ACEO-Pink Power Peonies - 30 in 30 Challenge!-SOLD!

3.5"x2.5"

Click here to bid!

Welcome to a brand new year! My yours be filled with flowers, beauty, and love. Well, I've gone and done it now...taken the 30 in 30 Challenge from fellow artist, Leslie Saeta. Each January she holds a challenge for fellow painters, - 30 paintings in 30 days...with no one to be accountable to except our own selves! I've been wanting to do one of these...30 days straight is indeed a big challenge...life does get in the way from time to time. But here goes!  I'm not choosing a theme, other than "My Favorite Things". I'm hoping to do a variety of sizes - small ones on busier days, especially while simultaneously working on commissions, or larger pieces.  I'm also sticking to most of my favorite themes; flowers, gardens, marshes & woods, France, Ireland...as well as some things I've just been wanting to experiment with! 

So here goes - one of my most favorite things- flowers from my garden to start off the 30 in 30! I'm looking forward to a lovely gardening season this year, some awesome travel & painting (won't you come along?), and a wedding in our family! May your new year be filled with joy and delight!

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals.  The miniature paintings are the size of a baseball trading card, 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  This category of art has become increasingly popular on eBay the last couple of years.  These can be displayed on their own, or with a tiny little easel (like the kind you can find in Michaels Arts & Crafts type stores) on a display shelf, or these beautiful gems can be elegantly matted and framed with perhaps a mat of 4 inches wide.  

So, each year I have time to make just a few of these...and there's never any leftover. Here's your chance to join in on the fun and have one of these dear little mini's.  If you've just GOT to have it, and you can get to it before the first bid is placed, you may buy it out-right (and avoid the whole bidding process) at the buy it now price.  AND, my gift to you, FREE shipping!

Pink Peonies

 

6"x6" oil on gessoed archival panel

For more information, or to purchase, click here!  

 In our friends, 

we see our own humanity, 

our frailties, 

as well as our best sides.

A mirror of ourselves, 

reminding us that we are not invincible...

but we are loved.

Recently I've been thinking of a dear friend and neighbor who passed away following a long struggle with ovarian cancer. It had been difficult to paint during that time. I'm slowly getting back to the paints, back to the plein air work out doors, and back to the studio on days when weather doesn't cooperate.  I'm in the middle of one commission, and another waiting in the wings...as well as another show of my Barn Island paintings coming up.  I'm grateful that these things are here for me, and I'm able to share these paintings with you all.  But I do still miss my friend. 

 ***

This one was a bit of experimenting with color. I came back in with a muted/grayed blue green to soften the effect of the background and allow these pink peonies to really 'sing'. Much happier with them now! This large bouquet was in my studio window, back-lit from the window on a bright day. The piece is finished with a light coat of varnish, ready to frame, or to display on a small table-top easel. I can recommend a beautiful silver frame for this piece, just contact me!

Stop! You're Making Me Blush!

6"x6" oil on archival panel

For more information, or to purchase, click here

or here.  
You're telling me these things that make me blush a little self-consciously.....Stop! You're making me blush! 

Bring a little blush to your face, sans cosmetic!

Peonies in the Sunshine! - Mentoring Mondays

 

12"x12" oil on archival panel

Click here for more information, or to purchase. 

Got to share another bouquet with a fellow artist on "Mentoring Monday", a class I teach at my home/studio/gardens. Here we dragged the table out into the sun, while we stood under the cool shade to paint. (Love this garden my hubby & I designed, all that hard work is paying off in fun painting time!). "Peonies in the Sunshine". New diagnosis: POCD....peony obsessive compulsive disorder. 

Peony Passion - Mentoring Monday Classes

12"x12" oil on archival panel

For more information, or to purchase, click here. 

Can you tell it's my favorite time of year?  I'm so excited once everything starts blooming. The peonies this year are BIG, abundant, and have a light, tender fragrance.

Perhaps it's because I have to wait so long for them to arrive that I appreciate them so much. This bouquet was the subject in my "Mentoring Mondays" class. Luckily we finished before the the rains set in for the day.  

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - 

Marcel Proust

If you enjoy this blog post, please share it with your friends! 

Peonies In Sunlight

20"x24" x0.75" oil on gallery wrap canvas (edges are painted)

Click here for more information, or to purchase. 

By the time you read this, I'll be flying out of Boston, en-route to Paris, France. I am so excited over this trip, and can't believe it's finally here! I expect to gain lots of insights from our workshop leader, Dream Tolle Perry - and I'll be glad to "share the scoop" with you! I know that as I write this (Tuesday), she's already had chocolate in Paris (France, not Kentucky) and arrived at our destination to prepare for the sixteen artists that are due to arrive on Thursday at Le Vieux Couvent! 

Meanwhile back in Connecticut, I've been painting, between packing and preparing. Everything that has bloomed in the garden has been ripe for the picking, cutting, arranging, etc. The peonies were no exception. Standing out in the backyard painting in my "art dining room" of both sunny and shady places has really been rewarding.  It's taken a lot of sweat effort from hubby and myself.  I've got roses pouring off the fences right now. I hope they'll continue until my return.

Back to packing, au revoir!