She had no Words

I try to stay organized with all of my work, but every once in a while I forget about a piece and neglect to blog about it. When I was setting up our WEST show I found two such pieces. This is one of them.

"She had no Words"

Original available here for $30.

12"x9" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.) 

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Dream

"Dreams at first seem impossible,

then seem improbable, and finally,

when we commit ourselves,

become inevitable."

-Mahatma Gandhi

"Dream"

12"x9" on acid free paper, unframed

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Floating Just Below the Surface

There are days that leave you feeling like you are floating just below the water's surface...struggling for a breath that may never be attained.

Through October 20th I will be donating 50% of my original art sales to the Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL), Texas 21 Chapter. More information may be found here. Let's make the climate great again!

"Floating Just Below the Surface"

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Beauty

I think I'm getting the hang of stopping working on a piece long before I initially visualized that it would be finished. Incompleteness, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I think she's beautiful as she is.

"Beauty"

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Recalibrating

I've had some interesting things in my life lately that, well, most definitely weren't on my list of expected events. I've found myself recalibrating just as my GPS would recalculate were I to suddenly go off route, adjusting by making a new path. One tiny interesting thing happened today involving the painting below. I'd had it on top of the shoe rack in our bedroom for a couple of weeks, always intending to get to the "hanging up" part. This morning it fell forward (not for the first time) and toppled to the floor. I committed right then and there that I'd wire it and hang it on the bedroom wall by the end of the day. Well I just picked it up, took it to the table to start the wiring process, and I noticed a tear in the canvas. Not much of a tear...just an inch or so...but a tear none-the-less. It bothered me at first. A LOT. And just a few seconds later it didn't. Not even a little bit. Painting route recalibrated.

P.S. Let me know if you'd like to have this slightly ripped painting...cheap. Really, the tear just adds character!

"Recalibrating"

All works are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by the artist.

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Owning his Chaos" Part 5

As it's getting cooler here, the pile of blankets on the couch is getting a lot of use. Mixed deep in the middle of the pile is a soft, fleece, covered-in-skulls Snuggie. Well, Dave discovered the Snuggie the other night...and they were inseparable. Once he figured out how to wear it, that is.


I finished this painting. I forgot to take any photos of the last stages, so here's the completed painting.

"Owning his Chaos"

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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"Owning his Chaos" Part 4

The little guy is going to an end-of-season football banquet tonight. He's wearing his first ever suit and has a spankin' new haircut. And he is rocking' it. I do believe I heard him say, "I look good." And I concur.


I continued working on my painting today. I used india ink which is so great to work with.

I used india ink to go over the lines.

I added lines where I hadn't had them before.

I used water on a brush to spread some of the
india ink around and to blur it.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Owning his Chaos" Part 3

Apparently you can teach an old dog (me) new tricks. At the age of forty-eight I had never used the preheat function on an oven. My little guy, at the age of seventeen, consistently uses it.


Little guy: "Mom, look at the biscuits I made. They're perfect."

Me: "How did you get them to cook so perfectly? Mine never turn out like that."

Little guy: "This button right here." And he showed me the preheat button.


Aha! Consider this new trick officially learned.



We had a lovely show/sale today! Thank you to everyone who came by to see us! I was able to get just the tiniest bit done today during a lull.

I filled in the background with some color.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Owning his Chaos" Part 2

Whew! I'm blissfully exhausted after working at my teaching job all day and then being part of an artists' market all evening. Dave and I loved seeing everyone who came by. We so appreciate all the wonderful conversations and feedback and, gosh, the lovely people who welcomed our art into their homes.

Looking forward to more wonderfulness tomorrow. Please stop by if you didn't have a chance to tonight.


I was able to get just a tiny bit done on my painting this evening when there were a couple of short lulls.

I painted over the charcoal with white paint.
It blended with the charcoal to make a lovely gray.

I began adding a second color.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

"Owning his Chaos" Part 1

I've just started a new class in the Studying Under the Masters series I'm taking. This one is inspired by Brett Whiteley. I'd never heard from him and he is fascinating. I so, so, so love being exposed to artists that are new to me. I've been super busy tonight doing last minute invites to and buying yummies for my and David's show/sale this weekend. (Please come! We'd so love to see you!!!) So that on top of watching videos for this lesson left just a bit of time to just get started. I decided to use charcoal, though that was not the media suggested. It just felt right to me.

This is just a two or three minute sketch.
Excited to work on this more tomorrow.
Not sure where it'll take me. Maybe I'll
paint it...who knows?!?! 

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I'd love to hear from you...feel free to leave me a comment.

Stepping into Frida's Mind...Beauty, Strength, Pain, and Joy - Part 4

It was an incredible experience painting this. Part of the painting process was learning about Frida's life both before and after her accident. I think that with more than any other painting I've done I felt compelled to do her justice. To show her beauty, strength, pain, and joy. During the process of painting her I noticed that she started as a young Frida and with layer upon layer I embedded her life experiences. Makes me think of the lines and shadows on my own face and the stories they contain within them. I looked at my reflection this evening and honored my own experiences...the beauty, strength, pain, and joy.


Here is my finished piece. And, yes, I added to the name of this painting. It's a painter's prerogative.

"Stepping into Frida's Mind...Beauty, Strength, Pain, and Joy"

And here are the last few stages.

I decided that her lips needed a redo. They
were too close to her nose. I also did
some work on her right eye.

I redid her lips, added yellow to her dress,
and began working on the details of her ear.

I painted in the circle on her forehead. It's
a scene with a skull. Frida's painting is titled
"Thinking about Death".

I worked on the tones of her face
and lowered her chin.

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Stepping into Frida's Mind - Part 3

I was sooooooo excited yesterday. I got a set of steak knives for FREE from a grocery story I shop at. (Ironic, I know, since I don't eat meat.) I've been collecting stamps every time I make a purchase and I finally had enough stamps in my booklet to trade them in for the knives. It reminded me of being in charge of sticking all those Green Stamps in the booklets when I was a kid. I think my parents were onto something making their kid lick all that nasty gum on the back of the stamps and making me feel ever so special at the same time.

Well, what I realized after I got home with my FREE knives is that said knives actually cost me $700 in groceries. I seriously earned those knives! And you know what? I'm already saving stickers again because I totally want some kitchen shears. And they'll only cost me $300 in groceries!

...ah, the sweet anticipation.....


I continued working on my Frida painting. To me she's looking like a young Frida. I need to work on her a bit to allow the truth of her pain and life experience to shine through. That will be an emotional process and I'm looking forward to it.

I painted her hair black and worked
 on her eyes and eyebrows. I also
darkened the shadow by her dress
and outlined her neck and shoulders.

I added a layer of skin color which lightened
the shadow by her shirt. I also gave her
eyes a bit of sparkle.

More darkening of her skin.

I did the first layer of paintin the leaves.

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Stepping into Frida's Mind - Part 2

I've had new glasses for a couple of weeks now. And get this...not one person has noticed. I guess they're a lot like my old ones. When I was choosing them I suppose change must've seemed scary. Anyway, I took them in today to get them adjusted. They weren't being very kind to the top of my ears. The very nice glasses lady took them, sat down to work with them, and SNAP! Yup, they broke.


Me: "No problem. I can go all dork style and wear them with tape holding them together."


She didn't let me do that, of course, though the prospect had my inner geek a little excited, I must admit. She found another pair that my lenses fit in pretty well and off I went...more hip than dorky, unfortunately.


I continued working on this painting. I'm really enjoying the process with this one.

I started working on some flesh tones. The
original painting seems to have a yellowish
tint to her skin so I'm leaning that direction,
but perhaps I went a bit too yellow. It's just the
first layer. I decided I didn't like her right eye
so I got rid of it. 

After reworking the right eye I decided that I
didn't like either eye. Off they went!

I redid the eyes and I think I'm getting closer,
though don't be surprised if they go again. I
worked a bit on her face,a shadow by her
shirt, the hairline behind her ear, and her eyebrows.

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Stepping into Frida's Mind - Part 1

I'm the mom of a high school football player. As such I find myself watching a sport that I'd never in a million years intentionally lay eyes on. Mind you I only watch the game when he's on the field. And by watch, I mean peer through my fingers, wince, and cross my fingers and toes that he doesn't get hurt, all the while aware that I am utterly and completely clueless about any rules of the game.

I talked with my little guy after his last game.


Me: "I was watching you play and I realized that all of you on the field actually want to play."

Little guy: "Uh, yeah, mom."

Me: "Whenever I got on the field when I was a kid I spent my whole time hoping that the ball (or whatever) never, ever headed my way. You're not like that at all."

Little guy: "When were you on the field?"

Me: "In P.E. class."

Little guy: "That wasn't a choice, mom. Everyone on the football team is choosing to be there because we all want to play."

Me: "Oh...."


I think I get it, sort of. I guess it's like how I absolutely love creating art each and every day and my kid hated creating art in the art class he had to take at school. Choice is an awesome thing.


I started a new painting. In the class I'm taking we're now studying Frida Kahlo. I am so excited! I find her absolutely fascinating. Excited to make an attempt at stepping into her painting mind.

I quickly sketched "Thinking About Death".

I added more details and worked on lowering
her left eye so they'd be more even as they
were in the original painting.

I roughed in the background. I'm so excited
to start painting this!

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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At Times I Wait - Part 4

I often put things in my phone that I don't want to forget. I'm always on the lookout for something blog worthy that life (mostly with my family) provides. Last night Dave and I were driving to our little guy's football game and one such worthy thing came up. I quickly typed it in and then went about my evening. So tonight I pulled up the note and I can't for the life of me remember the context of the quote. This happens to me a lot. Here's what was in my note.


Me: "Oh, do you know something?"

Dave: "I've forgotten more things than you've ever known."


Well, I'm thinking I may have just topped my lovely husband in the forgotten department...though somehow I suspect there was a tad bit of an insult in what he'd said. Hooray for selective memory!


And I finished this painting! And I titled it! Here is "At Times I Wait" and below it are the last few stages.  Up close she looks all textured and "blotchy" but at a distance she looks clear and precise. I love that!

"At Times I Wait"

Yup, I decided that her face was all wrong and
I painted over it. I love when that happens!

I'd decided that her face/head had been too small
before so I worked on creating a larger head.

I worked on the details and the shadows.

I added some hair color and some tone to her
face. I wasn't going for precision with this one.
I wanted it to be a bit rough looking. Near the
end I got so absorbed in the painting that I forgot
to take additional photos. 

 Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Untitled - Part 3

I think I must be pretty happy to please. Oh, and maybe a bit easy to displease as well. Today I called our dentist, the one we've used for over fifteen years, hoping to get an teeth cleaning appointment sometime before the end of the year. Well, gosh, nope. Nothing till February at the earliest. Yes, I was disappointed. But after I got home I remembered that a dentist, who has been receiving rave reviews from neighbors, had moved into the hood right near my house. Well, I called them and they fit me in early next month. I was so, so excited!

Course now I'm remembering that I have a dentist phobia...but I'm planning on having my excitement last all the way through to the end of the appointment. It's my plan and I'm sticking to it.


I continued working on this painting. I'm so glad I wasn't using a live model. It would have been way too many days sitting prim and proper. And she remains nameless. Hmmmmmmmm....

I added a layer of flesh tone.

I went back in with charcoal and added some details
to get me started with the next part of painting.

I blended the paint with the charcoal to make
darker tones. I worked a bit on the chair that
she's sitting on. I also tried a color for her
hair...I'm not digging it. I think it needs to be darker.

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Untitled - Part 2

I'm always trying to talk with my kid. It likely drives him nuts.


Me: "You hardly ever respond when I'm trying to have a conversation with you."

Little guy: "There's just not much of a response that's needed."

Me: "Yes, there is, I'm usually asking a question."

Little guy: "And that only requires one of four answers."

Me: "Gee, so much for positivity."

Little guy: "Well, half of the answers are positive...yes, no, OK, or maybe...yes and OK are completely positive."


So my new thing is learning how to see the positives. One sweet little word at the time. I adore my kiddo!



I continued working on this painting. I'm really enjoying using thicker layers of paint and creating a lot of texture.

I painted a layer of white. The paint blended
beautifully with the charcoal to create gray.

I sketched with charcoal again and added
another layer of white.

I painted the background around the figure
to make sure I had clean lines.

I mixed a lovely yellow and painted over the
green background letting just a bit peek through.
I painted in a crosshatch pattern.

Here's a close-up. I'm loving the texture!

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Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Untitled - Part 1

I picked my little guy up from school early today for an orthodontist appointment. I walked into the huge high school, approached the big main staircase, and suddenly had a thought...what if the bell rings and a rush of students appears and I get sucked into their flow and end up stuck in a class?!?! I picked up my pace, hurrying up the last few steps to the safety of the office. Whew!

And thankfully I had my kid to get me outa that scary place. :-)


I started a new painting. I'm not sure what the title will be, so for now it will stay "Untitled".

I started with a three-tone messy background.

I used charcoal to begin sketching out the figure.

I'm doing my best to learn from the recent
face drawing tips I've been given.

I'm excited to keep working on her!

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Van Gogh's Postman - Part 3

When I got home from work today I sat on the couch and chatted with Dave and the kiddo. Hazel, our awesome, 85 pounds of pure love dog, stared at me from my little guy's lap. They were both on the recliner about six feet away. Hazel could contain herself no longer and leapt off of the chair and ran over to say, "hi". I pet her, rubbed her ears, scratched her back, gave her hugs, and told my little guy that she'd had her fill and he could call her back to his lap.

Little guy: "Hazel, come here!"

She started to walk over there, turned around, came back to me, jumped on the couch, and lay down all snuggled up beside me. I guess my one minute doggy love session was simply not enough. 

And so one minute turned into five minutes which turned into a trip to the bedroom for a twenty minute snuggly power nap. Love that big girl of mine!

I finished this painting. What fun it was to paint in Van Gogh's style (or at least my version of his amazing style).  I learned so, so much.

"Van Gogh's Postman"

I used white paint to lay out where I wanted
the flowers on the wallpaper to be.
I also lowered his shoulders. Did ya notice?

I started adding color to the flowers.

I finished the flowers, added stems, and
added a bit of brown in the parts between the
flowers. I worked on his eyes a bit between
this picture and the final photo of the finished piece.

 Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

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Van Gogh's Postman - Part 2

I'm absolutely convinced that the electricity usage in Austin, Texas could be cut by at least a quarter if grocery stores didn't keep their thermostats so darn low. I'm also somehow convinced that someday I'll remember that this is always the case and I should, by now, always be prepared. Yet....


Me (after having shopped at Randall's and then at Costco in cut-offs and a tank top...including going in the sub-zero produce room): "Oh, my gosh, I'm so cold. I can't wait to get outside again."

Costco receipt checking lady: "I know. I have to take a light jacket with me wherever I go."

Me: "Yeah, I'm forty-eight and I still haven't learned that."

Costco receipt checking lady: "You're young. You still have plenty of time."

Well, that's good, because I'm clearly not a quick study in this area.

I continued working on this painting. It was so exciting getting to start the layering of patterns!

I painted the background with a mix
of green and turquoise. (Sorry, I think
I didn't use flash with this one.)

I added details to his hat and jacket.

I started the first layers of patterning on his
face. He reminds me of a tiger at this point. :-)

I continued adding layers. I used five different
colors on his face. I added color to his lips and
details to his eyes and eyebrows.

I added more of a reddish color to his face
and started the first couple of pattern
layers on his fabulous beard. 

Click here to view my gallery.

Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.