Latest Work

Last night, I delivered my completed landscape painting to my client. She was very pleased with the outcome. Here's a photo of the painting.

This was taken from a photo of Clearwater Beach, that she provided. It is here favorite spot on the beach. I am so thrilled she was pleased and that I could help her complete her dining room with this painting. The canvas is 36" x 30" and was done in acrylics.

I am hopeful this is the start of many more commissioned works and a true freelance career.

Inspiration can strike anytime

Wow! Summer is nearly over...well, not in terms of the heat but more in terms of back to school. Although, for me it feels like I never left with the two classes at SPC this summer. Kept me very busy - well, you can see how busy since I haven't posted since June. So, hopefully this makes up for my web silence.

A couple of interesting art finds today:

First, while checking out one of my favorite new blogs, Epbot , the amazing Jen had posted about some old color photographs taken by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information during 1939-1943.

To me, these are simply amazing! Not only to see more of that era, but in color of all things. I don't know if its the color or the composition of these photos, but somehow these really touched me. There was no separation with these people, the black and white photo creating more of a barrier I suppose - making it feel more like another time. These color photos made every moment more real, like I could see these people being friends and neighbors just dressed in some vintage fashion. Here are a few of my favorites, but really all of them are!

This was just one of the images of people that really hit me.

Amazing 1942 photo of a P-51 Mustang in flight over California.

How is it even grocery stores had a beauty ours of today somehow lack? Feels like this could become a painting...and the next one too.

Gorgeous photo of Connecticut.

The window is of a newspaper office, and all the posters are the handwritten headlines. Can you imagine reviewing the day's news in that kind of social format, standing side by side with your neighbors and discussing the day's events. Yes, while we do socialize more online, there is something that is fundamentally better after a good in-person conversation.

Stunning capture of a train leaving Chicago, December 1942.

And, my 3 very favorites for last:

The working woman, Tennessee 1943. She is working on a bomber section.

Shepherd on his horse with his dog, watching his flock. Montana, 1942.

Doesn't this photo look like an oil painting? I just adore it. The working wiper women of the railroad having lunch. Chicago, April 1943

I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Here is the more of this amazing photography collection.

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The second amazing art info I heard about is about a 7 year-old boy who paints like a master.

I heard this on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson of all places! Thank you Craig for throwing in a little enlightenment with your humor. You can also follow Craig on Twitter.

Here is one the works of this young master- he is talented indeed!

The boy is Kieron Williamson, he lives in England with his mom and dad. Want to read more? Here is the story from The Guardian.

I hope you enjoyed this extra long post. May you find inspiration in your day to day as well!

Happy Birthday to my Man!

June 4th is the birthday of my man. He is amazing. God has truly blessed me. He works without complaint, and no matter how long his hours or how hot the day, he always gives me a smile and a kiss no matter how tired he is from working outside all day. He is a quiet man, that is for certain, but with me he is tender and kind. He is my soul mate, my best friend, and my nemesis when he hides behind doors to scare me ;) .

^ Here's the birthday boy ^
(yes, he is purposely yanking on his eye to mess up the picture *sigh*)

Here was the birthday plans: we will be heading off for some fun in Orlando. Starting at Sea World so my roller coaster ridin' man can ride Manta a couple times. (No, I don't ride those crazy coasters. Thunder Mountain is more my style.) Then possibly one of the Disney waterparks and then a little time in one of the Disney theme parks. (Yes, we have passes to Disney, Sea World & Busch Gardens -- otherwise all these trips would cost a fortune!)

Update: We did go to Sea World, but the line for Manta was too long, so he didn't ride. We got rained out of the water parks before we could set foot in. We ended up at Disney's Hollywood Studios and the Magic Kingdom. SO thankful we had dinner at the Brown Derby at DHS - that turned the whole day around. :)

Wish the budget status was better so we could stay over for a couple of nights, but at least he's got a vacation day so we can enjoy a stress-free day together. :)

Happy Birthday to the love of my life!!! You are the best! I only hope I fill his days with as much love and joy as he gives me.

Awake again at the wrong hour...

Well, here it is 1:30 am and I am awake!!! Grrr!
I fell asleep round 9pm on the recliner, but woke up at midnight and now I am so awake as if I'd slept 8 hours.

Ah, the joys and curses of a nap too late in the day. Later today, I have classes at 9am and 3pm. So I really hope I get tired soon. I also need to get back to my early morning walking regime; which has suffered from my up too late times. A return to the walking would probably help my daytime energy and get me more restful sleep.

It was a productive day with painting color studies. Its so great to get back into paint again. Maybe I will take pictures from the cell phone tomorrow and post for you to see....maybe....I'll see how I feel about it when I look at them again.
Did I tell you we are doing a series of self-portraits? The 3 of us in the Painting II class, is the "we" I refer to. Its very odd painting yourself...there is a constant battle of wanting to correct the "flaws", guess its really an ego thing. Trying my best to be humble as I paint so that its emotional and as accurate as possible without arrogance.

Well, off I go to attempt the winding down....hope the sleep fairy finds me soon.

Welcome to Monday

Today is Monday, I cannot in any amount of honesty tell you I enjoy the thought of Mondays. I don't know if I ever have. I will find joy, beauty and enjoyment in today but not because of the name of the day. For me, Mondays always meant the end of family time as a child and now it means the end of unlimited hours with my husband.

Today also marks the end of an era of television. LOST is over. The last episode aired last night...what a last episode! Nothing like the utter disappointment that was the Sienfeld finale. I will miss the suspense and the guessing and the gorgeous Hawaii panoramas.

During the episode, I also worked on some homework for tomorrow's digital graphics class. We are working in Adobe Illustrator right now. The project was to replicate a photo of a bowl of cherries. I tried to upload it, but for some reason its not working. Maybe I will try again later. The class is a heavy load of work, but I know I will learn a lot. Unfortunately, I got carried away and by the time I realized the time there was no point in going to bed. I do have supplies and color studies to do for tomorrow morning's painting class as well. Its going to be a busy day - but I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Hope you all have a great Monday!

Back at SPC for the summer

Busy week this week. Taking two classes at SPC this summer, and the session began this week. Looking forward to this semester - I am taking painting (just to keep my hand in traditional art) and Computer Graphics (we're learning Adobe Creative Suite 4).

Its going to be a busy semester for both classes time-wise. Summer sessions are shorter, but you learn the same amount as you would when the class is held during the fall or spring sessions. Painting, just because it takes a while and our section of the class is focusing on self-portraits (not really looking forward to that...ugh, staring at myself hours on end).
The digital graphics class will be a lot of work in a condensed time. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I am truly looking forward to becoming more proficient in the Creative Suite programs.

So the adventure continues. Hoping I can still keep up with this blog in between classes, homework and projects. Really enjoyed the spring session that ended about 2 weeks ago...would have been nice to have a little more than 10 days off, but that's OK. Onward!

Meet my little friend from the park...

Here is little friend squirrel who romped around us during our walk at the park last Saturday.

Sorry the picture quality isn't great, it was taken with my cell phone. Figured since my afternoon class was canceled for the day, I would catch up on a little blogginess.