The Lovely Gaze

I can see her playing Juliet...

Mixed Media on wood

Happiness

Need I say more?

You Look Like I Feel...

Express You Inner-Self and I did.  This lady represents my mood that day ... I think ...
 



Frosty The Snowman

I tried to utilize what I have learned about brush strokeds in the workshops I have taken.

I tried to create a painting not a drawing of the snowman.

This is acrylic on a wood panel.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Hoo's There?

It's the time of the year for holiday crafting...not fine art but fun art none-the-less.

One Stitch At A Time

This mixed media's theme represents my life...

Posing As Breakfast

This was 'a rectangle challenge' an exercise on Daily Paint Works. And, it is certainly one to be repeated many times. While I did bend some of geometry's rectangle rules, the exercise did encourage me to lay a stroke of paint on the canvas and leave it there. Actually, I am suprised it turned out to look like what it was supposed to! Maybe next time I will be able to stroke all rectangles.

Perfect Darby

Darby was one of our Thoroughbred mares.

She was the grand-daughter of our last triple crown winner, Affirmed.

She certainly had presence about her.

Inner Beauty

The subject of this piece is a reprise of the girl in Mind's Eye pictured a few below. 

I have softened her a bit in colour and expression. It was another fun project.

It is a mixed media on an 11 X 14 panel.

The Tao of Chi (huahua)

This was a fun illustration to create. 

It is a personification of a tiny, tiny, chocolate Chihuahua puppy that I currently have.

She has the determination to live against all odds it seems! 

It is mixed media on an 8x10 panel.

Mind's Eye

This severe lines in this oil painting give it a sort of baroque quality.

Oil on 11 x 14 canvas panel

Mysterious as a Cat

Another fun piece!

Mixed media on heavy weight paper

Ozark Buntings

I am having so fun with mixed media.

The undercoat is acrylic, the buntings are in oil pastels

 sprayed with a fixative and then detailed with paint markers.

It is on 8 x 10 heavy weight textured paper.

Anticipation

Another one of my photos that has inspired a note card. This is such great fun to share!

Diversity in Color

Acrylic on 8 x 10 canvas cloth

Here's Looking At You

I went back to drawing something more familiar, animal faces. I am intrigued with cat eyes.



Jacob

This is my first attempt at drawing our grandson, Jacob. I couldn't quite nail his expression.

In the photo, his expression is more pensive than surprised. 

 The photo captured such a sweet moment in time, I can always try again.

It is in oil pastels.

Arizona Grapefruit in the Ozarks

For Prints

( Click here to view my original Artwork)

The Turquoise Tie

My daughter is getting married and she had me scouting for turquoise ties for the groom's men. I found some and sent her a picture via my cell phone for her approval. Silly me, I decided to paint that picture. Thanks to J. C. Penney for having turquoise ties for the wedding and for providing me subject matter. LOL

Happy Hour at the Jetson's

Oil pastels are a lot of fun for me, a mixture of coloring, brush painting and finger painting. 

This is my attempt at abstract art...seems a little reminiscent of the cartoon show, The Jetson's.

I like the colours, though.

Peek-A- Boo, All Your Eyes Are Blue

Here is my first attempt at a collage.

It's a little rough but I had oodles of fun with the oil pastels and the bright colours!

Arizona Grapefruit in the Ozarks

My friend brough back some tree-picked Grapefruit from Arizona. I have never eaten a fresh picked Grapefruit much less painted one.I have never tasted anything so sweet and juicy so, I wanted to capture that foreign , and unreal experience of being able to go outside and pick a juicy grapefruit off your tree. Consequently, this rendering is a bit surreal nad done in oil pastels.

Shawnee

Shawnee belongs to my dog trainer. I found this painting a fun challenge because of the anatomical perspective of having the horse moving away from the viewer. I have never drawn a horse from that angle. What I found out is that I need to improve on my strokes as they relate to perspective. Thank you Amy for sending me your photo for me to experiment with.

RJ Paintme Impressive

This is my attempt at painting my horse, RJ. I acquired him as a yearling and I started him under saddle as a 2 year old.  He is now 8 years old and is a good friend who packs me around anywhere I want to go.

Sergeant Floyd

This painting takes me back many years when we were breeding horses. Spring was always a time of new and jubilant life. This colt was just about 5 days old when he was let out in a pasture which abundant with dandelions. It was the first time he really got to stretch those long legs of his. I enjoyed painting him because of all the memories.

The Sicilian

After looking at Nicolai Fechin's website http://www.fechin.com/publications/reproductions.htm, I felt inspired to paint something ethnic...my ethnicity with a tad of abstract brush strokes in the background. I am not exactly sure who she is but she definitely took on a character of her own and she definitely has the flavor to represent my Mediterranean heritage. Since my husband seems to really like this painting, I'll trust his judgment and post it. I have a long way to go but I see little improvements as I paint each painting.

Lovely Lauren

It is with great trepidation that I post this painting of my daughter. A friend of mine told me not ot fear painting a portrait of a human face and to remember not to paint with expectation. So I walked through that door and began to paint. Each brush stroke of this portrait was an effort of love, no matter that it is a rather immature rendering, this challenge was an expression of love.

My Lovely Daughter, Lauren

I am working on the courage to try paint this photograph I took of my daughter.  She is so lovely.

MacPherson Boat Exercise

Sometimes our eyes can learn how to see shapes and colors and our hands can learn how to move and refine those shapes better when we copy a seasoned painter's strokes. This rendering I did is an excerpt from a painting by Kevin MacPherson.

Bodi

While shopping around our quaint little town, my friend urged me to go into the Frame Shop not only to see some local artists' work but also to meet the owner's dog, Bodi. Well being a 'dog person' I not only fell in love with dog's laid back personality  but also with the texture of his coat. I took a picture with my phone and decided to paint his textured face. 

Here is my rendering of Bodi, a Schnauzer with uncropped ears.

Mr. Buttons

This was just so totally different and fun. Perhaps not a real serious art rendering but it was like biting into a burst of flavor. For me, the colour challenged person, it was a colour explosion! Mr. Button's head was totally my design from my mind. That was a real challenge as it took major decisions on each brush stroke. I feel like I birthed him as much as any of my children. Anyway for what it is worth, Mr. Buttons, I gave you life! :)

A Gray Study

I am learning more about colours and their influence on the viewers response to a piece. For whatever reason, I love all the grays in this picture. It would be a good exercise (for me a big challenge) to paint this and mix all the grays necessary. Hmmmm...

Seasons of Colour

I am fascinated by the Old Ala Windmill in Gotland Sweden. This is the same windmill that I painted below. I took this picture in the September of 2008. The painting below is from a picture I took in December of 2010.

Notes on painting...

Here are a few things about painting that I want to remember from Italian painter, Jerry Fresia's book:

#1: IT IS NOT ABOUT THE TALENT - It's about pointing to a God given gift that we all possess, the gift of being able to celebrate perception by tasting with our eyes.

#2: THE MEASURE IS THE FEELING - We ought not to fear painting badly because the results are not the measure. Our fear ought to be not getting a thrill from what we see. If we get the thrill, the results will follow.

#3: IT IS ABOUT BECOMING MORE OF WHO YOU ALREADY ARE - A deep pleasurable fulfillment comes from the very exercising of our ability to create. In fact, it may be our most crucial fulfillment. We know each other by the brushstrokes we make and our feelings that they express, "I am the brushstrokes that I make."

#4: THE PAINTING IS THE BY-PRODUCT - Each painting we paint is a springboard from which we grow. They are little chunks of expression that happen on the way to finding ourselves.

#5: DO NOT PAINT LIKE AN IMPRESSIONIST - Be an expressionist, dedicate yourself to the person you are most and find the freedom to be who you are.

Polina in the Mirror

The is LittleBark Matryoshka, aka Polina. I sold her to Lapseekers Chihuahuas in Sweden. With a camera, her new owner captured this wonderful moment of her looking at herself in the mirror. I was moved to try to paint it...and try I did. I was concentrating on seeing and composing the shapes the different colour values made and not getting bogged down in detail. Some parts of the painting are okay and then there's other parts that are just 'anal' brush strokes. LOL But no matter, I really enjoyed painting this little girl!

The Horrid Vegetables

My friend invited me to come over for an afternoon of painting. We set this still-life up and set about painting. One thing I found about about myself is that I am terrified to paint in front of others. My fear is all tied up in that nasty thing called ego. What a multi-layered journey this will be for me. The painting I did that day was so horrific. I took a picture of the still we had set up and re-painted it from scratch at home. The fact that I was breathing had a profound effect on my ability to see and move the brush. Ha-Ha! I had fun painting it this time. Painter, Jerry Fresia, says it best, "Our task is not to make an amazing thing called art. Our task is to get a thrill from what we see. When we are moved, we will move others. So the point is not to intend a great painting but to intend a great experience. Look for pleasure, not results. Get to the pleasure and the amazing thing called art will follow."

The Old Ala Windmill

I painted this old Windmill from a reference photo that I took when my husband and I were on the Island of Gotland, Sweden last Christmas. I have many photos of our time there that I will be painting, I think :)

"Too Much Drama"

This is a mask that I purchased when I went to see Cirque du Soliel in Kansas City years ago. I thought it provided interesting subject matter with all the shadows that make the face dimensional. Most people think it is creepy but to me it really expresses the drama within me.

Lois and Webster

Two of my buddies lounging on the back of the couch provided my second challenge in oil. I learned many things from this painting. I might try to repaint this later when I am better.

My First Oil Still - EVER!

This was painted at my first workshop using a limited palette of color. I can't remember what the actual colors were in the still set-up but, all I could mix this first day of painting seemed to be purples and greens.

My dance with art...

I have been dancing the many forms of art as long as I can remember. Performing Arts is my passion. A month ago, a friend of mine urged me to explore painting with oils, something I had never done. While I have never considered myself a 'visual artist', I attended a workshop with her and find myself drawn into this process called painting. This blog will chronicle that journey. For those of you who stop by, feel free to leave me your earnest comments.

Lisa T.