A girl and her horse

There is just something about a girl and her horse.  A bond that will forever be etched in stone.  This is Dylan and Paige.  A definite force to be reckoned with.  And a relationship that will stand the test of time.  With valentines day just around the corner one thinks of romance and love that exists between a man and a woman, a mother and child, etc.  But so often in life we forget about those relationships that we have with the four legged creations in our lives.  The love we have for beautiful creatures such as our pets, and in Paige's case.....our horse!!

Ive been experimenting with watercolors here lately and have had some ups and downs.  What Ive come to realize is that when i work with horses that the medium comes easy for me.  I started to wonder why, why is it when i paint a scene of just a person or dog that i struggle.  Ive come to a conclusion of an earlier aspect.  When i was young i would sit and draw horses allllllll dayyyyy looooong!!! This is not an exaggeration, ask my mother!  So, what Ive thought is that all those days of training my hand to coordinate with my eyes(unbeknown est to me) has come back to me, like a blast from the past! A dear friend of mine said yesterday that "Perhaps art is seeing the obvious in such a new light that the old becomes new" L'Engle.   How true this is for me at the moment!

Dylan and Paige
9 x 12
NFS
print $35

Create

Its snowing again outside today.  My kiddos and i have been stuck in the house since Tuesday! I have been working on a watercolor painting but decided to take a break today and do something fun.  So i came up with an idea to add on to my sit and reflect series,  and what better word to choose than create.  I love, love this high backed chair.  I feel like you could hide away in there with a good book and no one would ever find you! Well, i hope all is well during this snow storm and maybe you can find a chair like this one, sit and create!

Create

7 x 11

watercolor on arches 

$75

print $15

Dress me in red

Unfortunately i have no wise words to go into this blog.  I think I'm in a winter blah state of mind.  I wish spring would arrive and kiss me on the cheeks with its sunny days and warm breezes!! I am definitely not a winter girl, i like the first snow of the year, but after that i want my 70 degree weather and flip flops!

Dress me in red
8 x10
NFS
prints $25

Here I Am

Life can be tricky.  You have dreams, expectations, carefully laid out plans, and somewhere along the way they get lost in all the mess of just living! When i finished college i thought my art career would begin.  Like a red carpet laid out before me, or better yet, follow the yellow brick road to all that awaits.  What they don't tell you is that its damn hard being an artist.  All i have ever wanted to do in life is paint, create and sell my work.  I didn't choose an art degree because i thought it would be fun to sit and draw and paint, i choose an art degree because i wanted to take my talent to the next level.  I wanted to learn how to create a work of art that people would want in their homes, galleries, and businesses.  So after i finished college i went out and did just that, Nope!  I taught.  I taught art class to wee little ones and my art, my creating, was pushed to the wayside.  I'm sure you are wondering when all this babbling is going to come to some conclusion, or maybe even end!  Well, your out of luck!  This is just the beginning, the beginning of a series of fulfilling my dreams.  This is the start of my sit and reflect series.  This first painting i wanted to start with the word FULFILL.


Fulfill: to carry out order; to satisfy something

Im done putting off tomorrow what i can fulfill today.  I have been contemplating what my power word was going to be this year.  I even had another painting, that i mulled over for days, with the word create.  I knew it was not right because i could not post it here and share it with you because i knew deep down that was not the word i wanted.  Fulfill means taking action on a promise to yourself. Words are powerful when we put them into action.  This is just what i am doing!

Here I Am

11 x 14

oil on panel

$195

Print $25 

Precious Nitro

Today was a snow day!  No school, no work, so i decided that since it really wasn't my day in the studio i would "play" instead of work!  So i decided to tackle the watercolors again and do that portrait of our dog that i have been putting on the back burner.  Again, i don't quite know what I'm doing when i choose to dabble in watercolors, but like any artist i stick both feet in anyways.  I decided that i would do a quick painting and  then leave it alone, but the more i sit here and look at it the more i find "wrong" with it!  Don't be surprised if i repost this one!!!!!

Nitro
9 x 12
not for sale

Silent Auction Piece

So i told a friend i would donate a painting for their silent auction.  When i found out that it was a banquet celebrating 2010s achievements for the Northwest Arkansas Hunter Jumper Association, i thought to myself; do i have a horse painting? Even though i drew horses practically every day when i was a little girl, i had drew none since i had "grown" up into an actual artist!  I thought how sad is that, i use to be really good at drawing horses, not to toot my own horn. Furthermore i love horses! There was one problem though, i had no oil paintings of horses, and three days to produce the work that i knew would not be dry in time for the banquet! So, i thought i could just do a drawing or charcoal and then i looked at the watercolors i had purchased at Christmas!  Of course i did not look at them with anticipation and joy, because i am an oil painter, not a watercolorist! My goodness i sounded like Michelangelo when he said "i am a sculptor, not a painter".  Sorry, i had a random left field thought at the moment.  As you can see above i tackled it anyway, and through some very meticulous brush strokes and thoughtful placement i achieved my goal.  Now you have to consider that this is only my second watercolor that i have done in my whole life, so please go lightly!  And for all my watercolor artist friends out there, you guys are my new hero's!

I was told that the painting went for 150 dollars, which is wonderful to me because i was also told that the signed Bobby Petrino football was last viewed at 125!

Thanks for coming by everyone and i will try to have a painting up tomorrow of my new series called sit and reflect.  Which in a tormenting way i am soulfully trying to incorporate words into my paintings!!!

Sitting Tall
8.5 x 11
prints $25

Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez!!!!

Let the Good Times Roll!!  Growing up in Louisiana i was groomed on mudbugs(yes this is one word), everything hot and spicy, and madi gras! Yes, i come from Louisiana were you didn't realize that mardi gras was not a national holiday until you left the state.  Growing up in a small town we didn't make it to the big easy but almost every town in the great state of the boot celebrates with beads(no flashing required), great food, and crazy parades!

I am totally mesmerized by this woman.  I have no idea who she is, since i googled 30's burlesque woman and found a black and white photo of her with no caption.  I truly believe that if every woman could hold this much sex appeal with just one gaze, we would rule the world.  Now you all know its true, i mean I'm a straight woman who loves her man dearly, but when i finished this painting i couldn't quite take my eyes off of her!  So, my hope is that you cant either!!!!!

Laissez les Bon Temps Roulez
11 x 14
$295 original
$35 print

Happy New Year!

A new painting for the new year!  It seemed like yesterday the beginning of 2010 had started!  Golly how it flies by and before you know it another year has come and gone!  Wouldn't we all love to go back to the years of our childhood when time was so irrelevant.  Back when the choice of which beautiful ball room dress i would adorn my barbie in was the dilemma of the day!  Back when time moved so slowly!  Maybe that's why i love painting.  Well, i know i have a talent but when the paint meets the canvas something happens.  Its almost as if i am transported in a time machine back to the years of my childhood!  I know this to be true because when i start my journey i look up after a while and think how it must only be a  certain time of the day,  but in actuality time has flown by and left me in my peaceful "zone".  Hopefully when you come here to my site you will view these painting and get a feel of the same!  Happy New Year everyone!

Holly Go Lightly
11 x 14
oil on panel
$195 original
$25 print

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Here in North West Arkansas we only received a few flurries, so i have to think of the movie we watched this week, White Christmas!!!!!  It was so beautiful and enchanting i just had to share.  Kudos to all who woke up to white blankets of snow.  Why is it that the dream of a white Christmas never goes away! Even at 36 years of age i awoke to the hope of the white stuff on the ground!!!

Well, since i was a brave heart and battled the crowds yesterday i totally forgot to post the winner of the painting.  So, without further ado, from a random drawing heartland Honda is the big winner!!!!!! Jrod and Tina may email with preference to where to send the painting!!!

Winner!!!!Heartland Honda you will receive an email!!!


Since it is Christmas i am offering prints of the painting to everyone else who would like one....just email me with addresses and ill get an 8 x 10 print in the mail!!


Merry Christmas everyone!!!

When in Rome

Its nice that a painting can take me back to a place i love so much.  With the news of a bomb in Rome this week and watching old movies it seemed that there had to be a collaboration between the two.  I have been mesmerized by old movies, the glamor, the class, the staging that all correlates to painting itself.  Well, i hope you enjoy this visually as much as i enjoyed taking a trip back to my past!

Also, one more thing, today is the last day to enter to win the Christmas giveaway painting, Cake Anyone!!!!!!!!  Rush and go enter....winner will be announce tomorrow morning!

When in Rome
11x14
oil on panel
$195

Pet Portraits

This post is just a little reminder to all my readers out there that everyone should have a portrait of their beloved pets on the wall!!!!!!!!  And with the economy the way it is rest assured that my prices will NOT break the bank.  I do not charge as much as the rest in exchange for using your finished work as advertising!!! :)  When i am in my studio i am usually elbow deep in oils but if anyone needs a request i would gladly put aside the love of paint for the day!!!!!  Just email me and we can get a project started! I have created this post as reference, but will keep a side bar icon avaliable at ALL TIMES!!!

By the way......Merry Chrsitmas All!!!!

Cake Anyone? CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY!!!! See entry instructions below!

Lets be serious here, i am not sure how courteous or patient this great dane would react sitting by a luscious cake like this, thankfully here in my painting he has good behavior!  This is an oil on panel with dimensions of 8in x 10in and today instead of selling this painting i am giving it away!  Yes, you read the following sentence right.  I am a new blogger so i am going to periodically be giving a small work of mine away in hopes to draw more viewers to my site.  Whether you are a friend, art observer, or buyer i want you to come visit and see what I'm up to in my studio.

ENTER TO WIN THIS ORIGINAL PAINTING
please follow instructions:

To enter is simple!  You can enter in two steps, but please don't enter more than once!!! Lets play fair!
1. Follow my blog  (there is no spam that comes with following.......all that will happen is you will enter your email address.....and when i update my blog(add a new post) you will get an email letting you know i have a new painting up!

2.  Comment, comment, comment!!!!  Let me know why you enjoy this painting!

When you subscribe your email address will go into a pool where i will at random choose a winner!!!

Winner will be chosen on Christmas Eve!!!!!!

OK, Good luck to all!  If you have any questions or would just like to send me your email address to add to the pool, that will be fine!!

Happy Monday!!!!

Show me how you BURLESQUE!!!

My sweetie took me to see the movie Burlesque the day after Thanksgiving.  Ever since i have had visions of paintings dancing in my head!  Oh how fun it is to paint feathers, sequins, and painted faces with light faired skin!!!!!!  I feel a series coming on!

oil on panel  8x10

My first post!!

Its 20 degrees outside and my first post consist of two summer dresses!!!!!  Well, at least one is called Pinktober, some what of a fall, wintery theme.  The hog dress is 11x14 along with the cardinal dress.  Pinktober is 12x16.  All three paintings are oil paintings done on panel.  Please feel free to leave comments, inquire about prices, etc!  Happy Monday!