ART BY HART STUDIO

How Interesting!

2011-12-26T14:22:00.000-06:00

This really makes you think! :-)

Gives one a real perspective on you and your senses.

Our new BABY.. Woof Woof

2011-07-11T12:43:00.001-05:00

Let me introduce you to Bailey!

He is our new rescue. Bailey is a wire-haired Dachshund mix.

They tell me he is approximately 1 year old.

I think he is a little younger.

Saturday when we brought him home, he sat on my lap

all day long and cuddled. No matter

when I went he was with me. Today, he

is a little more independent, but still comes back to me

when he gets sleepy.

When it's bedtime just as you are settling down between

the sheets, up he bounds and snuggles in real close.

My son informed me that Bailey came upstairs to visit him

in the middleof the night, but by mornings light,

Baily was back- snuggled in with us.

He is such a smarty too!

After only two tries, he learned to use the doggy door.

Whooo Hoooo!

Of course it helps that our other dog

, Missy , uses the doggy door too!.

Can't wait to get started in my art studio...

.I wonder if he will be the next Picaso? :-)

Since he likes to stick his nose into everything.

Well, it's time to encourage a potty break!

See you soon!!!!

Di / woof!

What An Awesome Weekend

2011-06-28T22:57:00.002-05:00

Just spent the past weekend in Nashville, Tn

at an Art Workshop with Elizabeth Robbins.

She is a wonderful teacher and a fantastic artist.

In less than an hour ...
she made this beginning ......

became this painting!

She imparts so much knowledge during her workshop.

At times it seems dizzying, but it you listen closely
and follow her guidance,

suddenly there are all these "light bulb" moments
going off in your head.

If you ever get a chance to study with Elizabeth,

RUN!!!!!

Don't walk to sign up.

You won't regret a minute of it.

In the next couple of days,

I'll share the paintings we did during our 3-day workshop!

We Had to Say Goodbye

2011-06-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

The Rainbow Bridge

inspired by a Norse legend

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,

Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.

On this golden land, they wait and they play,

Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,

For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.

Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,

Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,

Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.

All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,

Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;

Together again, both person and pet.

So they run to each other, these friends from long past,

The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,

Has turned into joy once more in each heart.

They embrace with a love that will last forever,

And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

Good-bye for now Sadie!

Run and play HAPPY

And run and play FREE

Until we see you at Rainbow Bridge

2011-03-30T10:55:00.002-05:00

This is only a little 6 x 6, but was such a joy to paint. I've named it PEACEFUL INLET. If anyone has any ideas of names for future paintings, I could sure use the help. I'm not very creative that way. Of if you know some wonderful site I could use to inspire titles for paintings.

I'm going to be working on a series of water and waterfront scenes. Any ideas ?????
Thanks in advance! Take care! And have a lovely day!!!!!!!

New WEBSITE

2011-03-06T04:23:00.001-06:00

http://www.diannehartartist.com
Join me on my brand new website. Some of it is still under construction,so please bare with me.

First Painting for 2011

2011-02-25T21:00:00.001-06:00

I am so excited today!!! Last night I finally broke through my "artist block". I had not painted in about three months.

I have been laid up for about six weeks with a knee injury, so I've used that time perusing the internet and looking at other artist's sites. Well, I came across an artist named Leslie Saete, and I was blown away. Her paintings made me "happy". I know that that is a simple word, but it's a very strong , all encompassing word.HAPPY... HAPPY... HAPPY! :-) Her work made me smile.

She is a contemporary impressionist palette knife painter. I had not picked up a palette knife to paint with in over 35 years. The more I looked at her paintings the more I wanted to go fine my knives.
So................ TA DA ! Here is my first palette knife painting since I was in high school. I'm very excited about it. I've had several compliments on it today. I've already taken it to the gallery and it is for sale there at 16 Main Gallery.

Stay tuned for more palette knife painting!!! Whooo Hoooo!

ASCRIBING ARTISTS

2011-02-12T23:03:00.001-06:00

I also want to THANK the ASCRIBING ARTISTS for featuring me through the month of January on their website. I'm feel very HONORED. I also am blessed to be a part of the Ascribing Artist network.

"Ascribing Artists is a creative ministry bringing together visual artists who desire to ascribe or attribute their work and life to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ministry is inspired by Psalm 29:2, "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name" and shows that we are to be "A Reflection of His Glory" in all that we do."

Also a big "Thanks" to Gina Hurst for her friendship and all that she does to promote us all! BIG (((((HUGS))))) GINA! ! ! ! !
And GOD BLESS

Thank You Huntsville Art Blog

2011-02-12T22:49:00.001-06:00

I want to extend a really big THANK YOU ! to the Huntsville Art Blog for featuring me and my artwork all through the month of December. This is a fabulous group of artist. I feel very honored to be chosen.

The Huntsville Art Blog does a fantastic job promoting local artists and art awareness in North Alabama. Don't miss their BLOG.

FAVORITE PAINTING OF 2010

2011-01-27T15:52:00.000-06:00

The Watering Hole

Magnificent Blue

Banana Blossom

snow, Snow, SNOW !

2011-01-14T00:17:00.002-06:00

It was just two weeks ago, that we had a white Christmas. I think that was a first! But this past Sunday, January 9, we had the third largest snowfall in north Alabama in over 50 years. We had around 7 1/2 inches of snow.

The largest snowfall was in 1964. I remember that I was in the hospital at the time and all the kids were calling me , wanting me to come out and play and I couldn't , of course. Poor me :-(

The second largest snowfall was in 1987. I remember that one also. LOL I had to walk a couple of blocks to get home. Brrrrrrr-cicles!

Anyway, this snow was wonderful to behold, but it has cause many business' to be closed and the school closed all week. We just don't have the snow equipment needed here in the sunny south.

Enjoy this little fellow. :-)

FRIDAY NIGHT PAINT PARTIES @ 16 MAIN GALLERY

2011-01-04T03:24:00.001-06:00

New for 2011... Join our

Friday Night Paint Parties

16 Main Gallery

in historic downtown Madison.

Invite your friends, BYOBeverage

and we will provide the rest.

January 7th

"TUSCAN POPPY"

Class prep begins at 6:30 pm

Painting by 7:00pm

Classes last from 2-3 hours

$35.00 per person

(all supplies included)

16 Main Street, Madison, AL

256-325-0161

Stormy Days

2010-12-03T23:05:00.002-06:00

Here is a painting I made about 30 years ago. I painted them with both panels pushed together and then framed them separately. It was a fun afternoon, practicing with my palette knife.
My parents have had them hanging in their living room all these years.
They are also featured this month on Huntsville's Art Blog.
Be sure to read my article and check out all the other artist's as well

Glass Painting Class

2010-11-30T00:30:00.000-06:00

See link below

16Main: Classes This Saturday! Dec. 4th

2010-11-29T22:40:00.000-06:00

16Main: Classes This Saturday! Dec. 4th

Christmas Open House

2010-11-20T01:14:00.000-06:00

Please join us in Madison Alabama for Historic Downtown Madison's Christmas Open House. The Merchants of Madison is hosting an all day Open House from 10am until 5pm.

Santa is expected, so tell all the boys and girls. We will also get to enjoy carolers several times throughout the day.

Be sure to stop by 16 Main Gallery. Visit with our many artist's and enjoy our festive fare. Be one of the first 100 visitors and receive a festive treat.

An Early Merry Christmas to All!!!!!

Poinsettia Ornament

2010-11-09T00:23:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow morning I'll be teaching a class of this ornament. If anyone sees this before 10am Tuesday, come on over to 16 Main Gallery and join us.
The class fee is $35.00 and depending on the time...we will do 1 to 2 ornaments. The class lasts for two hours and all supplies are included.
Hope to see you there!!!!
Phone number is 256-325-0161

Ladies Day Out

2010-11-07T23:19:00.002-06:00

We had such fun!!!! This group of lovely ladies got together from their church woman's group. We spent the morning learning to paint, but most importantly --- having FUN!!!!! We were laughing so much, many of us had tears in our eyes.
After we finished, we joined a few other ladies from their group and had a wonderful lunch together across the street, at Main Street Cafe.

So get your friends/family together and come out to 16 Main Gallery & Artists for your own paint party. We call it "FEED YOUR PALETTE".. There are several artist to choose from - watercolor, acrylic, and oil painters. We will design a painting specific for your party. Just call 16 Main Gallery at 256-325-0161..
There are also many other types of classes available! We hope to see you soon!

Snow De-Lightful!!!!

2010-11-02T15:43:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday, we had an impromptu "Snowman" ornament class. These lovely ladies each made two ornaments and had had no prior painting experience .. didn't they do an awesome job?

Pictured left to right is Connie, (me), Barbara, and Judy! Thanks ladies for coming out. I had a wonderful time getting to know each of you and I so enjoyed watching your eyes gleam with excitement as each of the snowman's faces came to life.

The 12 Gifts of Christmas

2010-11-01T23:21:00.002-05:00

This is my personal blog, but my business is inside of 16 Main Gallery, which is an Art Gallery and Art Studios located in historic downtown Madison, Alabama. We are promoting making your own gifts for Christmas and we are starting this Saturday morning with my class on painting your own Christmas Ornaments. We have a wide variety of options for all of your family. AND PARENTS --- Be sure to have your kids come on December 18th, for our Kids Day, so they can make gifts for you.

Gifts that are handmade are gifts from the Heart!!!! And Gifts from the Heart are always cherished more than we ever realize.

Be sure to register in advance, so the artist's teaching will have plenty of supplies available. ALL SUPPLIES ARE INCLUDED FOR EACH CLASS FOR THE NOMINAL CLASS FEE

Please check out our blog at 16 Main Gallery for all coming EVENTS

Which Witch???

2010-10-31T22:42:00.000-05:00

Aren't we cute???? LOL This week at the 16 Main Gallery, we were invaded with little ghosts and goblins, not to mention Buzz Light Year, Jasmine, and Cinderella. A church daycare down the street from our historic downtown area brought their kindergarten class by for trick-or-treating. They were all soooooo cute. Here is a little elephant....see he is holding his nose LOL.

As you can see, I got to be the "Bad Witch" and the kids know that. LOL... They would go to Michele dressed in the "White" witch costume first. Mike, our watercolor artist even sat out on the porch and painted our pictures. I'll have to take a picture of them and show you our portraits if she agrees.
Thanks for reading!
Dianne

The Watering Hole

2010-10-28T01:17:00.001-05:00

Hello Again

I want to share a painting that I designed this summer. This is my second design in recent years. I had a lot of fun with this one. I want this to be the first in a series.

I originally drew the elephant to show my brother, Jim. He was a BIG "University of Alabama" fan. I'm sorry to say , that he passed away before he got to see it.... but I continued with this project to help me through the grieving process. Needless to say... I'm very proud of this piece.

Some good news about it is......Ta Dah!!!! It sold this past week at an Art function at Huntsville's Museum of Art. I took it at the last minute...
Several of us from the gallery attended... we had many people looking, but no one really interested in actually purchasing...or so we thought...

A gentleman came by early on and admired my piece commenting on all the detail that had gone into it. He ask me many questions, then continued on to look at other art pieces. Just before closing, he came back and ask me if my price was firm...before I could answer he offered me more than what I priced it for. It was very exciting. He told me he was very honored to own it and that he already knew just where he was placing it in his dining room.

Thank you Bob B. ! ! ! ! I too am honored for you to own it. I hope you enjoy it for many years to come.

BUNCO Night

2010-10-26T23:51:00.000-05:00

Every second Sunday of the month, the Knights of Columbus at our church has a Bunco night. My husband is a member and for some reason he was made in charge of organizing it each month... which includes my help. of course. :-)

We have a great time! We've been playing for almost 10 years. It originally was run by the ladies auxiliary. When we had to fold the men took it over through their Assembly, and proceeds go toward their patriotic projects. They have installed many flag polls and flags throughout the community.

On this night, I got my 86 year young mother to attend. She the one in the pick blouse. She loves games as do I, so we had a blast together.
One of the things I also enjoy of getting together with both men and women to play bunco, is the competative spirit the guys bring to the game. They are so funny to watch. They really get into the game. They will throw the dice different ways and swear that it's all in the skill. LOL!

My husband surprises me the most when we play. I've seen him on several occasions, jump up and do that dance you've all seen people do, where they hold their arms out in front of them, with elbows bent and move their arms in a horizontal circle. It's hilarious!!!!!!
Girls!!! grab your guys next time you go to play bunco and get them to play. You'll laugh so much your sides will ache. And you know that laughter is the best medicine!!!! ( next to painting of course :-)

Dallas Painting Seminar

2010-10-09T19:22:00.001-05:00

Neadeen and Me holding my paintings from the seminar

Hi All!
For all of you who missed me last weekend ( LOL ) I was in Dallas. One of the owners of the online art school " Art Apprentice Online " and also "The Traditions Online Art School" was in Dallas to conduct her very popular class titled "Creating the Independent Artist". Her name is Neadeen Masters!
It was such a GREAT experience ! ! ! ! She brought photos she had taken from her recent trip to Hawaii.... they were cropped in interesting ways. We each picked two to paint from and set us loose.... but not for long. The photos were a little intimidating at first...but as she explained "line", "value" and "shape"...we were better able to understand what we were looking for in preparing for our own painting. She also taught some concepts from art theory... one being - that the lightest dark, can NEVER be lighter than the darkest light. What a "light bulb moment"!!!!!

Neadeen - teaching - explaining concepts of observation in developing line, shape and value

The most important thing I learned was that I need to re-take her observation online class on the AAO website. There is so much that the brain takes for granted about what the eye sees. We all need to STOP and really pay attention to detail... There are things that occur naturally in nature that we see but do not really notice and when you want to capture that on canvas (wood, metal, etc...).. we can see something is not quite right,, but fail to know why. If you train yourself to really SEE what is in front of you and study your values. you may(maybe) have as much knowledge as Neadeen has in her little fingernail. LOL
Thanks again Neadeen!

Barbara - sweetest and best hostess in Dallas

Also a BIG BIG THANKS to Barbara for putting it all together! And WOW = she makes some wonderful soups and salads. We ate like royalty.And what a sweetheart she is.
I'm going to share some photos and also a little video of our salute to Neadeen.
Enjoy!!!

Martha

Doris

Nancy

Sharon

Susie

Paula

Ellen and Neadeen

New Beginning for 16 Main Gallery

2010-10-08T22:59:00.001-05:00

Hello Everyone.
I know it's been awhile again.... but as usual life gets in the way...
I'd like to share with you some pictures of 16 Main Gallery - A community of Artists.
Recently, there have been some changes to the Gallery. I've become the co-director with another artist (Michele Lee)... It all happened rather suddenly, but we rose to the task.

We purchased an open sign. You won't believe how many people came in after being open since June...that had never noticed until the "open" sign was put up.

We also hung a new sign that says "Gallery and Artists". We were told that many just thought 16 Main was the address... well... it is the address as well as the name....but potential customers didn't realize that. One of our potters (Greg)made the sign, Michelle - Put on the letters and I drew and painted the pics.
I'll share more pictures soon!
Come back and see me!!!
Dianne

Artist Quote

2010-09-08T21:59:00.001-05:00

Hans Hofmann quotes

+ A work of art is a world in itself reflecting senses and emotions of the artist's world.

ART QUOTE

2010-09-06T23:10:00.001-05:00

Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator. ~~~~~

Antoni Gaudí

Watercolor Batik

2010-09-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

Isn't this lovely! This is the watercolor batik that I made last week on a painting weekend. It is designed by my friend and artist Donna Harcourt. I just had to share! I can't wait to try one of my own

Problems, Problems, Problems,

2010-09-02T00:07:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,
I've been trying to share a blog about my father-in-law for the last two weeks. He passed away this last month and everytime I share it, it comes up with strange encrypted letters....so I delete it each time.
Needless to say, the past 6 weeks have been very hard on our family, with first my brother passing away, and then my FIL.
My husband is in the midst of working on the estate, so things are busy at that end. I've been trying to put more hours in at my new studio....
I'll try and download pics from my camera tomorrow and share some with you

Retreat!

2010-08-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

Going away for the weekend on a little scrapbooking/card making retreat. I also may just get some reading in. I'm really looking forward to this get-away.
Ta ta for now!

My Brother Jim

2010-07-29T00:17:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone
I haven't posted in a few weeks, as my brother has been in critical care for almost a month. He was back and forth between critical care and a regular room. At one point he had been in 8-10 different rooms...one of them twice. But now I'm sad and happy to write that he was born to Eternal Life this past Sunday at just before 12noon.
He was a wonderful man, a gentle man, an intelligent man, an opinionated man and above all else a firm believer in Jesus Christ.

He has steadily gone "down hill" since a year ago May when he had a stroke at the visitation of our father's funeral. He had a bad heart, congestive heart failure, diabetes, only one kidney that was failing, and a tumor that was believed to be cancer in his lunges (as well as several spots in some bone x-rays.) Oh, and he was on oxygen while he still struggled to breath. My 86 year old mother has been taking care of him during the day since his last stroke, taking him to and from doctor appointments and seeing that he had something to eat since he had trouble doing it himself.

We realized he was not going to get better, and knew in time he would not be with us, but it came as a total shock this past Sunday morning. The night before, I had the pleasure of seeing him at the evening visitation... Several of his friends came and I let them go in first. I finally got to go in with about 10 minutes to spare... I got him ice to suck on, and we talked a little thru his oxygen mask. When it was time to leave, I kissed him on the forehead and told him I loved him and he told me he loved me....... my husband (Tom )thought he would be funny and told my brother that he wouldn't kiss him, but shake his hand...And my brother suddenly turned to my husband and made the biggest kissing sound thru his mask in Tom's direction... Well that caught us both by surprise and all three of us laughed. You could see the twinkle in my brothers eyes! He still had his sense of humor even after 25 days of lying on his back, weak and in pain. He told me to tell his wife (who had left early to get some rest) That he loved her. We left in good humor, looking forward to seeing him the next day.

None of us would have ever believed that by the next day before noon that he would be gone from us.
Today we buried my brother, but even though I grieve, I am joyous of the many godly friends he had who all came to show their respects. He would so have enjoyed to see how much he was loved and to shake their hands once more or prayer for them. But--- I know he is healed now and is in Jesus' arms. I also know I will see him again.
Thank you all ( and you know who you are ) who prayed for him, me and our families. I will never be able to express my sincere gratitude for all your well wishes and praying to our Lord on our behalf.
God Bless you all
Dianne

Garden Harvest - Onion

2010-07-09T16:09:00.003-05:00

Hi Again,

I sure hope your eyes don't water looking at my onion :-D

I love the way this piece turned out!

You can actually see the onion's layers.

To tell you the truth, I can't remember where I got this model

who poised for my camera.

I believe a good friend of mine (Rachel) got it either from her garden

or someone else's garden that she knows.

(Does that make sense? :-D he he he)

Mr. Onion here,

became a hearty, robust flavor in my spaghetti sauce

this past month. . . . . .What a beauty! ! ! ! !

And what a spaghetti sauce!

Anyway...

I loved doing all three pieces in the "Garden Harvest Trio"

You can find them located in:

16 Main Art Gallery & Studios

16 Main Street

Madison, Al 35758

http://www.16mainart.com/

http://www.16main.blogspot.com/

or write me at

artbyhart@knology.net

Thanks for looking!

Please leave a comment

and tell me how I'm doing.

Garden Harvest - Tomato

2010-07-08T23:42:00.007-05:00

My Tomato :-)

I have to be truthful!!!

This little baby is not from my garden.

I found this luscious "fruit"

at our farmer's market.

What a GREAT place to find mouth watering morsels

and support the local economy at the same time.

I know the lady at the stand thought I was crazy. .

picking up different ones and holding them up and

turning them this way and that.

She was staring at me with a funny expression! LOL

I finally told her why I was examining them so thoroughly

and she rushed right over to help me find

this PERFECT "model"

Don't you just want to pick it up

and take a nice, juicy, BIG BITE!?!?!?!

Well.... I did! Yep!!! I ate it!!!

It was part of the most wonderful BLT sandwich

I've eaten in a long time. . . :-) Yummy!

This canvas is 8" x 8" and

is for sale at:

16 MAIN Art Gallery and Art Studios

16 Main Street

Madison, Alabama 35758

www.16mainart.com

www.16main.blogspot.com

or contact me at:

artbyhart@knology.net

Garden Harvest - Green Pepper

2010-07-07T13:23:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone!

I would like to share the first of my

"Garden Harvest" paintings.

It is my 'Green Pepper'.

This pepper is from my home garden and I decided

it needed to have a life of it's own long after it was enjoyed

in several tasty dishes!

LOL

I hope you enjoy it as well!

Garden Harvest Green Pepper is for sale at

16 Main Art Gallery and Studios

16 Main Street

Madison, Al 35758

http://www.16mainart.com/

http://www.16main.blogspot.com/

Father's Day

2010-06-19T23:18:00.004-05:00

My father passed away last year. . . . So it's just not the same on this day anymore. Even Tom won't be here to celebrate. I was sick today, so he and his brother and sister took his father out to eat last night. So that was good.

But I want to share a poem a friend of might had on her facebook page Saturday. I do not know who the author is, but the poem touched my heart.

Yellow roses grow in heaven,

Lord pick a bunch for me.

Place them in my father's arms

and tell him they're from me.

Tell him that I love and miss him.

When he turns to smile

place a kiss upon his cheek

and hold him for awhile,

because remembering him is easy,

I do it...every day.

There's an... ache in my heart

that will never go away.

I hope you and yours have a lovely Father's Day!

Grand Opening

2010-06-18T19:48:00.005-05:00

Hi Guys!!!

This is our logo and sign for the new art gallery

that just opening in Madison Alabama. I am so excited

about this endeavor. I am one of the lucky ones

who is in on the ground floor.

This is our opening day Ribbon Cutting Ceremony that took place on June 5th.

That's me on the right end. I'm the more traditional Acrylic Artist.

Going right to left ...next to me is Michele Lee our acrylic-Mixed media artist. Our honorable mayor Paul Finley. Cindy Sensenberger, owner of the building. Terry Hart, Gallery Director and Bead artist, Mike Birdsong, watercolor artist, Jules Weber, Organic Vessel Artist (gourd artist), and Greg Lee, potter.

It was a grand event with food , wine, and music. I wish all of you could have been there!!!

These are two pictures of my art studio in the house. If you are in the area please come on by. If you ever are coming to the Huntsville/Madison Alabama area...come look us up. I would love to meet you.

A New Beginning!

2010-05-20T00:11:00.003-05:00

Hello Everyone!!!
It's been a long time since my last post....but things have been happening. My new art studio at home is up and running. The sunroom is wonderful ( I was spending many hours talking to my feathered friends and catching up on some reading)Now, I have NEW news! ! ! ! !

Our fair city of Madison ,Al is opening an art gallery. It is calle "16 Main" - the actual address. It's an art gallery and community of working artists. I have been chosen to be the "resident Acrylic artist". I am so very excited! ! ! Now I have two studios..my one at home and this new one at the gallery

So far we have 8 artist's in all, each of us specializing in a different media. There is room for 10, so we will see :-) Each of us has a room of our own and patrons will be able to come into our rooms and watch us work. The art gallery will host an "artist of the month" and the main area of the gallery will show all the resident artist's work and offer for sale.

"16 Main" also will have a meeting room for civic organizations as well as individuals who wish to rent the room. We are planning "Dollar Movie Nights on the Lawn" through out the summer, wine tastings, art strolls, dinner theater, and various artistic events for the community. We've got big plans! So wish us luck!!!

I'll post more about the gallery with pictures soon and also hope to share a little about each artist in residence.

New Baby! ! !

2010-01-02T19:58:00.002-06:00

This is my new baby - - Her name is Chelsea! Isn't she pretty?
Chelsea is 12 years old and was a rescue. I got her from animal services a couple of weeks ago. She says "hello", "meow" and wolf whistles. A couple of days ago, my husband sneezed and Chelsea would sneeze back. We are now wondering what other things she might know how to do or say. Yesterday, after she "meowed" I started barking at her and she tried to bark back...not quite as convinceing as the "meow" but it's a start. Anyway, here she is acting a little shy :-)

Almost There

2009-12-30T10:06:00.011-06:00

The excitement is getting more intense! Whoooo Hooo! Here are the most updated pictures of my 2/3rds art studio and 1/3rd Sunroom.
I haven't taken any pictures of the painted walls yet.
My husband got the first coat of paint-primer on the walls! Yeah!
Now we only need the last coat of paint. I have the window trim to paint today, The the guys will come back and put it up on Monday.
Next the vinyl flooring, and last the electrician to install the light fixtures and run the wires to the power box.
Can you tell I'm excited??????
:-)
Dianne

YEAH! ! ! ! Look at what I'm getting for Christmas

2009-12-23T20:42:00.007-06:00

Yep! it isn't quite done yet, but it is going to be my art studio! ! ! ! Whoo Hoo!!!!

This first picture is how it use to look (with one of my brothers in the foreground and my father and father-in-law in the back. It was a very pretty screened-in porch. My husband and I really enjoyed sitting and watching the birds feed at the several feeders. We realized though that we were only using it in the late spring, summer and early fall...so my wonderful husband decided that it would make a great place for an art studio at one end (approx 2/3rds) and the other end would be a small sitting area/sunroom for us to still watch the birds.

Here is how it looked two weeks ago.

And this is last week, after sides and electrical wires had been put in...

It is getting closer! ! ! !

I'll share some more photos tomorrow! Yeah! ! ! !
Take care ...see ya soon.

Palette Knife Evening

2009-11-10T23:17:00.003-06:00

Here is another of my early attempts! LOL This was an assignment from a highschool art class. The entire painting had to be painted with only a palette knife. I had fun, but over the years I was able to tell just how crude this painting was.
It too still graces my Mom's family room wall. You can always count on a mother's love :-)

Copper Pot Floral

2009-11-08T22:56:00.004-06:00

Good evening everyone!
Can you believe it is already a week into November. Days just seem to fly by.
Right now I'm not painting as I've got my supplies all boxed up. My husband is building me an art studio/sunroom, which should be ready mid-December. I'm sooooooo excited!!! I just can't wait. In the meantime, I'm sifting through boxes and bins trying to sort or get rid of things I don't need.
This painting is one I did back when I was in highschool. I took a class at the local art store taught by it's owner ( I don't remember her name).... so even though it shows my age, that was over 30 years ago. As you can see...it still needs work, but at the time, I thought it was wonderful. :-)
My Mom has had it displayed on her den wall all these years!
Have a wonderful week. Ta ta for now

DRIFTED FOG

2009-10-24T22:09:00.003-05:00

Not much to say tonight. I'm not painting at the moment as we are in the process of enclosing our screened-in porch so I can have my own artist studio. I'm packing up my art supplies for the move from the dining room LOL
I'm very excited about this WoooHooo!!!

Anyway, here is a painting that I painted back in the early 1980's for my father. It is acrylic. I did not design it, but I enjoyed doing it and learning more about this media.
Write me what you think!

Smithsonian Renwick Gallery

2009-10-21T22:29:00.008-05:00

The Society of Decorative Painters(SDP) and the Smithsonian teamed up and requested members of SDP to paint Christmas ornaments to decorate the trees on display at the Renwick Gallery. To particiapate each member was given an index card sized wooden plaque to paint. To get your inspiration, you were to go to the gallery's website and study 73 paintings. From these paintings, you were to pick one that inspired you in some way. It could be the whole painting or just an element in the painting.

The paintings are from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. They all seemed rather dark to me. I know they are wonderful paintings, but I'm glad they are in a museum and not on my walls. I feel they would depress me. Be that as it may, I know many who would find them very inspiring...very interesting.

I did find one that hit a "spark" in me. When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of being a ballerina. I took dance classes - ballet, jazz, and tap. I took music lessons - piano. I took baton lessons... and played the flute in the band at school... But ballet was my dream.
So in studying these paintings, in the bottom left-hand corner of the painting "Dressing for the Rehersal" by Seymour Joseph Guy (1890) I found a pair of worn ballet slippers. It touched my heart. So here is my painting, "Ribbons of Dance" that is inspired by those slippers.

Only 500 will be chosen to decorate the trees and the remainder will be sent to the headquarter of the Society of Decorative Painters in Wichita, Kansas. Either locations will be an honor. So stay tuned for an update as soon as it is known. At least I hope they will tell us. I may have to go to Washington D.C. to find out.

See ya soon!

Blood, Barks and Tears...

2009-10-16T13:16:00.010-05:00

Hi guys!!!
It finally feels like fall here in northern Alabama. The only problem is that I don't get to hear the gentle rustling of leaves...instead I have the pounding of hammer and nails on the roof. We've had roofers here for three days (ugh!) We are getting our roof replaced finally after the early summer hail storms we had.

Nothering ART-wise today, but I've got to tell you about my dog SADIE. She got into a little scuffle last week with our other dog MISSY...or I should say, she started to get into a scuffle.....Tom could see it coming so he put his foot up between them and I guess Sadie thought his white sock moving up was Missy's white chest moving toward her because she sprang forward to bite Missy and bit Tom's foot instead.
Five (5) puncture wounds. OUCHIE!!!!

He finally got hold of Sadie and then MIssy grabbed her back leg...I'm running in trying to help and grab Sadie's collar just as
Tom pulls Missy off Sadie's leg. Well pulling Missy from Sadie's leg ripped a big gash in her leg.
While Tom holds his foot (that is bleeding) I'm pushing Sadie into the bathroom and Missy into the laundry room. I then cleaned and bandaged Tom's foot. When I went back to check on Sadie's leg, I opened the bathroom door and it looked like a masacre. The bathroom was covered in blood. It was everywhere...even up the walls. I couldn't imagine where it was coming from...since it was her leg that was bit. Finally I spotted her ear...she had had a growth on her ear about the size of a walnut and it had broken open and was bleeding. Everytime Sadie shook her head ( you know the way dogs do when they are wet). Everytime she shook her head , blood sprayed everywhere. (That was no fun to clean up...I'd hate to have CSI or NCIS come and bring in their luminol)
We took Sadie to the vet to suture up her leg. They kept her over night to mositen up the wound and was to have surgury on her leg the next morning and to take off the growth. Well Tuesday morning started off with the ringing of the telephone a little before 8am. It was the vet telling us that they had lost Sadie. She had gotten away from them (without her ID tags) when they took her out to potty before surgury. We spent the whole day looking for her. It was pouring down rain.
Around 230p she was spotted in some underbrush next to the interstate fence. We got almost to her, when she got spooked and took off under the underbrush again. So we continued to search another two hours in the general area until I was exhausted and getting hysterical. I stayed on one side of the underbrush and Tom went to the other side of the underbrush and called her one last time. Just as he was giving up and heading toward his car Sadie came bounding from behind him to the car and turned and looked at him wagging her tail like "well come on!!! let's go home"
So we have a happy ending afterall. I never would have thought it...she must be part cat and have nine lives LOL

First Pics of 2009 PWFW

2009-09-07T22:36:00.011-05:00

Hi Everyone!!!
Sorry, I haven't written in awhile... Don't know where the time has gone. I guess life is like a roll of toilet tissue...the closer you get to the end the faster it goes! LOL
Not sure who wrote that...but there is truth in it ! ( smile )

So, what have all of you been doing? I just got back from a weekend of painting...or at least.. last weekend..not this weekend ...anyway I'd like to share some pictures from it. Jan (left), from Birmingham, and I shared a room at the Gunter Hollow Lodge in Fayetteville, TN. The room was great and the shower was to die for.. I should have taken a picture. Even the water pressure was fantastic!!! Here is a morning view from the balcony.

Back to painting... here is a picture of the little babies Donna Harcourt and I learned to paint at the SDP in Peoria back in June. Donna had finished hers and won first place in the county fair (it may have been state fair..) She told me to bring mine along and we'd finish mine up...so I did! And here she is...mine is on the left, Donna's is on the right.

This is Sherri - she taught us how to make clay pansies with Sculpty Clay. This was great fun!

Next is Judi - she and I partnered in a painting game of getting to know one another. Here she is with her "Fall Floor cloth" that she taught us all to do with OneStroke.

Wowzer! look at all the floor cloths ...as you can see, we've got a lot of talent!

_______________________________________

Sowmya, made her debut of teaching us her Prisilla Hauser Rose.

And Robin, showed us how to make ATC's (Artish Trading Cards) to share with our fellow artists.

Look for upcoming pictures of other wonderful classes at 2009 PWFW TN.
See you soon!
Dianne

What's the Color of Your Rainbow

2009-08-13T16:12:00.002-05:00

Your rainbow is shaded blue.

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

CRITIQUE

2009-07-03T18:34:00.007-05:00

OK!!! I think I've got it now. The post below you can see my submission for my CDA certification...but you have not seen the critique. So if it works this time I will share mine with all interested.

Now.... I did not pass....I'm letting you know that up front, but I did learn a lot. Hopefully I'll be more prepared for next year. I plan on studying every chance I get. I've also got some wonderful friends routing for me ( and that always means a lot!)

If me sharing my mistakes helps just one person...then it will be worth opening myself up this way. Please contact me if you have any questions at artbyhart@knology.net .

Just double click on each picture and it will enlarge for better viewing.

Peoria and SDP

2009-07-02T04:31:00.007-05:00

Hi Everyone!
I got back from Peoria, Il last week, but it took me a week of sleeping to get over all the excitement.. LOL... It was fabulous! I got to meet all the Art Apprentice Online ladies!!! They annouced their new program and I believe it will be fantastic! I'll tell more about it in another post soon.

One of the reasons I went to Peoria was that I submitted my "special board" to try for my Certified Decorative Artist Certification (CDA)... To the everyday guy or gal, this may not mean anything to them...but to an artist, especially a decorative artist..it is an honor to have these three letters after their name. It is sort of like a "feather" in your cap.

FYI - I used DecoArt Traditions Paint of course!!!

Here was my submission.. It did not pass, but I did get an actual score...which isn't bad for a first timer. I'll try to insert the certification critique.... but no promises... I'm not real computer savvy...
I hope you are enjoying my blog and please, please feel free to leave comments...just click on the "comment" line below.

I Love you Daddy!

2009-05-28T01:32:00.014-05:00

On May 16th, at 6:03am, the WWII veteran, jack-of-all-trades and master of many,first class salesman, loving husband of sixty-six years, great friend, wonderful grandfather, and loving, caring father..Oh! and don't forget - he was an AVID fisherman!, had passed away at 86 years of age. . . .
I was blessed to be there when it happened as I was blessed to be his daughter. . . He was dying of kidney failure and had chosen not to go on dialysis. . ..
My brothers and I were taking turns spending the night to be able to check on him through out the night to give my Mom some relief. Friday night (15 May) was my night... I decided to stay up and paint all night instead of getting up every 20 minutes or so to check on him. The painting I was working on was very special and had to be done and posted by the coming Monday morning...It's my first attempt to become a Certified Decorative Painter. (After the conference in June I will show you my first attempt.)This painting was very important to me , until Dad got so ill. I had thought of just giving up...but Dad still had his facalties about him earlier in the week and had urged me to continue... So there I sat painting this piece..
At 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning, I finished! Now I may not pass as I'm sure there is much more to learn, but for all practical purposes I was through, except for the varnishing. I looked over at my Dad and did a double take...was he breathing?...Yes! he was. I watched his chest move up and down a couple of times and saw him move his chin. My Mom came in to say she was going to get dressed and I went to wash my face... a couple minutes later I was back to check on Dad. . . But this time he was no longer breathing... there was no slow measured movement of his chest as it had earlier risen and fallen..His gaze was no longer of this world...He was now "Home" with his heavenly Father...celebrating a whole and pain-free new existance. . .
Yes, he was sad to leave us, but he knew that one day we will all be together again.
I will treasure the special painting I did that night...just as I watched over him, I feel he watched over me to finish it before he passed on.
"Thanks Daddy!, I will always love you.."

Thank you Neadeen!!!!!

2009-05-10T00:09:00.005-05:00

Today I am sooooooo excited! ! ! ! Neadeen Masters, a well known and talented artist found my blog online and commented on an online list that I belong to... This is what she said:

Hi Everyone, I was searching the web tonight and came across Dianne Hart's blog. Dianne what a lovely job you have done on your latest paintings. I especially love your latest little design of the lemon and cherries. Very nicely done. I can see that Sue's blending class was taken very seriously!! LOL!!
Excellent job on your blending and detail. If you had to name only one thing that you found that helped you the most in Sue's blending class, what would it be?

AND I was so excited to see all the promotion you are doing for the AAO. Thank you so much for your support and the extra advertising you are doing for us. We cannot thank you enough for taking the time.
Folks if you can stop by to see the lovely paintings Dianne is doing and designing on her own now!! Wooooo Hoooooo!! Way to go girl. How about some mini e-packets?? LOVE the lemon!!>

http://artbyhart-dianne.blogspot.com/

Cheers!!

Neadeen Masters, CDA, AAO
Group Moderator

That just really made my day! I am so in awe of the 5 wonderful ladies of the AAO and to have Neadeen comment online where so many other wonderful artist can read it and then look at my blog....well...I'm speechless!
I might just have to think more seriously about some mini e-packets! First though, I'll have to find out how to do that :-)

Thanks Neadeen!!!!!!!

Hugs to everyone!! and don't forget to leave your comments throughout my blog.

Fruit Frenzie

2009-05-01T01:51:00.003-05:00

Hi All!
Just wanted to share a new painting that I did a week or so ago. This one was painted on watercolor paper that I first prepped with a sealer.
Anyway...this one I designed myself. So I was very pround of myself doing this one, as I usually use other artists designs and follow their directions.
This is also special because it was painted for a very special lady ~ Her name is Cindi Estes. She is my instructor for the module classes that I've been talking about. She is a very wonderful lady and artist, who is very positive in her critiques of her students, at the same time being honest in what we need to fix or work on. She always makes you feel like you accomplished something thus reaching milestones in our artistic journey.
She hit a milestone herself recently, so we (her students) decided to honor her by each of us painting a handemade card for her and "shower" her with them to show our love and appreciation for her amazing ability to teach us and guide us, but to be there almost 24/7 for any questions or problems we might be having.
She is an amazing woman!!! Her website is on the collumn to the right if you would like to find out more about her. If you have an interest in taking art classes, you won't find a better teacher then Cindi...and you can do it all from your own home...Her classes are taught online.
Thanks for reading!!!And please feel free to leave comments!
Ta Ta for now!

First Painting in Six Months!

2009-04-11T21:46:00.004-05:00

Hi everyone!
I know, I know~!~! It has been awhile AGAIN! that I haven't been writing...BUT I have been painting again. I recently got back fro a wonderful week in West Virginia! I got to meet several of my online list sisters. We were all there to take our Certification Classes for Module A, B, C & D of the Traditions Educational Program.

It was a fantastic time, and re-inspired me to get back to my painting and now looking forward to June! That's when the Society of Decorative Painters has their Annual Convention! Whoo Hooo!

I'm also planning on submitting a "special board" at the convention! So in the mean time I'm studying blending skills from a blending class on the Art Apprentice Online website. ( www.artapprenticeonline.com )
This is the painting from the first class. I was thrilled with this one as I haven't painted in six months and wasn't sure I had it in me to ...but now I am inspired to continue the wonderful education! and from the comfort of my own home! Fantastic!
See ya later!!!!
AND I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS!~!~

Hi All!!!

2009-02-21T20:12:00.006-06:00

It's been awhile again since posting as you can see. I've been under the weather actually since Christmas and hopefully now on the road to recovery!
I've had massive meds and gone through enough tissue to take out stock in the company.
Well I wanted to share with you...that I bought an airline ticket today! Yes!!! Me! I'm going to Charleston, West Virginia..I am so very excited. I will be attending the Certification Course ~ Yes..THE course ~ of the Traditions Education Program covering all modules ~~A, B, C, and D.
Good things are happening and I'm excited to be a part of it. There I will get to meet some of my painting sisters ~ Lynnette, Connie, Penne, Elaine, hopefully Ann , and the hostess with the mostest!!!! Gaby Hunter. If you get the chance please go to her website http://www.gabysartstudio.com/
She too is a fabulous lady with great talent. She is one of the five owners of the Art Apprentice Online website and classroom. (There are links to the right) Please take the time to browse...as there is much to see and learn. You can also see the whimsical side of Gaby!
Have a Creative Day!

My Joy of Painting

2009-01-22T04:26:00.009-06:00

Hi Everyone!!!
Long time no see..... I've had a few setbacks these last few months, but now I want to jump back in to my passion - painting and learning all I can from these wonderful ladies. These ladies are the owners of the AAO - Art Apprentice Online Site and Education program. Each one is a fabulous artist in their own right, but they have come together to teach and bring art education back to anyone who cares to learn. They have sacrificed their time and money (and I'm sure some of their family life) to help bring art and art education back to the forefront. Their names are Sue Pruett, Susan Abdella,Donna Richards,Gaby Hunter,and Neadeen Masters.
Art education is one of the first things to be "cut" from the cirriculum of most schools today. Many today, never see or know about the wealth of culture and history told in a painting at the many wonderful museums around the world. I myself, did not know until studing with the AAO that there is so much information just in one painting alone. That many painting have special or secret meaning if only you care to study it a little more closely. Certain flowers, colors, or insects and how they are placed in a painting may just tell a wonderful or tragic story.
I've been painting all of my life but knew deep down that there was something missing... something that I was never taught or never "clicked" in my limited art education. Today,though, I"m learning everything I never knew I didn't know! LOL ... I know that sounds strange, but that is the only way I know how to describe it. These ladies have brought so much more to my life... If you care or like ART in any way...you will really enjoy this site and I will add the link below. There is so much information it will take you days to try and sift through it, so get yourself a cup of coffee, a glass of ice tea, or in my "neck of the woods" a "coke" (our name for any soda :o) ... and sit yourself down for a fantastic journey.
They have recently added several more teachers, also fantastic artists in their own right..they are Sharon Hamilton, Connie Clark, Linda Wise, and Marjon Haeren. A total of nine teachers so far...

Much of the information they give to us freely...but on their online classes' site..there are nominal fees for a more structured class.... You take these classes when you want anytime of the day or night... dressed to the hilt or in your pj's..no one will know, because it's all online. You'll get lessons you can print and streaming video you can download as they teach you in your own home.. You can start and stop the video, and play back anything you think you've missed.. They are only an email away and they'll answer personally back to you and even critique your work if you so desire. Don't miss out on an art education of a lifetime. Go to www.artapprenticeonline.com ...be sure to let me know what you think!
Enjoy!!!...
I Know that I will!!!!!

Paintings Using Frisket

2008-11-18T22:50:00.005-06:00

Hi Everyone!
I know I haven't painted in awhile...We all know that sometimes life just gets in the way, but I'm hoping that I will be more diligent in posting.
On an Art Group List that I'm on... Frisket .... was brought up and several were unfamiliar with the term.
Frisket is a rubber cement type of product that is mainly used with watercolor painting. The artist uses this to paint on the watercolor paper (or what ever surface being used) in areas that they want to remain white. Once it dries, the artist can then paint "washes" over their surface without fear of losing the white spaces under the frisket.
In my painting "The Lighthouse"(designed my artist Maureen Wallace ), I used frisket on the fence area and on the birds. After painting the forest, sky and rocks...I then gently rubbed the frisket off of my watercolor paper. Underneath, the paper was untouched by color. On the fence, I then went back and painted a little grey in and around the fence to look like shading. On the birds, I went back and put in shadows under the wings of the gulls flying in the sky and added a few shadows and color of the gulls on the rocks. I also made the waves in the water with it.

Here, I used frisket on these caladium leaves (designed by Cynthia Massey Parsons). We used it to keep the white color in the striping of the leaves. this one was a lot of fun and meant so much to me, as I used caladiums to decorate the church at our wedding. It was all we could find to bring in the pink, green and white colors along with green ferns and white petunias.(A long story for another time :o)

I also used it on this painting of the Holiday Poinsettia (again designed by Cynthia Massey Parsons). After removing the frisket here, I added some lighter washes in some of the white areas to push them back a little in the painting.

I hope this informations will help someone in the understanding of using the wonderful frisket product. Without it, keeping the white space in the painting is harder to control.
Have a Great Day!

More on PWFW

2008-10-09T22:23:00.007-05:00

First off, I'll try to name everyone in order from left to right: Sowmya, BJ, MaryAnne, Donna, Robin, Cindi, Cindy, Haley, Dianne, Sheri, Kaleigh, and Jan.

I hope you like the previous pictures of our classes from our Fall PWFW a couple of weeks ago.As promised here are some more pictures ..these are from Sunday's classes.

Our first class of the day started with Donna teaching us to use Plaid's Folk Art HD (High Definition) paint...that Donna Dewberry and Prisilla Hauser first brought to our attention last year. This was a fun project..this paint is sort of rubbery..but it is FolkArt's version of using acrylics like oils.

Sheri next taught us to paint with acrylic on a ceramic plate with this wonderful little rooster pattern...Cindi, Jan and I used our Traditions Acrylic...we were stepping out of the box....LOL (I know he looks a little funny..it is like he has a pom=pom stuck on his "hiney-hoo" as my friend Beth would say... :-)

Sheri then taught us one of her "pet" projects called "Peek-A-Boo Kitty". This type of painting is harder than it looks...When painting fur, you have to be oh so careful to keep your strokes thin and fluid. Sheri has a real gift when painting their eyes...my kitty here looks a little menacing ..meow!

Our last class for the weekend was sort of exciting to me, in that I had never worked with this kind of paint before. It's called Genesis! It is an polymer based type of paint that doesn't dry until you "heat-set" it with a heat gun...the same type used in embossing for those of you familiar with doing that. The paint is kind of "pastie" and once you work it a little with your palette knife..it becomes the consistency of room temperature butter... vary pliable. You don't have to wait months for it to dry like oil and it doesn't dry too fast like most regular acrylics. I really enjoyed this class.
Well thanks to Sheri for putting this weekend on and a big thanks to all the teachers for making it a memorable experience. I can't wait for next year!

Class Pics from PWFW

2008-10-08T16:33:00.008-05:00

Hi again! ! ! !
Here are the pictures from my PWFW weekend. I didn't finish the watercolor yet, but I had a lot of fun with the rose and the iris'.
Donna taught the Watercolor class on Saturday...It took longer than planned, but everyone had a GREAT time doing it.

Cindi taught us the Traditions Global method with the Lilac plaque. It is where you add extender to the Traditions acrylic paint and "cook" them until the water evaporates..then they are used as if they were oil paints.

Next Robin showed us how to decorate clear CD disks and make ornaments or wind chimes out of them...It was a fun "no-brainer" that allowed us to relax after a long day of painting...
I then confused everybodies minds with a lesson on "Right-brain vs. Left-brain" challanges...
After much laughter and tears of glee, we settled down to secretly make Sheri's birthday present and wrap a gift of products she had wanted from the Tradition's line. It was getting rather hilarious since Sherri was flitting all around us and had no idea what we were actually doing.....
I guess you had to be there :o)
Well, next year maybe you can! ! ! ! !>

Tomorrow..I'll share more pictures from our Sunday classes!
Until then.......

PWFW

2008-10-07T20:34:00.007-05:00

Hello Everyone
Sorry I haven't written lately, but I've been a little under the weather...
I guess you are wondering what PWFW is ???? Well..it stands for Painting With Friends Weekend. Here are some pictures of that weekend. It was FANTASTIC! ! ! ! !

I went the weekend of Sept 26 - 28.
One of the highpoints of this weekend was to meet my online teacher of my Traditions Art Education Studies..Yes..that's right! I met Cindi Estes! and one of my fellow classmates - Jan.
It was a weekend of meeting some wonderful ladies - who I've only conversed with on the computer. Here are both Cindi and Donna instructing us during class sessions.
We laughed and cried and painted, painted, painted! ! ! !
I'll share some of those pictures later this week... for now I'll share some of the group.

We also shared a birthday with the founder of this group - Sheri! She is a real "hoot"...She kept us laughing as well as making us all feel so welcomed!
I hope you enjoy the photos!

Looking Forward to PWFW...

2008-09-18T04:33:00.016-05:00

As you can see, I haven't published a post in a while.... Life has just gotten in the way lately. BUT... that should change over the coming weeks.

I'm getting excited!!!!! Next week, I'm going for a PAINTING WEEKEND WITH FRIENDS aka PWFW! A group of us "ladies" are meeting for a weekend of friendship and painting! Yes, you heard me! PAINTING! ! ! ! !
Many of these ladies, I've never met...well...actually all of these ladies I've never met except for online...

I'm less than an hour away, but many are flying in or driving in from several states over...but we are all meeting to paint together. Many will be teaching little lessons and demos..

I will be teaching...right brain vs. left brain...and also where your features are in comparison to each other when doing a portrait. I just can't wait.. It will be a BLAST ! ! ! ! ! I just know.
For now I'll share some photos from my color theory class. It's the color wheel in everyday pictures...Red, Red-Orang, Orange, Yellow-Orange, Yellow, Yellow-Green, Green, Blue-Green, Blue, Blue-Violet, Violet, and Red-Violet... I hope you enjoy!

Bauernmalerei...?

2008-08-06T02:26:00.002-05:00

Yes!.. that's the name of this type of traditional folk art. It originated in the Bavarian, Austrian and Swiss Alps. Bauernmalerei means "farmer painting" because traveling artists would sell their wares to the farmers along the countryside.
The painting would be about things in their lives such as flowers, farming, hunting and religion. These paintings would be depicted on furniture of all kinds including, headboards, tables, doors, dishes in order to decorate their home. The styles would vary from region to region, but all in all decorated their lives.
This is my first painted piece of Module B from the Traditions Education study. And a big "YEAH ME !" for finally catching up since March. Let's hope I do not get behind again.
I hope you enjoy the painting. I was never interested in stroke work before now. It sort of "growing" on me. Not to mention that the paint is all over me. LOL I get into my work! :o)
Enjoy

Can You Say "Cartouche" ?

2008-08-02T22:55:00.004-05:00

LOL...That is what this painting is... a cartouche (car - 2 - sshhh) A cartouche is a painting that is framed by another design....... "contain the viewer's eye".
Artists in the Renaissance era made the cartouche (the frame) small in elements and light in color to draw your eye into the scene of the painting. Later during the Rococo period, the cartouche became more ornate and heavy. The cartouche itself became the viewers focal point.
For me, this was my lesson 10 of my education study of Module A... The study of HUE in color. I have GRADUATED ! ! ! ! Yeah! Me! ! ! !
I now begin the 10 lessons of Module B of the Traditions Education Program. I am very excited to begin this particular study. It still focuses on Color, but this time it's relationship of VALUE. Please click on the Jansen Traditions emblem at the right if you are interested in more information about Traditions' paints and the education program. TA TA for now!

A Rooster Morning...

2008-07-25T13:16:00.003-05:00

It was definitely a "Rooster Morning" with this one. I couldn't sleep last night. All I could do was think of painting..so up I went back to my studio. I had so much fun. I had the TV on playing old movies as I brush mixed my night away. He is a cocky little rooster I have to say. . . strutting his stuff through out the night into the wee morning hours. We floated a little color here and floated a little color there, then we dry brushed our way through the blueberries and highlights! It was a delight. Finally the sun's smiling face bloomed into view!. . .Figuratively as well as literally. At that point the feisty rooster got a little attitude, as you can see because he was ready to crow! And crow he did!
That was my cue to wrap it up and off to bed I went...only 6:00am ..not bad for the wee morning hours!

Tomptes, Nissan's or Gnomes

2008-07-21T23:03:00.002-05:00

Here is lesson 8 of my Traditions Education classes. These little people are called Tomptes and are of Scandinavian Folklore as well as decorative painting. The Norwegians called them Nissans and in Sweden they were called Gnomes. They were a favorite subject in traditional folklore and painting and can bring good luck or bad luck.
For example, if you lose your car keys...you can blame the Tomptes for losing them... or if you were suppose to do the dishes the night before and they were done when you got up...the good tomptes finished them for you.
I'm not sure if these tomptes are good or bad, but I hope you enjoy them on this festive tray. Thanks for looking!

Just Paint It! ......

2008-07-17T22:06:00.002-05:00

Hi guys!
Here is another little "ditty". I've join another painting list, but it is related to the Tradidions group. It's Art Apprentice Online! (AAO)... It is run by the oringinal teachers who helped develope the Traditions Education Program.
They are sooooooo much fun! Last week, they have started a activity called "Just Paint It"... They give us a subject ( ie: raspberry, blueberry, orange,...) and we "just paint it".. In any shape, paint, color, or form. they suggest a small surface (3 x 5, 4 x 6, 5 x 7, etc)...nothing very big. The idea is that "small" is not intimidating! It's just PAINT!.. no problem... Well it took me until this week to get mine done. LOL
It was fun and didn't take too long...I probably did it in under an hour. This weeks subject is the Bludberry. Not sure I'll get to this one...but it is a GREAT concept!
I hope you enjoy it!

McNaughton Roses

2008-07-14T03:53:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone!
It is 4am and I'm off to bed..but I wanted to share with you what I've been working on ( and why I'm still up LOL )
I just completed a wooden placemat with a design my Maureen McNaughton. She is a "Big Brush"...she is a wel know decorative artish from Canada. I hope some day to take a class with her in person...but I was able to take this class online through the SDP (Society of Decorative Painters) website. I had had 60 days to complete the course, but as usualy I took it down to the wire...the last day to be able to review the class on the site is July 15th...so that's why I'm burning the midnight oil.. LOL
I hope you enjoy it! Maureen's folkart style is one of my favorite!

A Cottage Down the Lane

2008-07-04T05:35:00.006-05:00

This is Lesson 7 of Module A of the Traditions Education Program. I have three more to go to complete the first course. We are due to start Mod. B on July 12, so I had better hurry. I hope you enjoy this one as well!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Please keep our service men and women in your prayers as they continue to fight for our freedom and independence both here and abroad.

My teach critiqued my painting and she noticed my fence rail had a bulge..so I fixed it and here is a picture of that LOl
She also said it was "heirloom" quality! ! ! I'm sooooo excited.. And the other girls brought tears to my eyes...in their generous praise...Thanks my dear friends

A Few More Roll By...

2008-06-29T23:46:00.004-05:00

Thumbs up.....

Had to add a couple more pictures of clouds that I took last night before sunset.

As Clouds Roll By...

2008-06-26T16:24:00.003-05:00

I've been taking pictures of everything lately...especially the clouds. Here are many views and most were taken through my car windshield, but the bright white, warms whites, soft greys and blues are all there....

These are some of the things we must see as artists to capture the hues and intensities with our brushes.

Taking these modules with Traditions Education Program has led me to look at nature a little differently lately. The greens of the grass and trees have so many varied colors..

The greens and blues of a countryside scene...are spectacular...you can see again the varied colors as well as the muted and greyed colors.
It is very eye opening to look at a leaf...to see it's vein...to see the subtle nuances of color..

Stop and take a lingering look next time you are out under the clouds...or by a stream...You may just see something SPECTACULAR too!

Dutch Flower Painting

2008-06-19T16:11:00.005-05:00

Hi Everyone!
I GOT IT! ! ! ! ! ! "IT" being Paul Taylor's book "Dutch Flower Painting, 1600-1720". It is a very hard book to find and many used or rare book sellers are really over-pricing this marvelous book.
It became a "must have" when I joined the TRADTIONS LIST online for Decorative Painters. There I found many wonderful artists! One in particular is David Jansen, who is one of the creators of the new Tradition's line of acrylic paint. This paint is non-toxic and can emulate watercolor and oils as well as being used as traditional acrylics. We were all so inspired by David's paintings and his use of this new medium, that he offered to teach us how to paint a replica of an Old Dutch Master's painting

by Willem Van Aelst. David would quote to us about styles and symbolism from Paul Taylor's book. We all wanted one, but could not find one...except those $500.00 and up...
Well.....this last week(after many searches) , I found one online at Amazon.uk from Barrance Books. Sue the owner is a fabulous lady...at first the site would not let me buy it..due to some stipulations with international shipping, but she worked it out for me to get it and even contacted me by email...about the time when it would go back online so I could hopefully be ready to try and buy it before someone else got it. Lucky for me I figured out our time difference and was there to grab it up.
It arrived to day to much fanfare from me!
If you will look at my January 14th blog of this year you will see the Van Aelst painting that I will be attempting soon.
So, if any of you are going to England, please stop by Sue's bookstore...It's called Barrance Books, at Clarbert Cottage, in Water End, Stokenchurch Bucks. Give her a BIG hug for me and buy all the book you can from her! Thank you Sue!

Traditions Mod.A - Lesson 6

2008-06-05T02:36:00.002-05:00

I'm baaaaccckkkk....!
Yes, it is almost 3am, but that is OK... as today I took some allergy medicine and it knocked me out all afternoon... But..more to the point..is that I finish yet another lesson tonight..or this morning..however you want to look at it... Just look at it! LOL
It was kinda fun...it went from a little dull, to quite pretty... I learned to mix some colors using a minimal pallette... I learned to tone colors to give the piece "harmony", using either its complementary color or an earth tone. I learned how to prepare and seal a tin surface vs. a wood surface.
This lesson also had me apply washes to lighten or darked an element in the piece, as in the "ball flowers"... And I also used extender to float color in shading and highlighting. Oh! And I also had fun with linework. I've always enjoyed the details of linework. I hope you enjoy this piece too! - The Country Tin Technique

Lil' Birdie Baby!

2008-06-04T09:19:00.003-05:00

I just had to shar these pictures.. Yesterday afternoon, my husband was out in the yard getting ready to mow...and this little bird (bluejay)fell or jumped out of a tall pine tree. He quickly gathered the dogs together and hustled them into the house. Missy has been know to chase a feathered friend or two. Anyway he told me what was going on so I grabbed my camera and rushed outside. Isn't he cute???
We didn't touch him..just in case it's true that momma bird won't come near them if touched my human hands...but Tom did scoop him up into a clay pot to try and move him to saftey..but he wouldn't cooperate. He just kept hopping up the hill...

We don't know what became of him, as some nefarious critters roam through the yard during the night...but we tried. We would not let the dogs out in the back yard all night long..instead Tom had to accompany them out front LOL...
Enjoy the pics!

Module A - Lesson 5 - Traditions

2008-06-02T13:09:00.002-05:00

OKay Guys and Gals
I just completed Lesson 5... only three more to go to catch up. This lesson was suppose to help learn S stroke work, liner work, descending dots, brush mix, shape following strokes, side loading and floating color technique. It was also suppose to be about transparent strokes...BUT...I got heavy handed on tracing the pattern on the surface. The pattern was so dark, I had to paint it more oapque..but I still like the outcome. I will try it again later using the transparent technique to get the feel of it. I also did a technique on the background in the middle of the plate...it is called mottling. That came out very pretty. I hope you like this piece..I do...Well back to painting...got to keep those brushes busy!

Soul Mates

2008-05-31T01:17:00.002-05:00

Hi,
Not the best picture, but wanted to mark our 8th Anniversary together. We didn't get to go out on the actual day as Tom was out of town on business, but we had a lovely evening together last weekend. We went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It is so hard to believe that 8 years have already passed since our wedding. Time just seems to fly by...but that is O.K....especially when it is with your soul mate! Tom is mine! :o)

Module A Lesson 4 - Finished

2008-05-27T01:42:00.002-05:00

Yep! That's right. I actually finished Lesson 4 of my Traditions Online Education Program. I've only got lessons 5,6,7 & 8 to catch up. We are suppose to be on Lesson 8, but there are several still where I am. But that is OK!
My plan is to paint all week and see if I can catch up..or at least try to catch up in the next two weeks.
Enjoy!

Module A - Lesson 4 basecoating

2008-05-26T00:04:00.002-05:00

Just a quick pic...of my Traditions Ed Program.. I'm not through yet as this is just the basecoating of the elements and the "tipping" of the daisies... Stay tuned for the finished product!

Sunday Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-25T09:24:00.005-05:00

Hi Everyone! What a beautiful day! What a lovely weekend for this extended holiday weekend. Please do not forget why we celebrate Memorial Day.... Memorial Day is a time for remembering all the brave soldiers who fought and died for our GREAT COUNTRY! THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! We are a great nation with great men and women serving in our armed forces and lets not forget them and all they do.

As for our weekend...no trips planned...Will is working and Tom and I are spending time with our parents and working around the house and garden...
Here is a lovely amaryllis that recently bloomed..we thought it was dead and just set the pot out in the yard and one morning there was this lovely flower! Enjoy!

..So nothing spectacular for us this weekend...but it is always a joy though to spend time with those that we love. I hope you all have a wonderful Memoral Day!

Module A - Lesson 3 with TRADITIONS

2008-05-23T20:36:00.006-05:00

Hi Everyone!
Yeah! It's the start of Memorial Day Weekend. My husband has a long 4 day weekend and our big plans are to work around the house. Yeah!...not! I hope you are doing more. LOL
...
I do want to let my friends know that I did another lesson of my Tradition Modules..finally! Two months ago, I actually painted part of it...but then I let my passion for painting slip away with other mundane things.... like sleeping, reading, housework, sleeping... I found out I had a sleep disorder and after getting it checked out and now using a C-PAP machine to keep me breathing properly at nightI now wake up early feeling GREAT!
With this wonderful feeling each day, I now have time to get up each morning ready to face each day with a smile! I actually get some housework done, walk the dog (another words..get exercise for me :o) )...and go into my art studio with my passion back to pick up my brushes and be creative!
And here it is..it's finally finished

I really hope you like it...Stay tuned for Lesson 4!

Romance Wins

2008-05-20T16:10:00.006-05:00

Hi Guys!
I know it has been a month since I last posted, but I have just got to tell you about a wonderful event that I attended last Saturday. It was the Heart of Dixie Romance writers Association luncheon (local chapter of the RWA). It was such a BLAST!!!!! to attend. I got to meet quite a few of the most wonderful romance/thriller/suspence/inspirational writers on the market today, as well as a couple would-be writers just waiting for their publishing day, and several wanna-be writers.
The luncheon was a great "get-together" for their "public" to meet and greet them on a social basis. For the writers and wanna-be's it was a forum for networking...the best of both worlds.
I got to sit at Debby Giusti's table. She is a fairly new inspiration /romance /suspense writer. Her third and latest book is called "MIA: Missing in Atlanta" which she gave to each of us sitting at her table She was such a joy to talk to that I can't wait to read it. I'll have to go and look for her other titles "Nowhere to Hide" and "Scared to Death"
The speaker for the luncheon was Roxanne St.Claire. She was a delight to listen to! she told of her foray into broadcast journalism and her mentor suggesting that she legally change her name because who ever heard of a boradcaster's name with a "Z" or a hard consenant "C" at the end of their name. So she did. Her real name was Roxanne Zinc. The whole crowd roared with laughter when she said..."...it's funny no one ever told that the Katie Couric or Paula Zahn ." She also did a short stint as an actor appearing on "Bussom Buddies" with Tom Hanks. Later she worked in New York City in multi million dollar PR firms. Now she resides in the Cocoa Beach area of Florida writing away at her new career in romance/suspense fiction.
I won a gift basket from Kelly St.John of "To Catch a Cheat" and "Real Women Don't Wear Size 2". She too was a lot of fun. After we ate, the authors then had a book fair... where you could buy books and have them personally sign them for you. There I met Linda Howard (one of the founders of the Heart of Dixie Chapter) who is always on the national Best Sellers List. You can find her in every bookstore and every book/magazine area of your grocery store on the "best sellers" shelf. A great romantic suspense writer.

This was so much fun, that I hope to go again in November to the Birmingham's local chapter luncheon. You ought to look your local chapter up and give it a whirl!
Take care... I hope to be blogging with you again soon!
Oh! I forgot to mention, I also got to meet again Debra Webb. She is another romance/suspense writer (having just won a RITA award) She is the author of "Traceless" and "Nameless". I met her at a convention booth earlier this year and she handed me some information about this upcoming luncheon. I invited my friend Rachel to come along with me and she too won a great 'writers' basket from Linda Winstead Jones.

Lesson A - 3

2008-04-23T14:35:00.002-05:00

Just a quick note so you can see that I have started my lesson. I've mixed my colors and painted in the base color... plan on finishing this week. Keep you fingers crossed for me.

Scrap Retreat

2008-04-19T17:26:00.006-05:00

Hi Everyone! ! ! !
I've been remis is writing to you this month! I do apoligize! ! ! !
It has been a rather hectic month with my Dad in the hospital and my brother going to ER... but they are home and well now. I've also been skipping around the doc's some this month and twice to a "sleep study"....very interesting to do that...
I really recommend it if you are having trouble sleeping or still very fatiqued when you wake up each morning.
Anyway..... I must share with you my last weekend. I got to go away for the weekend on a scrapbooking retreat. Twelve of us went to a little Bread and Breakfast in Arab, Al.... it's call Ruth's Mountain Inn. It's a really lovely little place. There, they have a great big room filled with a big screen TV and DVD player...so of course we all brought "chic flicks" and laughed and cried all weekend long as we scrapped. Beverly, one of the owners, is an excellant cook! ! ! ! We were served five luscious meals from Friday night to Sunday morning! Every meal was delicious and filling and mouth watering desserts~~~heavenlyThrough out the B&B are antiques of all kinds and the walls are decorated by many paintings that Beverly (cook) painted herself...some rather hugh that go up the several level stairway. Also each room is named after a different flower,plant,or bird, and decorated to match. Ex. The "Fern" room, "Daffodil" room, the "Peacock" room and the "Rose" room. Here is a pic of our bed in the "Rose" room.

Around the B&B is a small lake with a deck across the back and a new deck that goes out over the water. A very pretty setting and a nice place to walk around. Also around the lake are ducks and geese One rather forward goose chased me when I came too close to his mate...she was sitting on their six eggs...I guess I was too close for comfort.!.

Somewhere is all the beauty, food and fowl...we somehow cropped our hearts out. WE had door prizes, contests, shared out supplies and laughed. A great weekend! Sorry, if you missed it! I hope you enjoy my photos.......

Finally I Picked Up My Brush

2008-03-21T19:01:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone,
I've been playing "hookie" from my online painting class..BUT no longer! I took my ATG test and passed with 100%...YEAH ! ! ! ! (my little happy dance )
I completed Module A - lesson 1 - studying all pertinent supplies and completed test on same...
And yesterday I tackled Lesson 2A of Mod A. I finally picked up my brush and made my color wheel. We did this by studying how to mix a "value 5" background (grey) and studying how to mix our pigments so that we have a color palette that blends together.
We learned that there is no true red, blue, or yellow and that we also need to learn where each of the pigments lie on the pigment wheel ( a chemistry thing ) In doing so we can learn to pick the appropriate red pigment to mix with another pigment to come up with colors of our own choosing.
It depends on where the pigment lies on the pigment wheel as to what intensity that color will have...same for yellow and blue. This is an exciting study...it boggles the mind... after all these years, painting in all mediums...of just how much to truly to not know. This "Traditions" education study for me is an exciting adventure.

Thank you David Jansen and all the Heritage Artists who designed this wonderful journey!

This Daughter's Mother

2008-03-14T00:34:00.004-05:00

Hi Everyone!
It's been awhile since last I wrote.... Hope everyone is doing well...We finally got over the flu...it lasted about two weeks...or at least the "drained" feeling lasted two weeks, the fever only a week.
Today I will share with you a picture I made of my mother a few years ago. It's all done in pencil and made by working in layer upon layer of graphite. It's call photo "realism". This picture is of my mother when she was about 18 months old. Today, she is 84. I really love this portrait of her. You can see a picture of her today on a previous blog called "65th Anniversary"

The Shot Didn't Work

2008-02-21T07:25:00.004-06:00

FLU! Yes, that's right! I had my annual flu shot...everything is great. I've been well all winter long and here we are a month away from Spring and my husband brings the flu germ home. And him being such a sharing kind of guy... I got it! :o(
So far our son has been living upstairs away from us and he has not gotten it. YEAH! Right now I just don't think I could be to motherly if he was sick too. I sure hope none of you get this... Luckly it isn't the kind where you get up close and personal with the bathroom throne..... you just feel horrible... cough... cough... achey.. headaches.... sleepless nights... can't hold your head up... also noticed that food dosen't taste very good... :o) Other than that, I'm wonderful!
Well you take care! take you vitamins and drink your orange juice!

And here is my little friend... he is my own design that I made for my garden stone pathway. Isn't he a cutie!

Drips and Tickles

2008-02-17T21:50:00.003-06:00

That's us around here...the "drips" and the "tickles". We are very puny here this weekend. Will's got the stuffy head and runny nose, I've got the runny nose and headache, and Tom has the full blown runny nose, tickley throat with cough, headache and 101.5 temperature......So not much to say tonight...maybe next time. Hope you are having a good one thougth! ! ! ! !
This painting is a Bob Ross style painting I did a couple of years ago.

Valentine Secret Pal

2008-02-08T19:40:00.000-06:00

Hi Everyone!
I want to share with you two new painting projects I recently finished. They were for my "Secret Pal" in a painting forum I'm a member of.
One is a canvas frame and I used a design by Shara Reiner that was published in the Society of Decorative Painters magazine last March...It had a name like "Funky Flower Pot" or something like that. My secrest pal loves thimbles, so I added one to mine along with a needle and thread.
The other is a heart shaped dish painted with panseies and roses to put her Valentine Candy in.

Strawberry Dreams

2008-01-31T23:19:00.000-06:00

Hi Guys!

Just got back from a PC party (Pampered Chef)...You really missed some good eats! It is alway great to be with good friends and have good food. Speaking of good food, I'm ready for spring and those wonderful strawberries....so in honor of strawberries I'm sharing a strawberry box that I designed for a custom order last year. Not a bad picture for a cell phone camera. Don't they look "sweet" enough to eat. It won't be long now....strawberry icecream..strawberry shortcake(homemade of course), strawberry freezer jelly...yum...yum

65th Anniversary

2008-01-28T21:15:00.000-06:00

Hi to All
I still have not started my Van Aelst lesson yet, sooooo I can not share yet ;o) But I will soon.Today I'm sharing a portion or a scrapbook album that I made Saturday night for my parents 65th Wdding Anniversary. The book came out GREAT and we used it for the guest book. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Not Yet

2008-01-24T15:27:00.000-06:00

I still have not started my Vanitas' Painting lesson, so I can't share it with you yet. I just haven't felt up to it for some reason. Hopefully, this will pass soon. This is Scrappy. He is our third and final bird of the family. His real name is Lil' Scrappy, my sons choosing. I call him Scrappy-doo :o)
Gotta luv 'em

YEAH! The Vanitas

2008-01-19T22:42:00.000-06:00

Just recieved the first lesson video on how to start the Vanitas' painting. We also recieved written instructions....so as you can imagine, I've been pouring over all in information. Tomorrow I'll start my painting and keep a picture diary of each lesson and share it here. We will have one lesson per month and should finish in December. Sooooooooooooooooooooo Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! :o)
For now...I'll share a picture of another member of our family. You've met YoYo, Missy , and Sadie. This is Mr.Peepers (alia...Hannibal Lector.. if you get my drift)
< Grins > See ya soon!

All Most Time...

2008-01-18T22:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday is the day we get to start our Vanitas Painting. Everyone is so excited. There are thousands all over the world that are participating in world wide web Art lesson. I'll try and post periodically the ongoing process of our painting. It is going to be a year long lesson to finish up in December.
For tonight I'll share another of my painting. It was designed by the Donna Dewberry goup, maybe even Donna herself. I don't know. It was a project piece to teach to students using the then new HD Paints by Plaid for the MOST program. It was supposedly OneStroke...but it was more like painting with tube acrylic. Enjoy!

Oh! the Vanitas'

2008-01-14T21:17:00.000-06:00

Wasn't today pretty???? I just loved it! My husband called me this morning and asked me to lunch...brownie points! ! ! ! ! :o) It was very good. We went to one of our favorite restaurants in Madison - The Madison Cafe (old madison jailhouse) GREAT FOOD! ! !
I'm SOOOOOOOO Excited! I'm in a new yahoo group called Traditions Artist.
There is a Master Decorative Painter named David Jansen, who developed (with a chemist) a new kind of resin acrylic paint, and who developed an educational program with 5 other noted Decorative painters. Their paintings are absolutely fabulous and I can't wait to get started. BUT the main thing that has me so excited about it is he has decided to teach a FREE online class of a Master Dutch Painter from the 1650's Willem Van Aelst. WE (hundreds from around the world) are going to be taught by the yahoo group page, studing art history, as well as watching streaming video that he will prepare for us each month. Above is the a picture of the painting we will be doing. The actual painting hangs in the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina.It's called "The Vanitas' Flower Still Life". I think this will be a first to have so many people being taught online to paint in a certain painting, in a certain style with a certain type of paint...the finish date is scheduled for December 8. If you get a chance check out this website http://www.jansenarttraditions.com .... you won't regret it!

2008-01-07T23:17:00.000-06:00

Had a GOOD Monday

2008-01-07T22:55:00.000-06:00

What a nice day. My husband went back to work..(not that that made it nicer...I'm just saying...)Anyway, I slept in a little. A friend brought me a DONUT ! ! ! ! !(It was quite tasty **smack, smack...uummm good**... Oh sorry! I got carried away..I love donuts and I'm not suppose to have them ;-).
Next , another friend came over and we got into doing altered chipboard leftover Christmas items from Hobby Lobby with cardstock. It was a lot of fun . Mine was a "HO HO HO". Now I get to pack it away for next year. I also cooked chicken down and made "Chicken Chili" and "Chicken Spaghetti" so I now have several meals already cooked for the week. It all made it a good day.
As for a picture, today I'm going to share my babies with you. Above this post is Sadie. In this post is Missy. They are our kids now that our son is in college.
Until next time........

A Bit of a Blah Day

2008-01-05T14:43:00.000-06:00

It's a little overcast today outside and it makes me a little overcast inside as well. I just love the sunshine. It really perks me up. My husband is stir crazy today. It's his last weekend before going back to work after Christmas holidays. He sees everything still not done of all he wanted to accomplish while he was off. Oh..Well..only so many hours in a day. I thought I'd share another painting with you today. This is a Decorative Art style. I don't remember the designer, but I got it out of an older magazine last year. I had thought about teaching it at one time, but decided not to for now as it is more time consuming with all the layers of shading and highlighting. It did come out quite beautiful, I think. The sunflowers also give a little boost today. I hope you enjoy it too.

2 in 1 Day

2008-01-04T02:36:00.000-06:00

Had to add one more picture. I wanted you to see my window display at my local Michael's store. It is only the 2nd one I've ever done. It always make me nervous to paint that big, but I get so excited when I get finished and it comes out so well. Hope you can see it all at this angle, as it look better in person.

A New Beging! 2008

2008-01-03T23:47:00.000-06:00

Hello All!
Yes! It's a brand new year. Can you believe it is alreay 2008? I can't.. It seems like yesterday we were worrying about Y2K.
I've decided that this is the year to put more into my painting and less into watching my old TV shows like: Charmed, Nash Bridges, and Law and Order Repeats....:-) I'm going to let my imagination sore and try to study and learn all I can to get my creativity flowing. I've recently heard of a new art education program called Traditions Artist...it's wonderful. Check it out. Http://Jansenartstudio.com

I hope to start taking classed in this style in the very near future.In the mean time here I share a picture of the garden stones I gave for a silent auction at a UCP Charity Event.

Something Old

2007-12-30T21:11:00.000-06:00

Hi all! I just got back from visiting with my parents today. We had a GREAT time. While there, mother and I were going thru some things and found this painting of a rose. I did this back in 1987. Twenty years ago! I can hardly believe that. I thought I was only 21 :-)
I think it is time to try painting this style of painting roses with oil paints again. Not too bad for a one year old ;-)

The Aftermath

2007-12-26T21:32:00.000-06:00

Whew! ! ! ! ! what a day yesterday. We had a GREAT Christmas! Like I said earlier..we spent way too much...but everyone is happy. My husband, son and I had the Eve with his side of family and then opened our presents late Christmas Eve. then we got up Christmas morning and went to my brother's for brunch and presents with my side of the family. After that we went to the hospital to see my other brother who has been there for about 10 days now. He is doing much better and thanks to all for your prayers. We slept the rest of it away and today just "chilled-out".
Not much creativity right now, but here is another watercolor picture I did about 4 weeks ago again with Cynthia Massey Parsons.

Countdown to Christmas

2007-12-24T17:03:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note, while waiting to go over to the in-laws.... We spent too much as usual, but it should be a nice Christmas this year. Our refridgerator quit working Thursday and we were afraid we would be buying a new one, but luckily someone came out this morning and was able to fix it. YEAH! Here too is a new addition to our family... His name is YoYo and is a green-cheeked Conure. He is a sweetie! Bye for now