Thursday, May 28, 2009

Finished Art Work


I'm done, fini, whew! Some things are harder than others, and this one was a doozy! Primarily because I was working off of a small photo, and I have never done a sheep before. I have a tendency to be too detailed, and so I'm really trying to loosen up but some things I still need to learn. Not bad for a self taught artist though, so onward and upward. And yes, Linda, you were close!

A Sweet Treat From Amelia of Sweet B Folk Art

Isn't this too cute?! I won this by visiting the Sweet B Folk Art blog. Oh, and there were a bunch of Smarties in the package to boot so I really lucked out. Why don't you take a stroll over to Amelia's blog and see if you can win a sweet treat for yourself? Find her link in my blog roll. Good luck!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

WIP's

I just got done mowing the lawn and couldn't resist taking a picture of the mountains this evening. I can smell the Ponderosa pines and fresh cut grass..ahhhhh......The work in progress is my house and the yard. We need to put one more coat of paint on the house and trim, and then put a deck around the front and side of the porch,(wish I would have thought of that last year) and get the rest of the landscaping done for this year. Next year we start on the inside. But I will post before and after photos of the outside of the house as it will amaze you!
Not sure if I bit off more than I could chew here, but my paintings always look iffy half way through. Can you guess what is standing in front of the barn on the hill?

Monday, May 25, 2009

Vintage Style Owl and Moon


I wanted to post a Memorial Day note but the day got away from me. I was up at 5am spraying the field of dandelions that have cropped up in our yard this year. Then Kent and I went for a walk and I fixed breakfast before he took off for Utah. I cleaned outside windows and went to a surprise birthday party for a friend at church, and then came home and built garden boxes. So here I am, later in the evening, wishing there was more time in the day. We just had Family Home Evening via the telephone, with Kent in Utah and Annie and I here in Oregon. We shared our thoughts on why this day is important.
Now I'm going through all the venues I have for advertising my newest piece. I've really enjoyed sitting down and designing these little owl paintings. Done on chunky gallery wrap canvas, this mini painting will sit or hang in so many spots that you can move it around if you choose.
He is available in my Etsy shop. Click on the link to the side of this post. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A Mother's Love - Stepping Outside my comfort zone

I've had the photograph this was done from for a long time. I'm trying to step outside of what I normally do and use different brush strokes and so on and this is what the end result was. I plan on doing at least one painting a week until the art show, and then will make a decision on which pieces will be submitted. This is an acrylic on a 9 x 12 inch gallery wrap canvas. The painting does wrap around the sides. Let me know what you think!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Owlfred, a Halloween mini Painting

Suzanne Urban of Smirking Goddess Studios and fearless leader of AHA turned me on to mini canvases so I've been itching to get a painting done on one of these. Well I actually have 3 owl paintings in production, but this is the first, Owlfred. The canvas is 4" by 4" by 1.5"deep. It will sit anywhere or you can hang this.

Find Owlfred now on Ebay!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

The Art of Cooking

As with most artists, we have many creative hats we like to wear. One of mine is cooking. Mom used to make THE BEST Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie when we lived in Wallowa Valley before. Well, I went to the local fruit stand the other day and saw some long ruby red stalks of Rhubarb, so I picked some up. We also bought some Strawberries at Safeway so I searched the net and found a recipe and Whalaa! We have pie!
Let me tell you, the crust is a butter and canola oil crust so it is flaky and tender, one of my best yet, and the filling is to die for! So this was a huge success and now I will go to sleep with a full tummy, dreaming of pie for breakfast......well okay, I won't really have pie for breakfast, I would probably fall asleep in church, but I can look forward to pie for dessert after dinner. Then a long walk to enjoy the fresh pine scented breezes and the towering snow capped mountains.
The pie recipe will be on my Simply Sheryl's Blog if you're interested. Got some fun Halloween paintings planned for Monday so stop back by!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

I'll give you a daisy a day dear.....


Even though it's threatening to snow outside, again, I was inspired to create this as a tribute to the upcoming Summer months. I love Shasta daisies; they are so prolific here in Wallowa Valley that they create mini carpets of green and white here and there along the slopes. They are tall and dance in the breezes that drift across the valley floor. This piece is available now.

Dancing Daisies - 8" x 10" on gallery wrap canvas $125.00 Email me if interested.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Happy Mother's Day

A special bouquet for all the ladies out there, whether you are a mother, grandmother, soon to be, or help take care of others, you have the mother spirit. May your day be filled with joy, love, laughter, and peace.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A New Type of Art Form?

Okay, this was sent to us from an old friend of my husband. Was too incredibly funny and creative not to share with everyone. Imagine the time these fellas put into this: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=17075685001
Gotta love it!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Newest Creations

Stand up and salute because here comes Uncle Sam, and he wants you! I sure do love the USA! Americana is one of my favorite themes as it reflects a piece of history for me. We are a blessed nation, and I hope no one forgets that.
Did you ever just create a piece to see if you could do it? Well this would be one of those. Sunflowers grow wild here, so I've gathered seeds and planted them in the garden. They will take over if you let them, but their sunny happy faces are so enjoyable! So here she is my sunny, happy sunflower. Hope you have a creative week. I will be getting the garden ready, and packing for our sojourn to Oregon. Yay!
If you are on Facebook, let me know and I will send you an invite to American Holiday Artists - AHA Fans group. Our group of artists will knock your socks off!