"Montana Sunset" - A Landscape Painting

"Montana Sunset"     5" x 7"     Acrylic on Canvas

I can't believe today is Day 30 already!!! =D I'm feeling quite the mix of emotions over this, and am actually quite sad to see this challenge come to an end, especially when I post my last painting later today - it's going to be very bitter sweet. It will feel so wonderful to know I've done it, and actually gotten each one posted on Leslie's wall, but I really wish I could keep this amount of accountability up because I have never painted this much in my life! The constant feeling of a deadline was actually surprisingly good for me, and I am quite a bit scared that without one, painting will become less and less of a priority over the next few weeks. But I shall try to look beyond that, and as Leslie said, just look at all I've accomplished in just this last month instead and really take in the fact that I did it and I have something real to show for it. It's incredible really, to see so many paintings up on my wall (both on my blog and in my house - lol!), and I will be trying my hardest to not lose all of this incredible momentum I've gained from doing this challenge, though the reality is I won't be able to complete a separate painting absolutely every single day from now I. My goal however is to come as close as I possibly can to that for this year, though there will be times that I am working larger and will have to post what I worked on that day instead.

Learning-wise, this Challenge has been quite incredible for me! I have learned sooo, so many things, one of which is that I really have to cut out ALL of my distractions or my work just won't get done, and that even includes things as simple as having my tab open for Facebook up on my Browser, because every time it dings I get distracted and easily lose so much time that way. It's such a time-sucker! And I've learned that I truly do have a great passion for painting small, but I'm pretty sure that many of these landscapes will be making their debut's someday as much larger paintings, though they will probably have some changes in them and all. I really do like this process though of trying a work out small before making a larger version, almost as a study for it while still being a completed painting in and of itself.

Now, as for this painting, it's the second one from the same sunset I posted yesterday of the beautiful cloud filled sky on our drive from Washington to Montana in 2012. The colors were breathtaking, the clouds were all ablaze, and it was simply gorgeous. One couldn't ask for a better night to get to our destination!

CONTESTS for FREE ART

Rules for January 2013
Before I forget, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ENTER MY CONTEST FOR JANUARY 2013!!! So if you haven't already entered and you want the chance to win your choice of any of my available paintings from my "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Collection shipped and framed (or complete with easel if applicable) COMPLETELY free of charge, then you will want to sign up today to follow my blog by 11:59pm, Pacific Standard Time. This is a prize that may value at up to nearly $200, depending upon which you pick if you should win!!! So if you're interested, go ahead and click the blue button on the right side bar that says "Join this site" and become a member. You will know you did it right if you see your name in one of the little square boxes under the word "Members" (it makes sense, right?). If all goes well I will be announcing my winner sometime tomorrow as well as a visual list of  which paintings are still available for you to choose from. So good luck out there!

Rules for February 2013
And if you don't win, there's no need to worry - there will be 11 other contests this year that you will have the chance to enter into if you want to, and already the one for February is up, in which all you have to do to earn a chance to win one of three ACEO's (a miniature painting that is 2.5" x 3.5," complete with frame card so it is ready to frame if you'd like) is to LIKE my FACEBOOK FAN PAGE and let me know on it that you're interested in this contest. How easy can it get?! And the link to my page is up on my right sidebar (it has been fixed since the first time I posted it thanks to Jean - thank you again!) so you can click on the link there and sign right up just like that! There will be 3 winners this month, which is exciting for me and hopefully for you as well!

Well, it's past my bedtime, and so I better be off now, but I hope you're all doing well out there. God bless!

"Streams of Sunlight" - A Landscape Painting

"Streams of Sunlight"     5" x 7"     Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

This is my first of two paintings of this late summer sunset that we were blessed enough to see while on the very last stretch from Washington to Montana in 2011. We had just eaten a delicious dinner at Cracker Barrel, and were about to arrive at our destination, only to be greeted by this great and glorious sunset from up above. It was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, and I imagine that's why they call Montana, "Big Sky Country." Makes sense to me. The clouds and sky stretched all around us, beyond logical explanation in my opinion, and it was so, so wondrous to behold. Hopefully my condition will allow us to go back again someday - we're going to plan it as if it will and hope and pray that God allows the cards to fall in our favor. Best wishes to you tonight (or this morning, depending upon where you live I suppose), and I'm sorry this one was so late, as I had really hoped to post this way earlier. Anyways, have a good one! =)

"Sunburst on the Isle" - A Landscape Painting

"Sunburst on the Isle"     5" x 7"     Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

Here's my second submission for the month of January for the Virtual Paintout. You can see my first one for this month here. We went to the Isle of Man, and as I said earlier, it is one of the most beautiful places on this planet, and I didn't even know it existed. Granted, I always say let's go up to LA and down to San Francisco, so I clearly don't have the best geographical sense or knowledge, but still... =P

I have loved painting along the coast of this Isle, and when I stumbled upon this particular spot I just knew I had to put it down in paint! I can't take all the credit though! I had one of my dearest friends over, Megan, who's son was in the NICU both at Walnut Creek and at Antioch with Levi, and who Tyler actually drove home from their high school graduation (what are the odds we would both have our sons two months early in the same place, especially considering she lived in Sacramento at the time?), and she played the PERFECT art critic today. She was amazing! Helping me to see what should go here, what shouldn't go there, and where to make highlights stronger or less obtrusive, and this painting is all the better for her incredible feedback. Thank you SOOO much Megan, you were an incredible helper and my work is so much better because you were here! You're totally gonna have to come over while I paint more often because I think I've honestly tapped Tyler's patience out with asking him constantly what he thinks. Poor guy!

So, I have some majorly good news today! One of my paintings got selected today for the DPW Facebook picks of the day!!! (You can see it as it is on their page for Jan. 29th if you click here - they picked "Misty Mountains Majesty and it seems to be right next to a painting of little nakie kiddos running through the water, if that helps you find it. Hahaha, so great...) Anyways, I am so thrilled I could just explode! I mean, little ole me has one of my paintings up there with FAMOUS artists - I just can't believe it. And I know some people probably think it's silly for me to be so excited, but I am just thrilled with the fact that other people actually thought my work was good. MY WORK! Woo-hoo!!! I couldn't be happier for this little step in the right direction, as it confirms for me in my heart that I'm going the right direction with my art, and I'm just hoping and praying this leads someday to even more paintings up there on that special little wall. How cool would that be? But even if I only get this one, I don't care, I'm just happy for my name being up there with all those fabulous artists!

Here's the screen shot of my painting as it appeared on their blog page. Sorry, just wanted this on here for my own personal records. =)

MY TIP FOR THE DAY:
I can't tell you just how important it can be to find someone who you can show your work to that will GENTLY tell you the truth about it, without causing you to get hurt. Sometimes those closest to you are the best people to go to, and sometimes they're not, but it should be someone who knows at least a little bit about art, even if they don't make any themselves. And it can sometimes be best to not have it be someone you are personally competitive with, because that can cause problems in and of itself. So, do you have a muse or a critic that helps make your work better than it would be without their help? Do you have someone you can turn to that will lovingly help you see where you can grow? I know I have more than one, and I love each and every one of them for being so honest and helpful, even when it hurts. So, as Levi says, "If you don't have one, get one!" (Lol, sorry, he just watches WAY too much Toy Story - it's his all time favorite!)

"High in the Treetops" (ACEO) - An Expressionist Landscape Painting

"High in the Treetops"     2.5" x 3.5"     Acrylic on Acrylic Paper (ACEO)

This one started out as an abstract painting of pinks, yellow and purple, and then turned into this after my Ty told me that it looked more like just a background for another painting. So, here's the "other" painting then. =)

He was right though. It definitely looks better this way. Thanks babe!

"Misty Mountains Majesty" - An Expressionist Painting

"Misty Mountains Majesty"     5" x 7"      Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

Not For Sale

PRINTS will be available soon from Fine Art America

Only 4 more days left for this challenge, meaning only 4 more days for you to follow my blog as a member and enter yourself to win one of my paintings from my "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Collection. Time is going way too fast for me right now!!!


Oh man, this is the third painting in a row that I've gotten in by the skin of my teeth, where as soon as it published the submission link for Leslie's Blog Post for Day 25 closed. This is craziness!!! But here it is, and I rather like how this one turned out. Actually, to be quite honest, I like it A LOT - it's one of my very favorites from this month! =) It's from our trip to Montana back in 2011, from which I have an extensive wealth of gorgeous photographs that not only need to be made into prints, but also that are just begging for me to paint them. I seriously can't wait to spend more and more time delving deeper and deeper into the possibilities of all the works I can create from just that trip alone. It's a bit overwhelming, but in a good way. =)

MY TIP FOR THE DAY
So this is actually a rather silly tip, but I'll put it up here none-the-less. It's the exact opposite of my last tip, in which I explained that you can indeed use a brush to blend pastels into beautifully soft gradations of color, and keep yourself clean in the process. So, for today, I would love to encourage you to do the opposite with your paints. Put your brush down, scoop up some paint on your finger, and revert back to your childhood for a moment and finger paint with me - trust me, you won't regret it! Your finger is a fantastic blending tool for just about anything, and you can use it to achieve beautiful, painterly strokes in both acrylic and oils, as well as lovely gradients where the foreground fades into the background in an almost seamless manner. And the very best part about it - it makes you feel like a kid again!!! =D I love the feeling I get when I blend with my fingers, for it's a feeling of continuous youth, where the possibilities are endless and where your imagination soars as it did when you were young. It's a wonderful feeling! So, if you're feeling bold and don't mind getting a little (or a lot!) of paint on your hands, I say you should give this a shot. =0)

I have found it especially useful to actually pick up a little extra paint with your fingertip and start your blending from there, so that you don't just pull up the existing paint from the surface you are working on. Then you softly blend it in, swirling your finger around gently on the surface, picking up colors from here and there and adding more paint with your fingertip as you start to run dry, which you will know is happening by the amount of friction created. Try to make sure that your paint is running smoothly, and not dragging and catching or you'll get what I call "skips" where the paint not only pulls up but also jumps around without adhering to certain places where you want it to. Or if you want that to happen, just go for it. That's the joy of creating isn't it - that the sky's the limit?!

Well, I wish you the best of luck with this and hope that if you try it, you would find the little kid inside of you, just waiting around hoping and hopping impatiently to be set free. Because when your inner-child has been set free and you can look at the world from a child's perspective, you will see things completely differently, with great joy and wonder, and you might even be able to find joy in situations you never could have possibly imagined before.

Even the Lord prompts us to be more like little children, to have faith like them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those like them. It makes perfect sense if you think about it - children are so pure and unspoiled (though they are definitely not without sin just like we aren't, let me tell ya! I definitely have a two year old running wildly about my house every day... =/ Lol!). But the way that they see the world and how they can trust with great abundance and unwavering faith makes it so obvious why God would want us to be more like them. How great would it be to trust without holding anything back? To jump blindly into our Father's arms, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that He WILL catch us and protect us from harm. To be completely devoted to Him and love Him and others without reservation. Oh how I wish I could be like that! Someday when I see Him face to face I know that I won't be able to do anything but that, but oh how I wish that I could be that way now...

"Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' " (Matthew 19:13-14)
 "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2-4)

"Swirls of Copper" - An Abstract Painting

"Swirls of Copper"     6" x 6"     Acrylic on Museum Quality Claybord

Well hello there my friends! I have two orders of business I must attend to on here, and they are quite good if you ask me. =D

First of all, I just wanted to remind you all that there are only 6 more days left for you to WIN A COMPLETELY FREE PAINTING from my "30 Paintings in 30 Days" Collection, both shipped and framed (or on an easel, depending on which one you choose if you win) for free as well!!! What a deal, right?! All you have to do to be eligible to win is sign up to follow my blog by clicking the blue button, "Join this site" on the right sidebar. So if you haven't done it yet, make sure to do that before you go today so you won't forget. You can tell if you did it right if your name appears in one of the squares underneath the word "Members." Good luck to all of you! And thank you so much for those of you who have already shown me your support by signing up for my blog - you have no idea how much that means to me, and I am truly thankful! =D

And secondly, I wanted to let you know what the 2nd CONTEST FOR 2013 is going to be, which will start now and run through the end of February. I will be giving away one free ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) to three different people this month, free of charge, shipping and all!!! So there's three chance's to win this month, which is pretty stinkin' awesome! For those of you who may not know what an ACEO is, it's a small original work of art about the same size as a traditional baseball card (2.5" x 3.5"). And for those three lucky people who win this contest, they will receive their ACEO inside of a Card Frame, which means their work of art will be encased in a little card that actually acts as a mat for a frame, so that it will be all ready to frame and hang on the wall. And this contest is super easy to sign up for! All you have to do is "Like" my Facebook fan page and let me know that you did!!! Yup, you heard me right. That's it. Super easy, right? So if you want some free original artwork in a sweet little white mat that's all ready for you to frame, all you have to do is "Like" my page! You can do it now through February 28th, 2013, and anyone who has already liked my page is automatically entered to win, so long as they comment on my page that they are interested in entering this contest. Woo-hoo!!! I will make a special post for anyone wanting to enter this contest  Good luck to all of you out there! If you actually want to "Like" my page right now, go ahead and click here, and it will open up in a new window for you for your convenience. Soon I'll be putting a link to like my page on the right sidebar of my blog so that people can like it from there.

Now, as for this painting, it went through quite the interesting process, let me tell ya! The underpainting was a combination of baby blue and windsor purple wrapped in a ribbon-like pattern, much like those old fashioned candies most grandparents seem to have in a dish on the table around Christmas-time. Then, it turned into a few different designs, only to be washed away and scrubbed completely clean so I could start over from scratch.

Anyways, my hope was to create something completely different with this one, since that was pretty much my theme for the last 26 days, but I have to be honest with you, I'm kinda dying to go back to spending more than just one day on my works, and my hope is to eventually get a few smaller paintings in the works so that I can spend quite a bit more time on each one, while still posting nearly as much as I am now. That way they're staggered as I'm finishing them, but each one can get more attention to detail and such, because I keep wanting to try some really intensely detailed works, but just can't do so under the pressure of these deadlines. Anyone else out there having the same problems as me? And any tips out there for how to keep up your daily quota without having to sacrifice on the type and style of work you want to do? Because I know that once January ends and I'm on my own that I'm really going to struggle with this A LOT!

On the bright side, what I really have loved about this challenge is how it quite literally challenges me to be fresh, creative, and to try to become more and more organized about how I do my art, although in reality I've found that even if I organize myself by planning the entire weeks worth of paintings ahead of time, that by the time I even just get to day two I've already lost my momentum and my inspiration to paint each one dwindles away completely so that I have to set it aside for another day anyways and just do something else. But I do like how I have to try to come up with something completely different each and every day, because it's really helping to spark the imagination deep within me that I once feared I had lost. And that's pretty huge in and of itself, I'd have to say. So, all in all this has been a pretty incredible challenge and I'm shocked it's going to be over in only a few days...

"Stylized Self Portrait" - An Expressionist Painting with Pastel and Graphite

"Stylized Self Portrait"     8.5" x 11"     Pastel and Graphite on Paper

SOLD

PRINTS will be available soon from Fine Art America

I decided that now that I'm 29 and all (yup, only one year left until the infamous 3-0!), that I wanted to try out something a little different today. I mean, for me, that's what this 30 Day Challenge is all about - trying out new styles, new tools, new techniques, and of course, new subject matter. So, that led to this... Me. Stylized. I hope you like it, because just like me, it's a little different and not quite perfect, was quite challenging to work with, a bit overstated, and yet soft and sweet as well. I don't know, half the time I find myself to be this annoyingly loud, overwhelming and energetic person, and the rest of the time I find myself to be gentle, soft, calming and sensitive (though I wonder if other people ever see me that way?). If I could only see and know how other people perceived me, I imagine that would be quite interesting... Although interesting usually isn't that great of a thing, depending on how people say it, am I right?! Lol! Oh man, anyways, as a little side note, I worked with what I thought to be a very limited palette of yellow, yellow ochre, orange, salmon, red, brown, white, black and aqua, (limited in the sense that so many of the colors were on the yellow, orange, and red spectrum of the color wheel) which was not only quite a challenge but was also an awesome learning experience as well. I think I shall be testing out trying to work with more and more limited palettes a bit more often from here on out, because I know that in doing so one can create amazing harmony within their paintings, if they can learn the tricks of how to use and mix colors to their fullest potential.

Well, it just so happens that I took yesterday off for my birthday, not so much by choice but by necessity really (I guess I'll be doing twice the work today to make up for it, because I am WAY too much of a perfectionist to let one of these days slip by without at least trying to get a painting in during this challenge, not to mention I just really want to have all 30 on Leslie's wall by the end so I can say I truly did it!).  So today I had my 6 hr. weekly commitment for my chronic pain class over in Martinez, and oh boy, was that ever exciting... =(  And when I got home from that, we had to go pick up a prescription, but had to transfer it first and then had to wait around for it and then... You get the picture. Anyways, I barely had the chance to even see my family today, and even when I did my pain was a little too intense to do very much with them. However, I did have two particularly sweet moments that I will treasure forever! The first was waking up to my husband and my boys, huddled around my bed singing "Happy Birthday" with a cupcake flavored pop-tart in one hand, and a tray of good ole fashioned plastic cupcakes in the other, that Levi had baked up in his oven specially just for me. Apparently, he couldn't wait, and "ate" one on the way up the stairs, but it was so adorable my heart melted right out of my body into a little puddle on the floor. I LOVED every second of that special moment, and will treasure it forever!

The second memorable moment was after the boys went down to bed and I got out the fine china, decorated the table, and ate take-home Chili's that was a gift of some good friends, Rachel and Jeffrey, (complete with cheesecake too - oh yum, yum!) by candlelight with the man who has stolen my heart time and time again. We sipped tea and talked, and it was beautiful.

So I guess my birthday wasn't too bad of a bust after all, if I focus on the sweet little moments rather than dwell on all that didn't happen today. I love my family and friends, and was shown so much love by them all today and that is what truly matters. And the simple yet astounding fact that God even allowed me to merely just wake up one more day, and to have these sacred little moments to treasure with those I love, for that is truly something never to be taken for granted!

MY TIP FOR THE DAY:
So today's tip is that you can actually use a paint brush to blend soft pastels (maybe everybody on earth knew that except me already, but I just found that out and had to try it immediately!)! My take on it is this: what was once a very frustrating medium, (cough, cough... Pastels, those messy little stinkers!) is now loads of fun so I thought I'd pass the info on to you just in case you didn't know about it either. Of course you can always use your handy-dandy finger, but for some reason the brush lends to some gorgeous blending that I couldn't have possibly achieved without it, so it's worth a shot. Well, unless you're like one of those majorly impressive professional pastel artists, and then I'm sure you can do a ridiculous amount more than I could possibly even ever dream of, in which case you're probably laughing at this tip anyways. =0)  But, if you're like me and have seldom ever used this medium before, I found this method to be so much more fun than I even expected that I could hardly believe I was even using pastels in the first place! So next time you're fussing around with pastels and possibly getting all irritated with the fact that you're entirely covered in them from head to toe, like I tend to be, grab a paint brush and get to work. It sure is less messy this way, that's for sure, and I just absolutely loved the results! I will definitely be trying this again with some other styles of pastel painting as well as pastel forms, like oil and crayon (who knew they had pastel crayons?! So excited over here!!!), and I seriously can't wait to get to work on more of them! And this coming from someone who normally hates working with pastels, so that should say a lot right there! =D