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

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

Three New Paintings!

Hi there!  I've been a busy little bee lately!  Recently I took part in a challenge to paint 30 paintings in 30 days.  This one above was the very first one that I painted for the challenge.  Not bad #1, not bad!  It's on a 8" x 10"x 1/2" canvas. I love Koi and waterlilies so I figured why not paint both!

This is the second one, "I AM here".  This one was much easier than the first one.  It seemed to flow out fairly easily and tell me exactly what it wanted.  I love when that happens!  It's also on 8" x 10" x 1/2" canvas.

close up of "I AM here"

"Island Of Dreams" was the third painting that I did.  Don't you want to take a boat out on that water and just float?  This one was done on 11" x 14" canvas board. 

 I like how the first three paintings all have water and seem to go together.  I think it was a great way to start off the challenge!  

Just for fun here's a photo of "Island Of Dreams" while it was still in progress.  This can almost be a finished painting itself!

So there's the first 3 out of 30!  I only have 27 more to show you!  ;-)  

They're all done now so if you can't wait you can see them all on my Facebook Art Page or Instagram 

Thanks for visiting!  See you soon!

Sail Away Collage

Come, let's sail away.

9x12 inch mixed media collage on watercolor paper that I did a couple of weeks ago.  I started by gluing down various papers as a background and painted over them so they wouldn't be too distracting, but would still add visual interest, texture, and depth.  Then I painted the water and the boat and drew the details with a water-soluable pencil.  Lastly I added the two bits of my hand-painted papers and voilà... a sweet lil' finished collage!

I've been painting and drawing boats more and more the past 7-8 months.  I think it has something to do with the freeing feeling of floating... and/or the thought sailing away to escape all the craziness that is life.  Or just the thought of peacefully floating in the middle of a still lake with just the sounds of nature and your own breath.  Or all of the above.  Yeah, that sounds about right.  Ahh...

For sale $55.  Leave a comment or email me at emakesart@gmail if interested

** Edit: SOLD!  Thank you!!

New Mini Abstract Painting

Hi there!

I have so much art to show you, tons to catch up on, but I'll start off small.

This is a sweet mini painting I just did this week.  It's on a 5x5 inch gallery-wrapped canvas.  

I'm running low on my blank canvas stash, but in cleaning my studio recently, I noticed that I have many old pieces that I never finished for various reasons... so I decided to either finish them or completely paint over them and start again.  This is one of the starting over pieces.  I originally did an experimental collage on it that wasn't turning out how I wanted, and I didn't know how to finish it, so it sat unfinished for over a year.  The great thing about using these unfinished canvases is that they already have a great texture to them!  I added to the texture of this by gluing a few more bits of paper down, then painted over most of it with colors that called to me.  I finished it off by drawing and writing on it with a water-soluble pencil, then sealed the whole thing.

It felt good to get one of these unfinished paintings out of a drawer, and give it a new life ... ready to be seen and hung on someones wall!  Now I'm moving on to another unfinished one that's been calling my name!

I'm back... again?!

Hi there!

I've been trying to work on a longer post but I'm a bit rusty so I figured I'd just get a quick one up to get me back into Blogland in the meantime.  

We had a wonderful and very busy summer where we were gone a lot.  It didn't leave me with much time for art, but I took TONS of photos and gathered heaps of inspiration! 

Now that school has started up again and things are getting back to "normal" (is it ever really normal?") I've finally started to get some paint on my hands again.  Yay!  Paint just makes everything better doesn't it?  I know I'm not alone in this!  The above photo is a tiny part of a huge waterlily painting that I've been working on. 

 I have a lot of catching up to do with you all and I'll share more later, but for now the studio is calling so it's time to go get messy... 

One Lotus Painting

After doing the front of my art journal with a lotus (in previous post), I HAD to do more like it, so I did two 8"x10" paintings inspired by it.  This is one, and I'll show the other one in another post.  

This photo above shows the beginning stage of it.  First I painted the base colors, then I smeared on a thick coat of Heavy Gel Medium and drew into it while wet.  After letting that dry overnight I started to paint it.

As you can see it looked quite different at this stage.  I liked it but it didn't feel quite right to me, so I put it aside for a week or so.  When I went back to it, I just kept adding layer after layer of paints and glazes until I finally liked it.  

To finish it off I gold-leafed and antiqued the sides of the canvas, then put a few coats of sealer over the whole thing.

So now I think I'm addicted to painting water lilies/lotuses!  I'm planning on doing some bigger ones like this too.  I think it'll be fun!  And I still have a couple more finished ones to share with you.  

For a while now I had been wanting to do a series of some kind, and realized that's what this is... my accidental waterlily series!  There's nothing like a good "Happy Accident" is there?

"Be Still" Textured Journal Cover

Hi there!

Here's my art journal cover that I showed you a quick peek of in the last post.  It kept bugging me that the inside of my journal was filled with lots of purdy art, but that the front of it was so drab.  So I decided to give it a nice facelift one day while another waterlily painting was drying.  

I started by gluing down a vintage dictionary page, then painted it with a coral color.  Next I cut and glued down various scrapbook papers in a waterlily shape.  Yes, I know that you can BARELY see any of that in the finished piece, but I think that every little layer gives it just that much more "something" when it's done... even if you hardly notice that it's there.  Art is kind of like us in that respect... all of our past experiences, no matter how slight, can influence who we are and the beautiful creatures that we can become.  

Wow, ok back to the process... I did think that all the base layers would be showing through more, but that's not what happened.  I try to let the art go where it wants to... sometimes I'm just along for the ride!

  So after the initial layers, I put a heavy coat of Golden's Heavy Gel Medium on, and drew into it while it was still wet.  I also added a painted crocheted 1/2 circle to the top and a ribbon across the bottom.

After letting it dry overnight, I painted it, then antiqued it with a raw umber glaze to get the grooves and  ridges to really stand out.  When it was finished I sealed it good since it's on the front of my art journal... which means it has to stand up to plenty of abuse as I drag it around with me most of the time.















There... so much better than a plain, drab, brown cover.  Now it represents what the journal is all about... artwork, creativity, becoming.  And layers... lots of layers.

And "Be Still"?  A reminder I need often in our busy hectic world.  You too I'm sure.  Be still, close your eyes, and just breathe, you beautiful creature you.

Sneak Peak of Journal Cover

Hi there!

Here's a little sneak peak of what I'll be sharing in my next blog post.  It's the front of my small art journal, and I can't wait to share more photos of it with you!  

I hope you're all having a lovely week. 

See you soon!

"Waterlily" Texture Painting

Hi!  Since I keep disappearing from these parts and have tons to catch up on, I'll just jump right in...

I'm going to start sharing some of my art that you haven't seen  yet out there in Blogland.  This piece was finished last May and I'm completely in love with it!  So much so in fact that it's recently sparked a whole waterlily/lotus series that I'll share with you later.















I started by printing out one of my photos in black and white onto paper, sealing it, and gluing it down onto a canvas.  I then used heavy gel medium to create texture, and painted over it all when it was dry.















Love that texture!















To finish it off I gold-leafed, antiqued, and sealed the sides.

The photo that inspired this piece was one that I  took many years ago, of a waterlily in a koi pond in my parents backyard.  I always knew I wanted to do something with it.  I'm so glad I did!  Ah... so pretty!  (Can I say that about my own art?  hee hee).















I have greeting cards available of this painting, and will get some prints made of it also.  If you're interested just let me know!

So what have you been up to out there in Artsy Blogland?  I'd love to know, it's been too long!

Be Daring Journal Pages

...and now for something a bit different than you usually see from me.  What?  Is there actually a person...err...bird....err... woman who's very fond of birds, in some art of mine?  You betcha.

I started this art journal spread several years ago, but it never felt finished, so I doodled on it a bit more.  Still not done.  I added the words "Be daring.  Be unique.  Just be you".

It still wasn't quite done.

Finally I gave in to the idea that was wanting to be manifest every time I'd look at her... she wanted a feathered collar so very badly but I kept ignoring her thinking ... yeah right... but finally after hearing her plea with me over the past few years (!!) I gave in. 

 And she was right.  It was just what she needed to complete her statement.

I admire her style... her confidence... her passion.

Her bird

She's definitely daring and unique.

She's not afraid of being herself.  Not afraid of what others might think.

I want to be just like her when I grow up ;-)