"Frosted" - An Abstract Painting

"Frosted"     4" x 5"     Acrylic on Canvas Board

As you can see I'm totally on an Abstract kick lately... And loving it! This one I started by painting the base a bright Cadmium Orange, and then layering and shading various colors over it, testing the effects of each, and then applying a thick layer of Almond over the top in differing shapes and forms. It was quite a blast to create, and looks amazing in person because you can really see all the textures in it. It makes it even more beautiful when you're able to interact with it - when you can run your fingers along the ridges of the paint, feeling every stroke. I love it! And you know what else I love about it - finding all the little dynamic shapes in it, like when you're gazing up into the clouds. This particular quality makes "Frosted" even more interactive for the viewer, and I often find myself getting lost in it. I'm not kidding, I'm really falling more and more in love with this form of painting - it's like it helps me to reach down deep without having to dig very hard at all, if that makes any sense to you. It just comes so naturally to me, and is so soothing after a long or particularly rough day.

Well anyways, speaking of rough days, hopefully today finds you well and that you are getting much more sleep in your house than we are! Yikes... Little Baby Owen has been crying on and off for hours. I've fed, diapered, rocked, swung, cleaned and well, just about tried everything with him (and so has Ty!) and we still can't get him back to sleep or make him happy. It's just not happenin' tonight. Oh well, hopefully we can get him back to sleep soon! Have a good night and God bless! =)

Detail of Textured Paint on "Frosted"

"Frosted" On a Cute Mini Easel

"Trouble Counting Sheep" - An Expressionist Painting

"Trouble Counting Sheep"    4 x 5     Acrylic on Canvas Board

My insomnia started again a few nights ago and I'm really hoping this doesn't become a routine again. I was up until 3 the night before and then until 5am the next night, and I just really don't like these hours, especially with kids in the mix! But one positive I got from my weird sleep cycle is this little gem, which is very expressive of how I feel at 4 in the morning after trying to get tired for hours to no avail.

Last night was much better atleast, due to a quite awful cold that had me sleeping nearly all day and night, so at least today I'm back on track - yay for that! Hope this lasts!!! The sleep hours, not the cold mind you! Lol! Hope you all are having a fun and healthy day! =)

"Patchwork" - An Abstract Painting

"Patchwork"     3.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Bristol Board

I've been wanting to create a really grungy painting for some time now, and I thought this 30 day challenge to create daily paintings, and really my new years resolution to begin daily painting for real this year, was the perfect opportunity for me to branch out and try it. I think I'll try it again pretty soon with more rust-like colors with accents of teal and sea-green. Sounds pretty good to me!  =)

"Whisked Away" - An Abstract Painting

"Whisked Away"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Bristol Board

Some of you may not know this, but I absolutely love creating abstract works! In and of themselves, abstracts offer the artist complete and utter freedom to do whatever one wants, no boundaries, no expectations for it to look a certain way or any of those other things that can cause one to get bogged down and uninspired. I'm certain that throughout this year you'll be seeing many, many more of these as I process my emotions and all the things going on in my life and the lives of those closest to me.

This particular abstract, though, was done in a very strange way... I was wanting to try out some new techniques with a very unique tool I discovered, but I think when I tell you what it was, you're gonna laugh... It was a cat whisker! I've been trying to find a strong single bristle brush for extremely fine detail work for some time now, but I haven't been successful with that and was dying to see with how this would work instead. The tip is actually a bit flimsy, and the root is way too stiff, so I'm thinking I may cut it in half to see if a little farther down the whisker will provide a better painting tool in the end. I know it's weird, but hey, maybe it's just revolutionary! ;0) After all, most brushes are made out of animal hair anyways, so what's so wrong with using a whisker? Oh, and don't worry, no animals were harmed in the making of this painting - I just found a whisker on the floor the other day from Mayonnaise the Ninja Kitty, that's all. =D

Let's Start This Year Off With a BANG!!! "Vision's of Lassen" - A Landscape Painting

Let's Start the New Year off with a BANG! I've been painting a lot these last few days, and one of my various projects was this wonderful little painting that I revamped as a gift for my mother for Christmas. We celebrated late this year, in fact just a few days ago, and the day before we did Christmas I realized just how much I really wanted to give her something extra special, something that showed her how much I love her, and this immediately came to mind even though I knew it needed a little love. She had always loved this painting years back when I first created it in 2007, back when we lived in our tiny little house off Malicoat, having been married for only about a year at that time. So I went back over it and made quite a few changes, adding highlights here, darkening shadows there. I added in the beautiful little Indian Paintbrushes to make it extra sweet, and molded the clouds with extra flare, in order to give it a dreamy look. I got especially creative with it since I wasn't working off of any references, I was just painting from my soul. It's always a beautiful thing when you get caught up in the moment and swept up in the winds of inspiration.

So here's a look at my playful side. The side of me that likes to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. The side of me that wants to try to "Pursue, Persist and Persevere" this year. I chose those as my words to focus on this year, my motto really, that I want to live by. I have some dreams that are worth catching and I'm going to do my best to get there, as long as I'm able. =)

As for this painting, it's really just my vision of Lassen, the one I have buried down deep within my soul that consists of pure feeling more than anything else. It's the joy and the beauty and the wonder in God's beautiful creation and in His abundant glory. It's one of the places I've treasured in my mind since I was yet a child, it was always a safe and happy place, where when nights were rough and my world seemed to fall in around me, I would meet my God there in my mind and we would stroll through the valleys and along the water's edge. It is such a beautiful place!

I hope that for you this new day, be it the first day of the New Year or even just the first day of the rest of your life, that this day is full of excitement and wonder for you. I hope and pray you find motivation in the outlook of a new slate, a fresh start, a time to go for what you dream, even if your "eyes are a little bigger than your stomach."  =)

Happy New Years my friends!!! Stay inspired, keep dreaming, and may this year bring you joy in abundance and many happy moments to create beauty in your life!

"Visions of Lassen"     9" x 12"    Acrylic on Canvas     2007-2012

"Slovakia" - Landscape Painting and the Beginning of a New Story as the New Year Unfolds

I recently stumbled across an amazing website called "The Virtual Paintout" and it's simply an ingenious idea created by a man named Bill Guffey. I strongly urge you to check it out - it won't disappoint! The premise is that each month Bill chooses a country or region to paint from and using images from Google maps streetview (which was approved by Google itself, so long as you only use the images from the street view and none from the little blue dots, which are all copyrighted) you choose a spot and set up your paints and well, do a virtual paintout. It kinda explains itself, right? Lol.

So for this month, the country was Slovakia, and after much perusing of Google maps and then having to re-peruse because the images I wanted to do were from the blue dots, which I found out was a big no-no, this is what I came up with. I changed the image considerably, substituting a concrete road with a wide dirt path and taking out a building that I wasn't a huge fan of, to name a few, and overall I like it much better this way. Perhaps it would have looked nice how the image was originally straight off of Google, but I liked adding my own artistic license to it - after all, it makes it feel a bit more like my own creation, straight from the heart.

"Slovakia"     4 x 5     Acrylic on Canvas Board

I've been feeling quite a bit better the last few days - no longer needing my cane or walker very often anymore unless I'm having a particularly bad day or am just plain exhausted, though I'm still using a walker or wheelchair when we go out. It's been kinda nice not having to feel like a 95 year old all the time anymore, especially since I'm just 28, even if I do still feel around 89 instead. But still, an improvement is an improvement and I'll take it!!! =0)

So because of this I've had the chance to get ahead for my other newest challenge which is painting 30 paintings in 30 days. I signed up to do this through Leslie Saeta's blog (she's an amazingly famous and gifted painter, and I couldn't be more excited to be doing this!!!) and will try to keep it going for the rest of the year, or as long as I'm able. The plus side about these two new "finds" as I would call them is that I can use my painting for the virtual paintout for the 30 day challenge, thereby killing two birds with one stone.

Honestly, I really desperately want to become a daily painter this year. It's my big, giant & honestly quite daunting dream right now, but I want it so bad that I think 2013 is the year! I wanted to get on dailypainters.com or in a gallery before I turn 30, and time is ticking away all too quickly. And most importantly, I really, REALLY want to start selling my work this year, so I've decided that I'm going to take one more giant step towards these goals, giving myself slack when I fail and picking myself up again when I fall flat on my face, and of course celebrating like crazy whenever I reach any one of my goals. It will mean I'll be working smaller than normal for most of the time, though I'll still going to do some larger paintings when I'm actually ahead for the week, if that ever happens! Lol. I'm guessing most of the time I'm going to be having to do multiple paintings a day just to catch up, but I've been wanting to try this for so many years now and even though medically speaking things look extremely bleak, I need something fun for myself that I can do so I can be the type of mommy, wife and friend I want to be. And for me, that something is this. So wish me luck in this new endeavor, because I sure am gonna need it! Feel free to share any of your New Years Resolutions here if you want - it's always fun to hear from you all! I hope you're having a fantastic New Years Eve and will see you all in the New Year!!! =D

"Doe Eyes" - Painting of a Deer by Melissa Adams

"Doe Eyes"     16 x 20     Acrylic on Canvas

Detail from "Doe Eyes"

I've been wanting to post this painting for over a week now, but life just seemed to get in the way (which is to say, it's been nearly unbearable over here), and in the midst of it all, we lost Tyler's grandpa too. He was such a great man; a man who was deeply loved by oh so many and who loved the Lord with all his heart. He was a faithful servant to the end.

So even though things have been going almost comically, tragically bad in our house of late, at least I can take some joy in the fact that through it all God has provided me with some amazing family and friends who are "being" Jesus to me - who are sacrificing their own precious time and energy to help us get through this miserableness we call life right now, and who are just straight up loving on us more than we even deserve. I hope you know who you are, because I thank God for all of you every day, and without you I'm not sure we'd make it much longer - or that I'd even be here today if not for you. God has blessed us abundantly with His love through you, and it's pulling us through, even if only by a thread.

Anyways, today I am just glad to see "her" here up on my blog, even if I'm not quite sure why this painting is a she to me in the first place. Whatever. Don't judge. You know you name your cars that way too, so I'm not THAT weird... Right? Ooh, I hope not! Lol. Okay, ANYWAYS, I love the fact that I can actually feel her tender eyes staring gently back at me whenever I walk through our playroom where it's displayed, for it's bringing some sense of comfort in this time of hectic need for us. Her eyes are so soft and comforting, and it's nice having her hanging out around our home. I've always wanted to make art that comforted others, and it brings me joy that at least I've made some art that comforts me and brings joy and light into my own home.

You may remember this painting back when it was a work in progress, (Part 1 & Part 2) when it was called "Caught Like A Deer" but that name was just not befitting the personality of this work, and so it was renamed after I painted in her eyes. They just were so gentle that I felt the name no longer worked for her. It's funny how paintings can actually have a personality in and of themselves. I guess it's really just because they capture the essence of the artist and their emotions and feelings at the time they were created, but it still astounds me just how much you can see how an artist feels through their work. It's almost a wonder to me that this painting is so calm after all considering all the storms we've had to face in the last few months. But hey, by the grace of God and with the help of some very extraordinary people, we're still hanging in here and haven't lost ALL hope, though I must admit it's waning of late. It actually makes me wonder if perhaps the reason for the calm I feel woven into this work is that our hope comes not from the things on earth, but from Our God above. For when I paint I find refuge in my God, and there is no greater place for me to be than in His everlasting arms. I love to create with Him, for in so doing I'm spending precious time with my Creator, whose art is far greater than anything I could ever dream or imagine here on this earth.

Well, without further ado (or should I say without further complaining?), I present to you "Doe Eyes," perhaps my new favorite painting up to date. She was a deer we met in Yosemite, so timid and afraid, yet gentle and pure. Nature at it's best. I hope she brings a smile and a light into your home today, as God has allowed her to do in ours.