Category: paintings

April 8, 2022 – Paintings, Buttonhole Sunflowers and Show Schedule

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I had planned to create two paintings for specific places on my walls. These two that you are seeing are the ones that I came up with. In March I started an online workshop with one of my very favorite artists Carrie Schmitt. She is from Cincinnati but now lives in Washington State. She had to move somewhere that has a cooler climate because she has a heat allergy. It is becoming more pronounced as time goes on, for example she had to get her car windows tinted recently because she couldn’t drive around without having a reaction to the sun. More than 10 years ago when this allergy started rearing its ugly head, she was bedridden and was trying to decide what direction her life would take. She decided to start painting and her style is loose, intuitive, colorful and really wonderful. I have taken two in person workshops with her, one in Portland Oregon and one in Cincinnati Ohio. I really dislike flying and I hopped a plane for four hours and flew to Portland for a three day painting workshop. It had so many wonderful women from all over the US, good food, flowers and flowers and togetherness to be with Carrie.

Each month a flower is chosen plus different techniques. The first month finger painting was brought up and an artist that uses that technique was introduced. I hadn’t decided what I was going to do with the one painting. It is going to be on my fireplace to cover up cords from the television on the wall. I like hydrangeas and they are easy to make with finger painting. I wanted something in a bold pattern and it is perfect in the spot. I love the way the pots turned out with the different patterns and I just kept adding layered colors on the flowers until I was satisfied with the look. The painting is permanently in my home but I will have prints and cards available to purchase. I have titled it something unusual :)”Hydrangeas”.

This painting will be on a wall above a living garden wall we are putting up. Since my cats like to chew my plants and destroy them, I decided to get some items from IKEA that work perfectly for a living plant wall. I have repotted my succulents into these containers, and it will be my husband’s task to get them up on the wall, because he’s the best. I have to varnish these two paintings and then they will be ready. The flower for March was Iris and they were really fun to paint, more than I expected. In fact I have a large painting in process of iris to be completed soon. I have put a couple in this painting and also the inspiration were wooden flowers that I purchased from an artist a few years ago which will also be nearby. When it is done you will see the whole shebang for sure.

Another topic for that month was painting a chair and decorating it in flowers. I love the way this painting turned out with all the patterns and I will be keeping it too. It was so fun to make. I will also make some prints and cards to make available. Some of Carries paintings have been turned into fabric and then a company called Chair Whimsey has recovered some chairs with them. If you have gotten a recent HGTV magazine the Chair Whimsey house was featured in it and also some of Carries Paintings. She also was a speaker on a zoom meeting and she is a fun person, very upbeat. I took this month by month online workshop because I wanted to get new ideas for painting for my upcoming art season. Since my knee surgery I was kind of slow in getting into the beat again and this has helped immensely. You do not need to know how to paint, some people just use what they have, cardboard for one. If you would like to step out of your box or just get some new and fun ideas I would recommend signing up for this. She offers so much and you can pick and choose what you want to do. If you would like more info about Carrie and The Flower Painting Club click here.
This is called a buttonhole sunflower. Another woman I follow made these to raise money to send to the World Central Kitchen helping to feed Ukrainians. Here is what she wrote about these little gems. “I came up with the idea of celebrating our connectedness with the suffering people of Ukraine by wearing a Buttonhole Sunflower. I crafted these sunflowers from my friend Barbara’s cashmere sweaters, hand-dyed wool and a wooden button plus some stitching.”

This is the back of the sunflower. I am sorry but I couldn’t get the picture to resize. I understand that she sold enough to send over $1500.00 to the World Central Kitchen plus some extra sunflowers. So, if you see anyone wearing one of these you know where they came from. I met this person through a different workshop and she is very interesting and always has something going on. You can find Cindy on Instagram @bacibear.

Show Schedule (So Far)

  • June 4th and 5th….Village of Winona
  • June 25th and 26th….Covington Art Fair
  • August 4th and 5th….Chesterton Art Fair
  • August 13th….Bloomfest
  • October 1st….Artist Studio Tour
  • October 8th….A Renaissance in Roanoke

I am getting my Show Schedule in order and adding new shows all the time as I hear from them. You can find the list on my webpage click here.

Super Art Show

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I just finished up a good art fair in Chesterton, Indiana this last weekend. It is held in Dogwood Park and that is a dream to set up in. It is flat, there is a lot of room between tents and behind to store extra inventory. We can drive our vehicles up to our spaces. The volunteers take care of the artists, with water and breaks, morning donuts and coffee. The customers were engaging and great to speak with, it was a great experience.
On top of that it is always nice to have booth neighbors that are fun too. Beside me was Cara, living around St. Louis now but was originally from Fort Wayne, who also was a painter but with a totally different kind of work. Then beside Cara was James who was a photographer, he drove up from Florida. Cara took this fun selfie of the three of us.
This is Cara’s work. I loved her skinny legged horses. She was a rider herself and owned two horses. I suggested that we trade prints and this is the one I chose. Click here for her website.
This customer bought two originals which is always thrilling. I happened to snap her picture with her eyes closed but we thought it humorous that the paintings match her clothes.
Then while going through the files looking for the above pictures I found a couple more that I wanted to share. This might have been on my birthday but I liked the picture with my oldest son Sam.
Then I had painted my friend Theresa’s house and gave it to her maybe 10 years ago. All of their bushes and trees have grown, they were pretty new in the picture. She got it framed recently and I just thought it looked really nice. She has a beautiful home.
Lastly, this weekend while I was gone the babies left and we are now empty nesters. I was sad that I didn’t get to see them go. As you can tell the nest was busting at the seams. Now we will take the nest down carefully and clean up there and put it back for next year. I am positive they will be back.

Revamped Painting #1 Complete

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The title of this painting is “Can We Talk”. It is from a painting that became damaged and those elements were taken off. I had a good time using the new wallpaper books choosing the papers for the flowers. I like to hide critters in my paintings so look for a woolly bear caterpillar. This painting can be purchased in three different sizes and can be found here. So far I have moved over 39 prints, my store is filling up.

Revamping an early canvas

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This is an early canvas that had some damage to the pieces that were attached. I decided that instead of it just sitting in a box I would revamp it. There are still some elements on it but it is getting an almost complete makeover.

I love Prussian Blue and iridescent gold paint. I received some wallpaper books and had the best time picking out the papers for the petals. I love the texture of the swirls, it adds to the pizazz of it.

The scallops have been brightened and extends to both sides. The line painting at the bottom also extends to the sides. I have some other elements to add but it will soon be in the shop to purchase a print or a note card. I am happy with the redo and think it is cheerful.

Art at the Riverside

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Yesterday was Art at the Riverside in Leo. It was the best day weather wise that I had all year for a show. Cool and dry, it actually wanted to make people stay all day. It was great. I always love talking with people who stop in. This is Lee, he and his wife are animal lovers and they are always looking for the out of the ordinary cat and dog paintings. They purchased the “Unconditional Love.”

This is Sandy holding the newly finished Graffiti Cat. She thought it was a fun picture. Thank you two. for giving them a good home!

Chesterton Art Fair, Satek Winery

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Chesterton Art Fair was August 4th and 5th. The only bad thing I can say about it, was that it was HOT. Not their fault by any means. It was held in Dogwood Park which was a dream. We artists could drive up to our spots, unload as fast or slow as we wanted and could keep our vehicle with us until we were done. They had the best volunteers ever! Throughout the whole two day show they were there to booth sit, offer cold water and snacks, all the time, I never had to look for one. Pictured here is Barb, and she purchased my original 5 X 7 of “Flower Pot”. Thank you so much and enjoy.

The week before I start checking the weather to see what I might encounter. It originally said 76 for the high, that would have been heavenly! But not so, I think it topped out at a humid 92, with not a cloud in the sky nor a breeze for Saturday, Sunday was a little better with some breeze and clouds. I thank Ryobi for my two battery powered fans that last 8 hours on high. This lovely lady is Michelle, she purchased the 10 X 10 original of “That’s Life”. She is giving it as an anniversary gift to a relative with four children. Thank you for your purchase and may they love it for years to come.

This weekend on Saturday August 18th I will be at the Satek Winery in Fremont, Indiana. 6208 North Van Guilder Road.  It is a sweet, small show with 30 artists. It is held under the trees and as of right now the forecast is sunny and 80 degrees. I am keeping my fingers crossed for that, perfect weather. Come on over, buy some art, buy some wine, have lunch with Shig in Pit. You won’t be disappointed.

Bunny Pillow, crocus, johnny jump ups, paintings

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I fell in love with this bunny pillow while shopping at my local Kroger grocery. At Christmas there was a snowman pillow that I had looked at so many times and put back down. When all of them were bought I was irritated with myself for not buying it. The conservative brain kept saying “you are spending for Christmas, not for yourself”….you understand, but I have decided to relieve myself of that mindset. the minute I saw this sweet bunny face I snatched it up, put it in the cart with no second thoughts. I look forward to summer. Who would have thunk to pick up your pillows at the grocery???

This corner was naked too long, so I brought out the teal and blue painting. I have had so many customers think, and ponder about this painting but not purchase it. I am going to leave it there for a while, it really brightens that spot up and also picks up colors from the antique grandmothers flower garden quilt. The painting is still for sale. It is 24 X 24 and is $250.00. Just send a message if you have a question or are interested.

So desperately wanting some warm weather. We have a forecast tonight of some rain mixing with some $)*%!!! The plants are not giving up though. A few years ago I took 2 or 3 packages of johnny jump up seeds and threw them out in the landscaping. They multiply and become like a bed of moss. I even get some blooms in the winter. I suspect when it gets just remotely warm those little faces will be popping up everywhere.

Oh my, the crocuses are pretty. When there is some sun they open their petals and soak it up. In the evening they close up shop again. I need to make a point to plant more for next year.

Such a happy yellow!

The new day-lily leaves are popping up through the old, brown, shriveled ones of last year.

This suncatcher, that is in the studio window would reflect on a blank canvas that was on an easel. One early morning I finally paid attention to it,the yard light was giving it the reflection component so it was quite early in the morning.

I decided to trace it and do a painting because it was so neat. Here it is in the early stages. Thinking about adding some bronze paint and flowers twisting around the rays.

This is my very favorite gold in the whole world. Golden brand, Iridescent Bright gold fine. Check back for updates. Happy Easter and warm weather wishes to you.

 

Just hot off the easel

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A the Satek Winery show, I was asked if I ever did paintings with sunflowers. Since it was almost fall I thought that it would be a perfect time to do one and I was looking for an idea for my next painting. I chose to start the background with cool colors.

I knew I wanted to do different sunflowers because variety is the spice of life. Here I was choosing the placement of them on the canvas.

This is one of the sunflowers that I depicted in the painting.

Another one, I love this puffy sunflower!

I used molding paste with acrylic paint with a skewer as the tool to get the texture. Note that the goldfinch has wallpaper wings.

Adding in the leaves, deciding how I would tone down the background. In the upper right corner is the sun and I eventually add a yellow circle in the middle for another layer.

I eventually decided not to do the usual leaves and stems but to add geometric shapes, to be fun and funky. Then a gentle all white butterfly.

The completed painting. This was really fun to do. I finished the painting on Thursday and it was purchased on Saturday by a lovely woman for her daughter.

This is my tent at Art at the Riverside in Leo Indiana, September 23rd. The painting is on the back wall and is showing quite nicely. That is a wonderful art show that is growing every year. This year I was told that 10 more artists were added. The only downside was the unusual heat wave, it was kinda crazy. Be sure to put it on your calendar for next year if you are in the area.

 

Broad Ripple Art Fair this weekend!

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Imagine yourself sitting at the bottom of a hill and you look up to see a beautiful evening sky with a hint of pink, surrounded by a sea of color. This is my newest painting, “Under the Blue Sky”. It will be for sale along with many others at the Broad Ripple art fair in Indianapolis.

When I started this painting I knew I wanted snapdragons with a lot of texture. The sky, then the snapdragons then I wasn’t sure which way I was going. Intuitive painting is putting down paint on a canvas and then eventually it will turn into something to work with. You stand back and start seeing different elements, shapes, colors. Check out the Indianapolis Art Center site and come visit us at booth 117.

 

A little sunshine for ya

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sunflower-ii

As I write this the temp. outside is 20 degrees with a prediction of snow. We have really been fortunate this year with a beautiful, comfortable fall up until Sunday the 4 of December. Now is the season where the sun doesn’t show his face too much. When it does peek it makes me feel instantly better with more energy. Then he goes behind those grey clouds again to play hide and seek. I have gathered together my pictures of sunshine that I was called to create. This is my most recent mixed media sunflower. 5 X 5 canvas, the brushstrokes go out onto the sides of the canvas and a textured middle.

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I call this my Van Gogh like sunshine for the recently complete “In the Pines”.

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A torn paper sun that is warming the “Wildflower Field” painting.

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I always am drawn to a beautiful sunset. We get many in our area.

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I made a pop-up box and sent it to a friend. This sunshine stamp was used to go along with the coffee stamps because coffee is great with the sunrise.

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An earlier sunflower painting. Wouldn’t this make you happy to have it on a shelf at work. Put a little sunshine in your work day. Again a 5 X 5 canvas.

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I used that same sun on a card and made it dimensional. My sun faces have to have rosy cheeks.

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This little sun I picked up at a third world shop that was possible made in Portugal or Bolivia, I can’t recall. I enjoyed all the detail in it.

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From our walk through an Acres Land Trust area, the sunshine through the trees.

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One morning this year I watched the sun rise and it was glorious!

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A stained glass garden stake I had in front of my catmint, the sun shining on a road. It is such a pretty piece. If you live in the north and don’t get much sunshine during this time of the year, I hope you find ways that help. Enjoy the peeks of sunshine when he lets us know that he is still back there even though it doesn’t seem like it. The sunflower pictures prints can be found in my Etsy shop.