Cherries

I just completed one of the more difficult paintings I've done... ever. I have a few theories as to why it was so blasted hard: 1- I wanted to try out acrylics since I haven't for a while. I have gotten so used to the juiciness of oil paints that the acrylics just seemed dry. 2- I painted on paper. That was a bad idea from the beginning. Add to the dryness of the paints the dryness of the painting surface. 3- I have a lot of other things I should be doing but decided to paint instead. My focus was just not here. 4- There are a lot of colors in these little fruits. I was wanting to paint and get it done quickly so I could get on to other things, but I kept finding little flecks of blue or bits of yellow or green that needed to be in there. I don't think I would call this painting done, but I have to be done for now.

This painting is for the Rookie Painter online painting challenge. I think I've participated in it just a couple of times. Since the dissipation of the Different Strokes blog I am having a hard time painting as much as I should. But, I liked this photo and thought I'd give it a try.

Cherries
7.5 X5.5
acrylic on watercolor paper

Vote for our Gerber Baby

I entered the photo from the last entry into a Gerber contest. There are something like 50,000 entries so far, so it will probably be a far-fetched idea, but go on over and give him a vote. It would be so cool if he won!

http://www.gerber.com/Photo/?entryid=49265&source=10086654&utm_source=Gerber&utm_medium=email&utm_content=PhotoAcceptedReminder&utm_campaign=GerberGeneration#/gallery/

You can do a search for specific pictures by first name or entry number. His first name is, of course, Liam and his entry number is 49265

Get on over there and give him a little votey vote. (I think you can vote 1 time each day from each email address.)

UPDATE: VOTING WON'T BEGIN FOR ANOTHER MONTH. I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOU CAN VOTE FOR OUR LITTLE MUNCHKIN.

Still no painting...

... but I DID play around with some photos- does that count?

Original photo

Exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation, sharpness, blur, composition all tweaked.
Added the burned edge-
much better!

In other news: I now have 40 followers. 10 more and someone will get a painting. No joke!

Follow Me... again

38 followers as of 9:56 pm on Friday, July 9, 2010. 12 more and someone's getting a painting!

By the way... I kinda like this color combination lately. I made Liam a hat and shoes using these colors and I think they're so cute!

Test

Some cute baby face to test photo size... I'm tired of having tiny pictures while the rest of the world has great big ones that are so awesome! Here's my adorable baby in living color!

Camp Angelos

This is the lodge at the camp I will be going to this afternoon. I am teaching a watercolor workshop (if you can call it that) to 22 teenage girls. It is simply for girl's camp certification, so I doubt it will be as intense as that sounds. I wanted to give them an example of the type of painting they could do. Mike had a good idea- to give it to the Stake President at the end of camp. I think I might.

Happy Birthday, Mike

click invitation to make it bigger

Hot dog

I painted again today. I decided this morning to submit something to the Weener-Art Expo. A buddy from our ward in Salt Lake City puts this crazy event (Ween-O-Rama) together every year and added the art expo to their lineup of other hot dog related activities. It sounds like a good fun time. Anyway, I thought it would be funny to submit something. I actually think I might want to eat a hot dog now. I can't let the staged weener go to waste, can I... :)

Hot dog

oil on paper
8X8

I painted today....

It's been a while. If you've seen our family blog you've probably seen this photo. I thought it would make an interesting painting, so I did it. There are some bits that need fixing, but I think I might call it done for now. It's been so long that I've kind of forgotten what I'm doing. I need to pick up the brush a bit more often, but with an active baby boy... oh dear! He just fell and cut his lip...

As I was saying... with an ACTIVE baby boy it's hard to find the time to get any painting done.

He's so cute, though! See:

Liam playing in the grass
oil on canvas board
8X10

Teapot

I gave myself about an hour and a half to paint, start to finish. Liam was sleeping and I have lots of other things I need to do (I get to go see family in about a week!) but I haven't painted in far too long. By the way, the previous painting was named Liam, got it submitted to the show on time, but I didn't get in. :( I'm a little disappointed, but not much I can do about it. Next time...

Anyway, I gave myself an hour and half to do this painting for this site. This is my first submission to this online painting forum. I wanted to stay loose and just get it done so I can get on to other things. I don't know... I like the composition and colors well enough, but I think I could polish 'er up and have a more striking piece. Perhaps some day I will tweak it to my liking. For now, though, I'm off to clean or sew or make food or play with Liam or something.

Teapot
8X10
oil on canvas board

New painting! Please help...

I just did this painting of my little sweetie pie. I need a title, though. Please help! I am submitting it to a juried competition and need a memorable title. I was thinking that something abstract would be better than just his name or age. Something like Hope or Wonder... I have to submit it like yesterday, though, so be quick with your ideas! Thanks!

Untitled

12X16
oil on canvas board

Blog interview

I got an email the other day that my blog had been submitted to be interviewed at bloginterviewer.com. I filled out the form and now my interview is on the site. Check it out and give me the "thumbs up" vote. And, remember to become a follower of my blog to have a chance to win a painting!

Click on the image or here to go to the interview.

What has kept me busy lately?

Baby stuff:

Next door neighbor had a baby boy, so I made a quilt and burp rags.




(The presentation is the best part! I love seeing these blankies folded up and tied with a bit of scrap fabric.)

Good friend is having a girl, so I made another quilt, 2 changing pads with covers, a blanket, and acrylic painting. I only have a picture of the quilt.


Another good friend is also having a girl. I am helping with the baby shower, so I made these invitations. I also just finished her quilt. I will be making some muffins for the shower and some fun shower games also.

Church stuff:

The YW had their camp fundraiser this week. That is always a big job. I failed to document this event with pictures, but know that it went well. Everyone seemed to have fun and they made a good amount of money.

Art stuff:

The temple painting from the last post was during the past few weeks. I also have curated a show and had my sunflower painting in that show. I will be starting a new painting to put in the All That Jazz show coming up. I also want to do more daily painting to participate in some online painting challenges. I fixed a drawing for a friend over the last couple of weeks as well. I'm telling you, I really have been busy! I wish I had photographic evidence.

The biggest reason I've been so busy:

This kid just keeps growing up. He turned 6 months on March 5... 6 months!

IF temple

I painted this for a friend. I originally wanted to do it on gallery wrapped canvas, so she wouldn't have to frame it to hang it. Well, I couldn't find canvas in the size we talked about, so I did it on canvas board and made this frame for it to be able to hang it on the wall. I am pretty pleased with how it all came out. I love the frame, actually. The painting is from a photo that my wildly talented sister took. I hope I did it justice. I wanted the temple to kind of be in the background and make the landscape the focal point. I hope my friend likes it! Actually, I hope she loves it. I hope everyone who has any of my art loves it!

Follow Me

Thank you to a couple of people who asked about following me. I had never thought about it before, but I would really like you all to follow me. I now have a button, so it is easy to do. Just scoot on over to the right hand side of my page, find the "Followers" section, and click the little button and you'll get notified when I have a new posting and other exciting things. I am planning on giving away a painting when I get to a certain number of followers. Let's start at 50... when I get 50 followers I will write a post to let you know that the contest has started. At that point, comment on any post you desire and I will randomly choose a winner to receive a painting. So, let's get started!!