Just for you

Just for you

6" x 6"

oil with a palette knife on canvas

$125 framed

Available at Custom Art Framing & Gallery 9

In my last post I mentioned that I really didn't care for the crowded malls and gift giving pressure of the holidays. But as much as a dislike the shopping, I love the wrapping. It's my favorite part. I am somewhat of a hoarder when it comes to ribbons, bags, and do dads that can be added to packages to make them more festive. I love using what I already have and recycling (or regifting?) things on packages. Ask my friends Carol and Danielle who I made take a gift wrapping seminar with me a few years back. Yes-that's right, a seminar! What a blast.

Decorating for the holidays

These Three Stars

3" by 4"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas
NFS

A tiny challenge in neutral colors.

This weekend we finally are able to decorate the house for Christmas. Tree...check, stockings...check, wreathe...check. I am actually in the spirit already which is unusual. I just really hate the crowds and the malls. I just wish there wasn't that buying and gift giving pressure every year. The holidays would be just fine without it in my opinion.

Christmas Cookies

Just for fun-Christmas cookies!! No calories, no fat. Have one.

I hope you get everything you wished for this Christmas

Especially you, Sherry!

Christmas Angel

Peace

8" by 3"

Oil with a palette knife on canvas
SOLD

I painted this angel to mail out as my holiday cards this year and now I am "virtually" sending the same wish for PEACE to all my creative blogger friends. I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday.

Peanut Butter Kiss cookies

These peanut butter cookies with the chocolate kiss on top have always been my favorite cookie. For the past couple of years, I've made them as holiday treats for the wonderful people in my painting group. This year, I painted mini palette knife paintings of the cookies to use as gift tags. I found these tags at AC Moore and they had a nice canvas texture finish on them perfect for painting on.

Here are a few shots of the final packages.

What's your favorite holiday cookie?

Mini Masterpiece 2010 ornament collection

Mini Renoir ornament, Girls at the Piano

Oil with a palette knife

3.25" x 2.5" framed in gold

SOLD

Mini Renoir ornament, Two Sisters

Oil with a palette knife

3.25" x 2.5" framed in gold

SOLD

Mini Renoir ornament, Girls Putting Flowers on their Hats

Oil with a palette knife

3.25" x 2.5" framed in gold

SOLD

Mini Cassatt ornament, The Bath

Oil with a palette knife

3.25" x 2.5" framed in gold

SOLD

Naughty or nice?

Santa
Oil with palette knife on cradled artist board
4"x 4" x 1.5"
NFS

I recently rediscovered a 1999 LL Bean holiday catalog cover that I had saved all these years because I was so enamored and touched by the simplicity of the jolly Santa face. I knew that I had to do a palette knife painting version of it.

How to finish the sides of these cradled artist board paintings has been an ongoing experiment. Here I "stained" the sides with leftover red paint I had on the palette and I like the effect.

Palette Knife Poinsetta

Pretty Poinsetta
4" by 4"
$30

Poinsettas are pretty satisfying to paint with a palette knife. The reds, the greens, like butter.
Happy Holiday decorating everyone.

The Perfect Tree

The Perfect Tree

2" by 3"
NFS

It's that time of year to pick out the perfect tree if you haven't already done so. What a treasured family event it can be. Good luck!

I'm getting into the Holiday spirit

Snow Family

Poinsetta

Barn Door Wreathe

While I'm not quite ready for snow, I am getting into the holiday spirit already which is unusual for me. I had this idea of creating hand painted gift tags and after looking through some old Christmas cards for inspiration, I sketched out a whole sheet of ideas onto canvas paper. After painting these first three in painting class, others thought that they would make great little paintings instead.

Who knows what I'll end up doing with them, but they sure were fun to paint. And I have ideas for several more sheets of holiday paintings to come. So stay tuned for more holiday spirit spilling out onto canvas via the palette knives soon.

A little Christmas in May

Christmas Morning

Oil with a palette knife on cradled board

12" x 9"

Click on the image to enlarge
SOLD

This painting was done from a photo submission to my Call for Inspiration back in January. This photo was in black and white but I could picture the color of the the wrapping paper, the decor, and of course the pink hair rollers, so I thought I'd try to recreate the scene in color. Thanks Sherry for submitting this nostalgic photo reference. I hope you don't mind that I rearranged your family's living room a bit, but I really wanted to paint that great TV without the rabbit ears coming out of your head. I hope you enjoy it.

For the show in June, I've asked people to write me a quick memory of their photo so I can have it posted with each painting. Here is what Sherry had to say about her picture.

"Sparkling and blinking lights and tinsel, anticipation and excitement and the smells of the dolls. Is there any stronger memory than the plastic smells of dolls in the early 1960's? I can see too that my mom was battling my frizzy hair even way back in the day! If I've learned nothing else, it is that sponge rollers do not work in my hair. And still, I get excited by the glittering lights and the tinsel and wake everyone up on Christmas morning because I cannot contain my enthusiasm!!"

She is quite the writer. If you haven't checked out her blog, she did a wonderful post today about her painting and, well, it made me feel so great. It's flattery like that which fuels me, keeps me going, knowing I'm moving in the right direction.