14 Year Painting Birthday

 

On February 22, 2007 I  went to my first painting lesson.  

I painted a tree!  

And, it looked like a tree!

I couldn't wait to begin the next one.

I still feel that way... I can't wait to begin the next one.

I'm forever grateful to my art teacher/mentor/friend. 

To date, I've completed 558 paintings. There are only 8 of those that I'll never sell. This first painting, Summer Trees, is one of those 8.

These are my first 10 paintings.

Hangs in my niece's home

Given to a student

Sold

Sold

Sold

Hangs in my daughter's home

Sold

Hangs in my son's home

Sold

Tweet! II

It's so much fun to get to help someone complete their very first painting ever.  

This is my niece, and she's an artist now!  
In one afternoon she went from, "How do I hold the paintbrush?" to "I painted a bluebird!"

Great job, Karly!


I remember my first painting lesson almost 9 years ago.  It was so exciting to leave with a finished product!  (In my case it was a tree.)

I've painted this little bluebird a few times.  
He was facing left in 2012.  
He was one of the first the subjects for my Tuesday painting group in 2013. 
And this week he helped me help Karly complete her first painting.

Original Oil Painting - 6"x 8" 
[SOLD]

:) Not for Sale

As of this week, I have been a painter for seven years.

     On a Thursday night seven years ago, I took my brand new wooden art box, five unopened tubes of paint, set of brushes, and a few other items from the supply list and went to a class. I sat on the front row and tried really hard to do what the teacher said even if I didn't understand it... (She told me to put orange in my blue so that my sky wouldn't be garish. ?!?)  At the beginning of the night she said, "Painting will make you see the world differently," and she was right.
     I was never a kid who drew, a teenager who doodled, or a person with a flair for art, but I left that night with a finished painting.  During the course of seven years, I've finished 294 more.  I've loved the process of each one, and I've enjoyed them on my walls as they wait to be purchased for someone else's walls. 
     Of those 295 paintings, there are 7 that are so special that they'll always remain on my own walls.

"Summer Trees"

Here it is!
That very first one!
See that third tree in the back?  Yeah... that wasn't supposed to be there.  I dropped my brush and a blog of paint became a new tree trunk.

"Flower Girl & Her Kitty"

Hmmm...
My little sweetie who loved her kitties so...
And now she flies helicopters...

"In the Tree"

Ahhh...
My other little fella...
Looked so serious...

"My Boys"

He's as tall has his dad now.  

"Beauty and the Beach"

Lovely... I'm certain that's what my son-in-law thought last year when he snapped the photo I used for this painting.

"Aspens in Autumn"

Nope, there's no emotional attachment.  I just love it.  It hangs above my sofa.

"Sweet Blossom the Possum"

Hee hee hee... my alter-ego.  
     Bruce Wayne has Batman.
     Bruce Banner has The Hulk.
     Clark Kent has Superman.
     I have Sweet Blossom

It's a long story... 

:) Happy Art-Birthday to Me

It's been seven years...
I took my first art lesson seven years ago.
I kept painting.
Eventually I called myself a painter.
I kept painting.
Finally I call myself an artist.

:)
Here's to those first "Summer Trees."

Summer Trees

What makes this painting special?

Hmmm... Well, it's not very good... The shadows aren't really right... The colors are a little garish... The shapes aren't realistic... The background is pretty contrived... Hmmm...

So... Have you guessed? This is the very first painting I ever did. It was on February 22, 2007. I spent three hours being nervous, frustrated, stressed, tense, worried... then proud! I had a finished painting! And... I thought it was lovely!