Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts 2015 Entries

 Sunset in Seville

Cerises Rouges

I've been accepted into the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts!

All three of these pieces made it into the art show, yippeeeee! Okay, so I sound a bit giddy, but I am excited about the show. I would have posted this sooner, but wow does life get away from me at times. Gardening has started, the household chores are still there, and work has given me more hours, so with that, and travel and so on, I almost forgot to share. I also see I didn't share the apple painting, so here it is, along with the other two. The Textured abstract has a buyer if it doesn't sell at the show in Oregon.
Well, off to post a recipe on Simply Sheryl's. Stop if you can!

Finished this one, now to get the apples done..

Well, I tried to post this to Facebook, but my server is slower than molasses in January. Yep, I said that, and won't take it back. After sitting here for 30 minutes trying to share one photo, I'm about to call Verizon and tell them their 4G service is a joke. But I won't because I have an apple painting to finish, so off to the cold studio I go, wish me luck!

Sunflowers and Abstracts...

 Or is that abstracts and sunflowers? A long long time ago, in a land far away..... I started taking commercial art classes. One of the tips the professor gave us as artists was to build a file of favorite photos, so the sunflowers are an attempt at a pastel of sunflowers from a photo I've toted around for years.

I can sure tell the difference in papers I'm using. My textured, colored pastel papers are in Utah so I'm trying something else. The smooth surface isn't quite as fun to work with as the color wants to slide right off the paper. With each layer of sealer spray I've been able to build up some tooth though and the color is sticking better. This was a loose and easy painting, not too detailed as I wanted something fun to play around with and didn't really want to get bogged down in detail.
The abstract is just that, a fun textured painting that will look great framed. It's so nice to be getting some creative time in! Now, back to work.

Virtue.... a finished WIP

I'm still in my jammies as I have been working on this and getting the photos and entry done, whew! I can go on vacation with peace of mind now. At 32 inches tall, she is the tallest/largest sculpt I've done to date. She is made from a total of 5 gourds, one for the body and two for each of the arms. No baby though. I had to remove the baby as it was looking more like a cocoon from outer space than a child, even a folk art one...lol. This is a bit different than I had planned for her dress as well, but sometimes things change as we go along. Now, to wait and see if I've been accepted.

Here's a closer look at her base. I tried to achieve a turquoise stone look to the panels on her dress. I hope that will show up in person. Photos are hard to take here.

Another one of my entries for the Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts. A mixed media abstract.

I know I've shared this before as well, but here's "Who's Chicken?" again. Now the waiting begins. Will I be accepted? I hope so as I'm supposed to demo my sculpting and I usually volunteer to help. I do enjoy this show, but will be looking for others to enter as well. They are great experiences and you can get good feedback on where you need to improve. If you haven't entered a juried show before I urge you to give it a try. You never know!

This way or that way, what do you think?

I've had a lot of time to think about perspectives lately. I will share my thoughts on life perspectives later as this is an art post though. In creating an abstract there's a process of line and space and shape usage that you go through as you sort of feel your way through a piece. The image on the bottom is the way I had originally viewed the finished piece, but, on further study I'm wondering if there's a better way to hang this one. I'd like your opinion as I value you all as creative geniuses with a unique view of art. I can already see other ways of approaching this theme; isn't that the marvel of creativity? We start with one idea, and as we work it, the possibilities grow. I doodled last Sunday while listening to the talks in church, totally inspirational I might add, and have some future abstracts planned. I've found that even as I'm down on my knees in prayer in the morning little sparks of inspiration flash in my mind which can be startling as I'm not thinking of art at the time. I digress though.... :-)

Sooooooo top, middle or bottom, which way do you think this would look best?

Truly Lace and Lilly Lovebug

 Lilly Lovebug has moved to etsy to see if she can share her heart with someone there. She has a bit of company, tucked among the Santas and now the abstract art, but she would really rather be sharing her love with you.

Truly Lace is my favorite scent from Coty, but to my dismay they no longer make it. The colors in this piece remind me of the Victorian style label with roses and lace in shades of pinks, reds and peach, thus the name. I can see this in a totally cottage chic home, adding a touch of romance. That's not the only style this would fit into, but let your design style shine with a new abstract on your wall.
They are both available at
MothersDreamRtworks

Taking the plunge with my mixed media abstracts on ebay

I holding my breath as I finish up the listing for my mixed media abstract entitled Truly Lace. I have so much fun creating these, that I am hoping others will enjoy them as much I do. So I took the plunge and listed my first one on ebay. I hope you will take a moment and check out the listing and let me know what you think! Thanks to all the Hive community for your continued support and kind words of encouragement. Have a happy Monday!

The hippie in me....

 More of my "hippie art" as hubby calls, it, which has brought out the freedom in creativity in me I suppose. My first one will be a Valentine piece, with love all through it. Still pondering the color scheme, but I think I have it nailed. First off I need to gesso this though as the texture will wipe off if I don't.

 A sunny sunflower I started last Autumn before everything got crazy around here. Time to add another layer of paint, and wipe and dab, and push color around.

Something for winter, that I didn't get to finish, so I thought I'd better get to this one and not leave it sitting around. I will finish it and then add it to my website or etsy shop, haven't decided yet. There are so many possibilities for themes with these, but I first want to try some random abstracts, just for giggles. What medium gives you the most freedom of expression?

To Antique...or not...that is the question among others

 I have become so addicted to these textural abstracts! Fun and challenging, as I try out different color combos, they give me a freedom to explore color in a way I've never done before.

I've also re-visited the whole color purple and shades of thing in regards to photos. This is a bit off in color, but as close as I could come. My husband says the painting on the top is done, and ignored both inquiries to this one, so I'm thinking he's not fond of it, or it was just coincidental....lol. I was going for a spring like feel with shades of peach and violet, but am not sure yet if I've done what I could. I threw in green to give contrast.  I'm trying to decide if I'm done layering color on both pieces, and if either one should have a final antiquing to bring out the texture more. What do you think?