New Paintings 01.21.10

Wild at Heart
Original 16" x 20" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Mountains and Prairie Sky
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes a new floral piece entitled Wild at Heart, which is a variation on my signature Abstract Poppies composition. The other new painting, Mountains and Prairie Sky, is a variation on a few different compositions I've done over the years depicting the juxtaposition of mountains, prairie, and big skies.

Quote of the Day
"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all."

Aristotle

Flowers on Blue Sky

Flowers on Blue Sky
Original 66" x 28" x 0.75" painting
Three 22" x 28" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

This painting is the newest in my abstract floral series of paintings. My abstract floral triptychs are a pleasure to paint and are popular among my patrons.

Quote of the Day
"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude."

Denis Waitley

Today's Work 09.11.09

Abstract Pear Tree
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Apple Tree
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Tulips Against Blue Sky
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes two new landscape and a floral composition. Abstract Pear Tree is a variation on some of my previous abstract tree compositions, as is the Apple Tree piece. Tulips is a variation on my popular Tulips in Midday Sun composition, which was recently bought by a couple in Atlanta as a commission.

Quote of the Day
"Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past." --Gerald Jampolsky

Today's Paintings 8.25.09

Pasture, Creek, and Stormy Sky
Original 16" x 20" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms XII
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes a new composition: Pasture, Creek, and Stormy Sky, as well as the newest edition in the Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms series.

One of my favorite musical ensembles is The Roches. I've been listening to their music since the 1980s, and was listening to their music yesterday while I was painting. I decided to go to their web site, found an email address to write them, and told them how much I've enjoyed their music over the years. I also told them how much I relate to the stories told in their lyrics, having grown up in a large Catholic family on Long Island.

Lone Cow
Original Acrylic Painting

Well, to my surprise, their mother--who responds to fan email--wrote me back and gave me high praise for my work! I wrote her back and offered to create a painting for them. Again, to my surprise, Suzzy Roche checked out my web site and requested a new edition of my Lone Cow painting!! I can't tell you how thrilled I am that my work will hang in the home of one of my favorite musical artists!

Quote of the Day
"Everyone is good." --The Roches

Today's Paintings 6.11.09

Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky IV
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Red Roof and Spring Flowers
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes the newest edition in the Flower Garden series, as well as a new composition Red Roof and Spring Flowers. The joy in painting for me is to use bold expressions of color in my compositions, and I often get favorable comments from patrons and other artists on my use of color--which I very much appreciate.

Quote of the Day
"Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion." --Buddha

Today's Paintings 5.19.09

Pink Blossoms and Spring Meadow
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Honey Locust and Blue Sky
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Oriental Blossoms X
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes two new compositions: Pink Blossoms and Spring Meadow, and Honey Locust and Blue Sky, as well as the newest edition in the Oriental Blossoms series.

Quote of the Day
"You cannot find yourself by going into the past. You can find yourself by coming into the present." --Eckhart Tolle

Today's Paintings 5.18.09

Back Road Through Prairie Grass, East of the Rockies
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms VIII
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes a new composition featuring a big sky, Back Road Through Prairie Grass, East of the Rockies, and the latest edition in the Twisted Apple Tree with Pink Blossoms series.

Quote of the Day
"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them." --Ernest Hemingway

Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky

Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky (Commission)
Original 48" x 64" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work was on a large commission from my signature composition Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky. This patron requested a commission of the second painting in this series (see May 1 blog entry), only much larger. Given the size of the painting, he requested that I send it rolled.

Another patron bought a small painting (16" x 20") from one of my sales venues today, and also requested that I send it rolled. She will be shipping it to her home country, Lebanon, and wanted to reduce her shipping costs. I am always happy to accommodate special requests from my patrons.

Announcement
I've done a breakout of the topics to be covered in each of the four two-hour sessions of my workshop Selling Your Artwork Online. You can view the topic breakout by session on my web site.

Quote of the Day
"In a time of anger or despair, even if we feel overwhelmed, our love is still there. Our capacity to communicate, to forgive, to be compassionate is still there. You have to believe this. We are more than our anger, we are more than our suffering. We must recognize that we do have within us the capacity to love, to understand, to be compassionate, always." --Thich Nhat Hanh

Note
A dear friend died today, someone who fought and won against his own personal struggles, and who gave selflessly to others to help them rebuild their lives from the inside out. Jon Marsh--thank you for all you have done.

Autumn Path Commission

Autumn Path (Commission)
Original 72" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's post includes the completed version of the Autumn Path commission for my Canadian patron. She approved the Autumn Aspens piece, so I'm on to my next commission--a 64" x 48" version of my Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky series, shown below.

Flower Garden Against a Yellow Sky II
Original 36" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

We're expecting cool rainy weather over the weekend here in Golden, so I'm going to put on some tea, play some Joni Mitchell, Iris Dement, and Rolling Stones, and get some painting done!

Quote of the Day
"I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe." --Dalai Lama

Flower Garden Against Yellow Sky III

Flower Garden Against Yellow Sky III
Original 24" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Chroma acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work includes the newest painting in my Flower Garden series. A patron who's bought some of my work before commissioned a 48" x 64" painting from this series. I'm excited to paint that one on such a large canvas. I typically buy my canvases pre-stretched, but the cost gets a bit prohibitive for anything larger than a 30" x 40". Roll canvas is the way to go, in my opinion, for larger paintings. Shipping larger paintings can cost a bundle, and in this market your patron's dollar is better spent on the art than getting it there.

I'm pleased to announce that I have a new apprentice as well. He's been working with me for a couple of weeks now, and has a background in literature, photography, web design and programming. It's been great having someone to work with, and he brings the kind of enthusiasm to my studio that reminds me of when I was in art school. I look forward to seeing his work progress, and I'm enjoying the collaboration too.

Tip of the Day
Shop around for the best deal on your art supplies. The major suppliers for painting include ASW, Dick Blick, and Jerry's Artarama. I highly recommend signing up for their emails that advertise sales on materials, and to plan enough ahead to take advantage of low or no-cost ground shipping. There are certain costs that you have absolutely zero control over: listing fees on sales venues, shipping charges, phone, internet, etc. Take advantage of things like sales on art supplies so you can increase your margin as much as possible.

Quote of the Day
"The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis." --Dalai Lama

Prairie Creek and Sky VI

Prairie Creek and Sky VI
Original 72" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work included the latest in the Prairie Creek and Sky series on three 24" x 36" canvases. This painting's big sister, which I listed on my sales venues two days ago, sold this morning to a patron in New Hampshire who's bought reproductions of my work from artistrising.com. He also expressed interest in a commission (new original) of one of my compositions Red Cows, en route to Rollins Pass, which may be viewed in my online portfolio.

Tip of the Day
One of the issues with shipping your art to patrons is protecting your product during shipping. Let's face it--with shippers using automated equipment to move things along there is some risk involved shipping fragile items whether or not they're marked as "Fragile." I ship my paintings with extra cardboard cut to size against the canvas. Many people use bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts (a.k.a. "ghost poop"), but those types of packing materials are a cost center too. I use newspaper for packing material. It's inexpensive, and a green alternative to plastic.

Quote of the Day
"Where you stumble, there lies your treasure." --Joseph Campbell

Prairie Creek and Sky V

Prairie Creek and Sky V
Original 88" x 28" x 0.75" painting
Four 22" x 28" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

I decided to go large on today's work--a four-canvas edition of my Prairie Creek and Sky series. The series is inspired by wide open spaces found in many parts of the country. Here in Colorado we have so many different kinds of ecosystems in one state: mountains, prairie, desert, and variations in the transitional areas between.

Tip of the Day
Photographing your work can be a time-consuming process, and depending on what you intend to use your photos for the choices you make in processing your photos make a big difference. If you're shooting photos for the web, keep in mind that many people don't have their monitors set for high resolution--so the size of your photos should be taken into consideration. Photos larger than 600 pixels high may require your viewers to do a lot of scrolling to see the entire image.

Also, color depth varies on monitors too, so your images may look great on your monitor and not so great on someone else's. My photos for the web are all 72 dpi. Brightness and contrast make a difference in what the viewer sees too, and since color rendering varies from monitor to monitor it's important that your images are crisp and clear. Since monitors vary so much it's necessary to find a middle ground for images that will work well for most viewers.

Quote of the Day
"There is an art to living life fully and paying attention to the details." --Anne Copeland

Today's Paintings 4/3/09

Sunrise Poppies VI
Original 18" x 24" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Prairie Creek and Blue Sky
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work features the latest in my Sunrise Poppies and Prairie series. The prairie landscapes feature large expanses of blue or red skies, sometimes with or without the creek. My patrons from all over the US have expressed their interest in the paintings from this series, and I enjoy painting them too.

My husband and I are starting a series of classes on selling your artwork online. There are numerous venues, strategies, and opportunities for artists and craftspersons to sell their work and quit their day jobs, depending on how much time, effort, and diligence you can bring to the table.

Starting next week I'll be featuring a Tip of the Day for how to sell your work online, so stay tuned.

Quote of the day: "Technical skills can be learned by almost anyone who has the determination to pursue it, but innovative ideas and the ability to express them come from some place beyond the material world." --Carole Ann Borges

Today's Paintings 4/2/09

Still Life with Roses and Peach
Original 16" x 20" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Red Poppies on Blue Sky XI
Original 48" x 20" x 0.75" painting
Three 16" x 20" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's work features a new still life, and the newest edition in the Red Poppies on Blue Sky series, which is one of my signature series of paintings. One of my patrons has purchased two in this series--one for her home, the other for her office--because, as she says, "I only have to look at your paintings and no matter what I'm feeling at the moment it always brings a smile to my face."

Quote of the day: "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." --Albert Einstein

Today's Paintings 3/27/09

Prairie Sky at Sunset II
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Mountain Sunset
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's paintings use sunset themes and were inspired by photographs from friends and my husband. Both Mountain Sunset and Prairie Sky at Sunset reflect dramatic skyscapes that are fun to paint and which my patrons like very much.

Quote of the day: "I am an artist… I am here to live out loud." --Emile Zola

Poppies on Blue Sky X

Poppies on Blue Sky X
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today's painting is the latest in the Poppies on Blue Sky series. This is the largest single-canvas version of this painting that I've done. My patrons really love this composition, and I've sold each edition in the entire series. This series was inspired by a friend's photo and my imagination.

I'm still getting a reasonable number of commission orders too. I have a few more in the pipeline, and am grateful for the work. Painting has been my day job for over five years now, and I want to keep it that way. So thank you, patrons, for allowing me to paint full time.

Quote of the day: "The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude." --Friedrich Nietzsche

Today's Paintings 3/14/09

Red Prairie Sky and Creek IV
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Asparagus
Original 12" x 36" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

For today's work I decided to paint a variation of the Prairie Sky and Creek series featuring a red sky. There was a quote on the wall in the painting studio at CSU, my alma mater, which stated: "If you can't make it good, make it big. If you can't make it big, make it red." I always loved that quote.

The second painting I did today is on a tall (36") canvas depicting asparagus stalks. I've done quite a few culinary-type paintings over the years. Back in December I had a patron who is a chef purchase several of my smaller pieces depicting fruits and vegetables. These paintings are often displayed in my patrons' kitchens.

Incidentally, I varnish all of my paintings, and mount hanger wire on the back so that they're ready to hang right out of the box--no framing required. Although I have had several patrons who have chosen to frame their pieces. The varnish protects the paint, so if you do hang your painting in a high-humidity environment as kitchens tend to be, the paint is protected from the higher humidity levels or the occasional splatter if you're a little more flamboyant in your cooking style.

Quote of the day: "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." --Edgar Degas

Today's Paintings 3/12/09

Prairie Creek and Sky IV
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Springtime Garden II
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Poppies and Blue Sky IX
Original 54" x 24" 0.75" painting
Three 18" x 24" canvases
Golden, Liquitex, and Atelier acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Today was one of those painting at dawn kind of days. I have been working on commissions for weeks now, as well as painting new pieces to list on my sales venues. Today's paintings are recreations of compositions that do well on my sales venues. The Poppies and Blue Sky series is hot right now.

I have two more commissions in the works right now, and requests for a few more in the works. My job rocks! I love to paint, and have taken on an apprentice (my husband), who up to now has been my back office guy--he does the accounting, computer stuff, and shipping. It'll be interesting to see how that works out. I was thinking the other day that I take things like how to hold a brush for granted.

We're also lined up to teach classes on selling your art online. One of our classes starts next month at Colorado Free University. We're also in the process of developing a webinar to teach how to sell art online. More information is available on my web site.

Quote of the day: "Without atmosphere a painting is nothing." --Rembrandt

Recent Work Through 2/27/09

Sunrise Poppies V
Original 24" x 30" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Prairie Sky and Country Road III
Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

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Here are two new paintings from the Sunrise Poppies and Prairie Sky series. My patrons really gravitate to these compositions, so I like to keep them happy by having new editions of these paintings available on my sales venues.

Today I'm going to be working on some new paintings to list on my sales venues, and I have some new commissions lined up that I need to get started. I'll post some of today's work later this afternoon, so stay tuned.

Quote of the day: "Artists have to show us what is not going well within the person and within the society, not try to cover it up." --Thich Nhat Hanh

Recent Works

Pear Tree V

Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

Prairie Sky and Country Road II

Original 30" x 40" x 0.75" painting
Golden and Liquitex acrylics on gallery-wrapped canvas

These are two paintings I've done in the past two days. My sales have really picked up this week, which makes me a happy camper. I'm going to be getting started on the large Alaska landscape commission that my Atlanta-area publisher has ordered for one of their clients.

The Pear Tree series is one of my favorite ones to paint. I recently sold a variation of this composition to a woman in Brooklyn who bought it as a wedding present. The Prairie Sky series is one I've done several different compositions for. I love painting the huge sky and clouds, and my patrons really love it.

Quote of the day: "Odd how the creative power at once brings the whole universe to order." --Virginia Woolf