Work in Progress 7-24-09

I finally sat down and worked on this painting, which has been haunting me for quite awhile! I still have some work to do on it. I feel like she needs some type of adornment, but I'm not sure what. Maybe a string of pearls? A flower in her hair? Any suggestions would be welcome!

Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Here's my handsome Grandpa, back when he was a sailor in World War II. This last week would have been his 85th birthday...I miss you Papa! Happy birthday!

Sweet Garden Dreams...

Every year I get positively giddy planning out my little veggie garden. This year was no different. A couple of months ago I dug and scraped at our hard clay soil in the little vegetable bed I had built years ago and added some wonderfully rich organic compost. Then began the planting...
Now my plants are taking off in the most wonderful way! Most of my veggies, like the beautifully blooming green beans at the top, were grown straight from seeds. The tomatoes, which follow, were put in as little plants which are now growing heavy with their bounty. It looks as if I'll be having some sweet red cherry tomatoes soon!
The pumpkins in the second to last picture is my rogue plant. It popped up from last year's halloween leftovers, which I had fed into the resting autumn soil. I have several fattening beauties that will make our Halloween bright this year!
Lastly, I had to add a close-up of our lovely lavendar bush, which burst forth with a virtual firework display of fragrant blossoms this year. I managed to capture a sweet little honey bee as it sipped nectar. Lavendar flavored honey...? If I could only follow then back to their hive and sample some!

IF - Drifting - 6-19-09

I love how this one turned out...just may have to turn this sketch into a painting!
I have an image sketched out on one of my canvas at home; she's growing impatient with me. Hopefully I'll be able to give her some life soon!

IF - Unfold - 6-12-09

A quick pen sketch for today's Illustration Friday, "Unfold"!

New Sketch - 6-12-09

A new sketch for the end of the week, untitled and done in plain old ball point pen on a glossy cardstock. I have several paintings at home waiting impatiently for me! Unfortunatley time does not seem to be a friend right now...I just don't have any to spare for my poor neglected paints!
But I do have some amazing goodies I've managed to get my hands on recently. Scraps of mounting boards and rolls of spare raw canvas are finding their way into my little house. I'm hoping to create some unusual pieces with these treasures!

New Pendants!

I have a batch of brand new pendants that I just completed! I tried something a bit different this time around with shapes and poses. They won't be posted to the shop for a little while, but if you see one you'd like (lady on purple in teal gown is spoken for!), then please e-mail me and I'll get her ready for you right away. :)

New Acrylic Painting Completed!

Here's my latest, a small 5x7 acrylic painting on canvas board inspired by the elegant actresses of the 1950's. I haven't named her yet; any suggestions will be welcome!

New Acrylic Painting in Progress!

Here's the latest batch of paintings I'm working on, with a deep purple/blue background. You can see from the top painting basically how I work them, slathering on thick bits of paint in several different colors, then pouncing it all over with a wadded paper towel until I get a nice flow to the colors. I do more than one at a time, since I'm such a cheapskate and hate to waste paint! The bottom painting shows the background after a thin coat of glaze mixed with the barest hint of white to mute it a bit. With this particular canvas I then took a couple different leaves with good strong veins from my backyard (I think I used wisteria and rose leaves here), painted the backs with the white glaze and then pressed them in a framing pattern up and over one side. I'm hoping to use my swirly twirly dress sketch from a few posts back for at least one of these!

Sweet Dreams - New Painting!

Here's the other new watercolor I promised, called "Sweet Dreams". I used to cuddle like this with my little one in the 'baby days', and it was the best feeling in the world. :)