First Day Of Spring.....

My newest painting was finished this past week, my last one for a while.  My studio is being cleaned, sorted through and boxed up over the next week or so.  It is amazing how much junk I found and also located things I've been looking for as well.  Too many art supplies and too little time I guess.  I probably will not be getting back to painting until July as we'll have things to do on our new house that we want to take care of right away (to actually make sure we do them) and also, we want to spend some time driving around and doing things in our new area, to get to know everything and have a bit of fun as well.

Last week we finished all the odds and ends in the basement and I stumbled upon a bit of a surprise. 
I found our old coffee table buried under a pile of boxes that had accumulated over it through the years ( I knew about the boxes so that was no shock ) but the coffee table had quite a pile of nuts on it.....yes, nuts and nuts mean that there was a squirrel in my basement at some point enjoying a meal.  I'm so glad he left before I could run into him down there, I would have screamed my head off.  We're leaving NY for Orlando on June 12 and while most of the work is done, there are still some things to sort through.  Hopefully no more squirrel surprises though.....yuk.

Anyway, this little chickadee is 6" x 6" on gallery canvas and the bird, tree and greenery are all done with stucco for extra texture. 

Sun Drenched Irises......

"Sun Drenched Irises" is the latest piece to roll out of my studio this week.  I really love bearded irises and wanted to create another painting of sunny colored flowers this time around.  I decided on the very pretty yellow / orange shade and got to work on my canvas.  This one measures 16" h x 8" w and is 1 1/2" d.

The blooms and leaves are once again done in stucco so you can see and feel the texture, which I'm really liking these days. 

The rest of the week was spent doing a bit of work around the house , still purging junk but at this point, we are almost finished with that end of it, which is a really good feeling.  Also trying to get out there and enjoy some spring weather too, nothing like a good walk to clear the cob webs.

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