A Little Autumn Whimsy......

My latest vintage ceiling tin was created by request, for a very special reason but more on that in the month of Oct.

I was asked to create a piece that not only said "autumn" but had a touch of Halloween to it as well. I had a couple of ideas in mind for this piece but quickly narrowed it down once I knew the feeling the tin needed to convey. I really wanted this piece to be all about whimsy, hence the name "Autumn Whimsy" Anyway, with that in mind, I knew I had to use my little Chickadee friend and this time, I decided that he should be perched on a lovely orange pumpkin. For a pinch of whimsy, I added a little witch's hat to his head.

For the background I wanted to create almost a grainy effect if I possibly could so I tried out a few different techniques to see if I could achieve that idea.

The leaves I wanted to make almost foil like in appearance, almost as if they are made of delicate colored foil that could crumble in your hand if you are not careful.

The autumn twigs were painted in on one of the very last steps and I think, connect the dots of this theme very well.

This piece and some home decor products made from the image, will soon be listed on my ETSY site.... http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ .

Tea & Roses Gothic Vintage Ceiling Tin

I just finished a new ceiling tin the other day, "Tea & Roses" done on a beautiful old gothic ceiling tin. I have found a few of these beauties and I snatched them right up when I saw them. I'm always keeping my eye out for new tins that will be a beautiful canvas to a new painting. This particular tin is 13 3/4" x 9 1/2".

The tin itself was in beautiful condition and all I had to do before I started painting, was apply a layer of acrylic gesso.

This one called out to me to have a teacup design painted on it so that is exactly what I went for. Each ceiling tin I come across is so different in style, design and architectual interest that no matter what I think I plan on doing, I do let the tin design dictate to me how I should proceed.

Sometimes I change my plans before I even start to paint, as I sit and think about the tin more and more. Other times I change directions while I'm painting or atleast, keep my options open to add something later if I need too. The cup is rimmed in gold and I decided I wanted some sweet little washy roses on the the cup along with some gold accent dots, to create a nice elegant teacup. Underneath the cup, resting on the table, is a piece of vintage lace.

I really wanted a butterfly to rest on the rim of the cup also....maybe the tea drinker is outside, having a tea party and this little butterfly happened to come along....who knows.

Of course framing the piece and adding to what makes this tin special, are the cascading roses, leaves and vines coming from the top and the sides.

In the end, I hope it is a piece that a tea lover as well as a lover of roses will appreciate. I will soon be listing this piece to my ETSY shop and also my website: http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ .

Chickadee & Petunias Vintage Ceiling Tin

My latest vintage tin painting is one of my favorites, it was done on a gorgeous, ornate piece of tin that really caught my eye. The minute I saw it, I had to have it. In fact, I liked it so much that I bought another piece of it last week. The detail on the tin itself is quite incredible and I knew it was full of design possibilities.

I was very inspired by all the lovely flowers I had seen on my Mononk trip and these beautiful pink Petunias were really among my favorites. I showed them a few entries down in my "Inspirational Flowers" post.

I loved the blooms so much that I decided to use them on this tin. I've also been on quite a bird kick these days and have decided to paint lots of them in the future....all different kinds. I've done some Bluebirds over the last weeks/months and decided my next paintings should have Chickadees. This is how I ended up with "Chickadee & Petunias" for the design on this tin.

I hope you will enjoy the detail of the beautiful tin and also, the detail in the painting itself.

This piece is now on my website and ready to go.

Butterfly And Pink Rose Original Acrylic On Canvas

I'm back from vacation and I feel very inspired and excited to start painting again. Sometimes a short break is all I need to recharge the creative batteries. I finished this Butterfly and Pink Rose painting before vacation and just put the final touches on it yesterday and was able to officially call it "completed". This is 8 x 10 acrylic on canvas board and comes with the stand shown.

To me, the best thing about this rose is that it is not currently being munched on by Japanese Beetles, like my own roses are at this very moment. Here in NY, this has been a wicked year for those blasted bugs, I have never seen it so bad before. I'm looking forward to the arrival of August as the beetles will be gone then.

A close up of the butterfly and some of the rose detailing.

Currently this is available on my ETSY site: http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ and will soon be coming to my website. In my next post I'll be showing some outrageously small miniatures. I've been working with a worldwide miniatures club doing lots of custom work and I have to say, it has created some new challenges as well as fun painting experiences for me.

Until next time, stay cool and enjoy summer and stay away from the beetles.

Shabby Chic Pink Roses Jewelry/Trinket box

I finished a brand new jewelry box the other day, I'm having a lot of fun painting these boxes. This one has a soft, large pink open rose and two buds just waiting to open up.

I've put some very washy pinks and greens on top of this light green background, just to give the hint of flowers and leaves in the distance.

The leaves and thorny stem carry around to the side and front of the box.

I'm putting a little surprise on the inside lid of every box I paint.....this one has some leaves.

This piece is available at my etsy shop: www.artfulcreations.etsy.com and will also be listed on my website soon.

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/ .

Rose Garden Pavilion Vintage Shabby Chic Ceiling Tin

I have finished my large ceiling tin, just today actually, I put the finishing touches on it. I'm very pleased with the way this one came out and all in all, it came together rather smoothly for me. I'm going to start you off at the beginning so you can see how the painting progressed.

This is what I started with, a blank and very large 24" x 24" ceiling tin. It is very ornate, with the beautiful wreath motif in the middle and elaborate edging, it really leant itself to a very elegant design with lots of possibilities.

For most everything I did on this tin, I used very wet paint on a dry surface. I sketched on the rose pavilion after my sky and grass areas were painted. Once the building itself was done, I started working on some of the far off rose bushes. Those are done by using lots of wet paint on a wet surface. The paint kind of mingles together and really creates a look of distance.

There wasn't a fence like this on the Vanderbilt property by the rose pavilion (You can refer to my working photo from my March 6th post) but that is the wonderful thing about art, I can change things around to suit my own purposes. I wanted another solid structure in the foreground so I cam up with this weathered fence. I love fences, walls and stone so don't be surprised if you see more of them in the future. I think they are beautiful architectural elements and can be used in so many different way.

I really needed something solid in the foreground to go next to the soft scape material I was putting in on the left side, they balance each other nicely. These roses, while still vague, are not like their relatives a little further back in the scene, they are starting to take some shape at this point. Again lots of wet paint on a wet background, with just a bit more of a definate shape.

I added lots of shading at the bottom of the scene, it really needed it, the darker color really anchors the scene down.

Didn't I tell you there would be a blue bird?? I didn't lie, there he is at the top of the scene, but outside of the scene , a nice large bird, pirched on his branch. I had a lot of ideas on how to approach this painting and this particular idea, believe it or not, came to me one day as I was vacuuming the bedroom carpet. : ) I wanted to create some elements outside of the rose garden scene, that were large and spilling into and out of the landscape.

At this point, I wanted to give the grassy area more of a pathway look to it so I added some lavender, pale blue and white for a lot more character and color.

To finish off the piece, I added 2 pink roses, spilling down on the lower part of the tin, cascading out of the scene. I think they balance with the blue bird nicely and both the roses and bird, I think, give the tin added dimention.

A close up of the little blue bird. I actually fussed over this little guy for quite a while, until I got him just the way I wanted him.

Ok, I lied, I wasn't quite done......I decided after a day of standing and looking at this tin from across the room that it needed something more. I had already, early on, painted the wreath shape in the middle, a nice clean white and I really liked the way that contrasted with the cream colored tin. I decided to do the same with the 2 outer borders as well.

Chris told me after that to just follow the KISS principal (keep it simple stupid), I had never heard that one before. Still, I don't know, it needed a bit more so I took a blue/gray color and did a dry brush effect around the two outer borders, most darkly though, around the edges. I'm glad I did it because I really like the way it looks now.

At this point I've got some orders to work on so, until next time.........

Rose Garden Pavilion

The above photo was taken last summer at the Vanderbilt Mansion here in Hyde Park NY. We try to go once or twice a year, even if we don't tour the house, the grounds are amazing. This particular day was 95 degrees and we very smartly decided not to tour the house with all the rest of humanity and no air conditioning, but instead, opted for a walk through the gardens and then on to one of our favorite Italian restaurants . Some day I will post more pictures from this trip but if you would like to see more of Frederick & Louise Vanderbilt's little shack, you can visit: www.nps.gov/vama . This is a photo of the rose garden pavilion, the gardens on the Vanderbilt estate are just gorgeous and the rose garden itself is huge.

So what does the rose garden pavilion above, have to do with this really beautiful, large 24" x 24"ceiling tin I received in the mail a few weeks ago??? Any ideas?? Hopefully in a few more posts, you'll get to see.

Red Red Roses Vintage Shabby Chic Ceiling Tin

My newest piece, done on an antique ceiling tin, it measures 12 x 12. I had decided I needed to paint some luscious red roses for this one.

The rose to the right is a softer red and in fact, has many shades of red spread throughout. I also wanted to make this rose have a sunny look to it so I've added pale yellow to some of the petals. I was looking through a gardening catalog at the time and there are so many shades and varieties of red roses. I think that was my inspiration for the top rose.

With the rose on the left, I wanted to create a deeper more sultry look. I again used many shades and variations of red for the base and shading colors. There is some pink in there as well and I used white to make the rose "pop".

I've also got some greenery coming up underneath the blooms and as you can see, it starts outside my painting area and goes upward. Lots of light pink and white swirls in the background, perhaps they are vague roses you cannot really see. If you look around the border of this piece, I've also heavily distressed it to give it a time worn look.

It is now available on my ETSY site: http://www.artfulcreations.etsy.com/ . I hope this piece gets your thinking about your garden. Enjoy!!!