ACEO - Red Zinnias - A Fine Summer Bounty

ACEO (Art Cards Editions and Originals) original oil painting 

2 ½ x 3 ½  inches

oil on ⅛ inch archival canvas • gloss varnish (UV protective)

sold unframed

This painting, "A Fine Summer Bounty" -  painted from life- zinnias from my garden! -  These are set up in my studio to paint.  When the weather gets dicey, I love to set up flowers and arrange the lighting like a stage set for my still life paintings!   I'm getting close to the season where most of my flowers will come from the florist or grocery store! 

These ACEOs are available at auction on ebay! You'll find them by clicking here.

You can also find my other floral paintings in my "Online Flower and Garden Show" by clicking here!  I do hope you enjoy the 'show'!! 

Winter Warmup-ACEO-Day 4 #jan30in30

3.5"x2.5"

Click here to bid!

 

If winter has anything decent about it, it does give us some planning time for our garden...a time for a bit of rest, introspection, and appreciation. The older I get the more I appreciate the 'rest' part! By the time Spring finally breaks ground here....we are dying to get outside! 

 

Winter studio time finds me either painting from life (with grocery store flowers, not bad), or photos & memories of summers past flowers, wonderful things grown in our own garden, lovingly arranged and photographed out there, too. And for painters, I know you've heard it a million times, "painting from life is better" - YES it is, as it teaches you how to 'SEE', as in really. see. color. And then the lesson of "don't be a slave to your photo" kicks in..... if you use one for reference...as they DO tell lies...shadows are frequently 'dead black holes' in photographs....when in reality, shadows can be incredibly full of color. 

  

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. 

"Summer Zinnia Memories" - ACEO Miniature Floral Oil Painting

 

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding Starts at just $1

(link to auction is scheduled to go 'live' at 5:30pm EST)

 

***So, this is the last one of the ACEO series that will be delivered before Christmas! Better stake your claim on one or more of these little gems!

 

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands or 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 king you can find in Michael's 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 (truly royal on a linen covered mat, just ask your framer!!). ACEOs make wonderful gifts! The gift of original art is truly a thoughtful treasure! I had less than a handful of these tiny ACEO canvases...so I do hope you win the auction bid on your favorite one!

It seems I only have time to do these little gems at Christmas- perfect for me as I wind down a busy year of larger works, and perfect for YOU as a great opportunity for original art at a truly affordable price.  These zinnias were cut just before the first big frost here in my New England garden.  I knew I couldn't paint them all in a day, so I used every last one to put in a variety of vases, to paint summer flowers later in my studio.  These are wonderful little studies for larger paintings. 

"Zinnia Blossoms" - ACEO Miniature Floral Oil Painting

 

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding starts at just $1

(link to auction is scheduled to go 'live' at 5:30pm EST)

For those of you not familiar with the acronym ACEO, it stands or 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 king 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 (truly royal on a linen covered mat, just ask your framer!!). ACEOs make wonderful gifts! The gift of original art is truly a thoughtful treasure! I had less than a handful of these tiny ACEO canvases...so I do hope you win the auction bid on your favorite one!

It seems I only have time to do these little gems at Christmas- perfect for me as I wind down a busy year of larger works, and perfect for YOU as a great opportunity for original art at a truly affordable price.  These zinnias were cut just before the first big frost here in my New England garden.  I knew I couldn't paint them all in a day, so I used every last one to put in a variety of vases, to paint summer flowers later in my studio.  These are wonderful little studies for larger paintings. 

 

 

 

 

"How Thoughtful Of You" Floral Lilies Gerbera Daisies

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite panel

For more information or to purchase, click here.

My dear daughters sent me a lovely bouquet the other day. Wonderfully fragrant with Stargazer Lilies, Gerbera Daisies, and other little blossoms, of course I couldn't resist painting it.  It's always so nice to be thought of ....and wonderful to have fresh flowers! (especially for a painter!). Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Orchid Blooms and a Blizzard!

8"x6" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

Click here for more information, or to purchase.

This is the third year in a row that I've been able to get this little orchid to bloom! I've found just the right window for it, and have figured out how to feed it to keep it happy! The rest is up to nature.  I originally bought it to paint, and each year it blooms I paint it again! Each time I try to give a different 'twist' to my efforts, even though it is the same plant and not a whole lot biger than when I bought it. This year is used both brushes and palette knives in my painting technique. Even when I've become very comfortable with a particular technique, as I have with using just palette knives, I always enjoy the challenge of trying something just a bit different now and then-to manipulate the edges as well as the surface texture of the paint.

What a crazy few weeks it has been - since I've last posted.  I've survived a tornado in Atlanta with my mother-in-law. (Seriously - we were ready to hunker down in the basement of her southwest Atlanta home, just as a tornado was touching down in the northwest Atlanta area- VERY frightening!).  Just the day before this tornado, we had a lovely stroll through the  Atlanta Botanical Gardens.  Filling our senses with the visual color and textural beauty of camelias, the fragrance of paper bush blossoms, the quiet zen of a Japanese garden. All the while I'm dreaming of summer, filling my creative well with  ideas I can hardly wait to work into my own garden.  Don't you just LOVE this gecko-gate??!!

Then I left Atlanta to go visit my mom in Winter Park, FL. We took her down to Clearwater Beach for a nice little vacation.  I got a text message from Southwest Airlines that my flight home on Friday would likely be canceled due to the incoming BLIZZARD. Oh my, so I switched my flight to last Thursday so I could get home, buy groceries (since I had already been so long) and help my husband dig our way out of this expected mess!

How DEEP did it get at our house?? Stayed tuned for tomorrow's blog post and I'll take you from 'Beach to Blizzard' in no time flat! We have finally dug ourselves out - just in time for the next snow-fall!

Geranium Glow, ACEO Floral Oil Original

3.5"x2.5" oil on fine canvas board

Bidding starts at just $1

As soon as the weather warms up in spring, I drag these big blue pots out of my garage and fill them with lovely geraniums! They do such a nice job of gracing the front of our home!

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.  ACEOs also make wonderful gifts!  

Zinnia Party

6"x6" oil on archival panel, $150

Buy It Now

or, contact me here.

This week I've been working on a larger painting of our zinnia garden. It really bloomed to abundance this year! Today I had to wait for the sun to come back out before continuing on it, so...I just cut a bouquet to bring inside and paint!  

Orchid Romance

8"x10"x.75" oil on gallery-wrapped stretched canvas

For more information about this painting, click here or contact me here.

I can hardly believe it- after 18 months I was able to get this little 'orchid from the grocery store' to bloom again. I just wasn't sure it was going to happen. I painted it in January of 2011 when I first got it:

8"x6" oil on Belgian linen mounted on panel
For more information about this painting, click here.

So now of course, I'm hooked on orchids since I got this one to re-bloom! 

Beach Geraniums by Roxanne Steed

Available for purchase from my website.

6"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival board

I helped my friend Norma find some interesting plants at a couple local garden centers. These pink geraniums are going to look GREAT on her front porch.  Since it was raining off and on today, we took them inside to paint for just today! I always love to go visit garden centers where ever I go.

Rush Of Spring

8"x8" oil on linen mounted on archival panel

"The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring." -Bern Williams

I'm always so happy to get outside to paint on a sunny day in Spring, even if there's still a bit of chill in the air. We have a wonderful stand of daffodils that I gathered these from, creamy white with showy yellow centers! They should be named HOPE, as they mark the end of winter for me here in Connecticut. Pushing things a bit toward the expressionistic on this one, trying to incorporate that feel of excitement when the air is a bit warmer and sunnier than the day before, yet there's still a bite of cold in the breeze. Things are warming up!

Buy it now

Lily Of The Valley Spring Floral - SOLD!

8"x8" oil on gessoed masonite archival panel, sold unframed

This one is already sold, but please contact me here if you'd like a painting of some of your favorite flowers!

"She walks among the loveliness she made,
Between the apple-blossom and the water-
She walks among the patterned pied brocade,
Each flower her son, and every tree her daughter."
-Vita Sackville-West (from the poem, The Island)

I'm hoping this fabulous weather stays around for a while. I am really enjoying being back outside in the sunshine to paint. Hope your Spring time is off to a great start, too!

Sunshine and Happiness Floral

10"x8" oil on Belgian linen mounted on archival panel

“Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” -Robert Heinlein

The last painting from the Valentine's Vault! A bit larger than the last few I posted.

Just so you know I haven't been simply goofing around this week, after I finished the rest of my 2011 accounting for my business and paid my CT sales tax on Tuesday, I have been going through lots of reference photos I had stashed away during the holidays, and decided to make a quick charcoal sketch of this young friend of ours....a friend of our daughers. Now she is grown with a little one of her own! The painting I (think) I've finished today I'm calling 'Baby Kiss'- I'll post it tomorrow!

Buy this painting on PayPal

Price: $200 USD

Or, send me an email

Loves Me, Love Me Not, Loves Me

6"x6" oil on gessoed masonite archival panel

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage." -Lao Tzu


Another one from the vault to help you be ready for Valentine's Day. And yes, what a perfect way to honor the one you love, with art! I have a few select pieces that I will offer at a special price unframed for Valentines day, perfect for displaying on a small table-top easel. It is dry and ready to ship!

Don't let those petals fool you, it's LOVE!!

Buy this painting on PayPal

Price: $100 USD

Or, send me an email