Reflecting On The Future

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Oil on 5x7 hardboard.

Happy New Year, dear blogging buddies!! The title of this painting is in reference to the upcoming new year! I don't actually make resolutions but I do tend to reassess my goals and how to best achieve them. I do this only in general terms so that I can change directions without some sort of guilt hanging over me. Right now my art seems to fly off in too many directions...but then, I want to see where it all leads.
May your dreams come true in 2010!

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psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Cow-Expressive Strokes

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Oil on 5x7 hardboard.
This is for the WDE at Wet Canvas. The reference was supplied by Elizabeth.
Tried a new approach with this one...Keeping the paint unblended, I loaded the brush much like a palette knife-placed the paint with one or two strokes-went back and re loaded. This process hopefully produces a lot of beautiful color blends throughout the painting plus plenty of texture. One of my thoughts on this technique is to carefully observe what the paint does...What really counts is what's happening in the paint and the composition...subject matter is secondary.
Maybe I'm way off base with this, But I really enjoyed dabbling in the abstract a bit more than usual. Let me know your thoughts on this approach.

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psalm 100:4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Merry Christmas

I merely wanted to use this post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. May your fondest dreams come true in the coming year.
Thanks to all my blogger friends for all your kind support through the great trail of canvas and paint.
God bless you all.

Luke 2:13 14 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
¹⁴"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Portrait Challenge

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Oil on 5x7 hardboard.
This painting is for Karin Jurick's End Of Year Portrait Challenge which is happening on her great DSFDF blog.

I know not who this lady artist is. I hope she likes her colorful portrait. Her face was dark and lit by side lighting in the original photo. I had fun trying to show that effect. The side lights had a hint of blue to them. I thought .."what the heck...accent this pthalo look against the many warm facial tones". To be able to insert your own color choices in a work is to truly make it your own.The paint is thick and unblended which helped get the quality/effect I was after.

I hope you all like it!

Update: This very talented lady's name is Maria. Go check out the fine portrait she's done of me!
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Matthew 2:11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Weezer

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Acrylic on 11x14 archival canvas panel.

This is the commissioned Christmas painting I mentioned. It's for a good friend of mine who's buying it for her friend ( who happens to be another good friend of mine.)

It felt a little strange after working in 5x7 format for so long. This is done in standard acrylics using many layers to adjust and tune in. It went amazingly fast and easy for me...I think I'm just thrilled to get back to painting!!
Thanks to all for your warm,welcome, well wishes. They all found their mark and lifted my spirits.

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Matthew 2:2 Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."

Reporting In

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Oil on 7x5 hardboard.
Actually this was listed in Jan. of this year. It didn't sell-it's one of my personal favorites-so I'm listing it again on eBay.
I re posted this because I felt the need to post something. I have been out of commission for awhile.

On Wed. Dec. 9th I underwent open surgery for inguinal hernia repair. This is a fairly common type of surgery, but it is the first time I have ever gone under the knife. I even told the hospital staff to take it easy 'cause I was a virgin. I don't think that remark earned me anything more than a few strange looks.
Anyhow, it's been vicodin for pain, ice pack for swelling...all of which works to better effect when cranked all the way back in the recliner. The swelling gets outrageous after about a half hour in my studio/computer chair.

But now I'm chomping at the bit to get going again as soon as possible. Hope to be putting out new work soon. Gotta get crackin'....I have one Christmas commission, plus a portrait for DSFDF.

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2corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me

Nature's Decorations

Detail

Acrylic on 5x7 hardboard.

The reference photo was provided by Beth for the WDE at Wet Canvas.

I see so much amazing art on the net that every once in a while I give myself the challenge to try something in their style. This is the case for this painting. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the fantastic artist, Robert Genn. I tried to emulate his way of interpreting a landscape and insert decorative color.

The red highlights on the scene reminded me of Christmas lights.

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Matthew 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

Mirror To The Soul

This is about 30 min into the process. It looks as if the cat has applied war paint... . The color of the board is actually red and not as orange as this photo shows.

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Oil on 7x5 hardboard. This is my contribution to the WDE at Wet Canvas. The image was supplied by Sharron.
The first photo is to give you an idea about how my paintings usually start. This time I pre toned the support with red acrylic. I tried to achieve texture and active brushwork.
Hope you enjoy!!

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Psalm 100:3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Kreative Blogger Award!

Kreative Blogger Award

I've been honored with the Kreative Blogger Award!! The gracious giver is a highly talented artist and friend, Bunny Griffeth. Please check out her blog for some fantastic watercolor work!


To comply with the rules, here are seven things about myself. I decided to state it as seven things I love.

My 7 Loves!

1...I love the early dawn quiet...the birds and nature noises... before the world gets cranked up and running.

2...My faithful companion through it all...my toy poodle, Dolly.

3... Painting to music...makes the painting flow better.

4....Painting...It seems the more I learn, the more I realize how little I know.

5...Friends

6...The United States of America...I've always been patriotic...what we're facing today as a country is very troubling.

7...I love God's Word...All of the above would not mean a thing without the Bible as the base.

And now I pass the Kreative Blogger Award onto 7 very talented artists. Make sure you check out their work and say "Hi"!
1 Qiang Huang

2 Miro Sinovcic

3 Lesley Spanos Art

4 Saundra Lane Galloway

5 Jane Hunt

6 Dominique Eichi

7 Connie Tom

Thankful (Happy Thanksgiving)

Oil on a 7X5 hardboard. To quote my chicken: " I'm thankful I ain't a turkey!" Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This is my contribution to the WDE at Wet Canvas. The reference photo was graciously provided by Gail.

I reverted back to my favorite thing...pre toning the board with red acrylic. I like how it peeks through and activates the painting. Hope you all like it!

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1Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Shop Till Ya Drop

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Oil on 5x7 hardboard.

This is my submission to the Weekend Drawing Event at Wet Canvas. The reference photo was provided by the gracious hostess, Maureen. These shoppers are actually in Oxford England, but they could be from Anywheresville, USA.

I had to fight off a little trepidation to finally pick the Oxford shoppers. But, as it turned out, I'm glad I pushed myself and did this one. It was a lot of fun. I must give some credit to Karin Jurick and her DSFDF for nudging me into doing more figuratives.

I first used black gesso with a touch of pthalo blue thrown in to make it darker.

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Psalm 86:5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.

Featured Artist

I am deeply honored to have been selected as featured artist by a wonderful lady named Julie who runs the Happy Catholic blog! Thank you, Julie!

Julie's blog is a wonderful experience. The articles are uplifting and educational. Faith and art are expertly blended. Check it out. It will most likely wind up in your favorites!

Cool Cardinal

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Oil on 7x5 hardboard.
The ref photo for this painting was generously supplied by Alain for the WDE at Wet Canvas.
I haven't done a bird for awhile...one of my favorite subjects...so I just had to try the beautiful cardinal. Just having fun with colors and textures.
The gesso was left textured with brush strokes. I then toned the surface with purple acrylic.
What I really enjoyed with this one was how the paint application broke to show the texture of the support especially around the outer periphery.

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Proverbs 27:8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.

Hurry Up And Wait

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Oil on 5x7 board.

These airport travelers were Karin Jurick's challenge for DSFDF. A wonderful blog which demonstrates how one reference photo painted by many artists winds up with great diversified and creative solutions.

The original photo was very dark as above. I lightened the image and saw a lot more detail, but then decided that would actually detract from the interest. The mind likes to play detective and try to decipher what is what...So a dark mysterious painting is an invitation saying,"Come on in...look around ...stay awhile".

I first used black gesso on the board which makes the colors pop from the start. But after I had all the painting completed, I decided the black gesso wasn't dark enough to do the job. I darkened the black even further by using a thinned layer of ultra. blue, alizarin crimson, and burnt umber.
I hope you like it!

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Proverbs 7:2 Keep my commands and you will live;guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

Sunspot

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Acrylic on 5x7 hardboard.

The reference photo for this painting came from Mary for the WDE at Wet Canvas.

I first painted this work in standard acrylic. I felt the whole thing was way too dark. I reworked it with Golden Open Acrylics and widened the value range. It at least feels more sunny now. I maintained a lot of dark for a deep woods feel. Hope ya like it!

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psalm 34:4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

The Quartet...Pear-A-Tone Singer

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Golden Open Acrylics on 5x7 hardboard.

These pears reminded me of performers due to their positioning and dramatic stage lighting. The one in front must be the "pear-a-tone" being featured in this number ;).

This is my contribution to the WDE at Wet Canvas. Kay graciously supplied the photos to choose from.

I first coated the support with black gesso. I then used a white Prismacolor pencil to sketch in the placement of the pears.
I'm still having a time trying to achieve the brushstrokes like I can get with oils. But this came out better than my previous attempts with the open acrylics. Maybe I'll catch on after a few more.

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1 John 3:18 NRSV:
Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

Pumpkin Patch Escapee

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Oil on 5x7 hardboard.
I felt I should do something to say Happy Halloween to all you spooky celebration devotees.
I had fun with this one. I concentrated on giving this pumpkin the appearance of emerging from the darkness by keeping close values on the dark side and using soft edges. This helps with both depth and mystery.

Hope you enjoy it!

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Job 34:3
The ear tests words as the tongue tastes food.

San Fran Rooftops

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Oil on 5x7 hardboard.

This painting is my submission to Karin Jurick's DSFDF.

The hard, straight lines of cityscapes have made me shy away from this genre. For this challenge I decided to really loosen up-go with invented color-to use many small dabs of paint similar to a rough pointillism. I wanted to get away from the up-tight "painting within the lines" feel.
It was a fun challenge...although intimidating at first.

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Psalm 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.