Butterflies, Birds, Fruit and other things

 Today is the last day of June.  I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  In the time since my May post and today much has happened to keep us busy.  In mid-May we had family members come for a week-long visit. As soon as they left, we started replacing the floor in our downstairs great room and refacing our fireplace.  This was a huge project and took a number of weeks to complete.  I will post photos in a future post.  I also spent many hours in my studio creating art for a new display at the Owl and Rabbit Gallery.  

Before I show those paintings, I will post the Santa paintings I did for our son Mark that I mentioned in my last post.  The first photos are before and after of the ceramic Santa I repainted.

This next photo is the Triple Santa painting I did for Mark to add to his Santa collection.

I usually do a theme for my display at the Owl & Rabbit Gallery.  This time I chose to paint butterflies, fruit and birds.  I did a number of canvas paintings and quite a few craft items.  Here is what I now am showing at the gallery.

I'll start with the fruit items.  I did 4 canvas paintings featuring fruit.

This first one is called "Tutti-Frutti".

The next one is "Green and Yellow Fruit"

 This one is "Poppies & Pears"

And the last one is "Pots, Plants and Pomegranates" 

I also did some craft items featuring fruit.

I did one butterfly painting which is a new version of "Flight of Fancy" along with a couple of butterfly craft items.

I did a couple of small trays.  One has birds and one butterflies.

My crosses are a big seller, so I painted 10 of them.  Three are standing and the others are hanging.

This last painting is one I did for myself.  I call it "Painting for Me".  I did a little rearranging in my living room area and had an open wall that needed a painting, and this is what I did

My next project is a peacock painting for our son Brian, and I have a couple of craft items that I must do for a neighbor.  

I'll post photos of our new floors and fireplace in a new blog soon.

New Art done in April 2022

 I am loving my new art studio!  I spent much time there in the month of April creating paintings for my family and myself.  

This first painting is one I did for our son, Brian.  I have a small abstract painting in my guest bathroom that he liked.  He asked me to do a large version of it for him and his wife.  This is the small 16x16 painting hanging in my guest bathroom that was the inspiration for the painting I did for him.

Believe it or not, the painting below is size 24X36.  For some reason that I don't understand. this program adjusts the size of larger paintings to appear small.  I had not given the above painting a title, but Brian called it a Jackson Pollock look-alike.  For that reason, I tilted his painting "JP Inspired".

Our daughter-in -law, Leslie, has a talent for finding the coolest things in thrift shops.  One of those things in this cute little rocking horse.  She asked me to turn it into a "Patchwork Pony".  I forgot to take a before photo to show that it was unpainted wood.  Here is the finished product.

The next paintings are things I did for myself.  The first is a small standing cross that I painted for Easter.

This "Home Sweet Home" sign is something I did to hang in the upstairs hallway over the door going into our new room.

The next painting is "Sunflowers and Apples in Basket" that I did to complement a sunflower arrangement I bought at a yard sale.

I painted a version of "Flight of Fancy" to hang in my new room over the door.

 The last painting is a very large abstract, size 28X54, that I did to hang high in the stairway to the upstairs hall. I call it "Reflections of Gold".

You can see both of these paintings in the photo below.

Our son, Mark, has started collection Santa's.  Like his wife, Leslie, he buys them at thrift shops.  He has a ceramic Santa riding a rocking horse that is peeling paint that I will repaint for him.  I am also doing tryptic painting of 3 Santas that I am working on now.  I'll feature these in my next post.

I want to mention that I started this post on May 5 but have not been able to get back to it until today. Here is what happened to delay me.  Our next home improvement project is to replace the floors in our downstairs great room.  We had intended to use the same vinyl planking we used in our master bedroom.  On May 5 shortly after I started this post, Roger decided we should go to Lowes to see how long it would take for a special order of the planking to come in.  We were given the unhappy news that the planking we used in the bedroom just a year ago was discontinued.  Long story short, it took 10 trips over 4 days to Lowes and Home Depot and another flooring store to finally find something that will work for us.  All the new flooring planks are almost 9 " wide.  They no longer make the 6" flooring we used in our bedroom a year ago and upstairs in December.  So much for having all the floors being consistent.  

 This is a big project so will take us awhile to complete.  We are looking forward to family coming for a visit from the 15th to the 20th so will not start work until later this month.  As always, I will post photos of my new paintings and our newest home improvement project.  

Home Renovation Project and Newest Paintings

 We are finally finished with our latest and biggest home renovation project.  The upstairs of our townhouse had a guest bedroom and bathroom and a large open loft area.  Since we moved here almost four years ago, I have rearranged the loft many times to find the best way to have my art studio and also accommodate overflow guests when needed.  After much thought, I came up with the idea to divide the area into two rooms.  We now have an official third bedroom and a bonus room which is my new art studio.  Here are photos of how the work turned out.

This first photo is the new hall with the entrance doorways into the new rooms. 

There are French doors going into the new bedroom which we have set up as a sitting room.  It has a very comfortable couch for sleeping if needed.  Also, it is large enough to set up a couple of air mattresses.  When some of our grandchildren with large families come to visit, we now have room for everyone.  The parents can sleep in the guest bedroom and the kids can bunk out in this new bedroom.

Here is another view of the new room.  It has a large closet that was already in the old loft area.

 This is the bonus room that is now my new art studio.  It is roomy and bright.  I love it!

I have already created many new art pieces in my studio.  Here is what I have painted.

The first piece I did was to paint roses on a cabinet that I have in the new hall. I wanted to complement the chair that it sits next to. 

I then did a new Endless Rose painting for myself.  I did one last year that I was going to keep but ended up giving it to our son Brian.  Size on this one is 16X20 on stretch canvas.

If you look at the above photo of our new room, you will see it hanging over the desk.  I will not give this one away.  

Brian also asked me to paint a smaller 8X10 version in blue for his wife Sarah.

These next paintings are ones I did to show in the Owl & Rabbit Gallery for the spring season.

Here are "Sunflowers & Pears' which is 10X8 and "Sunflowers in Blue Vase" which is 14x11.

I did two paintings of Iris.  One is "Purple Iris", and the other is "Pink Iris".  They are in matching 10X8 frames.

This last painting is not one that I painted in my new studio.  In fact, I did it many years ago for my home in Tucson.  I have kept it packed away for our moves to MI and NC. Since I haven't hung it in my new homes, I decided it was time to offer it for sale. I thought it would be perfect for my new flower themed display.  It is titled "Pastel Posies" and is in a 10X8 oval frame.

My next painting will be a large abstract that Brian wants me to do for him.  I'm not sure what I will paint after that.  I'll do another blog post when I have more work to show.  In the meantime, I will be enjoying working in my new studio.

Small Works of Art

 Our latest home improvement project is updating our upstairs area which will include a new and improved art studio for me.  While the work is being done, I converted the puzzle table in our office to a temporary painting area.  Since my space is limited, my focus has been on small art.  I completed 11 pieces in the past few weeks.  I will show them at the Owl & Rabbit Gallery for the upcoming spring season.

I did 3 hanging wood plaques.  Titles are "Patchwork Bunny", "Bird & Thistles", and my best-selling "Peek-a-boo Kitty".

The next items are four 4X6 wood boards titled "Two Birds", "Bluejay", "Rooster" and "Hummingbird".

I did two 7X5 stretch canvas which I will sell with small easels. Titles are "Cardinal" & "Pretty Bird & Flowers".

The last two items are a small hanging owl plaque and a free-standing butterfly.

I feel like I have time-traveled back to when I first started painting and selling my work.  It was 1976 when I started to paint and sell craft items.  That was also when I became a Tole and Decorative Art teacher. I taught for over 15 years until I retired to Arizona. It was 2007 when I did my first canvas paintings which I entered in a contest and won three prizes.  That changed my life as an artist!  Now after 15 years and 2 moves to 2 different states, I am back to my roots.