Pears

"Pears" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

"Pears" is my last painting of 2010! It's kind of sad, but I'm so excited for the new year. I have had many exciting things happen this year which has been so incredible. I have to remind myself that I've only been painting seriously since June. I know I have a ways to go and a lot to learn, but I'm excited to continue on this journey.

I really appreciate all of you who have been following my blog posts and leaving me such kind feedback over the year! I hope you'll join me for the next one! :)

I wish you all a happy new year!!

Paintings From 2010

I made this video of all my paintings from 2010. Enjoy! :)

Can You See Me?

"Can You See Me?" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I think it's safe to say that this is my favorite cat portrait so far. It was so much fun to paint. Pets have such cute personalities and it was fun trying to capture that in this painting.

This painting was of course done on Pastelbord and I used a combination of pastel sticks and pencils. This painting is available in my Etsy shop.

Also, I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop this week. 40% off every purchase. Use coupon code "HolidaySale" at checkout. Sale goes until Friday (this painting is not included in the sale).

If you're interested in a pet portrait of your own, just let me know.

Have a great Monday!

Art Goals for 2011

"A Day Away" 9 by 12, Pastel Painting

NFS

Art Goals for 2011

1. Paint at least 4 times a week (I'd like to be able to dedicate more time but I'm also a full time college student).

2. Keep the computer off while I'm working, or if it's on, let it be for listening to music only.

3. Paint what I want, not what I think others will like.

4. Try to nail down a few subjects that I really enjoy and can improve on.

5. Dedicate a lot of time to painting animals.

6. Overall spend less time on the computer and more time painting.

7. Paint some larger paintings.

8. Dedicate more time to drawing.

9. Experiment with watercolor underpaintings for landscapes and skies (in pastel).

10. Participate in monthly painting challenges.

11. Blog more often (at least 4 times a week).

12. Complete some larger paintings for the gallery.

13. Complete at least 150 paintings this year (this past year I completed approximately 75).

14. Start doing a "painting-of-the-month." (A larger more detailed piece)

15. Continue studying painting books and generally keep myself educated in anything art related.

16. Participate in at least 1 painting competition.

17. Spend more time painting with watercolor.

So there it is. I sort of feel that the list isn't complete, so I may add to it. I hope in publishing my list of goals it will help to keep me focused on them. I'd love to hear any art goals you have for the new year! :)

"A Day Away" is one of the first pastel paintings I ever did and it was completed in February of this year. It's nice to compare my earlier works to my more recent ones and see how I have improved.

I hope you all had a great Christmas!

Lucky

"Lucky" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

"Lucky" is my latest painting. With the holidays literally around the corner, I wanted to make sure I fit in some painting today. I've been waiting to paint this dog and tried it on this new board. Well, it's Ampersand Pastelbord, but it's in the color "sand" which I have never used before. I ordered it by mistake but thought it would make a great neutral background for pet portraits. I think I was right. I like the way it turned out.

I tried to be a little more loose and expressive with this portrait. I used mostly pastel sticks and pencils just for small details. I also painted standing up again, and I'm really enjoying that. The only problem I have with standing up and painting is that I tend to dance to the music I have playing while trying to paint. :) On the up side, I'm burning calories!

I probably won't be painting the next couple days, but I will be posting my list of goals for 2011.

I hope you all have a very happy holiday!!

Apple Line Up

"Apple Line Up" 9 by 12, Pastel Painting

NFS

I completed this painting this morning in an effort to loosen up. I went along with a demonstration in a book I have. I didn't start with any drawing at all, which wasn't too difficult because they're just apples, but it was a different approach than I'm used to. I didn't want to use one of my pastelbords for this practice piece, so I used colorfix paper instead and I wasn't able to apply nearly as many layers of pastel.

I also completed this painting standing up at my easel, which I have never done. I usually paint small, so I find it easier to sit, but I enjoyed standing. I also think it may help me loosen up.

Have a great day!

Free Shipping Weekend!

An Apple A Day

Available at the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm having a sale in my Etsy shop this weekend. Free shipping on everything!! If you shop my "reduced" section you can get some last minute gifts at a great price!! This sale will go until Sunday night at midnight. All items purchased this weekend will ship Monday, priority mail and should arrive just in time for Christmas. I also offer free gift wrapping but you need to ask for it.

Have a great evening!

Christmas Poinsettia

"Christmas Poinsettia" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

Christmas Poinsettia is my latest painting and the first holiday themed painting I've ever done. I tried to loosen up with this one, and used mostly pastel sticks (no pencils). And for the first time I used my Diane Townsend iridescent pastels, and you cannot even tell by the scan. The green-yellow that you see is actually this beautiful light green/gold iridescent color. I also used a little silver iridescent on the highlights. So needless to say, this little painting looks so much better in person.

Happy Holidays!

Apples & Limes

Apples & Limes, 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I set up another little still life today. I had a little fun and put one of the limes on top of the apple. I thought setting up my own still lives was going to work out really well, but I'm not so sure. I think I prefer working from photographs. Maybe I'll experiment with setting up the still lives, and photographing them.

This painting was done on pastelbord, and completed with Mount Vision pastels, and a few Carbothello pastel pencils.

Just a little other news, I have been juried into Contemporary Fine Art International, and am now a member. Along with that, I will now be contributing to the Daily Painters of Wisconsin blog as well as the Pastel Artists International blog. So, I'm excited to become a part of this great art community. :)

I hope you have a lovely afternoon.

Apple & Pears

"Apple & Pears" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I set up my very first still life today and painted from it. I can't tell you how much the thought of painting a still life (not from a photograph) has intimidated me. But as I become a little more comfortable with my paintings, I'm willing to challenge myself more. I bought this fruit the other day, just for painting. I can see a few things that I wish I would have done differently, but overall I'm happy with it. And most importantly... it was fun! I can certainly see a lot of possibilities coming out of this! It would definitely be nice not to have to be restricted to using photographs all the time.

Well, I hope where ever you are today that you're warm! We're under another winter storm warning, and I think we've gotten 1 1/2 to 2 feet of snow already. I haven't stepped foot outside and I don't plan to. It's nice to have days like this once in a while. :)

Have a great weekend!

Facebook

I decided to set up a Facebook art page today. I have a personal page, but I'd like to keep my art separate. The name of the page is: The Art of Angela Bishop. I have also put up a little Facebook badge over on the right under my bio. Please come and be a part of my art on Facebook! I will be sharing new works, inspiring quotes, tips, and any other information that I think you will enjoy! Your support will be much appreciated!! :)

Apple Tea

"Apple Tea" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had with this painting this morning. I've never painted a background like this before (with the sheet or fabric draped behind). I had a lot of fun with all the loose strokes. I began layering and blending, but as the background started coming together, I decided to leave a few strokes expressive (not blended out). I think this adds a lot to the piece, and I might have to start doing it more often! I've thought for a long time that if I want to paint realistically that I have to blend my pastels, but I don't think that's true.

I was originally drawn to the photograph for this painting by the blue and red combination. I think the colors are just beautiful together. This painting was completed on pastelbord and I used a lot of Mount Vision pastels for the background, and mostly pastel pencils for the tea pot and apple.

I hope you have a nice afternoon!

In The Garden

"In the Garden" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

Well I'm back to cats! At least for today. I was going to start a painting challenge for myself and paint 30 animals, but I don't think I really want to do it. At least I don't want to paint the 30 animals in a row, but I think I'll start working one in here and there.

"In the Garden" was completed with pastel sticks and pastel pencils, on pastelbord. I particularly like the background and had a lot of fun with the colors. Actually the cat was a lot of fun too, but I just love layering and blending colors.

Morning Over a Mountain City

"Morning Over a Mountain City" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

It felt so good to get into the studio and paint this morning! It's been over a week. I finally got all my table runners made for the holidays, and I am so relieved. I came across this picture in an artists reference book that I have and I just had to paint it. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. And I just have to say that the original looks so much better in person. After scanning it, some of the softness is taken away.

I completed this painting with various brands of soft pastels, but I used mostly Mount Visions. The surface is pastelbord, of course (have a big shipment of that coming!). I was thinking this might be a small study for a larger version of this. We'll see.

I've been having this itch to paint landscapes lately, and I just don't know why. They don't feel as comfortable or quite as enjoyable to me as animals and still lives. I guess it's safe to say that I'm still testing the waters and not exactly sure which subjects I enjoy doing the most.

Hope you had a great weekend! :)

Gallery Move

My old wall at the gallery.

My new wall.

I think I may have mentioned in a previous post that I was going to be moving to a bigger wall at the gallery. Well, I did this last week. You can see how small my previous wall was. Now having moved to one that is twice the size, I am able to hang more paintings, as well as have my quilt rack and taller print rack. And I'm happy to announce that after moving to this larger space, I made my first sale! :)

We had a "meet the artist" reception this past Friday and I think the timing was bad because that evening a winter storm started. Us artists far outnumbered the customers, but it was still a lot of fun.

New Business Card

I just thought I would share my new business card today. I worked with Ric Helstrom to design a custom card. I am very happy with the way it turned out, and finally no more struggling to make my own art cards (to use in place of business cards). Ric currently has a sale going on for the month of December. 1000 two-sided color cards for $195 plus shipping. You can contact him through his Facebook page. He first sent me some sample cards, and the quality is incredible. If you're looking to have a new business card designed, he's the person to do it. Plus if you're a self-employed artist, it's a tax write off!

I hope you're all having a great day. We're bracing for a winter storm! This will be a good time to stay inside and play around with my new printer. :)

Gallery Website

Just a little announcement, I am now up on the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery website! Click here to see my profile. If you didn't see my post yesterday there are a few things going on at the gallery this week. The holiday trunk show begins tomorrow, and runs the entire month of December. Stop by the show to see a variety of marked down art of all kinds. Also, this weekend is the Art on Main event. The Meet the Artist reception is Friday from 4 until 9, and the event is also Saturday 11-5.

I am so busy this week getting everything ready for these events at the gallery that I haven't had any time to paint. I hope to be painting again by the weekend. Oh, I almost forgot... I'm moving to a bigger wall in the gallery tomorrow, and I've been spending my morning framing some new paintings. I've had to take a couple more off Etsy, and now I feel like I don't have anything on there (as far as paintings go).

Just a little side note - If you've been following my blog you may recall a post a did called "Operation New Printer." Ha-ha... A couple months ago I discovered this swanky printer that I really wanted to get, but couldn't afford at the time. Well... I bought it today! It's time for an upgrade. I'm so excited to be able to make my own giclee prints. I'll let you know how they turn out. :)

Have a nice afternoon!

Holiday Quilts and Update

I have been quilting away this past weekend. I made a total of 16 quilted table runners! Half are for my Etsy shop and half will be going to the gallery this week. Here is a little look at a few that I listed on Etsy today. These are $28 each, and they really make great gifts. This is my busiest time for quilt sales and I know these will find good homes :).

Just a few other things.. The gallery (the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery) is having a trunk show that will run all December. This show will take place in the River Room and some of us artists are including some of our reduced price art. I will be adding some table runners, hand painted cigar boxes, and maybe a few other things.

Also happening at the gallery this week is the Art on Main event. There will be a meet the artist reception on Friday evening from 4 until 9.

Just another side note, my blog was named one of 2010's top pastel blogs by onlinegraphicdesigndegree.com. :)

Have a nice night!

Field of Flowers

"Field of Flowers" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

I've been wanting to do some more landscapes and this is one I did this morning. It's 5 by 7 on pastelbord, completed with all Mount Vision pastels. It turned out okay. I've been feeling that my paintings lack emotion and feeling, so I thought I could better express that through landscapes. Well, it's clear that I need a lot more practice.

I deeply admire Paula Ford, and I would love to take one of her workshops. Her landscapes are just incredible. I'll just keep working on it. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

I don't have a new painting to share today, but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I did a few tree studies this morning in pastel, but I'm not too pleased with them, so I didn't want to share them. :) I've been doing a lot of quilting and I have a lot going on at the gallery right now, so I've been quite busy. As soon as the holidays are over I will be able to dedicate more time to painting, and I'm very much looking forward to that!

I hope you all have safe travels and a wonderful time with family this Thanksgiving. :)

Looking Out

"Looking Out" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

Available Here

SOLD

"Looking Out" is my latest pastel painting. I have been enjoying painting cats lately. This painting was done on pastelbord with soft pastels and pastel pencils for the small details. I have already listed this painting on Etsy, if you're interested.

I've missed being loose with my pastels and painting skies and water, so that might be next. After my recent trip to Michigan, and seeing the lakes again, it has me longing to paint those types of scenes again.

I hope you all have a lovely evening.

Kitty Green Eyes

"Kitty Green Eyes" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

SOLD

Kitty is finished! I really didn't think I would be able to finish this by today, but I worked on it for a while last night and finished it this morning. I have to say, I love painting cats! Actually I'm beginning to fall in love with painting animals in general.

"Kitty Green Eyes" was painted with soft pastels and pastel pencils on Ampersand Pastelbord.

As I said in my last post, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, just for the weekend, so I won't be around until next week. I hope you all have a great weekend!

New Kitty - Work In Progress

I started a new painting this morning of another cat. I knew that I probably shouldn't begin a new painting today, but I couldn't resist. I am going out of town Friday to visit some family for the weekend, and I'm not sure that I will complete this kitty painting by tomorrow. I don't like the thought of leaving this painting only partly done while I'm gone, but I just might have to come back to it (I like to complete paintings as soon as possible, and it's never taken me more than 2 days to complete a painting). I like to work on something until it's finished. So, that's why I didn't start the hair yet.

I've been trying to get as much done as possible in preparation for my vacation so that I'm not running around like a crazy woman tomorrow. :) Pretty much all I have to do tomorrow is laundry to make sure that my man has clean socks while I'm away, and a little more packing. I might not be able to resist sitting down and working on this painting for a while. If I should finish it tomorrow, I'll surely post the final result. But if not, I'll be back next week! Have a great weekend! :)

Red Apple

"Red Apple" 5 by 7, Acrylic Painting

My 150th post! Wow! I've been blogging a lot more the past 6 months than ever before, and I'm loving it! :)

I know what you're thinking, "Acrylic, really?" I was in the mood for painting with a brush this morning, so I brought out a set of acrylics that I've never used before. I've never painted in acrylic before, other than on cigar boxes. It was a lot of fun to be expressive through my brushstrokes and not have to worry about it being perfect. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out. :)

I've been a little disappointed by what I've been hearing from other artist's lately. The most common thing I hear from them is, "You need to stick to 1 medium only." I've heard this from a few artists that I greatly admire, and for the most part I have done just that. But you know what... there are no rules when it comes to creativity. In fact it's somewhat limiting to stick to one medium if you want to experiment in others. So, that's what I'm going to do.

"Red Apple" is about 5 by 7 with a 3/4 inch white border all the way around. It was completed with acrylic paint on 195lb paper.

Have a nice day!

Portrait of Madisynne

Madisynne

Well, I'm quite embarrassed to even post this, but I thought I would anyway. In school I was never any good at portraits and I haven't even tried one in probably 10 years. Since I have been exploring other subjects, like animals for the first time, I thought I would also try a portrait. This is my 4 year old niece, Madisynne. It didn't turn out very well, and I'm not sure that I will be painting more portraits in the future. I've never really had the desire to be able to paint faces, so I don't know if this is something that I will work on to get better, or not. I suppose it would be nice to be able to paint one once in a while, if I wanted to. But why do they have to be so difficult? :)

Anyway, I painted her on pastelbord with pastel pencils.

Have a great Monday!

My Best Friend

"My Best Friend" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This Golden Retriever was so much fun to paint. I have never painted a dog before so I was scared to even attempt it. But I think it turned out pretty well. It's really pretty silly that I'm afraid to paint animals because I'm a big animal lover. I have two dogs who I treat like they were my children. I love, love, love animals. So, I think I might start painting more of them.

This dog is painted on pastelbord, with pastel pencils and pastel sticks.

Summer Pond

"Summer Pond" 8 by 10, Pastel Painting

Available Here

I have been working the past 3 days on this little painting. When I first came across the photograph I said, "This is going to be fun," with all those variations of color and detail. And it was a lot of fun. I was unsure of how it was going to turn out, but I'm pretty happy with it. I've never spent so much time on a painting, and I've never painted something that's so "busy." But I loved painting the reflections in the water and all the different shades of green in the lily pads.

The size is 8 by 10, and it was done on pastelbord with pastel pencils.

Have a great day!

"Like a snowflake we are the beauty of one." -Kathleen Arnason

Gallery

The time has come and my paintings are up in the gallery! I still can't quite believe it! My Fiance went with me yesterday morning and we got it all set up (he's much better with a ladder and tape measure than I am).

I have just a small wall, about 10 feet by 2 feet, but it fits my little paintings perfectly. I have been offered something quite a bit larger, but for now, I'm going to keep this little space. I also have a little basket of my quilted table runners besides my wall.

My paintings, "Boat Reflection," "Full Bodied," "Heavymetal," and "Tabby Cat."

Here is "Summer Cherries" and "Shell on the Shore." I also have several prints available. I was unable to fit my last painting on the wall, so it ended up on my print rack. It is "Multilayered." Also, my painting "An Apple a Day" will soon be displayed in the front window of the gallery.

For those of you who don't know, the gallery is the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery located in historical downtown Stillwater, Minnesota. There are many galleries downtown and they attract art collectors from all over the world.

Since I moved out here, Stillwater and this gallery, have been my favorite places to visit. To now be a part of it myself is a dream come true. :)

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Yes, I am one of those silly people that dresses up their dogs for Halloween! Actually this is the first year that I have, but don't they look adorable?

Bentley as a pumpkin is just too cute!! And Cooper as a ladybug is quite funny. I think I'll dress them up and have them help me pass out candy to trick-or-treaters tonight. :) I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween!

An Apple a Day

"An Apple a Day" 8 by 10, Pastel Painting

"An apple a day keeps the doctor away," right? I guess I wouldn't know because I don't eat too many apples :). This painting is a little larger than the ones I normally do, it's an 8 by 10. My representation at the gallery begins next Monday and they want to put a painting of mine in the front window. I thought I should have something a little larger than 5 by 7, so here it is. I think this will be perfect.

This painting was completed with a combination of soft pastels and pastel pencils and the surface is Pastelbord.

I hope you all had a relaxing weekend! :)

Tabby Cat

"Tabby Cat" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

I started painting this little kitty yesterday and I couldn't wait to finish it this morning. I completed the painting with pastel pencils and the surface is Pastelbord. Even though finding frames that will hold the pastelbord, is difficult, I love the surface, so I think I'll continue to use it.

I was a little nervous to even attempt this painting, because I've never really painted an animal before, besides a little bird. I kept my expectations low, because I didn't want to be disappointed if it didn't turn out. But I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the way it came together, and I had a lot of fun doing it. I'm a big animal lover so I can now see myself painting more of them.

Well I'm off to the pumpkin patch! I hope you have a great Sunday! :)

Custom Flower Portraits in Pastel

I'm starting a new venture, flower portrait commissions. That's right, flower portraits! I've always loved painting flowers and I would like to start painting them for others. I have received several commissions for cigar boxes hand painted with flowers, but this is more of a fine art approach.

What woman doesn't have a favorite flower? Imagine having a painting done of your mother's favorite flower and giving it to her for a gift. Instead of buying real flowers that will only last a few days, give the gift of a flower painting that will last forever.

Maybe you went on vacation to an exotic place and took some pictures of some flowers. You could create a memory of that trip with a painting of those flowers. Or perhaps you planted some flowers in memory of someone (roses for instance). How about creating a permanent memorial in a painting of those roses? Or maybe you just love flowers as much as I do, and your home could use a splash of color. Whatever the case, I would love to paint some flowers for you!

Now for some specifics - I can use photographs that you have taken as references, or you could simply tell me the type of flower that you would like and I can use my own references. As far as composition goes, I would like to keep the painting to one or two blossoms. Anymore than that, and the detail will be lost.

You can be as involved in the process as you would like. If you would like to see updates on the piece, or an original composition idea, that is completely fine. And if you'd just like me to use my own ideas and creativity, that is fine as well.

Your flower will be painted in pastel on acid free and archival paper or board with the finest quality pastels. Pastels on archival surfaces and papers will hold their color for centuries without fading, cracking or yellowing as other mediums do.

To purchase you can either view my Etsy page, or you can contact me personally via e-mail (angela292@hotmail.com).

Prices:

5 by 7 Flower Portrait - $ 75 ($30 non refundable deposit is required, unless purchased through Etsy)

8 by 10 Flower Portrait - $100 ($40 non refundable deposit is required, unless purchased through Etsy)

I will ask for 2 weeks to complete your painting.

You are certainly not obligated to purchase the final painting, if you are unhappy with it (less the deposit).

I also offer custom pet portraits. If you're interested click here to learn more.

"Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning." ~Lydia M. Child

Soaking Up The Sun

"Soaking Up The Sun" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This painting was again inspired by a photograph by a lovely woman, Altagracia Aristy, who has allowed me to use her photographs as references. It's done on UArt paper and I used mostly pastel pencils, but some pastel sticks as well.

When coming up with a title for this one, it had to have the word "sun" in it. We've had some really warm days here lately and today is just slightly chilly. So, I'm longing for a little more of that warm weather. But I think it's gone for good, and I'll just have to make myself a cup of tea to warm myself up. :)

Purple Water Lily

"Purple Water Lily" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

"Purple Water Lily" is the painting of the day. I completed the drawing for this painting yesterday evening so that I could get started right away this morning on it. This painting is inspired by a photograph by Altagracia Aristy on Flickr. Thank you Altagracia for allowing me to use your photograph!

This painting was done on Wallis, and completed with pastel pencils. All in all, I think it turned out pretty good. I'm still trying to get used to this new painting surface. I'm going to be painting some more flowers, in an effort to possibly start a new venture (more details to come soon).

Have a great afternoon!

Quote of the day: "Painting seems to be my obsession. I feel some resentment at all the other things in life that take me away from my studio. This obsession constantly judges all other calls on my time and energy." - Sue Cowan

Holiday Table Runners

I thought I would share some of my holiday quilted table runners with you. Some of you don't even know that I quilt as well as paint. This time of year is a busy one for me, as far as my quilting. Here are a few table runners that I just listed on Etsy:

Woodland Holiday Table Runner
12 Days of Christmas Table Runner
North Woods Botanical Rag Table Runner
Fruitcake Rag Table Runner

There are others listed on my website, and I will be listing more over the next month or so. But if you see something that you like, I wouldn't wait, because these sell quickly.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Green Grapes

"Green Grapes" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This is my second painting on the Wallis paper. I do love this painting surface. You can blend pastel so nicely on this paper. A fellow blogger told me that she loves Pastel Card by Sennelier. I had a sample of it, and it's really nice too. I may order some bigger sheets to experiment with.

This painting was fun to do. I never would have thought that I'd be painting still lives, but I have to say that I enjoy them. Although I would like to try some different subjects soon including animals and people.

I used all pastel pencils for this little painting.

I hope you all have a great weekend! I plan on making a trip to the pumpkin patch! :)

Single Cherry

"Single Cherry" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

This simple little study was done in an effort to test out a new paper. The painting surface is Wallis. If you're a pastelist, you are familiar with that name for sure. I purchased a few pads of Wallis paper several months ago and never even tried it. After feeling it (it's very sandy and gritty), I thought there was no way I could achieve any kind of detail on it, but I was wrong. This paper is really a dream to paint on. I'm going to begin another painting on it today (something with a little more detail) and we'll see how it goes. :)

Original Artwork by Angela

I just made this short video for YouTube. I thought it would be a fun new way to showcase some of my paintings. :)

Blue Poppy

"Blue Poppy" 5 by 7, Pastel Painting

"Blue Poppy" is a soft pastel painting done with pastels and pencils on Bristol board. I did a little experiment with this painting. I've been having some trouble blending pastels on the Bristol board, particually with the backgrounds, so I decided to try applying some Colourfix primer to the background to see if that would help. I drew the flower first, and then went around it with the primer. It actually worked pretty well. I was able to apply more pastel and it was easier to blend. So that worked well, however, this paper presents a whole new problem for me... It doesn't scan or photograph very well. In fact scanning a painting done on this paper is a lost cause. I photographed "Blue Poppy" and tried to correct the color as much as possible.

So anyway, I don't know how much more I will be using Bristol board in the future. I was playing around with some different papers that I have yesterday and I just may have found a winner! I've had it for months and never even tried it. I'm going to play around with it a little more before I reveal which paper it is :).

I really enjoyed painting this poppy. This painting is very sweet. I don't think I've ever used that word to describe a painting before, but the colors are so nice together (the greens and blues). It's so much prettier in person!!

Have a lovely afternoon! :)

Gallery Paintings

Well I finally decided to choose which paintings I'd like to have in the gallery next month. For those of you who don't know, I will be represented by the Stillwater Art Guild Gallery in Stillwater Minnesota as of November 1st. Yay! :) I thought it would be more difficult to choose which paintings I wanted to frame and put in the gallery, but it really wasn't. I wanted to choose a range of works that consisted of different subjects and colors. Here are the ones that I've chosen:

"My Bleeding Heart"
"Sweet Tooth Smile"
"Summer Cherries"

"Shell on the Shore" "Multilayered"

"Heavymetal" "Drizzle"

I'm also going to have many prints available of these paintings and others, including some of my watercolor paintings. I'm just so excited about this and I can't wait to see my paintings on the wall among all the other incredible artists! :)