"Zesty", Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 8"x8"

I was asked recently if I could do some "fruit" still lifes.  This is my first piece that I completed.  I have been so busy with my kids' schooling and activities lately that it has been hard to find time to complete all of my work in progresses!

I tried to to complete this by painting it in the Flemish style of painting.  Even though I paint in acrylic and a lot of the instructions are geared towards oil, I still attempted to do a modified version of this style.  I create "underpaintings" for a lot of my pieces but I don't do it for every one.  After finishing the piece, the "art critics that I live with thought that my piece was too dark.  Take a look at the side to side comparison between the "work in progress" and the finished piece.

It really shows the difference between the two when you look at them side by side.  I rather like the revised one best.

Thanks for peeking at my blog!  Look forward to posting more art soon!

"Ready", Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 11"x14"

This painting is quite out of character if you look at my portfolio.  The original photo came from Morgue File.  What attracted me to the photo was the composition and just the plain challenge of the photograph.  Sometimes when I see something that looks too complicated, my first instinct is to shy away from it.  I loved the pattern that the spokes made in the piece and I wanted to see if I could do it.  I am happy how the piece turned out.

I will be dropping if off at the Charles H. Taylor Arts Center for the Tidewater Artists Association Annual Exhibition.  This piece along with my piece "Summertime" will be in the juried exhibition and for sale.  I am so very proud to showcase these two pieces.

Thanks for stopping by!

Working on daffodils for a commission this week!

I have one of my busiest weeks so far this year.  This weekend is CRAZY!  My youngest son makes his 1st Communion on Saturday night and Sunday is my daughter's 16th birthday.  Besides that I have some art to do!

One of the pieces that I am working on is a long overdue commission for my cousin.  I am posting just a glimmer of what it is going to contain.  I haven't been able to wrap my head around this project.  Yesterday, I spent the afternoon drawing daffodils in Prismacolor pencils on mixed media paper.  I like how they are turning out.  Daffodils are hard to draw not because of their shape because I have a hard time distinguishing the different colors in the shadows. Thus, I have been doing a lot of experimenting.

I am hoping to work more on the daffodils today and I am making an effort to post more on this project!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tess on the Water, Water on Aquabord, 8"x10".

I used to work in watercolors many years ago.  When I think about it the last time I did a watercolor painting I think it was probably about 16 years ago.  I much enjoy acrylics and doing mixed media pieces more.

I was recently given a bunch of art supplies by my in-laws that used to belong to my husband's 2nd cousin Ginger who passed away some time in the 80s.  One of the items was a John Pike Palette that was filled with dried watercolors in all different colors.

All the colors were vibrant once I added water to them.

I thought it would be a good time to use them to work on a request that I had many years ago from one of my best friends. She wanted me to paint a portrait of her dog using watercolors.  I had done another portrait of a different dog of hers and she wanted one to go along with it.  I had been putting i off because most of my watercolor tubes were dried up and useless.  Also, I just wasn't excited about doing watercolors again.

I soon got into the portrait using Ampersand Aquabord which I am assuming wasn't a product when I last did watercolors.  I didn't have to worry about stretching paper and I loved the way it felt using it.  It was strange switching from doing acrylics to watercolors because you have to think opposite when painting.  I couldn't put dark colors in right away with the watercolors knowing that it would be hard to lighten up if I changed my mind.

I finished the painting and my friend was thrilled with it.

Tess on the Water, Watercolor on Aquabord, 8"x10"

Thank you for stopping by to take a look at my blog!