A Wedding Gift

My brother married the sweetest girl last fall, and I am finally painting their wedding gift. 

First, I sketched it out while Nora's Little People played all over the canvas....

Filled in some green leaves...

Added some cool blues and greens...

The flowers begin popping out...

And it is almost finished.  Just a few more touches and it is ready to head to Washington DC...

Hope they like it!

Work in Progress...

Almost finished.  I can't wait to share this when it is completely done.

Another Owl

Skylar's owl in my series of owls inspired by my children is finished. 

Introducing, "You blessed me with wonder"....

Skylar is named after my love for the ever-changing canvas of sky that is always above us--constantly transforming from one masterpiece to another.  So many times in my life, I've been awestruck by sunsets and have thought to myself, "If this is all I live to see, this is enough." 

The beauty and wonder of the sky has always captivated me, and my dear sweet Skylar has been no different.  Like the sky, she has entranced me with your beauty, creativity and ability to take my breath away.  As my first child, she brought so much wonder to my life, and still does to this day.

I love you, Skylar.  Thank you.  You blessed me with wonder.  (And so much more!)

Art for Auction

One of the things I was most excited to do when we moved was join our town's art co-operative, ArtEast. They have an art gallery in town and offer all kinds of great workshops and classes.

Starting May 6th, ArtEast is hosting "150 Feet of Art Exhibit and Auction" --an ONLINE auction!

Each artist donated one 12x12 piece of artwork--a fundraiser for ArtEast to support its mission of "making art an integral part of the community through teaching, exhibiting and creating art."

Here is the piece I created...

Invincible Summer 12 x 12

 

If you'd like to check out other art for auction or you'd like to place a bid, visit http://www.arteast.org/

Bidding begins on May 6th at 6pm and closes on May 20th at 8pm.

Please spread the word to everyone you know!

All bids begin at $50.

Wish my piece a little luck and ArtEast lots of luck on this important fundraiser!



How to Paint an Owl

I recently took Juliette Crane's online art class, "How to Paint an Owl." I LOVED it. It is a great class for anyone--beginners to advanced artists. I learned so much and had no idea how much FUN this was going to be when I signed up!

Here are some of the paintings I made during the 5 week class...

"Bloom" 12 x 12

"You are my Home" 12 x 12

"You blessed me with energy" 12 x 12

I want to share the process because they changed so much from start to finish, and it is fun to see the transformations they undergo.

This is how "Bloom" started. I used spray paint and doilies to get the background effect...

I started to see flowers in the design and traced them with a white oil pastel crayon...

The color scheme began to change...

and below is the final result...



Here is how "You are my Home" began. I was inspired by the moss that is everywhere in WA...

The owl seemed too "cold" to be maternal when I added the baby. I thought she needed to be fluffy like a warm, soft blanket...

But, she began to look to "puffy" to me, so I made her a little smaller and more refined. Here she is now. I think this is my favorite background of all...

I decided to do an owl painting inspired by each of my children that completes the sentence, "You blessed me with..."

The first owl background I made below reminded me of Blane. It is called, "You blessed me with energy." Blane has an unlimited amount of energy (he reminds me of his Aunt Erin) and is an incredible athlete. He always has a ball in his hand. So here is his painting from start to finish...

I'm still working on the girls' owls, and I can't wait to share them as well. I think I will group them together when I hang them up. One down, four to go! Stay tuned for more owls...

Blowtorches and Wax...Oh, Yeah!

I took a 3 hour "Get Your Feet Wet" Encaustic Painting class recently.  Encaustic, a wax paint, is the oldest form of human made paint, going back over 2000 years. 

I love this medium.  I hope to take more classes soon!

Getting into the Seattle climate...

The process...

The wax paint is kept warm on griddles...

We used blowtorches and wax.  It was kind of awesome and a little scary at first...

Did I mention I love the smell of wax?  It is heavenly.

It's the Little Things...

The older I get, the more thrilled I am by all the little moments.

Waking to a colorful sunrise...



Our first organic milk delivery...

Putting Nora's hair in pigtails...

Hiking with the family (and not having an allergic reaction from the heat!)...

The sound of water...

Clean, clear, freshly melted, see-thru water...

Trees dressed up in curly moss rings...

Mossy moss moss...

Meeting fellow artists at our town's Art Gallery and Co-op...

Finding Rainie asleep in her bed...

Sunset views from the kitchen while making dinner...

Cheers to the small moments that add up to our wondrous lives.