Blissful Creation

This painting marks the completion of a fourth year of creating a painting every single day. That's 1,461 paintings in 1,461 days! Whew! Thank you to everyone who has joined me on an incredible journey that has changed my life for the better in so, so many ways!

And as I enter my fifth year as an artist I'm going to make some changes. In the year ahead I want to focus on improving and trying new things. I want to take more art classes, I want to spread beyond paints to other media, I want to take on more commissions, I want to create videos, and so many more things. My blog and Facebook/Daily Paintworks/Twitter/Google+/Pinterest postings will change. I'll still be posting on my blog daily, but I won't be pushing to complete a painting of the day. I'll be taking on bigger and more detailed work that will likely take me more than a day to complete. (This has actually been the case for a while and I have been making myself a tad crazy...in a good way...creating extra paintings so I could still maintain my painting a day pace as the big painting I worked on took multiple days). So I'm going to give myself the wiggle room deadline wise and take you along with me through the process of creating my paintings. I'll continue to post my completed paintings as I have in the past.

This makes me feel both excited and vulnerable. Now everyone will know that all of my paintings go through an "ugly" phase (or phases, more accurately) before I consider them done. And actually, I never do consider them finished, but they all do come to a reasonable place to stop. I'm super excited to share this process!

So thank you for joining me on my fifth year of blissful creating!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

Just Outside the Door

It's where our chickens have taken up residency. It took them about three months to come up with a group plan, but they seem to have realized that if they hover outside our back door to our deck, look terrifically cute, one of the humans who resides here is likely to go outside with something for them to eat.

Our girls are brilliant...and well fed.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

What...no Orange?

Kids come up with all kinds of excuses to get out of doing what we ask them to do. Here's the latest from my little guy.


Me: "Come over, please. There are people that want to say, "hello." (I was at a party across the street.)

Little guy: "But Orange is the New Black."

Me: "Pause it."


And he did come over and hang out for a bit. Yay! Wonder if he'll notice when I use the same OITNB excuse all this week as I dive into some binge watching, myself....

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

Who's a Big Chicken?

So the other night I felt like a big chicken.

The little guy and I were at the gym and he really, really wanted me to work on my vertical jump. Well, I'm barely five feet tall and my legs were not gifted with length...so when he put the platform in front of me and said, "Jump!" Well...I couldn't. Every fiber of my being said, "Nope!"

There was simply no forcing me to do it. And then right after I felt like a big chicken I remembered that chickens are AWESOME. So I decided to feel awesome instead.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

Pigtails and Puddles 2

...because one is never enough when your subject is this darn cute.

This little one's boots remind of my own little ones and their boots...cowboy boots, that is. Both of my kids LOVED their cowboy boots. And I encouraged them to wear them as often as possible. Yes, they were a fabulous fashion statement. Yes, they were simply adorable in them. But the best thing? They slowed my kids down. They ran more slowly, they climbed more slowly, and they jumped off of high objects more slowly.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

Puddles and Pigtails 1

This was a commissioned piece and I was so honored to be asked paint it!

I just adore this kiddo! She's trudging through a puddle with such awesome determination...I love it! Puddles are utterly and completely irresistible. And, gosh, don't even get me started with pigtails and galoshes.

A painting filled with some of my favorite things...love!


And even better, I got to paint two versions of it because sometimes one is simply not enough! I'll post the second one tomorrow.

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

Rainbow Palette

What happens when my brother and his beautiful family visit? Well, among the many, many other wonderful things I now have a refrigerator full of the most spectacular kiddo art. And the cherry on top is that my niece and I share the love of the same palette. I think we should have a show together sometime!

Click here to view my gallery.  Most of my paintings are for sale.

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

And a tiny portion of the lovely work now on my fridge.