(Almost) Surreal Water Lily Pond

As I looked at this big painting on my wall, I struggled to find a title for it.  I kept thinking, "It's huge... It's pretty, maybe too pretty... It's surreal..."  Then I wondered if I even knew exactly what surreal meant.  The dictionary tells me "...elements in it are combined in a strange way that you would not normally expect, like in a dream."  Okay... It's over-sized and over-pretty and over-pink... Perhaps a fairy will pop out of that yellow center when I'm not looking. It would make a very pleasant setting for a dream. So, yeah, I decided it was surreal. 
But, then I looked up images of surreal paintings and realized that I might need to put a light bulb on one of the lily pads or a couch in the background or maybe a human figure in place of a petal... yikes!  

Here's a picture of my work space during our painting weekend at Welcome Home Retreat. I keep a fairly organized work space when I paint, but I do tend to fill the space I'm given no matter how big it is. 😊


Thanks to Kevin for being our online  teacher for this painting.

Oil Painting on 18"x 24" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

Peace Like a River

Mmmmm....
Hhhhhhh....
This painting just makes me take a deep yoga-breath inhale then let it out with a sigh and a smile.

My painting friend Julie and I have been trying to become more proficient using a palette knife, so we turned to YouTube. (You can learn just about anything on YouTube!)

The frustration  beauty of applying paint on canvas with a palette knife is that if forces allows you to make loose strokes.  It totally cramped my style actually gave me such a feeling of freedom.
Ha ha... I guess you can see I endured enjoyed the process. 
Learning at any age is just hard. 
In the end... I really did love not only the process, but I really do love the final product.  

When I look at this painting, I hear the song that I use to calm myself whenever I'm heading into a difficult situation or am feeling stressed.  It's the perfect song for me as I am extremely lyrically challenged (I made that up, but it means I cannot remember lyrics to songs to save my life.)

     I've got peace like a river.
     I've got peace like a river.
     I've got peace like a river.
     I've got peace like a river in my soul.

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canvas
[SOLD]

The Minstrel (a.k.a. Oo-de-lally)

I wonder what my five little hens would think if this guy came over to strut around the yard!

Wait!  

I know!

They'd say, "OOOooooooo-de-lally!!!"

Sorry...

Now that song will be stuck in your head all day long.

Ha ha!  Oh, well, it's a pretty happy thing to have stuck in your head.

"Laughin' back and forth at what the other'ne has to say
Reminiscin', This-'n'-thattin' havin' such a good time
Oo-de-lally, oo-de-lally, golly, what a day!"

Thanks Roger Miller for 

writing such a fun song.

These words fit pretty well for how my painting partners and I felt while we were painting roosters.

By the way, did you know that Robin Hood rooster had a name?  
It was Allan-a-dale.  
Hm... who knew!

Original Oil Painting on 12"x 16" Wrapped Canavas
[SOLD]

Painting with Friends

It's not very often that a person or event completely changes the course of your life. 
I am so grateful that I signed up for a little painting workshop at my church 11 years ago this week.  
This beautiful person, Cheri,  said, "I want to teach you to see things in a different way."  
As I was working on that first painting, she came by and said, "You'll want to ugly up that blue sky; you need some ugly so that the beautiful will be even more beautiful."
Now, almost 400 paintings later, it's her voice in my head reminding me, 
"Squint way down and look at the shapes..." 
"Just be brave and put that paint on..." 
"Soften those edges until they're nearly gone..." 
"Stand back and look at it..." 
"Think about where your light source is..."
"See where the darkest dark meets the lightest light..."
"Put a little purple in it..."

For about 5 years I got to paint with her every week.
What a treat when I get to now.
I learn so much just by watching her work.

About 5 years ago, I asked a teacher down the hall if she'd want to come over and paint.
Julie and I have painted together every week since.
It makes you better to have a partner... for encouragement, help, ideas, and laughter.

What a wonderful, creative, productive weekend we had.

First an evening at Cheri's house in Oklahoma for a lesson.

Then on to Welcome Home Retreat in Texas for two and a half days of art. 

Thanks to Sheila who had the idea and made it a real place... a place where women can relax... can create... and can be inspired then inspire others.

I'm going to touch up and finish each one, but... hey, I'd say it was a pretty productive weekend!

PInk Roses

The thought of painting roses has always intimidated me, so I've avoided them.

Cheri, my art teacher/mentor/friend loves painting roses, and she paints them so beautifully.

She was determined to teach me, so last week I drove to her Oklahoma farm for a lesson.  

I believe we were in her studio painting for 16 of our 24 hours together.

Lo, and behold, some roses showed up on our canvases!

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas

Click "Pink Roses" if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Yellow Butterfly in Some Pink Daisies

How come the paintings that should be simple sometimes aren't?
Hmph!

This little painting was supposed to be a little in-between one.  
I was going to begin it one evening then finish it the next day or so. 
Bah!

I did the background...then changed it completely... 
I blocked in the flowers...  then re-painted them... 
I added the butterfly... finished it... re-did it... finished it again...
Ugh!

It looked fake... something was missing...
I put in some grass...
Nope...

The flowers were good, the butterfly was good, the background was good...
But nothing went together.  
It looked like I'd painted them separately then cut them out and glued them together! Besides that, it looked like a painting about pink flowers that just happened to have a yellow butterfly on them instead of a painting about a yellow butterfly sitting on pink flowers.
Hugh Sigh!

Like it was a misbehaving child, I decided to ignore it... 
Walk away... just walk away... 

Finally I added a little more grass... highlighted the flowers... messed up all the perfect lines on the butterfly... took out one big flower completely... put a glaze on part of the background... and... finally signed my name.

And all that for little bitty 6"x 8"  canvas!
Sheesh!

I like it though. 😁


Original Oil Painting on 6"x 8" Wrapped Canvas
If you'd like to own this lovely little painting, just click "Yellow Butterfly in Some Pink Daisies."

Three Silly Goats Gruff IV

Do they look familiar?
I know... I know... I know!!
I have a folder filled with images I want to paint, so why would I keep painting the same one!

Three Silly Goats Gruff 4/14

We enjoyed the first one on our wall so much... for a week... then it sold... 

Three Silly Goats Gruff  11/14

Three Silly Goats Gruff  12/17

The second 
one was done for the owner of these funny little goats, so we only got to enjoy it until the paint was dry.


A couple of months ago, Ron said, "Why don't you paint those silly goats again.  I liked them."  So, I did them a third time, and we laughed as we hung them on the wall... where they hung for two days!  Then they sold!



So... one... more... time!!!
Baaaaaaaaa!!!!

Original Oil Painting on 11"x 14" Wrapped Canvas
Not for sale right now... maybe later 😊