Geraniums

I really enjoy painting geraniums....  I did this design a couple of years ago and it is one of my favorites because of its simplicity....  I enjoy painting with a black background,,,,,and I was really surprised at the mat I chose for this piece....  I had bright red, light orange, green and this one.....  

Once again Portrait grade hand wrapped canvas board 4" x 6 "  Liquitex paints, and my good ole' faithful Dynasty Brushes....  in "tiny" sizes.





Geranium Photo Inspiration


I see so many different colors in this geranium bloom.......I think that this is why I love dirty brush painting..... it allows the variations to "happen" in a more natural, subtle way when one is reaching for realism impressionistic which is the style I find more comfortable....  The use of a dry brush also helps...vs a flat or an angle or even a filbert ... although I could see a different effect using a filbert rake that would also be pretty..... same thing dirty brush or multiple color loads...  FUN.

New Painting ..... Gnome


This was sooooo much fun to paint.....

Line drawing from a vintage painting book by Don Weed.  I saw several I want to paint.
Because there aren't any "real" painting instructions I got to pick my own palette of colors so that was a fun challenge..... I like to "ad lib" when I am painting....adding something here or there, not using an element, matting, background colors, etc.   etc.  and is basically the do it yourself  technique  that motivated Don Weed to do the book the way he did....interesting concept that I totally agree with.......

Liquitex Paints
Dynasty brushes (Dry brushes)
Handmade/hand stretched portrait grade canvas 8" x 10"...


Birthday Jewelry


Jewelry bracelet and earring set I just finished for a birthday gift.
The blue and white lamp work in the bracelet was made by my daughter and the Yorkie charms are from her Etsy store:   (www.dragynsfyre.etsy.com)
The dog bones are also handmade lamp work but I am not sure just who the lamp work artist was for these pieces....but they sure are cute.....  Work great with the dog charms for the earrings.

I enjoy the relaxation that comes from jewelry designing......

INSPIRATION


I had an acquaintance who always thought she had to "go somewhere" or "do something" in order to be motivated, inspired,  feel good, etc.   etc.  etc.      Beautiful, serene surroundings help but if you don't have what you need "inside" the only thing that "might" happen are flowery words that have no depth...they are just illusionary words....and it shows.

My inspiration comes from within and many times is something that just happens..... and I don't even HAVE to leave home.   The skeleton fisherman was a gift Michelle gave her Dad......the rusty fish stake I picked up at an art show here in Bend somewhere down through the years, and the chair with no seat is probably something my husband picked up because he liked the way it looked....and put together it becomes kinda "neat".  I think I am going to take a few more photos that are better of the skeleton and this just might be one of my next paintings.....

Just got an order of Liquitex soft body paints in colors I didn't have and ones I used a lot and was "out of"...  I ordered a Copper Metallic that will be perfect for the rusty tin items,,, and a Silver Metallic that will work great for the tin tub.....

So go within.......

New Painting





I learned quite a few different things...things I guess maybe I always knew because I did them...but these times I paid more attention to "detail".   Emotionally as well as visually as I painted this, and the prior painting......

In my newest painting it didn't come CLOSE to being what I had envisioned when I began.  It was to be a larger (8 x 10") of the one I finished which is shown directly below this post..... and I just sat and painted....didn't plan, didn't think ahead, just painted and it just seemed to materialize.  

With this painting I used ; I think,  5 colors .... my good ole' standby Dynasty Foliage and Dry Brushes in their Designer series, the Soft Body Liquitex paints in artist grade... (comes in a small jar (my preference) or a tube.  The paints are more of a velvety look ....  not matte or satin and far from glossy finish.  The look with Liquitex is the look that I personally prefer...plus I know the QUALITY is there in the paints.  The canvas I use is artist portrait grade hand wrapped boards and the Liquitex on these canvas pieces is perfect coverage the first time.  

With landscapes; although there is a wide range of shades;;;; and there are highlights it is not the labor intensive shading and highlighting from decorative painting days..... BUT.... the same wonderful technique guidelines are used so we still touch base with our roots in painting...or in anything creative we might do...

My brushes.....  I LOVE the Dynasty designer series as well as a few of the IPC brushes for foliage,,, and once again I am finding I use the dry brushes as a regular brush because I like the look I get....but I have my favorites in the Eye of the Tiger brushes, and their liner brushes....  For me it all just works together and for me that is half the battle....using what wors and what gives me the results, I am looking for.  I have to please myself before I can expect to please others....  

When I used to teach I let my students use whatever brushes they wanted after they began to paint more on their own...as well as the sizes they used....  Each one had a different little quirk to their painting style......the only time I would make suggestions was if they were "stuck" then I would let them try my brush if it was different or a different size, etc. from what I had that I used until they found what worked and gave them the look they were wanting.  I learned so much from those students.....  

When I was finishing up the painting in the prior post I realized the difficulty some would have as they painted an 8 x 10 canvas using a 4 x 6 photo........  They only thing that picture provides that is concrete is inspiration.....   or having a good eye and be able to transfer a small tree to a larger tree, add the foliage and get all of the other size features correct in miniature.....Some times it is important to me to be exact enough to have someone know where the landscape originated from and sometimes it is totally different from the photo........ artist choice(s).... and it is fun to take the journey when you don't know what you will encounter along the way or exactly where you will end up.... 

This painting has in it everything I love about scenery and a LOT of technique work.    TREES (especially dead trees, birch, pine trees,)  FOG or MIST, BUSHES, The MOON, 
WATER, SHADOWS and HIGHLIGHTS, REFLECTIONS, IMPRESSIONISTIC BORDERINGS ON REALISM,  CLOUDS, DEPTH, MYSTERY, IMAGINATIVE, and hopefully lures the viewer into the feeling within the painting itself....  

I am pretty sure this painting is DONE.......it Feels done...  I made a lot of corrections along the way to the finish line...  Whoops, no it isn't.  The last thing I will do is to flyspeck the entire piece,,, more heavily in the water with DecoArt Americana Glamour Dust Paints in ICE CRYSTAL.... one of my very favorite speciality paints.  Just a little so that you always have to take a second look to see if you really DID see that little bit of sparkle.....

I "thought" this was "done"....  lol....   Last night I pulled some really old painting books from Bonnie Seaman, Milton Lenoir,  Joyce Beebe, Gene Waggoner....some of my favorite old classic artists and in one of them was a similar water scene with a canoe moored to the bank...so....  I  drew a canoe the size I needed, and placed it on my painting to see first "if" I liked it..... and I do so later today, tonight or tomorrow a canoe is going in the design.....   Since the painting is pretty monotone....it will add just a burst of color that may (or may not) make a big difference in the finished piece.....????





I personally think that the mat is just as important as the painting....and even the choice in a frame.  
When I sell this it will be matted but I will leave the framing to the buyer.....   The colors in the bottom one are pretty close to what the painting really looks right....but then again it was taken at night under artificial light....   

OUTSIDE my BOX




Sometimes it is fun to go outside the box......in what you can do....to try something you haven't ever done just to see if you can, if you like it and if it is something you want to do again....based on what you may have learned.....  I am not sure whether I like just the graphite drawing....OR do I like it with color?  Personally,,,,I  think just the graphite has the higher vote.......but yet I want more so I have to ponder options....  Will I sit and draw another?  Who knows.....  I do think that I want to do a white on black paper....  I love black for a background....everything pops so I am thinking maybe a winter scene......  No promises to myself....just whenever....    This was drawn on a white watercolor card....so someone will get this ....

Off to canvas and acrylics............ and I THINK it is going to be a winter scene but I am often SURPRISED the way the path takes me.... it could end up being a summer scene....






Necklaces New






DESIGNED AND MADE BY "ME"


Photo #1.         Sea Shell from Florence, Oregon
Photo #2.         Polymer Clay focal (using one of the rubber stamps I sell on Etsy)
Photo #3.         Jasper Gemstone

Landscape Painting (Done)



A few posts down I took a photo of this "in progress"  ...  I think that it is done but it will set on an easel for a week or so where I can see it several times a day....and after a week or so I can say DONE or make changes...till I fell it is done....part of the journey....  When I finished I flyspecked Ice Crystal Americana Glamour Dust paints on the water areas of the painting...just a dos a touch more realism... These paints are my favorite embellishment and I find I use them on just about every painting I do anymore....



Now, I am done......went in and highlighted the pine tree as it was too dark.... too much all one color.........


The Soul Spirit of CITRA ART



I love doing Citra Art....  I love the mystery of it.  Watching what happens happen...as you watch your Negative come to life and become something totally different from what it was, and yet the same...  Sometimes I get "things" that just aren't anything.....at least to me;  but then there are others; like this one that somehow speaks to me....  As a youngster I loved those puzzles where you had to find hidden items in a picture,,,,I still find myself drawn when I see one....so I guess that is one reason why I like this art form ....

I don't give to it....it gives to me....  I am just the tool that applies what is needed to make the magic happen..... but still so much fun....  I haven't done any for a year or so ....  think it is something I need to add to my agenda of   TO DO SOON  and see what develops......

They are kinda like the INK BLOTS of the 60's.... It is fun to think and study and use my brain in the brainless days of "push a button" we now experience .....to form my OWN personal conclusion...based solely on me....my perception...


1. MATURITY (Thought for the week)



MATURITY IS LEARNING TO WALK AWAY FROM PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS THAT THREATEN YOUR PEACE OF MIND, SELF RESPECT, VALUES, MORALS OR SELF WORTH...  (author unknown)

I am going to ponder this for a week of meditative thoughts....it will be interesting to see what comes from it.  They weren't just words I was reading but words that kinda jumped out and grabbed me as something that deserved some "time" in life ....  lessons to be learned, wisdom to gain, peace for my soul,,,,who knows what it will bring into my life this week....??


Walking away and not looking back is hard.....I have had to realize that everyone that comes into anothers'  life brings joy or teaches us a lesson....sometimes we get lucky and we get both in positive ness....but when it brings a little tug at the heart we have to continually remind ourselves that everything happens for a reason and we can fight it or we can accept....  acceptance doesn't always come easy....and it is something you may  have to continually reaffirm in your own heart mind with no resentment, anger, or dwelling in the emotion......  Growth....  Lessons learned...  Illusion vs Reality .....  and even at 70 MATURITY....


STENCILS



I have never been much to use stencils....probably because I have never played with them, or thought about them in a creative way....  BUT....  I purchased some new stencils from my wholesaler and before I put them in my Etsy site I wanted to see how one was to "work with".  Sometimes things look nice ....  but they aren't.  WELL THESE ARE....and I love the way it worked on this piece of dark turquoise blue card stock and the Americana Glamour Dust Paint in Ice Crystal.....I LOVE these paints and I use them more than I do paint....lol....  I am already wondering just how awesome this stencil would be on GLASS.......  using Etching medium, or one of the other Gallery Glass paints as the stencil material....  I have some curved beveled glass so I am going to have to give it a try and see what happens....and will report back with a photo or photos when done...IF it looks good......but I think it will.... An artists visionary ........

But back to the stencils....NICE....I am pleased with this one anyway so know the others will follow suit as an artists eye begins to see the exact use for a tool....I LOVE tools...

Check out my Etsy site....there are 3-4 of these stencils as I test out the water(s) so to speak before I commit to other design stock.

ARTIST:  Kasia Krzyminska  also known as Ckeoczna or Czeko is from Warsaw, Poland and is a 22 year old pharmacist during the day and an artistic soul when she is home....  Check out her blog at:
www.czekoczyna.blogspot.com

Landscape Painting Acrylic (In Progress)


IN PROGRESS PAINTING....

On Facebook Annette Dozier has a painting group......she is one of my FAVORITE landscape artists....and I admire her work so much....  On the site group someone posted a photo of a landscape and I decided that I wanted to paint it just to see how mine would vary from the actual photo and using it more for inspiration than "copy".....  I freehand paint when I am doing a landscape and I love it because no 2 will be alike....there will be a variance in design, colors used, and maybe in actual content..and I love that it takes the "pressure" off of the artist.....we don't HAVE to copy.... we can change whatever we want, for whatever reason we want....and we will learn so much along the way as we journey through the piece.....  I have 2 more trees to add to this....one will be a dead tree and the others have foliage.....  I also need to work on the tree shadows in the water but I want to wait now until I have the trees totally done....  I love the way the clouds turned out ....  and that the water looks wet like water should.......
 So far I have used:
Parchment
Hookers Green
2 Blues
Black
Titanium White
Turners Yellow
in Liquitex soft body paints which more and more are the paints I grab the most ,....., especially when I do landscapes....  My brushes were the DYNASTY IPC and Designer Series brushes and my canvas is a handmade  5 x 5  portrait grade canvas board...

I wanted so badly to finish this tonight because things were flowing well but I decided to stop and finish the rest next "session"

When I am done with the painting portion I will use the Americana Glamour Dust Ice Crystal paint to fly speck the water area...just that little bit of bling that will create even more realism....

Steampunk Mixed Media $146.00


NOW THIS WAS FUN.
The focal steampunk portion was and purchased from the Etsy Vendor Clarissa Callesen from WA
www.ClarissaCellesen.etsy.com

The little plastic charms are vintage Cracker Jack toys
This will be going on my Etsy site for sale.....
I have to put on my thinking cap for other focals and "tidbits" for the next one......


Orange Tub

 Just finished planting this in an area I can see when I sit on my porch for total enjoyment.  Love the oranges,,,,,

Floral Drop Painting (COMING SOON)


I saw a floral picture that I just loved on Facebook so I am going to use it as inspiration for a painting.
This is the background...and I am thrilled with it.

I used:
Liquitex Soft Bodied Paints   (3 Colors)
IPC Dynasty Brushes
Portrait grade hand wrapped canvas board.

I have NO idea if one would be able to obtain the same results with other paints/brushes/surfaces....I can only vouch for what I prefer and what gives ME the results I want in what I paint.  I do know that I have been using these products for the past 8 years and have no desire to make any product changes.....  When something works why change it?  Change only when it "doesn't" work.  

Hopefully I will find time to work on and complete this painting by this time next week....have several florals  I want to do  with the same type of a background but just a couple of colors....
Will use the same paints, (different colors) same portrait grade canvas boards (but different sizes) and brushes.  Will be adding a couple of different brushes from the Dynasty line for the floral portions and I already know they are going to work perfect for what I want to achieve.

Maybe I should put out a floral kit that contains pattern/instructions/supply list and vendor list for paints ....  canvas and brushes....     hmmmmmm.  Any feedback?

I LOVE FREEZIN' FOG DAYS

I LOVE FREEZIN' FOG DAYS
Freezing fog on a pine tree bough.