Once Upon a Time he was but a Twinkle in his Father's Eye

I've got a soft spot in my heart for father/son relationships.

"Once Upon a Time he was but a Twinkle in his Father's Eye"

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.

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The moon danced with the stars on the night you were born...

I was captivated by this quote (unknown author) and wanted to build it into a painting. 

"The moon danced with the stars on the night you were born..."

 

I love the texture!

 This painting is part of a year-long online art class (instructor Gillian Lee Smith).

  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. 

"Daddy's Girl"

Today marks a transition to a new way of blogging for a year. I'm starting a year-long class and will be creating approximately one painting per week. For a while now I've been posting the stages of my paintings and I've absolutely loved doing that, but this year I'll just be sharing my completed pieces. This means I'll be posting about once a week. Rest assured that I'll still be painting every single day.

I've already started in on my first lesson with this class and hope to share my finished painting in the next few days.


So...here is the last painting with all its stages that I'll be posting for a while. I was commissioned to paint this sweet picture of a father and daughter whom I adore. What an absolute honor it was. Here's the finished piece and a number of stages below.

"Daddy's Girl"

 

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.

Duet - Part 2

So apparently I managed to be so caught up in my painting that I completely forgot to take pictures of the final stages. Ah, well.

Painting this one reminded me of the wonderful charm of adult/child duets. I loved playing duets with my own children, whether we were using piano, french horn, trumpet, guitar, or voice. There's just something so warm and wonderful about it. And I remember my brother and I as children playing duets with our parents as well. I wonder if I can still get my boys (now 16 and 20) to sing along with me while I play "Rainbow Connection" on the piano. 

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Duet - Part 1

My brother's family was in town recently and while they were here I snapped a photo of my brother and his daughter playing a duet on the piano. They were rockin' "Heart and Soul" and "Chopsticks". It was an absolutely precious moment. And somehow I've had a run of painting folks from behind. It's like I'm able to sneak up and capture a moment in time, totally on the sly, and sneak away leaving them none the wiser and unaffected by my presence.

I started with just the background.
Piano color at the bottom, wall color at the top.

I sketched in the elements of the scene.

I painted the elements white so I could add color.
I also darkened the wall color.

I moved the girl over because I wanted them touching.
I began adding color.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale and I welcome commissions.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Happy Father's Day!

About a month ago I received an email from my agent.  It was for a possible spot in a Father's Day tribute.  All I had to do was send in a digital copy of my headshot...and write a short essay about my dad and what the word "father" meant to me.  Hey, I had a headshot, and hey, I love to write, so send it in I did.  And I was selected!

So early one morning I went to the filming studio, had my hair, make-up, and my wardrobe all done.  Then I went on the set which was basically just a white floor and background, and a stool.  There I sat talking with the director, telling him all sorts of stories about my dad.  I laughed.  I cried.  I loved it.

Here's a link to it on YouTube.  Kali in a Father's Day Video  I'm at 1:10 and 2:02.

Happy Father's Day!

Click here to purchase this piece.

I'd love for you to share my art and blog with the links below.  Thanks!

Putting it on the Line

I have to admit that my kids are rather used to being spoiled in the laundry department.  As far as they're concerned, the laundry fairy shows up most of the time and delivers piles of neatly folded laundry.  I figured they rather dug it like that, so I was blown away when my big guy said something to me today when I was hanging some jeans on our clothesline.


Big guy:  "Are you going to start using the clothesline again?"

Me:  "Just a little.  I always lay off in the winter."

Big guy:  "Well, I like when clothes are hanging out here so I can just go outside and take what I want to wear off the line."


I really dug it...and somehow I think one of his fond childhood memories will be of his mom hanging his clothes to dry.  Pretty groovy.

Click here to purchase this painting.

Quitting Day

Today's the day.  Gonna give up a nasty habit.  Mind you, the kids rather enjoy this habit of mine and are not at all on team "Help Mom Quit" as they keep diving into my stash.  Dave is just annoyed by the entire thing.  So, pretty much I'm on my own...again.  Yes, again.  I've quit many, many times before...and not that I don't have faith in my quitting ability, but I'm quite sure I will have to quit again someday. 

You see, today is the day that I'm quitting my gum chewing habit.  Every year or so I seem to take it up again...starting slowly with a pack purchased here and there...and then eventually I find myself buying the BIG pack at Costco.  Well, I've known for some time that the end was near, just felt it in my gut, and had a plan to quit after my last pack was finished.  And right now I'm actually chewing my last piece of gum (actually I've got two pieces jammed in my mouth...the better to make bubbles with, my dear).

So, if you see me out and about, and I've got a longing look in my eye, a sad forlorn pout on my non-chewing mouth, just come over and gently tap me on my back and let me know it'll all be just fine.

It always has been...

...until next year, that is.

This painting is available for purchase at:  Wee Little Owl and his Pop

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