Pumpkins and Pears and Moons, Oh My!

A little piece of Autumn inspiration for your home or office. Available on ebay now: Mother's Dream Artworks

PFATT Marketplace Offerings for August

 Marcus Moon

SOLD!

 Northwood Pines Santa

Pumpkin, Pear, Moon Folk Art Painting

So here I am four days after the new month launch trying to get things sorted out. Not only am I waaaay behind on posting this, it appears that I boo booed and sent the wrong link or didn't get the link changed when I created my page for this month. So what you see is Marcus Moon, which is on his way to his new home, an oil can JOL, that really should be the painting above, and the Santa. These are my three offerings on the PFATT Marketplace this month, and we are working on changing the painting photo. If you are interested in the painting let me know.

Whew, all this running around trying to take care of two homes 600 miles apart, church responsibilities, family and art makes for a whirlwind life, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

If you are interested in the two pieces left that you see above, stop by PFATT Marketplace

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!

Box of Pears - Work in Progress

A box of pears, no, not for canning... a painting...lol. Here's my start, I'm about a third of the way there. I had to stop a couple of times as the floor downstairs is linoleum on pavement, so my feet were freezing! We've had single digit temperatures at night and the heat comes out of the ceiling in the basement, so the floor doesn't get a chance to warm up. I tried to put a rug down, but that wasn't too helpful. So I'm whining and feeling somewhat like a poor artist.... this too shall pass, right? I would move the easel upstairs, but there's really no room. Tomorrow I will try the portable heater and see if it helps with the floor. For now, it's time to go share a new listing at Simply Sheryl's

Autumn Pumpkin, Pear & Grapes Still Life Prints

A 12" by 12" print that's sure to warm your home and delight the eye. Two photos as my camera is having a hard time trying find the right colors...lol. You can find more about these here: MothersDreamRtworks

Wallowa Valley Festival of Arts Success Story

 What an incredible show it was this year! I won a ribbon for the above piece, and it was one of the first pieces sold at the opening night reception Friday night. I was/am so tickled! I had a fun time Saturday as I was asked to demo my sculpting and textured art skills. The textured art demo was the most popular, with people of all ages watching and asking questions. One lady asked me if I considered what I do fine art or a crafty thing, and so I to pointed out to her that the above piece was accepted into the show and it is a fine art show.... she didn't ask any more questions after that, but I'm not sure what I could have said otherwise. The look on everyone's faces when she asked the question was funny, some shocked, some frowning, some with a wondering look, but when I answered they all nodded yes and smiled. I hope I wasn't too harsh as I said it gently, but firmly. The sculpting demo was fun as well and I was asked to join the quick draw next year to sculpt a piece with the idea that it would be sculpted to a finished stage, and painted later, with an example of what the finished piece would look like so folks bidding would know what they could expect. That will be quite a challenge as we have an hour and a half to finish a piece, so I had better settle on a theme and practice now.

 Sunday when I went to pick up my art, I found out that the same person who bought the one piece, bought my chicken as well, score! I hear she is a very nice person so I look forward to getting to know her.

To top everything off my silent auction piece sold as well, to a local chef, and this year half of the sale price goes to the artist, whoohoo!
All in all, it was a very good year for me, and I'm thrilled! After not working all year, and not really having much artistic time it was a sweet gift from above. I know where my blessings come from and I consider this such a blessing!

Autumn is slowly wrapping us in her glow....

     As a gardener I tend to check the weather forecast regularly. I first became obsessed with the weather when we lived in North Pole, Alaska. I looked for the first day to plant, and the latest I could leave things out without losing anything to frost. By the end of August we had usually had a hard frost, so anything in the garden not covered well looked like something from an alien movie. Green slimy leaves, and wilted plants told the story all too well. I can still smell the high bush cranberries, and the Labrador tea, and see the Midas touch on the birch tree leaves, mixed with the vivid red of the Fireweed. By this time it can be so cold that snow threatens any day. I see that this year they are having an Indian Summer as they are basking in mid 60 temps until next weekend.
      Back to Utah though, although it will be 89 degrees today, by next week we are looking at mid 70's temps. The nights have been cooler; my one lonely apple on my columnar apple tree is huge and red. The light comes through the window at a different angle and everything seems to be touched by a sort of golden glow. The wild sunflowers are in full glory, and the hills are tinged with a purple hue come evening. Mornings are cool and comfortable for exercise, and the smell of baked desert soil is going away to be replaced by a sweet freshness.
     We are also getting ready for the big car and air show here in Wendover and the weather is critical for pulling off a successful event. It appears that we will have a nice sunny day for the show, not too hot, and perfect. We are keeping our fingers crossed as things can change in a week, but so far all looks good.
     I love this time of year and how it inspires me artistically. The painting above was one done back in 2006, but is timeless in it's appeal. I will be creating new paintings of a similar style this weekend and hope to post them. In the meantime I have 3 prints of this painting being offered at my etsy shop right now so if you have a moment, won't you stop by and take a look? Here's to a great and restful weekend for us all.

Getting Excited about the Fair!

This is actually a tease as this is NOT the painting I'm entering in the fair this year. I have a special fruit painting in mind, and hopefully will be able to finish it tomorrow, or at least get most of it done. This is part of my inspiration though as I painted this years ago and it now resides in one of my collectors homes. I searched in my photobucket account for this photo because I like the lettering and want to use a similar style for my new painting but alas, I couldn't find it. Luckily for me, even though I've made many changes to my website over the years, the photos I've shared are archived there, so whaalaa! I found the photo and now I can continue with my newest creation. I love that I can consult with my husband on my art ventures and he will come up with really great ideas, so stay tuned, I will share with you soon the idea he had, and hopefully it will all pull together.
Just a reminder to scroll down to our AHA Studios Marketplace opening announcement and get your name in the hat for the giveaways I have, then follow the trail to our other give away participants. You can win more than one prize if you are lucky!

Crows and Pears and Pumpkins, Oh My!

September 1st is a start for me, to the Autumn season. Perhaps it was my teachers putting leaves around the bulletiere.n boards, or if you are in Alaska, the leaves outside have already turned or started. What ever it is there is a change to the sunlight and it just feels like Fall is almost here.
This print is a very popular one of mine and you can find it now on ebay. The original was created on canvas using acrylic paints. It looks wonderful framed.

Fresh Fruit is done!

Finally! It sure feels good to get a painting done for a change. Need to do this more often. I created two of these, though the lettering is different and the colors a bit different as I was playing around with color and style. I gave the other one to my stepmom for Christmas or a birthday, gosh I can't remember now. Anyway, this one has been sitting in a box waiting to get done. This is done on a 9" x 12" gallery wrap canvas so the sides are painted and it comes ready to hang. I'm putting this one up on my website at www.mothersdreamartworks.com. It can be yours for $145.