"Evening Song", mixed media on wood, 11"x14", FOR SALE

I finished this piece this morning and I just felt so good after completing it.  

I have had the wood piece for this for a couple of years now and have been working on and off on it.  I was never really sure what the vision was going to be for this piece.  I loved the colors that evoked nature and the forest but nothing spoke to me as the main subject or how I was going to pull it off.

I came across an idea somewhere to use colored netting in mixed media pieces.  I have used cheesecloth before but never netting.  I went and bought a few colors and found that it was fun to drape and work with.  

I have been wanting to complete some titmice paintings for awhile now and these two birds just fit the whole feel of the piece.  They were created on mixed media paper and I used Prismacolor pencils to complete them.

This piece is now available to purchase through Daily Paintworks. Click here to take a look.

As always, thanks for stopping by my blog!

"Emily's Donuts, #1", Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas, 4"x4", FOR SALE

"Emily's Donuts, #1", acrylic on gallery wrap canvas, 4"x4"

Until very recently I have been grain free/gluten free.  For about 2 years.  For some reason(maybe it's because I have been looking at a lot of Wayne Theibaud paintings), I have fell off the gluten-free wagon.  Usually it's my kids that talk me into going to the closest donut shop.  Recently it is ME who is suggesting donuts.

This is a tiny painting I did.  It's 4 inches by 4 inches on gallery wrap canvas.  I did something different tonight.  Usually I meticulously draw out my subject on the canvas first before I start painting.  My philosophy is that if I can figure out all the problems out in the drawing process then I will have less trouble when I start to paint.

I was just too anxious to get in the studio tonight.  I just wanted to paint but all my "work in progress" paintings were not inspiring me this evening.  So, I unwrapped this small canvas and just started going at in.  It felt great to finish a painting in one evening.  My mixed media paintings take so many steps that it is rare that I get a finished piece in one night.

I am selling this through my Daily Paintworks site.  FREE shipping to the lower 48 states.

Thanks for reading. :)

"Merrily, Merrily", Mixed Media on Panel, 6"x6"

This is mixed media piece that is composed of a lot of different materials and has been well over a year in creation.  I know a year sounds like a long time but read below to give you details into my process.

The wren was drawn with Prismacolor art pencils on mixed media paper about a year and a half ago. I tend to keep a portfolio in my car with various art supplies.  I have 3 kids-17, 15 and 10 and I am driving around a lot.  I tend to be waiting for them in cars whether they are a sports practice, doctor's appointments or a music lesson.  I hated not using that time in a fulfilling way.  I was finding myself surfing social media on my iPhone or calling someone on the phone to take about nothing special.  Having my art supplies handy means that I am always creating and a few steps away from a completed painting.

This is how this piece started-in my car being drawn while waiting for my kids.  Just a single solitary wren looking for a home!

The brown background is on a wood panel.  I did something new that I am going to explore more in the future.  I used modeling paste that I colored with Liquitex gold acrylic paint and put it through a stencil.  I still had no idea what the end result was going to be.  I added the vintage sheet music and pieces of lace that I cut out.    Then I realized that this was a good surface place to put the wren that had been nesting in my studio.

This piece is available to purchase through Daily Paintworks.

Thanks for stopping by!

"Longing", Mixed Media on Wood, 4"x4", AVAILABLE

I finally finished this piece and it is now available for sale on Daily Paintworks.

It's a mixed media piece that started out as an ACEO trading card.  I liked it so much that I wanted to incorporate it into a painting.  The ACEO is drawn in Prismacolor pencils and put on an acrylic painted oil that I also used ink on.  I then put vintage lace on it before using Liquitex Pouring Medium on it.

I have it framed in a nice black frame.

FREE shipping to the lower 48 states.

Thanks for stopping by!

#30paintingsin30days Challenge-Day 3

What did I say yesterday about getting up early?  Yep.  It didn't happen.  Something about hearing the rhythmic dropping of the rain outside my window made me just roll over and catch another 2 hours of sleep.  Yikes!  I woke up and I felt like the day was slipping away!

Today's subject!

Today's painting idea/challenge came from the Daily Paintworks Challenge page.  Paint the same object 8 different times for only 10 minutes each.  The first 3 paintings I was totally stressed out.  I don't like to do any type of art quickly.  This painting gave me flashbacks of many different art classes where we had to do warm-up exercises for a few minutes each.  I hated those back then and I still don't like them.

Since I had only 10 minutes for each section, drying time was an issue as far as blending.  So....some of the pears have a lot more strokes to them as compared on how I might typically paint a pear.  I was trying to get a lot of color in the pear in a short amount of time.

I think the painting is successful as far as it made me think about different greens and yellows to blend and how to go about doing it.  I would probably do another one of these studies again the future.

"Pear Study", Acrylic on canvas, 8"x10".

It's 5pm and I don't know what I am going to paint tomorrow.  Kinda of stressed since I know that that I have to leave the house for a few hours tomorrow to take my son to violin and tutoring.  I am thinking maybe I should do colored pencil or charcoal instead of painting so I can do my whole "traveling artist" thing while I am out of the house.

See you tomorrow.

"Yellow Tulips", Acrylic on Gessobord, 16"x20"

I just recently finished this painting that I had been working on for a long time.  It took a while for me to figure out how I wanted to lay the colors.  I have been using Liquitex Slo-Blending Medium for the last couple of paintings and it has been helping me with the blending of the colors.

This painting is for sale through Daily Paintworks.

Thank you for looking and always comments and critiques are appreciated.

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

Are you sick of me painting food items yet?

Still have a little more in me but I will be getting back to more nature soon!  This is a gift for someone and it will be a surprise.  I am continuing to experiment more with color.  I am thinking that this might be a good composition for a larger piece.

Thanks for stopping by!

"Morning Is Come", Mixed Media on Wood, 6"x6"

I have been posting lightly lately although I have been really busy!

This piece is a mixed media piece.  It is created on acrylic painted wood panel.  I drew the bluebird on Stratmore Mixed Media paper with Prismacolor pencils.  I also included floral lace pieces and some vintage sheet music with a nice title.

The whole piece is coated with Liquitex Pouring Medium which gives the piece a resin varnish finish.  The pieces that I use Pouring Medium with give the art a really cool 3-D feeling which can't really be depicted when I photograph it.

This piece is up for auction at Daily Paintworks.  Click here to bid.

Thanks for looking!

Deep In The Forest, Mixed Media, 6"x6"

I finished this piece about a week and a half ago.  I'm a little behind in updating my blog.

I enjoyed working on this one.  Used more colors of lace i the background and incorporated some purple in the goldfinch.  I have been consulting my color wheel when working on pieces lately trying to see what works well together.  I used Liquitex Pouring Medium on the top of this which gives the piece a real nice resin-like finish.

If you are interested in purchasing, please click the PayPal button below:

Thanks for checking out today's piece!

"Basil", Charcoal on Pastelbord, 5"x7"

Piece #13 of the 30 Day painting challenge!

This kitty belongs to my cousin and I am going to surprise her with it.  I did it in one of my favorite mediums-charcoal.  I completed it and felt like it needed a small touch of color so I added some color in the nose and eyes via NuPastels.  I find cats a lot harder to draw and paint than dogs.  I have to be so much more accurate when drawing the face because if I am off just a little it just does not look right.  Profiles of cats are so much easier than front views.

Thanks for looking and stopping by!  Any comments and critiques are appreciated!

"I Want Two Wings", Mixed Media on Canvas, 5"x5"

Click here to bid (5"x5"inches)

Day 12 of my 30 day painting challenge!  I am feeling a little bit of pressure since I fell behind due to computer mis-haps, unexpected daily events and essentially LIFE!

I have to say that I have learned a lot in the 12 paintings that I have done so far.  One of the things that I feel like I am doing is expanding my horizons about my use of color and color combinations.  This piece started off as a canvas that I painted metallic gold.  I then decided that I was going to paint a goldfinch on it and started working on that.  Once I sat down to put it all together I remembered how I recently enjoyed working with all the lace I have.

I used a combination of yellow, steel blue, white and black lace on the piece.  I used another piece of music that I had found in the vintage 1949 Girl Scout songbook I recently purchased.  I was happy how it came all together in the end.

This piece is going to be up for auction at Daily Paintworks.

I appreciate any comments that you have about the piece or the process I used to create it.

As always, thanks for stopping by to take a look!

"Morning Comes Early", Mixed Media on Canvas, 5"x5"

Click here to bid (5"x5")

Day 10 of the 30 day painting challenge!  I'm a third of the way done!  Yahoo!!!!!

I really like how this little piece turned out.  It's mixed media.  I used acrylic paint on a gallery wrap canvas.  I painted it in silver.  I added vintage sheet music and cut out pieces of lace to add to the canvas.  The bluebird and branch are done in Prismacolor pencils on mixed media paper.

I'm auctioning off this piece at a low bid on Daily Paintworks.

Thanks for looking!

"Poe's Raven", Mixed Media on Canvas, 8"x8"

Click here to bid(8"x8")

Day 9 of the 30 day painting challenge!  I had the background on the canvas done for a while. I have been playing with image transfer a little this year and I am still perfecting the process.  There is a lot to learn and there are a lot of websites on Pinterest devoted to this.  The background color is mostly painted in Liquitex gold paint.  The raven was created on mixed media paper with Prismacolors and applied onto the canvas.  I will be coating the whole canvas with Liquitex Pouring Medium later on today to give it a shiny resin-like coat.

I have been learning a lot about the physical differences between ravens and crows and this picture is kind of my "final exam".

Piece up for auction at Daily Paintworks.

Thanks for looking!

"Summer Is a-Coming In", Mixed Media on Wood, 6"x6"

Click to Bid (6"x6")

Day 7 of the 30 day painting challenge!  That is one week so far!  Yeah!

This piece was inspired by an incident when my daughter and I spotted a different bird in our yard.  We participate in Project Feeder Watch through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology every year where we count birds on a weekly basis.  We spotted a flock of birds in one of our cherry blossom trees and soon discovered them to be cedar waxwings.  We were so surprised and happy since we normally get the same birds our our property.

It is a mixed media piece on wood.  I used Prismacolor pencils for the bird, cherry blossom and branch.  The wood panel has been painted and glazed with acrylics.  The sheet music was found in a thrift store and came from an old Girl Scout song handbook dated 1949.

This piece is up for auction at Daily Paintworks.

Thanks for stopping by to read the blog!

"Raccoon Study", Charcoal on Pastelbord, 5"x7"

Click to Bid (5"x7"inches)

It is now day 5 of my 30 day painting challenge.  Today. is not a painting though that I am posting.  I gave myself a little break and did a charcoal drawing on Ampersand Pastelbord.  I  have to say that I think I enjoy working in charcoal as much as painting.  Eons ago, charcoal was the first medium that I felt like I was successful in.

The reference photo for this piece I got from Morgue File.   Morgue File is an image library of free reference photos for artists to use with the photographer's permission.  The photo was taken by Canadian photographer Lisa Solonynko.

This piece will be up for auction through Daily Paintworks at a low starting bid.

Thanks for stopping by to look today!

"Nature's Candy", Acrylic on wood panel, 6"x6"

Click to Bid (6"x6"in)

Day 4 of the 30 day painting challenge!

When I woke up yesterday I had no idea that I would end the day painting figs!  The reference photo is one that a friend of mine posted on Facebook.  I thought it was kind of cool and I thought it would be a challenge.  Ten minutes into it and I was wondering if I made the right decision.  Who knew that figs were so complex?

I am happy how it turned out.  I have been using a store bought color wheel and using it when I try to decide my palette.  I tried to keep it all in one color "family" to make it cohesive.

This painting is up for auction at a low bid at Daily Paintworks.

Thanks for stopping by!