Lots more trains!  This time I used Lynn Ferris' palette just for a change!  Still have more tweaking to do, but they can rest a bit!!!  I have two more photos to paint from and then it's time to go visit some more steam engine trains - perhaps near Pittsburg!  Fun thing to do, and my husband enjoys the trains, too - win win!! 

Three more trains done in preparation for Nov-Dec show in Berkeley Springs!  They are really fun to do.  Good thing - I have lots more of them to get ready!  :-) 

I'm doing a solo show in Berkeley Springs in November with just steam engine trains!  I'm really excited!!!  I finished 3 so far....this time using Laurie Goldstein-Warren's palette and techniques.  Do you like the difference????  I'm wide open for feedback!!!

I've been wanting to paint this for awhile, and this is my second attempt - first was way too dark under the tents!  I tried to make it all about George, hence the buildings and remainder of people are rather muted.  I like George, but I rather miss the brighter buildings after learning to use Laurie's techniques and palette!

This was such a fun project from the taking of the 800+ photos to picking which ones to paint all the way to painting them!  I'll go back again in the Spring and catch some more of the wonderful characters at Harpers Ferry National Park!

With a white mat and a black frame, I think this one will really pop!  What I'm learning most about abstracts is the importance of design and composition.  I ordered Pat Dews' book on Composition and Design and see if the more literal approach to abstracts will make more sense to my brain!  Definitely a fun way to learn!!! 

Happy Painting!

On this one I laid down masking first to make the "explosion" in the circle.  I'm having entirely too much fun with these.  They are really expensive to mat and frame due to the size, so I'll keep playing and get to the point where I can choose my top 6 favorites and chalk the rest up to education!!  Could maybe crop them down, too, if that will make for a stronger composition.  I wish I could give you all a project that would make you feel this good!!  Enjoy your day!!

OMG!  I think of new ideas to get more texture and layers to try in the middle of the night....I'm possessed by abstract angels!!!  I'm giving myself the month of January to continue to play with these and complete my series of Civil War paintings.  Then I need to get serious and start painting trains or I won't have 16 by November!!!

Happy New Year!  I've decided the best approach to resolutions is to realize I have a brand new book with 365 empty pages.  I am the author and the creator and can write it any way that I want!  "With Open Arms" kind of says it all with how to approach life and art!!  I was in 12 juried shows last year and am hoping to be in even more this year.  And that also means I need to have some structure and planning in my life, and that's OK!  In my journal I've added 10 day goal setting....35 more entries to fill up 400 page book!  I can do this, with open arms!  Welcome 2013!!!

These are entirely too much fun and should not be considered as artwork, but thank GOD they are!!! 

The technique, the colors, the designs - I love it all!!!  The "Masters Palette" of "The Sun Always Rises" is so rich, I think.  I'm grateful for the bolder brighter colors we have today, but appreciate the "Father" artists and all they were able to create with just 3 muted colors!  The "Celebration" probably lacks in composition, but I was thinking of upcoming New Years and all that I have to celebrate.  Life is very, very good to me and I have so much to be grateful for.

I've been wanting to play with some abstracts after watching both Karlyn Holman and Mary Ann Beckwith's DVDs.  This is a combination of using both of their techniques.  The first attempt seemed a little too boring.  The second attempt?  Jury is not in yet.  The "spray webbing" is fun but there is zero control over the outcome, as you can see!  This whole process is going to teach me a whole lot more about composition.  And it's all good!!!  Fun, too - have I mentioned that before???  Pretty sure I have!  :-)

These are my first two in a series of 12 paintings I am doing in a Civil War Series.  We are fortunate to have Harpers Ferry National Park at our back door (well, almost0 and they have a large staff of volunteers who dress in Civil War costumes several times a year.  I took my new Canon Rebel T3i out for a test drive with tri-pod in tow and just had a ball.  Still learning the ins and outs of this very smart camera with this very simple point and shoot gal. 

I love the Civil War Santa - he had such a twinkle about him.  And turns out the pretty lady isn't associated with the Park at all - some folks just like to come dressed up!  Funny!  I'm not crazy about the way her hair came out.  The rest of my characters are men with easy hair!!

I'm just having too much fun with this style, technique and colors!  This time I added some watercolor pencils by sanding them onto wet surface in some of the stones.  We may get an opportunity to display our artwork in Harpers Ferry, and if not, I'll gladly include these in my artwork for sale at the Washington Street Artists' Cooperative! 

This is a combination of Karlyn Holman's techniques for flowers and Laurie Goldstein-Warren's technique for backgrounds!  I think it really makes the flower pop!!!  Leaves could use improvement and that will come with time.  Overall, I'm pleased with this one and encouraged to do more, as always!!!  Thanks to two AWESOME TEACHERS!!!!!

Ah, this is the last of the paintings I wanted to do for the upcoming Potomac River Artists' Guild!  These are also using Karlyn Holman's style.  I'm declaring it Karlyn Holman week!  Hope to meet her some day - it's really fun using her free style and so different than my norm! 

This was fun moving paint around the kitty - some wet into wet, some partially wet, trying to get blossoms on purpose!  And I love negative painting for the leaves.  Here's one for you, Sheldon!  :-)

This was our latest lesson with Lynn Ferris.  I did okay until I gave him a black eye and let him play with his big sisters lipstick!  Portraits are way down the road for me, if ever.  The suggestion of a face/person works much better for me than to try to capture the essence of them let alone getting their features correct!  Was fun to do - and this has green, blue and pink under the "foundation".  Can't wait to see what this weeks lesson will be!

This from Lynn Ferris' class last week.  Object was to create texture in the barn.  I love texture!!  So many ways to get there and still so much to learn.  Working on this week's project and beginning to work on paintings for upcoming PRAG show which will be here before I know it!!  Happy Painting!!!

This was from Lynn Ferris' class earlier this summer.  This is the third time I've painted it - getting closer, but still struggling with hard edges for cast shadows and soft edges for the rest....and rolling the paper to get the depth and roundness.  I really like the picture and totally love the beach.  Odds are pretty good I will try this again until I totally think I've got it right!  But for now, I'm happy! 

This plate was given to me by someone very special and I wanted to figure out a way to paint it and came up with this! 

I guess there is no end to tweaking...but sometimes I'm just done!  I think it's much better than it was....real test will be to see what WVWS has to say about it!  Bring it on - it's all a great lesson and I'm hear to learn!!!

This was really fun to do from the detail of the cloth to the sheet music on Thai paper - and everything in between!  Hoping it makes you wanna come sit a spell and play! 

This one has several purposes - final class project for Laurie Humble's class; "WVWS All Member 2012 Show:, and most important - painting #6 of the 6 paintings due for submission to be considered "juried member" of WVWS.  Anxious to hear Laurie's critique and tweak it one last time!