What Have I Been Working On?

This is the initial sketch for a  painting I've been asked to do.  Imagine a brilliant blue sky, empty black aspen branches, and brilliant yellow leaves with a touch of red.  Today's the day I get to go buy the canvas, and then I get to start painting on Monday!

These two are rough sketches for a different client.  He wants images for his church that depict our reaching out to the world, our worship of God, and our service to others.  I'm still doing a lot of prep work on this project, which is why you don't see an image yet for our service to others!

Other Blogs

My friend Kelley has a blog.  It's delightful.  Simple, yet profound.  She weaves words together beautifully.  Just brief thoughts, with meaning that sticks with you for days.

Just today she used THIS DRAWING to illustrate her point.  And I feel well loved!  Go check it out...she's definitely worth the time. 

http://kelleyjleigh.wordpress.com/

SOLD!

Can you hear me taking a deep breath?  The month of October was consumed by all the preparations for the art sale, and now IT'S DONE.  And I'm sitting here believing that I have nothing to do (of course, that's not true....I'll move on to the rest of my life in just a little bit!).

The sale went far beyond all my expectations.  I've been thinking and thinking, trying to come up with the words to describe it, and so far, all I have is a list of how I FELT as the day progressed:

stunned

amazed

really honored

goose-bumpy

nervous

delighted

giddy

speechless

thankful

small

speechless again

very small

child-like

Thank you, everyone who clearly loves me.  You surprised me over and over again.  And God grew bigger.

Also, there's a story linked to the sale of this pencil sketch.  I have to ask the purchaser if we can share it.  I'll let you know.

FOR SALE!!

Yes, this original ink drawing is for sale!!!  Not long ago I told you about an art sale that I'm having with my artist friend Kristen Simons.  I SO, SO wish I had an image on my computer of her work to show you.  Instead you'll have to visit her etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/kristensimons to see her work.  OR, better yet, you can come to our sale!

This saturday (the 22nd), from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 744 Blue Spruce Street in Woodland Park.

Lots of cool fine art prints, some nicely framed originals (like the one above), and a whole boat-load of greeting cards.  Oh!  And cookies!

On a side note, I called this drawing "Eight".  It seemed fitting, somehow.  I think it's one of my favorite ink drawings to date!

From the Archives

I painted this years ago...maybe 2003?  It's a quirky painting made up of an odd combination of ink (the black) and watercolor, with a small bit of cutting and pasting added in for good measure.  The biggest of the white spots were made using bubble wrap....although it's been awhile, and I'm not sure I remember all the details! Strange, but true!

It was really meant to be a fun project, and I don't know that I ever intended for it to hang on a wall.  But my mother seemed to love it, so it's now framed and hanging in her living room.   Mothers make for great cheer-leaders!!

Pikes Peak!

This was commissioned by a friend a really long time ago.  It took awhile to find the right reference picture...which is funny, considering I look at this mountain every single day!  Once we agreed on the pic, I fell off the ladder!  So this job was delayed repeatedly.

But now it's done!  We took it to the framer yesterday, and within the week it should be ready to hang on the wall.  To quote my sister-in-law, closure is good!

God, the Multiplier

I painted this for a friend a year ago.  She gave me the quote but gave me freedom over the image.  I wanted to paint the idea of God multiplying our small obediences.  My first thought was to paint a purple thistle.  You get just ONE of those that goes to seed, and the following year you'll have a yard-full!  And the thistle itself is pretty beautiful...all rich purple.  I even went for a drive and got a bunch of reference photos.

But as I was standing in front of my easel, I discovered that I couldn't bring myself to paint a weed for this friend!!  So I went hunting for a different idea, and landed on scrub oak instead.  They're magnificent in the fall, and they really can take over a hillside.

One step of obedience to God, and He goes to work and multiplies it.  I love the thought.