Stargazer Lily II

If you read yesterday's post, you know that my art friend Nelvia put me up to a Facebook challenge that I truly dreaded doing. I had some sort of irrational fear of showing my art to people who know me. And, if you read it, you know that it turned out to be the best thing ever.  One reason was getting to reconnect and paint with a friend from college.

But wait!!  There's more!!!




Mixed in with all the sweet comments from friends, came a comment on each of the seven days from Lynn. The comments turned into conversations. Lynn had been my high school Sunday school teacher!  Between moves and name changes and 36 years, we'd completely lost touch but reconnected through Nelvia's challenge!

We discovered that we'd both spent the years as teachers and both happened to live in the same area now. As it turns out, Lynn's always been artistic and longed for an opportunity to learn to paint.

Who knew what wonderful things would come from that little Facebook challenge. 

And... yes... there are few other good things yet to add to this challenge story!!

Original Oil Painting on 6"x 6"x 2.5" Canvas.
[SOLD]

Apple Slices V

I want to give my artist friend Nelvia a shout out... and... a big thank you. 
She invited me to participate in a Facebook challenge to post a paining every day for a week.  
If I'm being completely honest, I did not want to do that!  
I always put my art out in the world for strangers, but I rarely do for the people I know.  What if they don't like it? What if they are annoyed that I'm posting every day? What if they unfriend me? 
How's that for pitiful art self confidence!
Well, of course, none of that happened. It was pretty much the opposite.
People made such nice comments, and friends I hadn't heard from in years  decades reached out!
One of those friends was Dayna.  She lived down the hall from me when I was a freshman in college.  Besides a  wedding a few years ago, we hadn't had a conversation in 34 years!  Through a few Facebook conversations, we discovered that we now live in the same area, both retired recently, and both wanted to do art with friend.  It has been so good to reconnect.
I've used this little apple several times.  It's a good little first-time-to-paint picture. 
So... thank you so much Nelvia. And... guess what... This isn't the only fantastic thing to come from your challenge... Stay tuned!!  

Original Oil Painting on 5"x 7" Wrapped Canvas.
Click "Apple Slices V" if you'd like to purchase this little painting.

Tweet!

Do you tweet?

I don't have a Twitter account, and I don't think I've ever gotten a tweet.  Does that make me behind the times?  If so, think I can live with it.  

There aren't many bluebirds around my part of the country.  They seem like sweet little birds.  Maybe one day a pair will join the cardinals and robins and mocking birds and jays and wrens and owls that live in the trees around my house.

I painted this little guy a year or two ago but decided he was worth another.  I love the blotchy colors in the background that just allude to the idea of a tree or bushes behind him.  There's a kind of movement in the lights and darks and colors that makes me not mind not seeing leaves and trees or anything specific.  It's kind of hard to get an expression on a bird's face, but I think the spark in his eye gives him a curious attitude.

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Apple Slices II

How often do you say, "We should get together sometime to... (fill in the blank) ?

I've painted this little still life a couple of times before, but I never had as much fun doing it as I did this time.  So often we've said, "We should get together and paint sometime,"  so I decided to just set a date.  

We were excited for two weeks!  "After the next faculty meeting! I can't wait!"  We laughed and we painted and we talked and we ate a little pizza and the time flew by.  Most importantly, we set a day for our next paint party... just two faculty meeting days away... 

I loved the spirit of 

 helping, 

asking,

celebrating,
lifting up...

But, we actually did face our canvases and concentrate... (a little).

And EVERYBODY left with a finished masterpiece

That's me, Julie, Holley, and Jolene.
Fourth grade teacher, third grade teacher, art teacher, and tech teacher by day...
Artists for an evening!

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