All Done! Phew!

Italian Coast, 24x36 oil on canvas

I am really excited because I finished the Italian Coastline scene!  I haven't created an Italian scene for awhile, and I realized how much I missed it.  It's sort of like going on vacation in the sense that it's relaxing and eye catching, just a lovely view to engross myself in.

So here it is!  Next up, I'm changing up an already complete piece to brighten up the color palette, and then hopefully onto the next scene.  Stay tuned!

Happy Monday!!!!!!  Hope you're having a great day!

So Close!

Bon Bons...yum!

I am SO close to finishing up this Italian coastline scene...in fact, I am technically done with it, and it's going through it's first round of editing.  I call this finished painting my "first draft" since it's not ready to frame but it's pretty much done.  What needs editing you ask?  Well, I don't like the shape that the sea makes, so I need to change the curvature of it.  After that, I think I might be done barring no other editing!  I hope to post it on Monday!

In other news, I had the fun opportunity to check out an Amish Farmer's Market in Maryland today.  It was faaaantastic.  Everything was fresh, from the bread to the pastries to the fresh baked donuts. YUM.  Also, I love the Amish.  Even when I was little, my mom said I used to get a huge smile on my face when I'd see them, and today was no different.  I don't know what it is!  Maybe it's the pureness of their lifestyle and faith, or their work ethic, or calm demeanor, but they're just amazing to me.  I started rattling off questions to my mom and mother in law that I was curious about, but didn't have the heart to ask since I didn't want to appear nosy. 

So of course I ended up googling later, and while there are different sects of Amish, I learned quite a bit about the sect that runs this market.  First, as with most all Amish, no photos allowed, as it's believed a photo is a graven image, and is considered vain. So therefore the photo you see above is simply of bon bons, an inside joke between my husband and I about what I must eat all day. Ha!  Second, the women dress according to their age...the younger you are, the brighter the colors.  I was wondering about that this today, as I saw a wide variety of shades, most really beautiful!  They also apparently leave at 4 a.m. to get to the Farmer's Market by 6 a.m. to begin work for the day.  Wow!  As a natural night owl, I'm not sure I'd make it as an Amish person!!!!

Have a great weekend!  See you Monday!

Painting Progress!

Progress so far!

I'm getting closer to finishing up this Italian coast scene, and hate to admit it but I am getting to an antsy point in the painting.  This happens with some of my larger detailed pieces...I start to get excited to finish it and feel so close but so far at the same time.  Usually this is a good sign that I'm closer than I realize to completing the piece, although it doesn't feel like it.  We'll see what Friday holds for my post and if it's done!

As far as the progress, you might be able to tell that I changed the color of the middle mountain.  I wasn't digging the blue-green color and decided instead to warm it up with a more yellow-green.  Right now I'm working on the building in the foreground, and then plan is to fill in the sidewalks, then the ocean, and then the beach.  Woo hoo!

Happy Fourth!

Hubby and Baby celebrating Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July!  I've been busy working on a couple things, including the Italian coastline painting I showed a couple pictures of the other day, and hope to have a picture of the progress for you on Monday.  In the meantime, the plan is to have a low key fourth of July; eat some burgers, watch some fireworks, wear some red, white, and blue.  I am not sure what it is (maybe it's the blog forcing me to jot down my thoughts!) but I'm especially grateful to be an American this year. It's a blessing to grow up in this country, to have so many opportunities and freedoms, to be able to paint just about whatever I want whenever I want.  It's a wonderful, wonderful thing and I just feel grateful!

On this July 4th I hope you are feeling grateful for the freedoms you have, and if you're reading from abroad, what do you love about your country?!  The world is full of fabulous places with their own wonderful culture, I'd love to hear about it!

::Hugs!::

Italian Coastline

Good evening!  It's still Monday (by a hair), so I'm successfully keeping on with my challenge of posting every Monday and Friday for the next month.  I started a new painting last week, and I thought I'd share the progress!  Above is one of the first times I stepped back from the picture, and below is after filling in the mountains and starting the structure.  The scene is an Italian coastline (as you can tell by tel by the blue block in the lower left hand corner - that's water!), and I am taking pictures continuously through the process so I can continue to share my progress.  More to come!

Friday Already?!

Happy Friday!  Per my new challenge, I'm blogging today in an attempt to write on both Mondays and Fridays.  This past Monday I wondered what I'd accomplish by Friday, and to be honest, this week wasn't the best.  I had a painting that I started, and totally messed up.  As in totally, completely messed up.  It was the ballerina I had talked about starting on Monday, and not only was it just not right from a perspective perspective, but it wasn't even captivating.  You know what?  It happens sometimes.

Productivity wise, I delivered an embellished giclee this week that I framed in a super cool dark wood frame.  Frame delivery day is always like Christmas, especially when buying brand new frames.  That was the case this week and I was really excited about what I got!  

Well sadly, I don't have a lot more to say so far.  I'm back at the easel this afternoon, so hope to have something more for you Monday!

Have a GREAT weekend!!!!!!!

New Challenge...

This past week, I went to the beach with my family.  It's always nice to get away from the hustle and bustle and have nothing on my to do list except for walk the beach every day.  Going to the beach also helps me to clear my mind, and assess where I am on a lot of levels.  While I feel rejuvenated and can't wait to tackle some new things (especially art-wise), I realized that my blog has been lacking a lot of late.  My once a week Monday post has slowly devolved into posting more sporadically, which I don't like.  Somehow, the week sneaks up on me and Monday comes and goes.

So I've decided to challenge myself.  For a month (since that's the amount of time it takes to create a habit and not too much pressure), I'm going to post every Monday and Friday.  Just like any good product, it takes time to create good art, so subject matter can be tough sometimes to drum up.  So sometimes I'll write about what I've accomplished, and sometimes I'll write about what I didn't accomplish, and sometimes I'll just blog about myself so you can get to know me better.  But the point is, the goal is to blog.

So with that, welcome to the first day of the challenge!  As I mentioned before, I went to the beach last week with my family.  It was particularly special since this was the first year that baby girl came along (not in my belly).  She loved the beach and the pool, and had some of the best naps of her life (she was a sleepy bear after all the fun we'd have everyday).  Overall it was really relaxing and while I wish I could have spent another week there, it's fun to be home and back at the easel!

Art-wise, this week I'm going to start a new ballerina in palette knife, do some framing, and see what else comes up.  Stay tuned for Friday!