Interview About My Creative Life

Hi there!

I am so excited and humbled that I'm this month's featured artist on the incredibly wise and talented Tara Leaver's blog as part of her "Creative Life Interviews" series. Please go check out my interview HERE if you want to find out a bit more about my creative life, and I'd love to know what you think.

I will be doing blog posts about my art pieces that are featured in the interview so stay tuned...and stay creative!

Painting Magnolias

We have a lovely Magnolia tree in our front yard that is so inspiring and gorgeous when it blooms. I find it hard to walk by without stopping to take at least a few photos of it. When it bloomed again this past Spring I had to finally paint it!

Small 6" x 12" Magnolia "Gentle Beauty" (available)

Close up of "Gentle Beauty"

 Using one of my photos as reference, I first painted only the small 6" x 12" version.

Small Magnolia in process

 I ended up loving it so much that I had to paint a larger version. I already had a 15 x 30 gallery-wrapped canvas (the perfect size for this!) prepped and ready to go! I wanted to make it similar, yet different enough and I had fun stretching myself to achieve this.

Large Magnolia painting 15" x 30" (sold)

Close up of large Magnolia

Close up of some of the great texture on large version

I added plenty of texture on the larger one because... well... I'm a texture junkie!

I love how both pieces turned out and can't pick a favorite between the two. Not a bad problem to have, right?

  

Large Magnolia in progress. Notice my photo at the top of the easel that I used for reference

I can't wait until the tree blooms again. I'm sure there will be plenty more picture taking and more Magnolia paintings too. What a blessing to have this inspiration right in front of our house... which means I can also see it from our kitchen window. Can you blame me for being a bit bloom crazy?

Our Magnolia tree back in March

Mixed Media Lotus Minis

Ok, back to showing you more from the 30 Paintings in 30 Days I did last year. This piece above, "Content" is number SIX. I had actually worked on another piece that night for hours but it was not cooperating. Or I wasn't. Either way I wanted to toss it to the coyotes. I gave up and cleaned up because it was late, and I was tired. I was bummed that I didn't finish one. As I was cleaning up I saw my little 4"x4" canvases. I grabbed one and went for it. I returned to a favorite subject and colors and the next thing I know this lil' happy piece was done! Yay! I felt so much better!

This next one, "Transparent",  is number SEVEN. I was trying out different colors than I normally use and a different style. I like how it turned out!

"Absorb" is number EIGHT. Absorb and learn what you need to from this beautiful life so you can nurture yourself and those who surround you.

These were all done in a similar way. I started by glueing down antique French book pages then painting and drawing over them. On this last one above I also glued down blue hand-painted paper and a strip of natural fiber. 

Ok, you know what... even though it's not part of the 30in30, I'm going to add one more mixed media lotus to this post because it was done around the same time and has a similar feel.

This is "Silent Beauty", because often silence can be a beautiful thing. 

Ok, that's enough for now. These are all done on small 4" x 4" x 1.5" gallery-wrapped canvases and are all available for purchase.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a creative day!

xoE

Flower paintings

Hi there!

I know in my last post I said that I would share more from the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge, but I wanted to share these with you first. This pretty little (5" x 5") piece was a commissioned by one of my good friends ( a brilliant wedding photog) as a gift for another friend of hers. What a special gift, right? 

She told me her friend loves these colors and Chrysanthemums, then we figured out what size to make it. I loved doing this and I think it turned out great! If it wasn't for this commission I might not have ever made a painting that was mostly yellow, green. and white, but I'm sure I will again! And my friend and I decided this was a win-win situation. She didn't have to stress about the perfect gift, she just gave me me the specifics and I took care of the rest.. and then I get paid instead of some store where she'd buy something she wasn't sure about. Total win all around! :-) Yay for smart friends! 

This fun collage above is how I started the mixed media painting. I love doing fun backgrounds, even if you hardly see it when it's done. The photo below is how it looked in phase two as I was starting to paint in the flower. I really like how you can still see the book page through the flower. Maybe I'll do another piece and let it show through more like this.

Now I just want to share one more painted flower with you. I did this over another piece that never felt quite right, so it has great texture from the layers underneath. Taking the old and making it new again can be so rewarding. This one sold on Facebook. It's only 4" x 4" and it's called "Rebirth".

Thanks for stopping by! Have a creative day :-)

xoE

Numbers 4 & 5 for the 30 in 30 Painting Challenge

A few posts ago I shared that I took part in a challenge to paint 30 paintings in 30 days (last year). In that post I showed you the first three paintings I did for the challenge which, even though it was unplanned, all contained a water element and similar colors.

The next two took a completely different turn as you can see here! That's one of the many reasons that I enjoy being and artist... if I let it, art can take me on a journey instead of the other way around!

 Above is Number FOUR for the 30 in 30. "Vase of Flowers". It was done on a 14" x 18" canvas. 

close-up of # 4

Since I love texture I added some papers and even cardboard to the canvas first before painting it.

another close-up of # 4

Part of me likes this one just as it is, yet another small part of me wants to get back to work on it more. I'm not sure what I'll do but for now I've got plenty of other paintings to finish up so it stays like this... at least for now! If you like it as is please speak up! Also, this one does need to be framed because it has staples on the sides... so unframed it's only $300 .

Here is number FIVE. It's on done on a 14" x 14" x1.5" gallery-wrapped canvas.

I love abstract paintings with a lot of white. For some reason I'm drawn to them, but whenever I attempt one myself it gets overtaken with color and form. So the beautiful thing about doing a painting each day when I was doing this challenge... instead of giving in to my desire to reach for more color while working on this painting, I figured NO, I could do that on tomorrow's painting!

close-up of # 5

Title of this piece, "There's Always Tomorrow". $275 ready to hang.

Both of these are available to purchase. If interested just leave me a comment or email me. My email is in my profile.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be showing you numbers's 6, 7, & 8 next time we meet! 

xoE

Mixed Media Painting : Fresh Start

When I'm feeling a bit rusty, or I just don't have much time but want to create, I've been making these quick little 5" x 7" mixed media paintings on watercolor paper. It's fun and fairly quick, and best of all since I don't spend days on them (mostly), I can sell them for a great price. I love affordable art, don't you? They're fun to create, and my collectors love them... win win!

This is my latest, "Fresh Start". I started out by gluing random pieces of paper down to add texture and depth. Next I painted the flowers, etc using acrylic paints and added details with water-soluble pencils and a bit of gold marker to add some pizzaz to the vase. This one is available for $38! The price includes shipping in the U.S., but international shipping is a wee bit extra.

Thanks for looking! I hope these flowers brighten your day!

xoE

Edit 8/16 -SOLD!!

Mixed Media Painting: Solace

Hi there! Wow! I've been neglecting my poor blog so much these past couple of years! Instagram and Facebook seem to distract me so much that I forget about Blogland... but I really have been missing it here so I'm going to try again to get back to it. 

Anywho... let's get to it! Often when I'm stressed or not quite myself the sea will call to me. Back when I was single, after a bad day, there were times I'd hop in my car and drive to Huntington Beach (CA) and walk the pier or just sit in the sand barefoot and watch the waves. It always seemed to help me feel better. There's just something about it (or any body of water really). Sitting by it always seems to soothe me and make everything feel manageable. I can't just up and run to the beach anytime I want now because having a family changes that, but making art with a body of water on it helps almost as much! While working on this I could hear the waves crashing down below. I could almost smell and breathe in the fresh air and feel it's mist on my face.. ahh... there's nothing like it. Come sit by me and let's drink it all in. "Solace" 5" x 7" on watercolor paper. This little mixed media painting is from the beginning of summer and is sold.

Thanks for being here! Have a wonderful, creative weekend!