Rachel

Rachel is my name for this lovely lady.  She was making butter at a reenactment in a county park.  I did a series of paintings from this outing.

I love doing figure paintings especially if the subject is busy with activity that tells her story and mine.

Sure was fun and she was having fun too.

Do you know what she was doing?

Pretty Bird

It has been a while since I last posted,  I have been painting a lot and doing a lot of art stuff.  So now it is time to get back to showing my art work.
Art work isn't always painting.  It is thinking art, dreaming art, talking art, sharing art and documenting all that inspires you.

Pretty Bird, I found this beauty living in Butterfly Gardens in Florida.  Besides the challenge of painting a bird with white feathers I had fun trying to get it to talk to us.

Can you see that white really isn't white? That all the surrounding colors actually enhance the beauty of the bird.   I like it.

Just A Few Pots

"Just A Few Pots " is another story about pouring paint. After several attempts to succeed at this process I had an opportunity to demo my new found joy.  Crazy maybe, but it sure was fun.  My policy is do not expect to much and be happy with what you get.
This was done by having the image of the pots sketched on the paper, then I proceeded with the process.  When poured to my liking and dried, I separated the pots and made the work believable. A few embellishments and it was a great evening of entertainment and a learning experience for all.

Remember paint, paint, paint.

It's A Lovely Pour

Isn't it lovely?  This is the result of a pouring of paint that had a mind of its own.  I have fallen in love with the technique and have found the process to be very satisfying as long as I stay focused on the paint doing the work.   I began by choosing three of my favorite colors,  (these change occasionally) . I mix paint and water in a small cup or lid, when this is the right strength, I must remember that I am using lots of water, so the paint needs to be stronger.  I mix each color.  Sometimes I have an image in mind, other times I just pour paint,

This is one that I just started the pour. Wetting the paper completely, just before it loses its gloss I begin the pouring.  Yellow, then Red and last the Blue. After it dries  I can pour again if I need more  density.
The image of the flower just jumped out.  It doesn't always happen that way. When the painting is dry and can determined the image I then began to negative paint around the flower and make my image more believable.
This process is a nice way to stay loose and not be to stressed in the creation of the work.
The best way  to explore  new process is to ask your self "what if".   Love this and have more experiments to share, but that is for tomorrow or another day.
Be Creative, and Be Happy.

JUST ANOTHER IRIS

JUST ANOTHER IRIS,   Oh, I just love Iris and love to paint them.  I have my  husband to thank for all the Iris in the beds and now that they are coming up and will soon be in bloom again, I shall do more Iris.


In surveying the yard and flower beds it looks as though I soon shall have all kinds of good subjects to paint.  In plein aire,  So grab your paints and brushes and get out into that spring time.  Today is beautiful.

To day is a day the Lord has made be glad and rejoice in it.

Vase and Grapes

This is a favorite still life of mine.  I enjoyed the  process very much and all the different textures.  I especially  enjoyed doing the glass and purple is a favorite color of mine.  The white /yellow of the grapes for contrast and the leaf color.  The doily was a crochet piece and the fun of this was just to paint the holes.  There is little to no color in the background,  I have found that in still life sometimes backgrounds seem to make the painting a bit  busy and the subject is lost.  I did however mingle and dribble the paint in the foreground to suggest a table.   I find that to make the subject most interesting, there should be less detail in the surrounding area of the art work.  Experiment with shapes, sizes, textures and color.  Have fun.

Big Wheel

Big Wheel, another painting I took license with. Changing the entire atmosphere and adding lots of my favorite colors.
I found this subject in a dark and damp barn in the Smokeys. We love going there and traveling through Cades Cove.
Everytime, something catches my eye that is causing my creative spirit to flare up.  Don't you just love those colors.

Create!Create! Paint!Paint!

Window View

as I admired the violets that my husband was nurturing in our dinning room window, I thought, "hey here is a painting."  as I pursued the violets the flower bed on the south side of the house came into focus.  With a little artistic license I was able to put it all together,  I like the results of the shadows on the sill and the warm feeling of the sun that comes. through.

I am reminded of a young boy I shared a painting conversation with, I ask him what he painted, he answered, anything I want to. 

Good idea don't you think?

 Be creative, Be happy

Peace In the Wild Places

The fact that art collects in closets, cornors or shelves and most of all  in piles encourages me "sometimes" to do something creative----like blog.  Today I will be sharing from last years trip to Florida.(2011).  Reliving memories as I capture my memory and feeling at that moment.  Letting my creative spirit go wild. At the Everglades we took the tram to the center, I found it to be a wild but peaceful atmosphere.  Gators,  Egrets and Ibus seem to give each their space and live together.  Doing what nature is intended to do.

Enjoy !

Oh! Georgia

OH! GEORGIA
This is a lovely painting that I did a few years ago.  At the time I was inspired by Georgia O'Keffe.

I love the boldness and the contrast.  Received many comments on this one and sold it at a show.