1st Sale for January 2020

Hooray! My first sale this year!

A tiny landscape painting of Vermont 

measuring just 2.5 x 3.5 inches done in acrylic 

Thank you Dana in beautiful CA!

When the sun goes down

Lately I have been trying my hand at mini sunsets. I would love to go to an artists retreat, take classes or even take an on-line class on sunsets, but right now with money the way it is,  it's just learning as I go.

Sunset 4x4  SOLD

 

"At Sunset"  4x4 ~ Sold

Sunset II 3x5 SOLD

Sunset III 3x5 SOLD!

Speaking Abstractly.....

Genesis

Lately I have been drawn to abstracts, the freedom, the color and the movement of the art is exciting.
When I did the painting above I started with modeling paste as the base for texture &  my limited color palette of blue and brown. As the painting progressed, I got a feel of where it was going.  I kept thinking, " In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"  adding a bit metallic gold to represent the Divine touch or spark of God.  It's a small 6x6.

My husband left a note on the kitchen counter before he left for work saying he really liked this one. Encouraged by that I decided to make  a series like this only in a larger size. Sounds easy right?  well not really.  I made four attempts on 2 canvases during 3 days and was unable to recreate it. It seemed the harder i tried the more awful the results!

So I washed off as much paint as I could with the kitchen sprayer and resigned myself to the fact that i couldn't duplicate it.. at least not for the time being.

I painted glazes over the much abused canvas and came up with this

Taking a break from abstracts  I painted one of my favorite subjects, fiddleheads. But this time instead of the tiny 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches format in water colors, I did it in acrylics on 5x7 aquaboard. I had lots of fun with this one with it's warm & happy  color palette and it took away that sense of failure from the "Genesis" series I had wanted to do.

Celebrating FiddleHeads

Not wanting to give up entirely I yet again took the other abused canvas re-gessoed, added a bit more modeling paste, and began again with a much warmer color palette.... and this is the result

Bursting

Is there a lesson in this for me? I'm not sure but I think it's that I can't paint an abstract when I'm all tense, my better abstracts happen when I'm relaxed and just play with the colors. Perhaps one day I'll be good enough at this to the point that the paint will be subject to me and not vice  versa!

still feeling the love & lessons learned

I'm still feeling the love of the landscape.

Since I last wrote about the new direction for my art

I have painted four new landscapes.

"Green Mountains" 8x8

I did another, 5x5, that is on it's way to a friend 

who sadly moved away from Vermont.

That and the 8x8 were a joy to paint!

The one below was not! 

First i struggled with the size & shape. 

I have been so accustomed to working on a small scale,

that even though it was only 8x10, it threw me off.

I eventually  got my proportion & layout to suit me;

but I also struggled with the canvas itself. It was a different brand

and although it was tripple gessoed, 

it soaked up the paint like a sponge! 

Is there a difference between 100% cotton and "cotton duck"?

"Green Mountains" 8x10

and then there's this!

"Autumn" expressive abstract 8x10

I know it's a bit out there but I couldn't wait

for autumn to come to me, so i created my own autumn.

For this one I just let myself play in free loose strokes.

~

What I learned from these last two paintings is:

* there are differences in canvas

* and I need larger brushes for larger canvas! 

( I knew that, but i kept reaching for my favorite brushes 

which were too small- next time I will hide the smaller brushes!)

UPDATE 9/29/13:
 It's a year since  I wrote the post &  I have found i really do like the larger canvases... for me that is 8x8 - 12x12, they are perfect for mixed media paintings.  Oh i re worked that last painting... it's funny but i cringe when i look at that now!

~ the Lay of the Land ~

Since i began this art journey in July 2011

i've been

observing, experimenting, learning, stretching,  growing, discovering.

When i started, there were two things i  really wanted

* to become a GOOD, & i mean a really GOOD artist

and

* to discover my style and become the best i can in it.

But when i look over my shop,

well quite honestly  it's a mess!

i'm all over the place.

There is no cohesive style.

I have learned recently that i like mixed media more than watercolors

and that even though it was out of my comfort zone, 

being more loose and abstract seemed to free me.

~

this is an abstract mixed media landscape

i did that really excites me!

~

and this one....

changed everything!

When i first went back to art, i tried acrylics and hated the medium because i couldn't get it to do what i wanted. But now with thanks to God (yes i pray about my art) and being brave, all the little lessons have finally come together! What makes me SO excited is that this piece is totally paint (acrylic) and the composition, technique & feel is exactly what my vision hoped it would be.
 I still have more to learn but nevertheless i have passed a hurdle and have found myself!
~
The Inspiration Avenue Teams  Challenge, hosted by Jenn of Just Add Water Silly, was "zentangles"
and in keeping with my new favorite theme "landscapes"
here is my entry

i added a hint of color because quite frankly i love color :)

Blessings & Joy to you all!!

a bit o Green for the Artist's Play Room Challenge

The much long awaited Artists Play Room Challenge is launched today by Jenn McLean, blogger and artist of  Just Add Water Silly at etsy. To celebrate her Irish heritage, our challenge is "GREEN". 
So here is my entry.... lots of green grass and a sky of gold for the proverbial lucky Irish "pot o gold"!