A Little Bit of Whimsy

If I were clever with a computer I would stitch these three photos together into one delightful whole.  But I'm not clever that way.  You'll have to use your imagination!

Several years ago my dad come home from a visit to Maine with this piece of driftwood, shaped like the drawings above, and said, "This need a little bit of whimsy".  Then he left it in my hands.

This is the preliminary sketch that I came up with.  The driftwood is now painted and hanging on his wall!

Merry Day One!

On this, the most insane shopping day of the entire year, I wanted to remind you all of God's generosity in His gift to us.  Don't forget!  Without the gift of Jesus Christ to redeem us, there'd be no point to anything!

And, yes, the Christmas season is delightful, and heart-warming, and memory filled...and angst filled, and frustration filled, and opportunity filled!  This is day ONE....practice today being still before God.  Practice today calming your heart while you wait in line.  Practice today not losing your cool in traffic.  And tomorrow, get up and do it all over again.  You've got 4 weeks (I think).  Practice copying the character of God!

God's Fingerprints

I'm in the midst of a commission for Christmas (what a great thing to be able to say!), and I have no pics yet, so I'm going to go down memory lane a bit on this blog.  It's a curious thing to do.  I see areas where I've stagnated and haven't improved AT ALL...but then I see great growth!  It's a delightful thing!

I painted this YEARS ago...maybe in 2003?  2004?  I really have no idea.  I called it "God's Fingerprints".  That seemed fitting for a  peacock's feathers!

WAKE UP!

This is the second rooster I've painted in recent months.  The other one seemed to be rejoicing in the morning sun, calling to anyone in ear shot to rejoice with him.  I think this one is perhaps mildly grumpy, and he wishes we'd just GET UP ALREADY!!  Who knew?  I certainly didn't know that when I started painting him!  Evidently paintings can become their own entity, with their own personality!  So, WAKE UP!!!

Forgetfulness

"Freedom"

6" x 6"

Oil on canvas panel

So, today is Veteran's Day.  And I completely forgot.  COMPLETELY.  I live in a county where it's not a school holiday, so I missed out on that little reminder.  I even went to the post office, but I only drove through the little drop-off lane, so that didn't even clue me in.  I finally figured it out when I tried to go to the bank.

This afternoon, as I put this new little painting in a frame I was reminded (again) that this country is a FANTASTIC place to live.  God has been good and kind.  And I am thankful.

So, to those of you who have served in any of our military branches, I'm sorry I forgot...and thank you!

From the Archives

Oh my word!!  This is so old!  I think I painted it all the way back in 2004.  That feels like eons ago.  I have no idea why I painted a ginormous pot of spaghetti sauce.  The colors are fantastic, though, aren't they?

More recently, I've painted three small oils, but they're still wet so getting a good pic of them is sketchy.  It'll have to wait another couple of days.

Oh, and remember me saying that I was going to fill that sketch book before the end of the year?  Well, I forgot.  Chop!  Chop!  I'd better get crackin' if I expect to finish!

From A Thankful Heart

Evidently there's ANOTHER gnarly tree that I forgot about!

Really, the whole point of this post is to THANK YOU.  To all of you who came to the art sale, it was a delight to see you!  Watching people go from wall to wall...from print bin to print bin...asking questions about how something was painted...it was a great day!  Many of my favorites actually walked out the door underneath someone else's arm, and it just made me grin!  Thank you!

Sketching is Valuable, Right?

I just told a couple of friends that I want to fill my sketch book before the end of the year.  WHAT WAS I THINKING?  That means, realistically, that I need to draw every day.  Which means that I don't get to fritter away hours on facebook (but who does that?  really?).  And it means that I have to be willing to have ugly pages, because that's just inevitable.  So, in between small commissions, and art sales, and the rest of life, I need to be drawing.  A lot.  And maybe I'll have some drawings to post here!

On a side note, it's really disturbing to be happily typing away, and to see movement out of the corner of your eye.  A spider was SAUNTERING across my desk.   Not nice.

From the Archives

I've been getting ready for my art sale, and have been updating my database ... that sounds so professional!  In reality, I have a list that desperately needed organizing, so I put it on my computer and tried to be tidy about it.  In the process, it dawned on me that I clearly love a gnarly tree trunk.  They appear over and over...

I painted this acrylic waaaay back before I knew if I even wanted to be serious about being an artist.  Then came a couple more...

... and even more! ... Surely there's a pixie or two living amongt these trunks!

Zingy

Lemons, anyone?  Just another little one, 6 inches square, painted with a 1/2" brush.  I now have 15 of these little canvas panels lined up in my house.  My dad is busily building frames for each of them, and within a couple of weeks they'll all be for sale!

I frequently wish I had more wall space, then I could just keep everything  I paint and have it all displayed.  But in order to do that I'd have to sacrifice a BUNCH of windows...and that's not happening!  I dearly love the sun shining in my house!  Clearly I love God's handiwork more than my own!

ART SALE!!!

This is the post card that we're mailing out for our 2nd Annual Art Sale!!  Do you want to come?!  Come one, come all!  There will be three artists there this year, along with lots of beautiful artwork.  I'm thinking you could find some fantastic, one-of-a-kind christmas  presents!

If you live too far away to come (like the moon? hahaha!), but there's been something you've had a hankering for, e-mail me at adinashane@yahoo.com!!  If your favorite is available, I'd love to sell it, pack it, and ship it to you!!

Oh, if you want more info on the other artists, you can check out their stuff here:

http://www.loisrosiosprague.com

http://www.etsy.com/shop/kristensimons

Can You Hear It?

Can you hear the bell?  Bdling!  Bdling!  It makes your heart go back to some beautiful day when you were younger and all was well!  It just makes me smile!

Small Stuff

Today I met with a small group of friends...there are 4 of us.  We get together once a week and speak of the activity of God in our lives.  Sometimes we cry.  We always laugh.  And today I took my sketch book.  They are kind enough to not be offended if I'm drawing while we talk.  I see all sorts of drawing problems with this, but it really doesn't matter.  Just holding a pen or pencil is good.

The Final Three

I kept forgetting my camera, so this is the result of a couple weeks worth of work.  It was great fun!  Getting the reference pic for the "Follow Me" canvas was an adventure all it's own, simply because my models, though very cooperative, were a little slap happy.

I LOVE how gnarled the widow's hand turned out.  That's one of those delightful surprises that happen to me all the time.  Clearly the kindness of God!

So this set is done.  All the paint is now in the crawl space where it won't freeze.  My little scaffold is folded up and stashed in the garage.   Time to move on to some small stuff...!