Work in Progress: "Caught Like a Deer..." - Pt. 1

I started on a new painting yesterday, one that I'm quite excited about for some odd reason. I have three different paintings going on right now, and all I want to do is work on this one. Here's what I have done so far:

First pass at my underpainting - this is the scariest part for me!

Second pass at underpainting - all my lights and darks on the deer are blocked in. Now on to the fun part!

I'm trying this out - showing my work in progress that is. I have some reservations about doing so, such as being afraid that showing my work too soon will kill whatever momentum I have going on. But when I think about my favorite blogs, they are the ones that show what is so hard for us artists - our incomplete work! Well, maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but it seems so hard to me to want to open myself up for criticism before I'm ready. I'm hoping to push past this though, and bear my soul for all to see - flaws and all. Maybe this will help my blog and my artwork, and maybe it will hurt. Time will tell. But until then, I invite you on this journey with me, and hope that it will be fun for both of us!  =0)

Custom Painted Wedding Board

I had a blast painting this one! For some reason I really enjoy painting fonts - it must be the graphic designer in me. =) A friend of mine approached me about making these signs (there were two that were exactly the same) for her ring bearers to carry around their necks as they were wheeled down the aisle in a wagon. Such a cute idea!

This is something I love to do, so if anyone ever wants to order a custom sign for their home or an event, let me know. My email is melissaradams@yahoo.com so if you want to order one just email me or contact me on facebook through my page Melissa Adams Art, and we can work out a price depending on what you want. I'm going to make some with scripture for around our house, per Tyler's request. I love it when he wants me to make things for our house - it makes me feel so very special. Now we just have to pick out a few of our favorite verses...

"Quiet Foreboding" Landscape Painting

I've been wanting to paint this picture for some time now, and today ended up being the perfect day to do so. My inspiration comes from a picture I snapped in the car while driving down to SoCal for a wonderful trip to Disneyland with my hunny for our five year anniversary, sans kids. It was the first time either of us had ever gone without a group of people, and it was a blast! We ran around the park like crazy, just living it up and going on any and every ride our hearts desired. It was fantastic!

On the way down the sky was absolutely gorgeous, for there was quite a terrible storm brewing in the hills. Sure made for some gorgeous pictures!

Anyways, one of my kiddos is being rather difficult today (cough, cough... Levi!), and so their naps could not have come soon enough! Having been left in a rather bad mood, I thought that painting would most likely help, and what better to paint than a quick landscape that reflects my emotions right now? So, that is exactly what I did, and I must say I feel way, way better now. Ahhhh.... =)

"Quiet Foreboding"     Acrylic on Canvas Board     8 x 10

Vintage Storybook Canvases

I made these for Jess's shower back in June from a legitimately vintage storybook called "Little Miss Muppet and Other Nursery Rhymes" that I found at an antique store in Monterey on our anniversary trip. I loved how they turned out, and found it quite funny that I spent almost an hour on painting the peach colored one, and then in a rush I painted the rest in about 15 minutes or so, and I actually liked how those ones turned out better! It's weird how that worked out...

My goal was to make the background look shabby-chic and worn down, in order to imbue a more vintage look to them, and I did this by underpainting them with burnt sienna and then dry brushing them with a single color and with both white and buttermilk in varying degrees, while letting the background show through in certain places. I like the sea green one so much that I want to make something similar for my own house, though I'm stumped as to what. I just refinished them a few weeks ago, by applying several coats of Modge-Podge to them, and I love how they look now. I believe Jess was going to use them in her nursery since it fit her theme, which makes me feel majorly loved! After all, I love seeing my art in other people's homes!!! (Haha, no pressure, Jess, no pressure!)

Willow's Blue and White "Willow Ware" Henna Cake

This weekend I was truly blessed to be able to make the cake for my niece's 13th birthday party. My sister put together the most beautiful tea party for her, and invited all of her close friends and relatives as well as the women who had a big spiritual impact on her life. It was phenomenal and I had such a blast!

It was a tea party, and my sister gave me full reign over what to design the cake like. She told me however that Willow loved butterflies and flowers on cakes, and that I could do any color that was pastel or vintage, in order to fit in with all the tea sets. She also told me about Willow's "Willow Ware China" that she used to play with as a small girl. I imagine you've probably seen it before - it's quite striking and has traditional Asian designs made of royal blue on white porcelain. So I decided to try to incorporate everything she said, minus the pastel.

I have been dying to try white henna designs on a white cake, and so I decided that the sides of this one would be completely covered with free hand paisleys, butterflies and flowers, with dots of various sizes to fill up the spaces between. This ended up working beautifully, since I ended up having a four hour long battle with my fondant that just did not end pretty. It was my fault - I tried adding all the shortening at once instead of just as I needed it, and the result was a crumbly, cracking mess that had absolutely zero elasticity. I saved it by adding more melted marshmallows and powdered sugar, but it was still cracked all over and I had to roll it extra thick, which I really don't like to do. Lesson learned! But at least all the white designs covered up the cracks, so you really could not tell in the end.

As for the top, I wanted to paint on the legit "Willow Ware" design, so the design itself is not original. As a side note, I would not have done that if I had been making a cake for sale, because I strongly feel that it would have been a copyright violation, and I am so extremely against that, but since it was a gift for family, I knew it wouldn't matter in this case. The way I made it was by painting with food coloring watered down with water and then outlining it with buttercream. I am rather proud of how it turned out, since I was really worried I wouldn't be able to pull it off. And I think I found my signature stacking border - ripples of buttercream topped with edible pearls. I just love the impact that makes and the elegance it lends to the cake.

Well, my dear Willow, I love you so very, very much and it has been such a joy watching you grow into a beautiful young lady, both inside and out. I absolutely love spending time with you and think you are just the bees knees! Seriously though, I love you sweetie pie and I am so very proud of you! Happy birthday girlie!