Happy New Year to all!

I have been busy with holiday activities but did make time for painting.  I liked the cutting board I did with the tree that I titled "Flamboyant Foliage" so did an 11X14 painting of the same subject.

I also painted a small bowl with an abstract design based on Mata Ortiz pottery

And....Here is the last painting of 2014 which I did this afternoon.  It is a peacock on a small bowl.

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year and may it be filled with many blessings.

Merry Christmas 2014

This is the finished painting of "Endless Rose" which I showed in process a few blog posts ago.  For today only I will change the title to "Christmas Rose" since today is Christmas Day 2014.  I plan to enter it in a SAAG exhibition called "RED".  I think it meets the qualifications.

Because it is Christmas I had to post "Cowboy Santa".  Hope he brought you lots of presents.

Merry Christmas to all of you and may God bless you in the New Year!

Northwest Mutual Art Exhibition

I had three works of art accepted in the up coming SAAG exhibition at Northwest Mutual which starts In January. I'll post more information on this show after the first of the year. Here are the pieces I will be showing.

Psychedelic Desert

Surreal Saguaro

Mexican Still Life Bowl

Something New

Since I was all caught up with commissions I decided to work on an idea that had been tossing around in my head.  I had a cutting board base coated in black so chose that to work on.  I have done  many "Surreal Saguaro" paintings over the years and the thought came to me to try that concept using a tree instead of the saguaro.  Here is what I came up with.

I like to use alliteration in my titles so am calling this "Flamboyant Foliage".  Now that I tried the idea and like it I will do a canvas painting featuring this subject matter.  Before I do it on canvas I have to finish a painting I started yesterday.  I plan to enter an exhibition called "Red" which features paintings that are predominately red.  What else would I enter but my "Endless Rose"?  I am doing a new unframed version on a 21X24 art board.  Here is what I got done yesterday.

Don't forget to click on both photos to enlarge.

Three weeks worth of work!

It has been three weeks since I have done a blog post.  Being in the holiday season with many activities and time spent in the shop working on commissions that needed to be done before Christmas and finishing up a big project I started before I got the commissions I didn't have time to do a post.  Finally all jobs are done.

Here is the BIG job that I started before Thanksgiving then had to put aside to do the commissions.

This is a small side table and chair that I bought at different yard sales back in April.  They were in rough shape so I had to do some repair work.  Correction, Roger did the repair work.  I decided to paint them in such a way that they could be used as a set.  I will sell them separately if needed but would prefer to see them remain a set.  I like the way I painted the serape  draping over the edge of the chair.  It gives it a 3-D effect.

When I was in the middle of doing the above project I got two commissions.  Each was for a domino train station with a desert scene. Lucky I had 2 blank ones left. I painted them together and did them pretty much the same because they were going to different people. I used my last two so I put an order in to my son to cut me a bunch more.  I have someone who is interested in getting some but is in no hurry so it may be after the first of the year before I have them to work on.

After I finished the train stations I got a commission from friends in NY to paint their daughter's new horse.  I painted her other horse last year and did this one as a companion piece.  Each horse has a signature color which is featured in the painting.  Monroe is the new painting and Grayce is the one I did last year.

Now that I am all caught up it is time to clean the shop and start some new projects that I have been thinking of doing.  The first is an idea of new subject matter and the other is something I have done many times that I want to enter in an exhibition titled "Red".  As you probably guessed red has to be the primary color in the painting.

A Variety of Items

I have been busy since the start of Holidazzle.  I have been painting but didn't have time to take photos and  do a blog post.  I finally am making time.  I had a commission to do a Cowboy Santa painting on canvas.  Here he is.

I also did him on a cutting board which I took to the Holidazzle Gallery but forgot to take a photo.  He looks just like this one.

I did a few craft items that I put in the show to replace items I sold.  Here are a couple of bowls and an oval box.

Roger has been busy too and recently finished a couple of stained glass windows.  These were done as companions to a window he did last year.

The top two are the new windows which are on the side of a room and were done to compliment the window below which is a front facing window.

It is very hard to get good photos of stained glass.  The colors don't always come out true.  As an example, the rocks in the bottom picture look yellow but are really the same color as the rocks in the 2 pictures above.  Another example is the color of the sun in the top picture is pretty close to what it really is but the sun in the photo below looks white while in reality it is the same as the one above.

I am ready to start a new project but haven't decided what it will be yet.  Maybe I will work on the table and chair that I prepped.  I've put off doing them because I haven't decided what subject matter to paint on them.  I also have some more small bowls ready to go but again, I have to decide what to paint on them.  Decisions, Decisions!

Holidazzle 2014

It is time for the SAAG Holidazzle Show.  See the flyer below for all the details on where we are located and times we are open and reception information. To make it bigger click on it.

Here is my display

This is a great show with over 30 artists displaying their creations.  Come do your holiday shopping. We will be open everyday from 11 to 7 except for Christmas Eve when we close at 3.  We will be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

4 Commissions Done

The time since the Sun City Art Festival has been very relaxing for me.  I unpacked and rearranged both my home gallery and shop.  I took some days off from painting.  I felt refreshed and ready to get back to work.  I had four commissioned jobs that I got at the festival.  Three were for domino train stations and 1 was for an 11X14 painting.  I finished them today and am ready to call the clients for pick up.  Here are photos of the completed projects.

The train station orders were for a gecko on black, pots and plant on orange and three brown dachshunds on yellow.  I have painted the first two subjects many times but I had never painted a dachshund before.  I did some internet research to make sure I had them correct.  I think they are cute little critters.  Hopefully they will meet the customer's expectations.

I also had to do a painting.  The customer liked my painting titled "Phantom Herd".  She owns a palomino horse named Pal.  What she wanted was something similar to "Phantom Herd" but featuring only a palomino.  Here is a photo of each painting.

"Pal"

"Phantom Herd"

Now that I have all my commissions done I am free to paint whatever I want.  I'm debating on what project I want to do next.  I have a couple of small things that I had base coated for the festival but didn't have time to finish so think I will complete those first.  Then I may tackle a table and chair that I bought at a yard sales back in April.  I have been putting that job off in order to paint things that I knew would sell at the festival.  Now might be the time paint the table and chair!

Holidazzle will be opening on November 14.  That is a six week show put on by SAAG.  I'll post more information about it next week.

Sun City Art Festival Set follow up

I'm happy to say the Sun City Art Festival was a big success.  I did slightly better than last year.  As always, I couldn't have done it without my husband Roger's help.  He loads the car and carries everything in and sets up the grids and tables and helps me with hanging the paintings and putting out the craft items.  During the show he is my cashier freeing me to talk with customers.  Here is a photo showing part of my display.  I had more grids that did not fit in the picture.

The Oro Valley Voice did a cover story on the festival which helped bring people to the show.  I was one of six artists featured.  Here is the cover of the paper.

I am still unpacking boxes and have to clean my shop then do 4 commissions that I got at the show. I also have to get ready for the SAAG Holidazzle Show which starts in 3 weeks.  I have a smaller space there so what I didn't sell yesterday will go to that show.  I now have time to relax and work on some new ideas for paintings.

8 new paintings for Sun City Art Festival

I had a marathon painting session over the last couple of days.  I think I broke a record in the number of painting I got done in a 48 hour period.  These are the last of the canvas paintings that will be shown in the Sun City Art Festival on this coming Saturday from 9 to 4. The size range of these paintings go from a couple of 5X7's to a couple of 11X14's and the rest are in between those sizes.  I concentrated on cacti paintings and a few critter paintings.  Here they are.

14X11

14X11

10X8

7X5

8X6

6X13

10X8

7X5

More Craft Items

I completed the last of the craft items that I will be showing at the Sun City Art Festival this coming Saturday, October 25 from 9 to 4.

This is a nice size pedestal dish painted with a desert scene.

Here is a small bench that is 14X7X8 inches high.  Subject is "South West Still Life"

This "Day of the Dead" skull and stand were a special order item and is already sold.

I did a number of Sunflower designs.  Here is a tray and a bowl.

I painted a large red rose on this interesting square bowl.

Last are these four small bowls painted with a quail, gecko, sunflower and white rose.

I now feel I have a good selection of craft type items for the show and will spend another couple of days working on a few canvas paintings.  I am not sure what subjects I will do or how many I can get done in the time I have left. I'll post photos of the paintings as soon as they are completed.. I think I will also print off a number of greeting cards.

 It won't be long until the show and I am looking forward to seeing people I have not seen since the last art festival and making new art friends.

Lots of Crafty Items

I did the polycrylic coats on all of the craft type items that I mentioned in yesterday's post.  Some of these things are very unusual.  The first is this antique wooden pot that I found at a garage sale this past Saturday.  I couldn't wait to paint it.  I never saw anything like it before.  It had some carvings on it that I incorporated into the design.  Here it is.

Next is a leaf shaped dish that has four dividers.  It took me awhile to decide what subject matter would fit the style of the dish and I finally came up with the idea of a quail family in a garden. I had bought this dish earlier in the year.

On Saturday I found the perfect companion piece.  In the photo it looks larger than the one above but in real life it is much smaller.  I can sell these as a set or as individual pieces.

Another thing I bought on Saturday is this large bowl with intricate carvings on the outside of the bowl.  I left the wood the natural color and painted a flowering cactus on the inside.Here are two photos showing both the inside and outside of the bowl.

 I have this from Saturday's sales which is a box that contained a set of double 6 dominos.  I will sell it with the dominos and show it next to my domino train stations.

The next two items I had bought at yard sales in the spring.  The first is a bowl that I is painted with a desert scene and the other is a long dish that was perfect for chili peppers.

The final item is a chili pepper board that was cut by my son Mark.  He cut me a number of them last year and this was the only one that I hadn't painted and sold.

All of these things will be for sale at the Sun City Art Festival on October 25.  I will continue to paint for a few more days so look for another blog post next week showing what I have painted.