Fly and Be Free!

Fly and Be Free
18x24 · Oil
AVAILABLE ON ETSY

The Dog Park

We have a fantastic dog park here in town! We had two great danes visiting us this weekend so we took them to play. I had a lot of fun watching the dogs and taking photos of them running around, splashing in the water.

I absolutely fell head over heels for this puppy!

Cool Bees!

I was recently contacted by a local shop called Cool Bees (what a fun name!). The owner saw my work online and asked if I'd like to sell some of my work there. I've thought of doing this before but didn't know where to start so this is incredibly exciting! I do have an etsy shop but this is a real live store you can walk into! How about that?

I'm working on getting everything assembled right now and phweww! What a job! I have no idea what will sell the best so I'm going to start with framed prints. That means matting, lots and lots of matting. Thanks to my wonderful (I can't say enough about her) high school art teacher, Valerie Savage, I am rather well equipped for the job. I've utilized the skills she taught me several times over the years, but never at this scale. I am also grateful that my Dad, while I was in college, signed me up to take a framing class at a local art store with him. I must admit that I didn't learn much more than I already knew, though I did pick up some ideas and had a good time taking the class with my Dad! Also, I walked out of there with a new matt cutter (thanks Dad!) which I use to this day. I'm sure there are better matt cutters out there now, but this one suits me quite well. Also, it sure beats the old method of taping down the ruler and praying you don't lose a couple fingers!

Another exciting piece of news is that on October 15th I may have a table set up in an outdoor art event which is being held outside Cool Bees! I think I may take some originals to sell there. I'll also be borrowing back a few portraits which I've done to put on display (heh heh). I don't have the whole booth set up so I'm not quite sure yet how I'm going to handle this but have a vague idea and I think it may involve the use of easels.

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Callaway Gardens Building - Oil Painting

Callaway Gardens Building

12x12

Oil

Here's a painting of a building at Callaway Gardens. This building has a restaurant upstairs on the opposite side and a shop and something else on the lower floor on the side that's showing. I was bummed because by the time we got here the shop was closed and I missed an opportunity to browse.

The photo I took seems to have spherized the image a bit, I guess the same thing must have happened on the other paintings I've photographed (vs. scanning) but the subject matter in this one seems to have accentuate it. I swear, the roof doesn't bent like that in the original. I'll probably scan this and the others when they get dry enough.

Sunflower in Oils - Final

Sunflower 2

Oil Paint

11x14

Here's the final scan of the sunflower painting.

Sunflower in Oils - Working 5

I went back and put more details in the flower, I think I may be done with this one. I've been having a hard time getting good photos of it so when it's dry enough I'll scan it in and re-post it.

Sunflower in Oils - Working 4

Sunflower in Oils - Working 3

I worked some more on the petals and the sky.

Sunflower in Oils - Working 2

Here's the underpainting of the sunflower which I did on clayboard.

Sunflower in Oils - Working 1

This is the initial sketch for an oil (water miscible) painting of a sunflower. I'm working from another of the many photos I took during my visit to Callaway Gardens.

Sunflower in Pastels - Final

Sunflower

8x10.5

Here's the first of what I believe will be a series of sunflower paintings. I took quite a few photos of these beautiful flowers while at Callaway Gardens and they're all screaming to be painted. I'm also currently working on a portrait which I hope to have up soon.

When to say When...(Sunflower in Pastels - Work in Progress 2)

I've worked on this some more and am trying to decide if it's time to stop or if I want to put more details into it. I think I'll set it aside and look at it again in a few days with a fresh eye.

Sunflower in Pastels - Work in Progress

This is a pastel I'm working on of a sunflower. I love flowers and took lots of photos of a wide variety this past summer during a trip to Callaway Gardens.