new art

SOLD

value studies:

brush stroke excercise:

for fun:

SOLD

To say that I am excited would be the understatement of the year. I just got back from Carol Marine's workshop and am on a cloud. I feel as if the door has been unlocked and flung open and that I can finally, bravely walk through it and pursue this life-long artistic dream of mine. Thanks to Carol, one of the nicest, most helpful, knowledgeable, talented people I've ever met. And, thanks to the fun, nice fellow-artists in my group. I'm pretty sure it's unanimous - Carol is a wonderful teacher and we all learned a lot and had a great time! I know I speak for Roxanne - has she ever NOT had a great time?

see ya later

My friend and neighbor, Becky, and I walk 4.5 miles as many mornings as possible on our country road and these coneflowers are blooming along the way. I worked hard scratching the soil and throwing out a pound of coneflower seed all over our property and have yet to see any sign of them. These grow in the rocky caliche beside the road and have never been tended to or cared for in any way. I'm sure there is a lesson here or an analogy of some sort, but since I have a million things to do this morning, I'll just leave that thought with you and let you put your own spin on it.

Roxanne and I are hitting the road in the morning - 5:30 (i WILL be ready) - and heading to Salado for a 3-day painting workshop. We signed up months ago and are excited to finally be on our way. We plan to return with new knowledge and skill! And maybe a treasure or two (Salado has great shops). Probably a funny story or...ten. Good food under our belts. Great memories........You know, all the things that come with a girl trip.

I hope your weekend is equally fun and full of goodness!

sunflower

I watered the flowers on my patio last evening and then sat down to enjoy the view. The sun was setting and shining through this sunflower that came up on its own in one of the pots and the reflection in the water puddle caught my eye. Double delight!

paintings

"Good Morning, Sunshine"

"Sheep May Safely Graze"

"Flower Farm"


Here are some finished paintings. These will be in Paul Friske's student show at the Abilene Frame and Art Gallery through the month of June. There are a lot of great pieces in this show - I was impressed with what I saw when I dropped mine off. (Shadows on the last photo are because I took it in the back of my car on the way. And the sheep in the second photo don't look so bright in real life.)

dogwood

This dogwood tree is in a moss-covered corner of my great-aunt's yard in Arkansas. She has what she calls her haven chair right beside the window looking out at this tree, a bird feeder and bath, and a little flower bed planted strategically in view from her chair. Lala is 95 and has all the aches and pains that come with age, but she has shown me that, when you are forced to slow down from "doing," you can still participate in life by watching, praying, caring...a good lesson and one I hope I remember when I'm 95.

blue-eyed grass

Just a quick little post to say hello and to make sure you don't forget about me! It's been a very busy time -all good - and I can't seem to blog and do anything else at the same time. I admire you people who can to do it all!

I've posted before about wildflowers and how much I love them, but this one is my very favorite. I'm not sure why except that they are the prettiest blue and so tiny. They are hard to see in the tall grass, but when you find one, it is a little thrill.

Enjoy your day and all the little thrills it may hold!

cows

I left for Austin early one morning and this was the scene that made me stop the car and pull out my camera.

There are not many things more peaceful and pastoral than grazing cattle.

I think this one wanted to get in with me and go. I was tempted...

This one is my favorite; the bright, green, new grass...the trees and hills turning from green to blue as they recede into the horizon...the big, blue sky. You can almost see forever.

Talk about happy cows...and a happy me!

anna's birthday "card"

When you live far, far from town, you have (get) to be creative if you are not extremely organized. Which I'm not. But, thankfully, I'm usually glad when I've gotten myself in a mess and have to get myself out creatively. This was the situation on my daughter's birthday (back in November). She loves to bake and play the piano - thus the cupcake and musical butterflies. Her room in her apartment is brown and blue and she loves pink. I covered the back of the painting with the same paper the butterflies are made of and made a pocket where we placed our sentiments and some money (which she requested for clothes). Whew...I think she liked it!

cupcakes and sweet peas

This is old news, but worth sharing...David and I spent Valentine's Day in Austin. We walked along South Congress where there are neat shops and good restaurants. Ate lunch at Guerro's Taco Bar - the best fish tacos I've ever tasted!


Strolled past a little grocery called Farm to Market and David bought me these sweet, sweet peas. Here they are in a water bottle in the cup holder of the pick up. I always like things like this - the dainty, little flowers contrasted with the big, rugged truck.




Then, to our delight, we spotted this!


It's called Hey, Cupcake!


Look at the line. There were this many more people behind us.


Guess which one is mine. Yes, the chocolate with whipped cream inside and oozing out the top. It was even more delicious than it looks!




And, of course, live music. It's Austin. Music is everywhere. He was good.





My sweet peas at home.

It is so nice to be able to say at our age and after all these years (you young people out there reading this), that this was one of our best Valentine's Days ever.

little houses

I love houses. All kinds. I had hopes of becoming an architect, but my high school counselor advised against it because of my poor math grades, my least favorite subject. Well, I don't need any math at all to design my little houses. These are probably more fun and less stressful than the big kind anyway.

The thing that made these so much fun to work on was my watercolor crayons and charcoal pencils. I don't know if these close-ups will allow you to see the detail but I am really happy with the effect.

Speaking of houses, consider supporting Habitat for Humanity with me so that everyone can have a decent home!

gameboards

Here are some gameboards I've been working on. They are big - 24 x 24 - and come with nice, wooden checkers in a drawstring bag. They hang on the wall when you're not having fun with them and are $150.00 each.

this is why a painting-a-day will be hard for me

Okay. I think I'm finished with this one and ready to move on. There are still some things............I need to quit looking at it! I think these will make a nice, little snack right about now. Out of sight, out of mind.

mandarins

Oh, my goodness. What was I thinking choosing this busy background? Not a good idea for what is supposed to be a quick painting. By the time I got to the mandarins, I was ready to be done. But, they looked so pretty on this tea towel. And pretty always wins. Tomorrow's painting will be much simpler.

I just made a couple of little changes to the painting after looking at the photo. And since I don't know how to delete the first photo, you can compare and try to figure out what I changed. It won't be the last change - I've got to fix the "floating" one in the middle...

PS. I changed the title when I read the bag. I thought they were clementines.

paintings

I didn't think I would post these paintings - I am still at the beginning of this art journey. I am so happy to be on the path with Roxanne who is at the same place in life regarding art. We've both been busy at our art "jobs," but have been yearning to explore our talents in fine art, namely oil painting. It is encouraging and motivating to have someone to share thoughts and ideas with. So...here is what I've done so far. My only goal/hope right now is to get in a lot of painting time and discover my style and what God wants me to express. I've never been happier and had forgotten how important, no, necessary, this is to me.

This little landscape is the pasture before we built our house in it. I'm taking an art class from Paul Friske (thanks to my other art friend, Marianne) and you can see his influence (if you look very closely!). His work is incredible.

This is a good example of how I naturally paint, but don't want to - too stiff.

This was fun! I'm trying to imitate the style of one of my favorite painters, Carol Marine - deliberate brushstrokes. It is a stretch for me because I tend to blend, blend, blend. She does a small painting a day, and if I'm able, I will, too, and post them as they come along.

Do you think that maybe I like the color orange?

happy valentine's day

I am having the time of my life just painting/playing/creating whatever strikes my fancy in my little studio. What a joy and a blessing it has been this winter to be tucked in there with the heaters turned up full blast and my sunny windows looking out onto my little world. You'd think I'd have more to show for it, but not everything turns out great. That doesn't matter too much. The joy is in the doing.

I hope that you are doing what you love today or, at least, loving what you do.

Don't these roses look beautiful behind the seeded glass? I usually take pictures with the idea that I will paint a picture from them, but this one will be best as a photo. It would take a better artist than me to paint this glass.

Happy Tuesday to you and Happy Birthday to my sweet husband!

photo finish

I hope that everyone's Christmas was merry that you are looking forward to

a happy New Year. May you be blessed with all good things.

tagged

I've been tagged by Flower for this game.

Your supposed to do the following:

1. Open the 4th picture on your computer.

2. Post it on your blog.

3. Explain the picture.

4. Tag 4 others to do the same.

These are some of my best friends, Trudy, Beverly, Marion and JoCarol. The picture was taken about a year ago at JoCarol's house. We were celebrating Suzanne's birthday. I remember laughing 'til my face hurt.

I tag

To Fly...with Broken Wings

Molly B

Blessings and Baubles

Roxanne the Artist

Have fun with this!

ho ho ho

This ornament was my husband's when he was little. His mom gave all of his ornaments to us a few years ago. Between the two of us, we could decorate a whole tree with similar looking elves and Santas. They are so cute and bring back memories of fresh Christmas trees with big colored bulbs and lots of silver icicles. The blinking lights made a tinkling sound that you could only hear when sitting beside the tree in the dark and all alone. I loved that sound - and everything else about Christmas.

i can't believe it's december

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Are you ready for Christmas? The two holidays seem awfully crowded together this year. Hardly time to linger at the table over the turkey. Oh, well, it's all fun and festive.

Enjoy your shopping, cooking, Christmas music, wrapping, the Reason...all the goings on of the season.

Happy Tuesday!