Naples

Naples

7 x 7

watercolor on paper

My grandad used to live in Naples, FL. It was a pretty fun place to visit... to say the least :) Naples has one of those beaches that one dreams about. Crystal clear water, white sand, seashells and sand dollars. In fact, my husband's first gift to me was a sand dollar from Naples with a quote that he had handwritten on the back. {sigh} yes, I'll marry you.

Sorry for the mushiness :) Maybe all this royal wedding craziness has me in a romantic mood. Just got a text from my mom that says we'll be having a brit style tea time and pimms cocktails tonight to celebrate! Haha ;)

Anyway, I'll definitely be doing more watercolors of Naples. It's fun to paint a place that brings back such fond memories.

Snake River Watercolor

Snake River

6 x 8

watercolor study

I am finding that it is very different photographing watercolors. If anyone has any tips let me know! I'm finding that the colors are quite different and the whites are quite gray. OH watercolors, I will conquer you.

This is a {slightly grayed} study of the Snake River painting that I posted below. Hope you all are having a lovely spring. Thanks for checking in!

Snake River

Snake River

11 x 14

Painting Update

A short post today as I am busy painting and cleaning... but here is a painting very much in progress. Sorry that I couldn't figure out how to get the pic on my blog! I took the picture with my phone so it's not the best, but here it is anyway! It's a big one so I have a ways to go! I'm enjoying painting the ocean in the middle of January :)

I have not blogged in so long and I feel like I have lots to update! So stay tuned! I'll be posting some new ideas... what I've been working on... what I will be working on... some inspirations...

OH! and check out my mom's new blog, Ink Wash Letters {very exciting!} about our family history, Omaha history and the arts in Omaha with a focus on a WWII pilot that was an amazingly talented artist {my great uncle Bruce}.

Magnet Paintings

Singing on the Shore

Original Oil Magnet

1.25 x 5

Available for purchase in my etsy shop!

Extorted From the Sea

Original Oil Magnet Painting

1.25 x 5

Available for purchase in my etsy shop!

These are two in a series of mini magnet paintings that are now available in my etsy shop! I've had a lot of fun painting them. It's nice to be able to paint such beautiful places. I've been busy with some commissions, but I've been meaning to do these for quite some time. I'm glad that I finally got around to it! The titles come from Emily Dickinson poems... in case you're wondering. Her poems are so beautiful.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Just Another Day

18 x 24

oil on canvas

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted! Here is my latest painting available for purchase from my etsy shop. This was from a photo that I took while on the beach in Costa Rica. That's Pedro, our bus driver :) It was a beautiful day on the Caribbean!

Fields of Iowa

Fields of Iowa

8 x 10

oil on panel

Available for purchase from my etsy shop!

"To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle."

~ Walt Whitman

This is another painting from my midwestern landscapes. I used a photo that I took on a road trip back in May. I just got back from a road trip down to Kansas City this past weekend. I wish I had gotten some pictures of the landscape this time. The amount of flooding in the fields was incredible. It's really unbelievable how rainy it has been this spring. Living in the city I have become a little removed from it. Hopefully the rain will stop for a bit for all the people whose farms and homes are at stake. This is not nearly as important but some of my plants are beginning to rot from all the water as well! The weather really shows us how little we are in control.

Spring Sky

Spring Sky

Oil on Canvas Panel

8 x 10

Now Available in my etsy shop!

Oh how I love a road trip through rolling hills and manicured farmlands under a big cloud-filled sky...

Whoever says the midwestern landscape is boring must be crazy! This is my latest little landscape painting. I'm starting a series of midwest landscapes. I'm really excited about it and I don't think I'll ever get bored with it...

"What was any art but a mold to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself- life hurrying past us and running away, to strong to stop, too sweet to lose." - Willa Cather

Our Sweet Riley

We lost our sweet Riley this week to cancer. He was nearly perfect in every way. He was always happy and was eager to please us. He gave us a lot of love over the past 10 years and we couldn't have asked for a better dog. As you can see, he also was a great model. We love you Riley.

A Mural!

Oh my! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything! It has been a busy spring with painting, landscaping season starting back up and getting our house ready to put on the market! Here are some photos of the mural that I worked on in March. I painted it for Sevenings Landscaping in Legacy West. (They work with my husband's landscape design firm Olive Branch). It was a lot of fun to do a mural for them and I wish them much success in their beautiful retail spot!

I really enjoyed working on this mural. It was fun to be doing something new and different from the norm. It also had me thinking of how to possibly do more mural work. It's just nice to get out of the house and do something else for a little while! So... if you know of anyone in the Omaha area needing a mural or decorative painting of any kind let me know! I think I'll be getting together a little portfolio of mural work/decorative painting soon!

Agnes Lake

Agnes Lake

oil on canvas

12 x 12

Available for purchase through my etsy shop!

This painting is inspired by one of our hikes up to Agnes Lake in Northern Colorado. It is such a beautiful lake - I recommend the trip to you all! Riley loved hiking through Colorado with us. The city parks here in Omaha don't quite compare. There are plenty of state parks around here that are beautiful though! We definitely don't take advantage of them! Anyway, Agnes Lake is one of my favorite memories of living in Colorado so I'm glad that I finally did a painting of it!

Riley

Riley

12 x 12

oil on canvas

Available for purchase at my etsy shop!

Here is another recent painting of my dog Riley. He has had a long, tough winter of not being able to properly play with the ball. I keep telling him the snow is melting and we will play again! This painting captures his "please, will somebody play with me" expression. It can also be seen at Long Dog Fat Cat.

Chihuahua Portrait

Chihuahua

12 x 12

oil on canvas

Sold

This was one of my commissioned paintings for Christmas. I really love painting animals. It is fun to try and capture their personality and expression in a painting. I hope to do many more! Thanks to Long Dog, Fat Cat for hanging my art and making this commission possible! They have really great, healthy pet food and cute toys and accessories too! Check it out if you are in the Omaha area! (In the strip mall just south of Village Pointe).

Back to Work

Zorinsky Lake

18 x 18

oil on canvas

Available for purchase at my etsy shop!

I had a wonderful Christmas full of snow and family and friends! I was able to complete my commissioned paintings with enough time to finish Christmas shopping and even do a little baking! I actually loved the Christmas snowstorm because it slowed us down a bit. It was so nice to be snowed in for Christmas eve and literally trudge through the snow to get to our parent's houses! The snow days throughout December also helped keep me home painting which was nice. Today it is still snowing so here is a water painting to remind us of warmer days! I love the snow, but I don't think I've ever painted it... I may have to do that one of these days! I'm hoping to finally get back into a routine of painting and blogging and posting on Etsy. I have a few commissions to work on, as well as the annual Art & Soup in February. I have lots of ideas! Thanks for checking out my blog! Stay warm out there!

How to plan a portrait

It can be tricky to do a portrait of six kids but planning well in the beginning makes it a lot easier. Believe me, I am not the best planner but I put my non-meticulous ways to work to ensure fewer setbacks later on. I always start with a sketch. It may not look like much but it helps me familiarize myself with the faces and the composition. The pictures I was given to work with for this portrait were fairly small so I blew them up as much as I could without getting blurry. I had to work between two separate photos to get the best view of each child so drawing out the composition in a sketchbook helps to sort it out. I often make notes in the sketchbook to remind myself of ideas and colors.

Once I am ready to tackle the canvas I start laying out the composition in pencil. I don't normally do this because I usually enjoy just moving paint around and not tainting my canvas with pencil, although when I'm painting six portraits on one canvas I have to measure and re-measure and that is a little easier in pencil. I make sure to measure every head, set of eyes, forehead to chin, ear to ear.... you get the idea. This is not a mathematical method nor is it graphed out. I use my pencil or paintbrush to measure. It's more like eyeballing until you get it right. I like this method because I am still using my eyes rather than relying on a graph. I think it just works best for my brain. After this step is done it's time to start painting! My next post will be about the underpainting.

Stacks-o-paintings!

I now have stacks of paintings in my basement. I used to store quite a few of them at my hubby's design studio, but now they are living with us. We are planning on building a proper storage unit for them, but until then, they are simply on some scrap pieces of lumber to protect them from any moisture. Anyone in need of a painting? I would love to clear some of them outta here! Nikki, do you see the one of you there? Want it?

Anyway, I am planning on painting in an extra bedroom, but because we also use it as an office, I don't have room for all of my supplies. So, I am planning on tackling a rather large project (for me) this fall of making one of our (icky) basement rooms into a craft room! I am actually really excited about it. I will have a place to do art, wrap gifts, package paintings and store all of my supplies! Stay tuned for photos.... I will hopefully be starting this weekend!

Back to Blogging :)

Pears
(we installed these at my mother-in-laws recently)
NFS

I'm back! A lot has happened since I last blogged and it all kinda threw me out of sorts, but I am ready to be a part of the blogging world again! First of all, we moved our businesses out of a retail spot and back into our home. I had been painting there so my whole studio was hauled back to our house and it still is sadly in a state of disarray. I have two easels in what we call "the studio" which is really a small bedroom but most of my supplies and paintings are currently in the basement in a storage area. aggghhh. We have moved all of Mike's landscape design supplies and whatnot back into our house as well and it currently resides in the attic. I need to get a move on organizing everything because I have orders for the holidays! I'm excited to be painting from home again, just as long as I can banish most of the clutter that has seeped into our little abode.

Secondly, I did have surgery last week so I spent a few days mostly in bed. No worries, I am in good health and ready to be creative once again. I owe a big thank you to all of our friends and family that brought us meals and cookies! We have such wonderful friends.

Last, but certainly not least, a good friend of mine had her baby, Micah Eleanor on October 24th. Liz is a faithful friend that even follows this little blog! She is always an encouragement to me, makes me smile and is just an amazing woman. Her daughter was born 11 weeks premature and weighed 1 lb 15 oz. She is a beautiful little girl with awesome parents and she is doing well and gaining weight. I love reading Liz's blog daily to see pictures of Micah and see how she is doing. Check it out and keep them in your prayers!

Iowa Sunset

Iowa Sunset
9 x 12
oil on canvas

Available for purchase at my etsy shop!

I'll be honest, this painting was a difficult one for me. I had a completely different version of it yesterday. The clouds were more abstract and choppy before and it was distracting so I decided to make them a little more smooth. I still don't know what I think about it, but I couldn't work on it anymore. So, this is how it will stay.

Mike thought I should title this painting Nebraska Sunset As Seen From Iowa. I thought that was pretty funny, but I stuck with Iowa Sunset :)

Aspen Leaf

Aspen Leaf

12 x 20

oil on canvas

Available for purchase at my etsy shop!

Here is my latest painting... can you tell I'm inspired by the change of season? This was a fun one, it's a little washed out in the photograph though. I think the greys are more rich in person.

Sunday Fishing

Sunday Fishing
5 x 7
oil on canvas

Available for purchase at my etsy shop!

I always feel a little weird doing these little baby paintings, but I am going to be doing more of them to try and stock up my etsy shop. I'm just used to working on a slightly bigger scale, but I do enjoy working quickly and being able to try anything in a small size instead of the commitment of a large painting. Don't worry though, I will still be painting larger paintings :)