Twinkling wings

I was inspired to paint Twinkling Wings by Luminarte's Twinkling H2O's.

The paints are perfect to capture the essence of butterfly wings and hummingbird feathers. I used the Radiant Rain mist to give the soft dreamy feel to the painting. 

Ginny

This is a close up of "Ginny" from "Looking Forward".
This is my first try at silver leaf and one of my first trys at painting faces.
I am really enjoying mixed media right now.
I have 4 more new paintings on my drawing table now that are almost finished.

The tree of life

This is a close up of part of the painting, "Looking forward"

It is my favorite part of the painting and reminds me that our children are a part of our family tree and the tree of life itself.
They are an extension of us and we live on through them for generations.

Donald "Darn" Colley at Northwest Art & Frame

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     Chicago based artist Donald "Darn" Colley came to Northwest Art and Frame today to do a demonstration to show us how he uses Pitt artist pens. What a gift it was to watch and listen to him show us how he uses these amazing pens! He was able to show us how to make marks and blend them to create soft lines. He uses everything as his sketch books even old ledger books. It was truly like a demo and drawing class all in one. I want to remember his terms light falls in the hills and valleys. cross hatch in the way the contours go and not necessarily the way your hand naturally wants to go. Sketch and draw quickly, start light, work towards dark, draw the part that will move first then get the rest. Start with one tone or color such as brown or grey then when the values are right you can go back later and add in layers of color. Fill in with white or opaque when the sketch book gets full of lines like a lost in found, highlight the found images.

It was truly a very special gift to see this demo today and "Darn" was a very genuine, warm and entertaining artist.

Thank You!

Looking Forward

I painted this for my son and his wife, they have been married almost 2 years. They fell in love in high school. lost track of each other for several years and reconnected on My Space.
Their love is very strong but they have had a tough go of it, this time of economic challenges has been a struggle for them. So I painted this to remind them to keep looking forward to abundance, happiness, love and wealth.  It is mixed media collage, acrylic painted over all sorts of paper, silver leaf, oil sticks, Pitt pens, luminarte H20's metal, even added the saint of hope necklace, that is removable and they can wear it if they want.
I hope this reminds them to look forward everyday with hope to the future and that they are loved very much.
I have to add, this is not a true to life portrait of them, but rather a simple likeness.
24"X36" on canvas

Quote of the day

I wrote this to someone today and I liked it so much I want to save it.

" I prefer to make my own lines to color in rather than use someone else's"

Blooming Inspiration

My head is full of blooming inspiration!















This is a sweet little painting I have been working on, working with complementary collors, fluid acrylics, oil sticks, and Luminarte paints. It is 8 X 10"

Complementary Blooms

A few weeks ago I signed up to take part in the Creative Color Challenge with Louise Gale. After we signed up we received the information about the challenge. The colors had to be complementary, and you could

include black and white. The theme was blooms and any part of blooms, leaves etc.  I also used actual complements in my composition. I used a small wooden frame with a mirror in it, and included the words you are beautiful, creative, amazing woman in the composition. It is truly a mixed medium piece with acrylic paint, found and re purposed paper and markers. I had so much fun making this and the best part is we got matched up with swap partners to send our creations to. Mine lives in Australia! YAY it's almost like I got to go! And I am looking forward to see what she has made! I would definitely do this again! It was so much fun. I was feeling a little un-creative, not sure where to start in the new year with my art but really wanting to be one with my muse again, this was just what I needed to be inspired and back to creating art. Now I can't wait to get into my studio almost everyday. Thank You Louise!

Now if I could just figure out how to add those little buttons I could add the Creative Color Challenge one here! Any suggestions?

Love where you live

I was invited to participate with a group of artists in a gallery show in Pioneer Square, downtown Seattle.
The theme of the show is Vashon Island Artists.
Although I only live on the island an average of one day a week, I have been active in the arts community, donating to the auction at VAA and having several art shows at cafes there.
I was inspired to paint "Love where you live" by this show. We are blessed to live in beautiful Puget sound and divide our time between West Seattle and Vashon island. We love the island, it's rural community and the people who live there and are fortunate it is only a 15 minute ferry ride away.

Another way of thinking about loving where you live presented itself to me as I was painting it-I added fish, birds and Orca whales and was reminded to love where we live, we must be mindful to take care of what we love. In this case our environment so that we all can thrive here.

I am honored to be involved in a group show with fellow artists from Vashon island.
The show will be at the Kevin D'Amelio Gallery, 619 Western Ave, Seattle Wa.
March first Thursday gallery walk. Until it comes down March 13th.