll be showing more progress on this painting as the days go by, each step, little by little, unit I reach the final product. I hope you've enjoyed the process so far.

In an effort to expand and try new experiences, I'm doing something I've never done before by exhibiting and selling my vintage ceiling tin artwork at the hair salon that I've been going to for so many years now. I went by yesterday to hang up a bunch of my pieces!! The owner is someone I've known for many years and he is very kind to let local artists exhibit and sell their work there.

There is still time to sign up for the egg art giveaway, just leave a comment on the post below to enter. A name will be drawn from my kitchen mixing bowl on the evening of Nov 11th. I will post the winner on the morning of Wed the 12th....good luck everyone.

Treetop Chickadee Vintage Ceiling Tin, Note Cards & A Blog Break

I finished my latest vintage Ceiling tin , Treetop Chickadee, it measures 12" x 12" and comes ready to hang on your wall with a hook on the back. When I first saw this antique tin, I really fell in love with it because it was so intricate in design and well, just plain different from anything I had purchased before, I knew I had to have it.

With the embossed design covering the whole of the tin, it was quite challenging to decide what exactly I should paint on this one that would compliment the tin design.

I mulled over several design choices in my head for a few days, really unsure what to do. If I decided on a complicated and intricate design, I ran the risk of making this tin look like a crowded expressway at rush hour. : )

More so then any other tin I've painted so far, my design had to be something that complimented and flowed with the lovely pattern already on the tin. As I sat and studied the tin, it occured to me that the tin pattern kind of reminded me of a treetop somewhere high in the sky, lots of vines and branches twisting around. Maybe this treetop was so high up that you couldn't see it, you could only imagine what it really looked like.

This is when I was able to finalize the design and settled on a little chickadee perched high up in a treetop. I created some flowers, leaves and vines to coordinate with the design already on the tin. I painted in some of the embossed areas of the tin, with light blue and light green, to give it a very whimsical and natural feel. This little guy is now available on my ETSY site and my website as well.

I've also started to create a line of note cards from my vintage tin images, the first two designs can be seen on my ETSY site @ http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ . They are a set of 10 blank note cards, with 10 envelopes in each package.

Last but not least, I'm taking a blogging break for just a little while to embark on quite a big adventure.... I will be going with my friend and her family to visit the Grand Canyon and some lovely parks out west. I'm leaving this week and will return the week of Oct 9th, no doubt with tons of pictures to show you from my grand adventure. I will be away from my computer for the week but Chris will be here caring for the 3 Tzus while I'm gone and he will keep me posted on what is happening in the land of the internet . Until next time....