Happy Valentines Day 2023

 Wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day.  I printed off one of my doodles and hand colored it for Valentines Day.  I used colored markers.

It would be fun to make a coloring book of my doodles, but I have no idea of how to go about doing that. It would probably cost more than I could get selling them. 

Here are the doodles I did in the time since my last post.

These are the last doodles in the 60-page sketchbook I was working in.  My new sketchbook is a coffee table style that has 70 pages.  I'll post more doodle when I have about 6 done.

A few paintings and some doodles

 Over the years when my grandchildren become independent and get places of their own, I gift them with some of my paintings.  Our granddaughter, Cheyenna and her husband Sam, recently got a house and renovated it.  They live in New Mexico and I have seen photos of their home.  I know their color scheme and style so did these paintings that I thought they will like.  The first is an abstract.  I put double wires on the back so they can choose to hang it vertically or horizontally.  

 

This next one is one of my fantasy flower paintings.

 She is into spooky things, so I painted this box.

I also have some other paintings that I did previously which I will send but won't post here. Once she hangs everything, I am sure she will send photos.  When she does, I will post them.

During the holiday season and after the first of the year the paintings I was working on were all gifts.  For that reason, I did not have any new work to show at the Owl & Rabbit gallery.  I made the hard decision to remove the work I have at the gallery and take a break from showing my art for a while. I have been having artist block trying to come up with new ideas for subject matter for paintings.  To tell the truth, most people here are not interested in wall art and what I have been selling is craft items.  It was so much easier to sell art when we were in Tucson and my subject matter was southwest themed.  I sold almost everything I painted.  If and when I come up with some new ideas I will return to the gallery.  In the meantime, I have been enjoying working on my doodles. 

Here are the doodles I have completed since my last post.

I usually take about 3 days to complete a doodle.  When I have 4 or 5 new ones done, I will post them here.

First Post of 2023, Happy Birthday to me!

 My father was a professional photographer and always took a picture of me on my birthday.  For a number of years, I have continued that tradition.  Here is my 80th birthday picture taken this morning.

I have not completed any paintings yet this year.  I have been having fun working on doodles.  I have been doodling for many years and have quite a few sketch books full of them.  I used to scan them into the computer but stopped doing that a while ago.  At the first of the year, I decided to scan each doodle when I complete it and start posting them here.  These are the ones I have done so far this year.

My friends Vikki and Carolyn asked me how I created my doodles, and I explained that I just randomly draw some squiggles or shapes in pencil then use a fine tip Sharpie to fill in all the blanks.  I had them draw some squiggles and shapes on a page in my book and I worked on it for a few days and finished it on 1-1-23.

A few days later I had my daughter-in-law, Leslie do some squiggles for me, and this is what I came up with.  If you look closely, you may see some fruit and veggies. I completed this one on 1-4-23.

This is one I did on my own.  I started with a base of circles and straight lines.  It was finished on 1-7-23.

I just finished this today, 1-11-23.  My friend Gay did the squiggles for me.

Some people suggested that I frame and sell them, but I like keeping the originals and the price of making copies and buying mats and frames would make the cost more than I could sell them for. Also, I have had someone ask me to teach a class on how to do them and I am considering it but have not made a final decision yet.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas 2022

 Roger and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the New Year.

I did a few Christmas paintings for gifts and also to show in The Owl and Rabbit Gallery.  Our son Mark cut the tree shapes for me.

The above paintings are about 14" high, and the ones below are about 8" and 5" high.

I did a few other paintings for friends but sorry to say I forgot to take photos of them.  

I want to do some new paintings to take to the gallery after the first of the year, but I am suffering from artist block and am having a hard time coming up with new ideas.  It was so much easier when we lived in Tucson when most of my paintings were southwest subjects.  I loved painting cacti and desert scenes, but, sorry to say, they don't sell in North Carolina. I was thinking of doing some domino train stations which sold like hotcakes in Tucson, but not many people here are familiar with Mexican Train Dominos.  I may give it a try just to see if any will sell.  When I decide what to paint and then get to work making art again, I'll do a new blogpost featuring that work.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year.....Pam

Happy Thanksgiving 2022

 

Here is a painting I did that has an autumn theme that I thought would be appropriate for my Thanksgiving post.

I did two more paintings for the holiday season at the Owl & Rabbit gallery. One of them is a small version of one of my favorite paintings, "I Love to Paint Roses."  Here is the original painting which I did when I lived in Tucson.  The size was about 28X15.  I sold it at an exhibition I had at the Skyline Country Club back in 2012.  

Here is the more recent one which is size 10X8.

The other painting I did for the gallery is called "Cardinal on Snowy Branch".  It is 10X8.

The other items I painted are all craft items.  The first is a round wooden plate with "Mare & Foal" and the other is a wooden tray with "Flight of Fancy".

I also did a number of boxes.  The first is a large jewel box and the rest are small trinket boxes.

Wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Old Truck Paintings and some yard sale bargains

 This will be a short blogpost featuring a couple of new paintings and photos of 3 items I bought at yard sales.

This is titled "Old Truck & Apples".

This companion painting is "Old Truck and Pumpkins".

Both of these paintings are hanging at the Owl & Rabbit Gallery.

Roger & I like to go to yard sales just for the fun of it.  In the past few months, we found some items that were real bargains.  A few months ago, we bought this oak desk for $20.  

A couple of weeks ago, we got this Japanese quilted hanging panel for $2. It matches all of my artwork.

  This past Saturday, we got this chest for $10.

Someone's "trash" has become our "treasures".    

Art I created in the past 6 weeks

 Happy Labor Day to all.  It is 6 weeks since my last post.  I have created a number of pieces of art in that time frame.  

In my last post I showed a peacock painting I did at the request of my son Brian.  When I finished it, I decided to do another to fit an 8X10 frame that I may show at the Owl & Rabbit Gallery.  Here is that painting.

My friend Vikie gave me some frames that she purchased at a yard sale.  I did a magnolia painting to fit one of the frames and gave it to her as a gift.

I liked the painting so did another to also show at the gallery.

Since I like painting flowers, my next painting is one I call "Yellow Roses in Decorative Vase.

I had a number of trinket boxes that I got at a yard sale and painted a couple of them.

I received a friendship plaque as a gift from a friend.  The colors on the plaque did not work with where I wanted to hang it, so I repainted it to match my color scheme.  I wish I had taken a before picture, but I forgot to do that.  Here is what it looks like now.

The last thing I did was to paint this wooden vase for myself.  I painted magnolias on it and filled it with artificial flowers.  

You may have noticed the magnolia theme on my paintings in this post.  My inspiration was the magnolias on this ceramic plate that I got at a yard sale.  I paid $2 for it!  It was a bargain that I couldn't pass up.

Most of the paintings I have done recently have been for family, friends and myself.  I really have to get busy on some work to show at the gallery.  My problem is that I have been suffering artist block.  I have not been able to come up with some new and interesting ideas for subject matter.  It was so much easier when I lived in Tucson and everything I painted had a Soutwest theme.  I sold almost everything I painted.  It is different since I moved East.  I have to constantly come up with new ideas.  Hopefully I will get some inspiration soon.