Finally!

Remember this?  I posted progress pics awhile ago, and couldn't post the final image until now... because it was a Christmas present, and it was a surprise... and wouldn't it be awful if I posted it and ruined the surprise?

So, here's the finished product:

And the recipient is pleased!  I'm so glad.  There's a wicked voice that lives way back in the back of my head, and it likes to whisper that I'm really not any good at this.  Be silent, wicked voice.  I am measured by the love of my Savior, and it's His approval I live for.

Just Finished

I haven't been completely slacking, honest!

I just finished this on the wall of a friend.  She chose the general image and the verse, then I went hunting for a reference pic that fit her requests.  This picture was taken up behind Alma, Colorado.  It was a lovely summer day, but one without a blue sky... that doesn't happen very often!

If you look closely there are two stick figures on the left peak.  My friend informed me, after I had  painted the image, that she and her hubby had actually climbed that mountain!  So, OF COURSE, I had to include them!

ART FOR CHRISTMAS!!

Don't you just hate a blank wall??!  Don't you think it would look MUCH better with a piece of original art hanging there?  Well, art makes for a GREAT Christmas present!!

The following original paintings are all FOR SALE!  These are all done with oil paint, all framed in black floater frames, and all ready to hang on a wall somewhere.  I've listed the size of the canvas  panel first, and then the finished, framed size in parenthesis.  If you're within driving distance, I'll hand deliver.  Otherwise  you'll need to add shipping costs to the price listed.  Unfortunately, I'm not set up to accept credit cards, so you'll need to do cash or a personal check.

I also am VERY willing to paint something original for you!  I already have the frames for these sizes, so that makes it easy.  Let me know if you're interested!!  You can e-mail me any time, but if I don't personally know you, be sure to put something in the subject line saying you're interested in an art piece.  That way I won't lose you in my spam file!  You can write to adinahens@gmail.com any time.  The sooner the better, because oil paint takes some time to dry!!

"BDLING-BDLING"

6" X 6"

(10" X 10")

$60

"CHRISTMAS LIGHTS"

6" X 6"

(10" X 10")

$60

"CLOVER"

6" X 6"

(10" X 10")

$60

"FADING FAST"

8" X 8"

(12" X 12")

$85

"FREEDOM"

6" X 6"

(10" X 10")

$60

"PRETTY IN PINK"

8" X 8"

(12" X 12")

$85

"REST"

6" X 6"

(10" X 10")

$60

"UNDER FOOT"

6" X 6"

(10" X 10")

$60

"WATCH FOR ME"

8" X 8"

(12" X 12")

$85

Hope

Just a word of encouragement.  Life is tricky sometimes.  Rough.  Scary.  We tend to wring our hands while we're praying.  Sort of a mixture of honorable dependence on God, and fretful worry.  Take heart.  When you know Jesus as your Savior, His comfort and activity become real.  He is always at work, and He is always faithful.  

"LET US HOLD FAST THE CONFESSION OF OUR HOPE WITHOUT WAVERING, FOR HE WHO PROMISED IS FAITHFUL."  Hebrews 10:23

Our hope is not based on our own activity, or on the choices of family members, or on the promises of flawed people.  Our hope is based on the CHARACTER OF GOD.  Solid.  Perfect.  Never changing.  Trustworthy.

In Process

Yes, that's one doggone bright yellow canvas!  I thought I'd show you what you do when you've got a BIG canvas to paint, and it's getting a wee bit chilly to paint in the garage:  You improvise!  Well, really, you ask your husband to improvise, because he's much handier with a screw gun!

So this is where I'm spending a great deal of time... and all with OIL paint, which is just delightful beyond words.  I really don't know if I can express how much I LOVE painting with oils!

Next, the pencil drawing, which you really can't see.  Then some outlines of the foreground.  And then the beginning.  Here's where the house starts to smell strange.

I've reached the point in life where my son can take some pretty decent pics.  So, these days when he comes home from school, I say, "How-was-your-day-will-you-take-some-pics-for-me?"  In this instance he also took a bunch of pics from funky angles that made my brain sort of hurt.   I chose to show you the ones where you can actually tell what's going on!!

Can you tell the sky changed?  I painted that initial swatch of blue and white and then laid in bed thinking, "what was I thinking?"  So a couple of days later, I edited.  And once I was content with the sky, I was able to move on to the Peak.  It got edited too... you'll see...

Can you see the edit?  The darks in the Peak were a bit too dark to please me.  Not a lot.  But when something isn't quite right, you really can't sleep.  Really.

That's all for now!  I'm THOROUGHLY LOVING THIS!!  I tell my musical friends it's like hitting that perfect note, with the perfect tone, and a lung full of volume.  And I tell my writer friends it's like coming up with just the right string of words... poignant, lovely, unique.

I'll show you the final thing in a few days (providing I don't lay in bed one night and decide that the whole thing is wrong!!).

Bed Head

If you saw a rumpled up rooster, wouldn't you call him Bed Head?  Honestly, I couldn't help myself!!

This was GREAT FUN to paint!  He's just 6" square, and fits in a lovely black floater frame.  I was going to take progress pics, but then I got all consumed and completely forgot!  So all I've got is the very beginning.

My hubby came home and said something like, "you've got some green in there...", like maybe it was a mistake.  But no!!  IT WAS ON PURPOSE!  A rooster's neck just begs for a splotch of inappropriate color!

Pulling Out the Oils

"UNDER FOOT"

"FADING FAST"

The other day I pulled out my oils to do a chicken for a friend (I'll post him later), and OF COURSE, I couldn't waste the left over paint!  So I played and came up with these.  We're just coming to the end of our fall colors, and I've taken a plethora (love that word) of reference photos.  We'll see if I can wrangle my self-doubt long enough to paint a few more!  It was great fun.  I dearly love painting with oils!

More Items for the Arts & Crafts Fair

Remember I told you about an Arts and Crafts Fair that would benefit Choices, a local organization that preserves life for unborn children?  It's coming up in another month, and these are some of the final pieces that I painted for them.  

The first three pics look sort of wonky, because it's kind of hard to get an image of a shelf...when the shelf isn't hanging on the wall.  Just stand on your head, and you'll be able to see it!!  There were two shelves, each having a groove for a plate to stand up in.

The three trees are painted the same on the back as they are on the front.

It's astounding to me how long I pondered these before I figured out what I wanted to paint on them!  Particularly the trees!  In fact, I think I painted them three times!  I like the results though.

If you're local, here's some info on the sale:  It's called the Rocky Mountain Christmas Boutique.  It will be held at the Shining Mountain Golf Course, north of Woodland Park on November 7th and 8th, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Gray Jay

I've always called them Camp Robbers.  I don't know if it's really the same bird, or not.  They have very well known behaviors, though:  no fear, a strong longing for whatever you're eating, definite curiosity.  It's a delightful thing to lure them in for a cracker (or whatever!) and end up with them landing on your head!

And my Father cares for them.  But He cares for me far more.

"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not worth much more than they?"  (Matthew 6:26)

It's a good thing to rest in the care of our loving, sovereign, saving God.

An Old Sketchbook

Fall is approaching, which  means it's time to re-arrange the furniture.  There's logic in there, trust me.  In the process, I down-sized some notebooks and magazines.   And there was this lovely sketch book, completely full, that I hadn't looked at in years.  So I thought I'd share some of it here, since my current projects are taking awhile to finish.

There are some lovely little drawings that make me smile, and plenty of really OFF drawings that just make me cringe!!   Ah well... it was all part of learning, right?  LEARNING!

What Have I Been Working On?

There's a delightful organization in town called Choices (you can read about them here:  http://whatchoices.com/ ) that's supported by a big craft fair every year.  This year the organizers asked if I would add a decorative touch to some wood pieces, particularly some furniture that had been donated.

After much wrangling in my mind about WHAT to paint, I finally decided to go bright.  And bold.  And lively. And vibrant.

First, comes the base coat.... then comes the color:

There are 4 dressers in this set, all different sizes.  I'm painting them all using the same style and colors, but they're each ending up with their own layout.

For anyone local who's interested, as soon as I learn the date and time of the craft sale, I'll let you know!

An addition:  The sale I'm talking about is called the Rocky Mountain Christmas Boutique.  It will be held at the Shining Mountain Golf Course (on Hwy 67, north of Woodland Park)  on November 7th and 8th from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.  All proceeds benefit CHOICES.

Rainy Day Occupation

When it rains ALL DAY... and the dishes are done... and the laundry is done... and the bills are paid... and there's really not much else to do... then whiling away the hours with a pen in hand is really a delightful thing.  And then, when you're tired of pen, you add colored pencils:

I call this one "He Who Promised Is Faithful".  As sure as the turning of the seasons, as sure as the rising and setting of the sun.  In fact, those things are sure things BECAUSE "He Who Promised Is Faithful".

For The Love Of Pencils

The other day I did some verbal meandering about my love of pens, and paper, and pencils, and pens...  Well, clearly it runs in the family!  I present to you first of all, the humble tin, complete with home-made lid.

What's that I see beneath?  Looks like a pencil to me.  But wait, what is the lid made of?  A high quality, high class Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter lid.  That once cost 83 cents.

This was all my grandpa's doing.  He dearly loved creating his own solution to any problem that presented itself.  Got a tin that needs a lid?  No problem!  He also dearly loved pencils, I'm thinking... but he lived in a time where boxes and boxes of pencils just weren't acquired all that easily.  You USED your pencils.  No waste.  NO waste, do you hear?

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!   Oh how I loved my grandpa!  My, oh my, he was delightful.  And now I have the joy of this tin cup, with it's oh-so-unique lid, and it's exceedingly quirky contents sitting on my desk!  Makes me smile.

Oh, How I Love Ink!

When I was a kid, I have this memory that my mom would go grocery shopping, and while she filled her cart with boring things (like veggies and canned goods), she would plant me in the pen/paper aisle and I would just stand there and drool.  Clearly, this was back in the day when the world was a safe place!

My love for pen and paper still remains.  It's a bit disturbing to see how many different types of pens I own. I think I have every color of  Sharpie known to man.  And let's not even talk about sketch books.  And tablets.  And pencils.

This tiny little sketch book was a gift from my mom.  I just pulled it out the other day and discovered that it's really fabulous, stiff paper that accepts both ink and watercolor.  It definitely needs to go with me every day, along with a tiny watercolor kit!  

This leaf I drew the other evening while we watched one of those cool shows where people find treasures in their attics.  I was tempted to add some color to it, but then I decided I liked it as is.

How to Make Waiting Less Miserable

I don't have much to say about this, except that sometimes waiting just stinks.  So it's always a good thing to have lovely pens on hand, and to run across a great piece of card stock!  Doodling always makes waiting bearable.  Actually, doodling makes waiting almost pleasant!  You should try it!

What's That Hiding Under the Bed?

The other day I was talking with my sister about projects.  Particularly unfinished projects.  You know.  They're tucked away in a closet, or under the bed.  And once upon a time we were all fired up and eager and motivated.  But then something happened.  And the fire and the motivation got packed in a box and slid back behind something more pressing.

That's the way it is with making greeting cards.  I've got a whole box full of blank cards, just waiting to be turned into something beautiful.  And nothing gets done.  The really appalling thing is, the other day I actually went and BOUGHT a greeting card, because I didn't have any made, and I didn't have time to make one.  AAACCCKKK!!  This should never be!

So I sort-of made a deal with my sister.  She needs to pull the box out of the closet, and I need to pull it out from under the bed, and we both need to MAKE PROGRESS, for crying-out-loud!!  This is my progress so far.  Four cards, all ready to go in the  mail.  I don't have a deadline, necessarily.  I just want to have ALL the blank cards decorated and drawn on and ready to go.  Soon.