Degas Vignette

My Weekly-ish Challenge partner had this prompt: 

Paint a vignette from a painting of one of the Old Masters. 

• Look up "Old Masters" to see exactly which artist is and who isn't. (FYI - There were 25 listed.)
• Decide who I'll choose.  
• Go to the library to check out some big books. (It's the old-fashioned way, but it works just as well as it always did. The internet is very guarded with its images of the Old Master paintings.  You can see them, but only enlarge them to a couple of square inches.)

• Find a painting that I'd like to spend time with.
• Choose the small portion to focus on.

I have the quote "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. - Edgar Degas" on a small card hanging beside my painting table, so I knew I wanted to find a way to incorporate that.

When I was "assigned" this one, I wasn't planning on enjoying it. But, much to my surprise, I thoroughly did.

Oil Painting on 9"x 12" Canvas Board, Vignette Copy of Degas Original

[GIFT]

I Like Thursday 4/24

   Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like the purple of redbud trees. 
It's so fantastic that it's Dr. Seuss-ish

I like my strange little daffodils.
They look kind of like a carnations.

I like a hot fire on a chilly spring day.
So does Buff. He loves a good nap right in front of it.

I like our neighborhood road in every season.

I like these gals... and Pete.  
They've been giving me so many eggs this spring!

I like the sound of windchimes.
They're especially lovely in the spring winds.

I like these 6 little ones who call us Gram-E & Pop-E.

I like having a greenhouse... Actually, it's the upstairs bathroom. 
There's a big window that gets lots of sun.
And, there's a door... to keep the cat out.

LeeAnne's  get-to-know-you writing topics this month:

Amusement Park or Day at the Beach?  I'm going to pick "Day at the Beach" but only if it can be a rocky, big-wave, lighthouse kind of beach... or a windy, shell-scattered beach if it has to be a sandy one. My dreamy day isn't the lay-under-an-umbrella, watch-the-same-never-ending waves, white-sand, turquoise-water beaches. 

• The best rocky beaches I've been lucky enough to visit... Maine, Washington State, Indonesia 
• The best shell picking beaches I've been lucky enough to visit... Outer Banks of North Carolina, Indonesia
• Bucket-list beach to visit... Nova Scotia where the tides are the highest/lowest in the world.

Morning Person or Night Owl? I'm forever a lark, a morning person. Get on up and get 'r done!

Crunchy or Chewy? Crunchy, for sure.  What's the point of Plain M&Ms or a regular Hershey Bar? Or cereal without almond slivers sprinkled on top? Or salad without croutons? Or a soggy apple? Or Milky Way when there's a Snicker's around? 

Bed And Breakfast or Luxury Hotel?  We've had some of our favorite experiences staying in Bed and Breakfasts.  I'd recommend any Select Registry place. Where ever your next trip might take you, there's probably one nearby.

Grandma's Sewing Machine

We had one of these little black sewing machines in my family.  It had been passed down several times. It fit perfectly in its little black case, and many ladies in my family had her turn with it.  

It finally ended up with my sister, and that's the perfect home for it since it continues to be used often as she makes quilts.

I did some thinking outside the box... or thinking outside the frame to create a companion piece for this one.  I made my plan as I went along. As I worked on each step, I tried to figure out how I'd do the next part. First I made a tiny quilt top for the background then added some tan scraps stitched in a what I thought looked wood-like. The machine is just collaged scraps of black, gray, and gold.  (Is there anything quite as satisfying as using up bits and scraps!) The fabric that drapes out of the image was an experiment that worked!

My favorite thing about each piece is the thread. In the painting, I made that straight line of pink thread with the edge of a credit card.  In the fabric collage piece, you'll have to look closely, but I left a tail of pink thread hanging loose from the needle. 

I admit that I did double dip this project.  This month my WordSpark was "Vintage," and my Weekly-ish challenge was "Fabric."  Shhh... neither project needs to know!!!

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas

Click Vintage Sewing Machine if you'd like to purchase this painting. Send me a message if you'd like to purchase the quilted framed piece.

A Donkey Named Carlos

I always love the challenge of painting what someone asks me to do.

"Can you paint my mom's donkey?"

"Can you put him in the view from her window?"

"Can you finish before Mother's Day?"

 

These are the photos I had to work with for this piece.  I didn't have a very good photo of Carlos, but was told he spent many hours with his head over the fence waiting for a treat. 

Wait... Fence? What fence?  Ooohhhh.... there is a wire fence in front... Yikes! How to do that... 

Challenge 1 - Find a better photo of a donkey and make it be Carlos.
Challenge 2 - Use the edge of a credit card to make the fine straight fence lines.

I hope their mother will be surprised and pleased. 

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Easter Bunny & Some Springtime Bunnies

I painted this Easter bunny...

Then all of her springtime friends!!!

Whenever I'm planning to teach a painting lesson, I want to practice until I can do it without much thought. So... My bunnies multiplied... as bunnies do.

These lovely ladies of my church worked (and played) so hard and painted some lovely bunnies of their own.

It all started with a Weekly-ish challenge which was "All the Colors of the Rainbow." That's when I painted the Easter bunny with the R.O.Y.G.B.I.V. eggs in her basket.

Acrylic Paintings on...

12"x 16" Canvas Board

Click HERE if you'd like to purchase the first one.

9"x 12" Wrapped Canvas

Click HERE if you'd like to purchase the last one.

9"x 12"  Flat Canvas

9"x 12" Watercolor Paper

Let me know if you'd like one of these others.

I Like Thursday 3/24

  Thank you to Leeanne of Not Afraid of Color for reminding me to notice things I like. 

I like having a friend to paint with and to get to share our art with.

I like walking around the bend and seeing deer. 
They stand still and stare... until they raise their tails and run.

I like flowers on the table. So does Buff.

I like Pete. 
He's a good protector of his hens.
But Lordy, he does crow all day and all night!

I like collecting colorful eggs.

I like the beginnings of spring!

I like our YELLOW March yard!

LeeAnne's  get-to-know-you writing topics this month:

Describe something you experience with each of your senses every SPRING taste,  touch,  sight,  hearing,  scent  

I wrote this the year after I retired.  I think it's a good description.  I re-read my words and still love them.  

You can tell these words were written 5 years ago as some things have changed... I only had 5 hens... I had an outside cat... I had a little dog.  And some things haven't... I still don't know which birds make which sounds.

What is your favorite spring flower and do you try to grow them in your house or yard? Daffodils in March... then irises in April... then lilies in May.

What Spring creatures might you see in the wild where you live right now?  White-tail deer and squirrels every day... possums, raccoons, armadillos on occasion

Baby animals are often born in the springtime. If you could choose any baby animal to be your pet, what would you pick and why? Don't worry about space or legal restrictions, just imagine having it.  Sorry to be boring, but I'll pick kitten.

Yellow Daffodils of March

This painting was so fun for so many reasons.  

The combination of turquoise and purple... Yummy!  

Smearing paint with a palette knife... Yes please!...

Daffodils... Love!

March is the month of yellow where we live. 

The Weekly-ish prompt was "March."  

Thanks to Sara for a reference image that I used once with irises and again now with daffodils.

Original Oil Painting on 8"x 10" Wrapped Canvas

If you'd like to have this painting, click Yellow Daffodils of March.

Parrot

I don't think I know any parrots personally.  

They're pretty.

It's amazing that they're that beautiful and just go about their bird business in the rainforest.

It's fun to see someone walking around with one on their shoulder.

I'm not a fan of seeing them in a little cage.

It's crazy that they can "talk."

I wonder if they have personalities.  My chickens do, so surely parrots do too.

Their feathers are simply fabulous.

The very first watercolor I ever attempted was about a year and a half ago.  It was a feather.  I thought I'd give that first lesson another try. If you zoom in and look closely, there are some hidden words on that feather... some goals... reminders to myself.

The little painting trio I'm in finally chose a name for ourselves.... Wordspark. (I'm not sure if that's the name of the project or the name of the group.)  Each month we'll get one word then see what kind of creativity sparks from that word.

This month's word was "Feathered." 

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas

If you'd like to purchase this painting, just click Parrot.

George's Miss Conduct II

I've been lucky enough to have two strong mentors in my creative life, and how interesting... they're both named Cheri.

I've often mentioned my painting mentor Cheri W.  Today I'm thinking of how much I owe to Cheri O. who I consider to be my writing mentor. We taught fourth grade literacy together, participated in the National Writing Project together, and taught taught a summer writing institute for teachers together.  She helped me to discover and develop the writer within myself and taught me to be an encourager of writers.  

Although she moved to the other side of the country for many years, she's always been a forever friend. And.... she's moving back!

She texted me that she wanted two paintings and that they'd be the first ones she'd hang in her new place.  First she wanted one she had seen in my Etsy store. 

I have to say that this was a very special painting to me.  I didn't list it for sale for a long time, and I've loved having it on my own wall.  That's my farmers' market on my town's square, and that couple in the middle just might look a bit like me and my husband.  I thought I'd be so sad when/if it ever did sell. But, no!  I'm thrilled that it will be on her wall! (I went back to the post I wrote about it 6 years ago.  How appropriate the I compared it to writing a story on canvas.)

She also asked me to re-create a bigger version of a symbolic painting I'd done a few years ago.  The boat had been built by her dear friend, and she'd be moving here to move into the house that had been his.  She wanted it to hang on the wall in his memory.

I'd be happy to do that.

It honors me that she'd ask.

I do love the honor (and the pressure) of an important commission.  And, more than a few times, I've agreed to take on something then wondered how on earth I'd manage to pull it off.

Here are the references I had to work with.

I love that I got to have a part in preserving this memory.

Original Oil Painting on 10"x 20" Wrapped Canvas.

[SOLD]

Hot Tea

Some of the most decorative and elaborate dishes are meant for tea... teapots, teacups, saucers, sugar bowls, cream pitchers... So pretty... so dainty... I do enjoy drinking out of a pretty cup or glass.

Now, what can I say about the hot tea? Let me think... It's brownish, that's one thing. 

The thing that bothers me about hot tea is that you're expected to drink it. 

I don't have anything against hot tea, but if you could just add heaps of sugar and then enough ice to make it really cold... or even better, if you could pour it out and fill the pretty cup with something else... Like maybe coke or orange juice or hot cocoa or cold milk... that would improve it so much!

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Wrapped Canvas.
Click Hot Tea if you'd like to purchase this little painting,

Paint-iversary 17 years ago today...

My first painting...
17 years ago today.

It's not often that when we say something "changed my life," that we really mean it.
I was so nervous walking into that first painting lesson 17 years ago.  I wasn't a painter. I didn't even consider myself artistic. I was just 42 and found myself with a little extra time to try something since my youngest was old enough to drive himself.

I was so unbelievably proud of this painting.  It actually did look like trees!

I am forever grateful to my teacher and friend.

Oil painting on 8"x 10" Canvas Board

Not available for sale... This one's priceless... :)

 

VW Van

Most people have a VW Bug story in their life.  I do. My best friend in high school drove a candy-apple red one... good times.

And, I drove a red one for 10 years until I traded it in for the green one I drive now.

But how about a VW Van story?

What a funny and recognizable vehicle. Somehow I always think of them being painted crazy with peace, love, rock & roll, or flower power symbols.

I've a story that seems like it should have a VW Van in it. 

In 2016 we took a trip to New York.  We went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown for a couple of days.  Then we went to a  place called Inn at Lake Joseph.  (It was wonderful, and I'd recommend it with 10 stars. Have a look. https://lakejoseph.com/)

Anyway... on our last day, we drove into the little town.  We stopped in a funky little place for lunch and asked the teenaged waitress if there was anything interesting in the town we might want to see or do.  

"Not really.  There's like a museum thing down the road about like 10 miles.  It's called Woodstock. There'll be a sign.  I haven't been. Some people like to go there." 

Wait... Do you mean Woodstock, Woodstock???

"I guess so. They had a big concert or something there a long time ago."

What?... 10 miles? Which road?

We had such an unexpected good time! 

Ok, now that I've gone back to find the pictures, I see that it's a bus and not a VW van... shoot, I remembered wrong.... oh well...

Look back at the painting... Did you notice it? If you  listen  look really closely, you'll hear see music coming from the radio and blowing away on the breeze!

My Weekly-ish painting challenge was "Ride." 

A VW Van would be a pretty cool ride... cooler if it was painted with peace signs and flowers though...

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas.

Click VW Van if you'd like to have this little painting for yourself.