a congratulations card

More Christmas cards

Cards, continued.

This will be it for now!

A few more cards

I have made quite a few of these, and will put a few more up today. Enjoy!

A Wide Spectrum of Possibilities

Today I am showing my newest creations that I did for the Christmas season. They are my Prism Queen Art Cards. The size of each of these cards is 5" x 7" and is presented either vertically or horizontally. The inside of the card has either a famous quote or a poem that I wrote for that particular card. I will be offering an order form very soon if anyone is interested in ordering cards for either Christmas 2009 or for any other occasion during the year. Please check back to this blog in the New Year for this ordering information. I hope you enjoy looking through this sampling.

more cards....

Some cards that I am putting up for now. I have more, but will wait a few days before I put all of them up on the blog.

cards, cards, cards!

Another small sampling of my cards.....

The picture

Unfortunately, I was having problems putting this picture up with my previous post, but I am showing to you here.

A "labour" of love

I have been very busy lately working on a picture for my friends' mom. My friends' parents were like second parents to me growing up. We lived down the street from each other and I was always over at their house. They even took me with them to their lake cabin...many many summers. Unfortunately, my friends' father died this past March. At the conclusion of the service they showed some wonderful photographs of him through the years and I saw one in particular I was just amazed with. It's got to be one of the MOST beautiful pictures I have even seen. I just had to do something with it. I told my friend that I needed to have that picture and I really wanted to do a picture for her mom for her birthday. Well, this is the result of that 'quest'. I call it a labour of love, but it was not laborious...it was a joy to work on it. These two people were a very special part of my life, and will always be important to me.

The particulars of this picture are: it was an 18 x 24 piece of paper and it was framed and matted, so obviously it was larger. By about 3 inches all the way around. It was done in graphite pencil and took a couple of months.

Anyway, I gave the picture to my second mom today and she was very happy.

My next postings will hopefully be fairly soon. I am going to be working with my oils next.

New Start

I haven't been doing any acrylic paintings lately, due to an artist's block. I am working through it, though...and I'm getting less blocked...thankfully. One thing I did discover with my 'internal therapy sessions', is that I miss oil painting. I decided to get back into it and bought various items this week to help me with that. Including some lovely oil paints! :) I am very excited about this which will help me to recover my artistic vision. The acrylics were great, but not painterly enough for me, I guess. I will still use them, though, for various projects. I have a lot of paint to use up! So, hopefully soon, I will have an oil painting to post. Wish me luck!

Fear not! ;)

Life sometimes has a way delaying the things that you want to do so badly! I am just now getting back to my painting after a very hectic July and August. New postings are just around the corner, for sure.

To the left is a picture of the family while we were on vacation. This picture was taken at a winery in the Niagara region. (From the left is Paul, me, daughters Danielle and Jacquelyn and soon to be son-in-law, Joe).

July is holiday month

I am afraid I haven't had much time lately to paint, draw or much else for that matter. I don't enjoy this fact, but summertime is a time of winding down and thinking about what is next. Holidays for my family is just two days away and I won't be home for a full two weeks. I am very much looking forward to my next project and will definitely post it when it's done!

Just for fun, I am posting a painting I did last year which my daughter has hanging on her wall. It was an experiment for me and a lot of fun. I call her "Lillian"...as I was listening to a cd of "Depeche Mode" and one of their songs has that title. She really reminds me of a Lillian...not sure why, though!

Happy July...and happy summer!

A happy day for me

So, it's been a tough week, personally, but I have a bright spot in my life. Today my painting..."Between the Calm and the Chaos"...was in an art gallery in Edmonton and put on the wall with all the amazing artists that belong to this artist run gallery. It is a very proud moment for me and a happy one as well. I know that I will have more pieces of art in the galleries through the years. (Must think positive, because as I have discovered...if YOU don't believe in yourself, who else will???) Anyway, this is the end of a very hectic day, so I am going to relax and raise a glass to my first official art gallery showing.

Between the Calm and the Chaos

It's been far too long since I added anything to this blog. But then, it takes time to paint. This painting is called "Between the Calm and the Chaos". I went very deep for this painting and it brought out a lot of feelings that tend to get buried. That's what I love so much about painting. It is almost as good as a psychologist's couch!

It's 18 X 24 inches, done with acrylics and paper and is framed with a black wooden frame. It is about to be handed over to a local art gallery for a art show and sale.

One thing I had issue this week was a framing shop that did not bring in my frames in time for this art show. I had two other paintings that I wanted to enter, but because of their tardiness, I was not able to do that. I am learning, but it takes time to know these things. Next time it won't happen! Live and learn!!

another work for sale

Called "Peace, man"...this painting is 14"x 35" and is unframed. It is done with acrylics and various papers. It is priced at $200.00.

works for sale, etc.

This one is called "No Laughing Matter". It measures 18" x 24" and is done with acrylics and papers. It is not framed and is priced at $200.00.

Works for sale, continued

This one is called "I Adorn You". It is 15" x 30" and is done with acrylic paint, seeds, rice and papers. It is unframed. This piece is priced at $200.00. (Please contact me via Email if you are interested in any of these paintings).

works for sale

Decided to update once a month which pieces that I have done are for sale and what the prices would be. I am working on more art at the moment which will be up on the blog soon.

This painting is called "No Reason". It is a multi-media painting using acrylics and various papers. It measures 10" by 30". It is not framed. The price of this piece is $150.00.

Lessons learned

It's been way too long since my last posting. I have been busy trying to finish a project that got rejected in the end. How disappointing!! I have decided to get 'tougher' with commissions, but only tougher in the way that most artists HAVE to be. I spent hours on something that I should have been paid *something* for, but it's my own fault that I didn't. I obviously have to be much more clear about the process of art...which is NOT easy and NOT quick. Lots of time is taken, with a commission, to figure out exactly what would be good for that person. In other words, you almost have to be a mind reader, and if you are not one...then you should definitely make it very clear to the client exactly what YOUR vision is for the project...and give updates, and send pictures!! Scanning is a good way to do this. Being paid a little bit up front is also a good idea. My time is being used...and my time is worth something! Years of developing my skills has GOT to be worth something!!

Enough of this rant. It has been a difficult week for me, but one in which I did learn some valuable lessons!!!

Peace, man

My latest painting is called "Peace, man". It's a multi-media painting using acrylics and various types of paper. I took this from a photo I found on the Internet and made it my own. I saw him as a fellow who would be involved in the peace movement and the two canvases and the off-set of them are to indicate the quirkiness that I think suits him. His androgynous look is very appealing to me and that hair!! It was too fabulous and I didn't change anything about it.

definitely miscellaneous!

First one...is called "Fire Kitty"...which was done years ago for a daughter's gift. Next two mirrors were also done for gifts, and I am definitely going to get back to those...they were a bit of a challenge to work around the mirror part of the frame. The next painting of the pansy was one of the first paintings I did in acrylic. This was also a gift for a friend. The last...but not least, is called Waiting. It's directly related to my experience with breast cancer. Basically, the woman is waiting and waiting for her doctor to show up to examine her and to give her the 'news' whether it be good or bad. I know that feeling all to well...one of the worst, I am sure. You just don't know how that visit it going to go, and you are filled with anxiety! That's what I tried to convey in this painting.

A bit of miscellaneous fun

Due to some technical difficulties, my latest painting has been a bit delayed being put up. I will, though, put up some random stuff that was very fun to do...as is all art!!! LOL These are fridge magnets and mirror art that I made a couple of years ago.