Archive of ‘My Artwork’ category

Here’s a peek at my latest painting. I hope to finish it this evening. I’ve been so busy with spring cleaning and home improvement projects that I’ve had little time to paint. I have several interior decorating projects underway, porch and deck makeovers in progress, a massive yard cleanup, custom curtains to sew, and a few painting tasks to complete–some involving plenty of spray paint (you know how much I love spray paint). Oh, and lots of fun shopping with my mom. I can’t wait to finish all these projects and share the results with you.
I hope you’re enjoying the warm spring weather as much as I am.
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My daughter surprised me with this lovely iPad case featuring my rose petal fairy yesterday. She ordered it from CafePress. I like that the image is a full bleed and that it’s printed on both sides of the case. If you’re not familiar with CafePress, hop on over there and check it out. You can have your artwork produced on hundreds of items like business cards, thank you notes, coffee mugs, household goods, apparel, computer accessories, jewelry, and lots more.
You can create a private shop and purchase items for yourself or open a public shop (similar to an Etsy shop) and sell products featuring your artwork to anyone wishing to purchase them. I spent the evening creating a shop, now I have to get busy and fill it full of goodies.
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I painted this baby fairy during our last mother-daughter painting session. She was a quick study on darker skin tones . I’m particularly pleased with her curly hair, which I painted with quick strokes and in a much looser style than I normally paint. This painting is based on a tutorial in Barbara Lanza’s book, “Enchanting Fairies: How to Paint Charming Fairies and Flowers.”
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My daughter painted these gorgeous miltonia orchids during a recent late night mother-daughter painting session. I love the bits of white she left on the edges of the petals and the one bright white flower to the left of the center of the painting she chose as her focal point. And of course I love the bright, highly saturated colors.
This painting was based on a tutorial in Ann Mortimer’s newly released book, “Orchids in Watercolor.”
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I can’t wait to use the latest addition to my artist’s toolkit–Mijello’s Fusion Leakproof Watercolor Palette–a gift from my sister. This palette can be used for either oil paints or watercolor paints. It has removable trays for easy cleaning and the container is airtight, so my watercolor paints will say fresh and free of debris like dust, bugs, and dog hair (a big problem since I share my home and studio with five dogs). You can purchase this handy watercolor palette at dickblick.com. Thank you, sissy, for such an awesome gift.
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Bryce Eberhart, Director of Advancement at the Santa Cruz Waldorf School created these gorgeous posters for his school’s upcoming May Faire using my rose petal fairy watercolor painting. I can’t wait to frame these as poster-sized prints and hang them in my home. You can follow Bryce Eberhart on Pinterest. If you would like to use my images on your school’s posters, flyers, or other items, contact me for licensing information at afternoonartist@gmail.com.
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Top of the morning to you. I hope everyone is enjoying their Saint Patrick’s Day weekend. I will be spending the day with two of my favorite people–my daughter and my mother. How will you be celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day?
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I thought it was time to switch gears from painting fairies and focus on botanical painting this weekend. Variety is the spice of life, right? I’ve never painted orchids before but I was drawn to the soft pinks and purples in this variety. I think the natural touches of red in the center of these orchids add interest to the painting and keep it from looking too monotone.
I’m particularly pleased with this color scheme. The colors are bright and soft at the same time. For the background I dropped in cobalt blue, cerulean blue, aureolin, and permanent rose. For the flowers I used permanent rose, cerulean blue, aureolin, and Winsor violet. For the leaves and stems I used green gold, cerulean blue, and raw sienna. This painting is based on a tutorial in Ann Mortimer’s new book, “Orchids in Watercolor.” Here’s a close up view:

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My brother has been suffering from kidney failure for the past five years and has had to rely on dialysis several times each week for the last two years, which rendered him very weak and unable to work. But all that changed on Monday when my cousin’s husband donated one of his kidneys and gave my brother the gift of life.
How do you thank someone who has given the gift of life? A thousands thank yous are not enough. A hand-painted thank you note seems so trivial for the gift he has given but I give it from my heart and with gratitude that will last a lifetime. He says he is isn’t a hero; donating his kidney was the right thing to do. A hero is defined as a person of distinguished courage. He is a hero in my book. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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This rose fairy painting proved to be quite time consuming. I worked on it off and on over the last two weeks, putting the painting aside when I became frustrated (mostly with the color scheme), and picking it up again later so I could approach it with fresh eyes. I nearly gave up on this painting early on in the process but stuck with it because my daughter encouraged me to press on. Now that it’s complete I think the color scheme is fine. I particularly like the little mouse and the colorful sky that depicts an early morning sunrise.
This painting is based on a tutorial in Linda Ravenscroft’s book, “The Fairy Artist’s Figure Drawing Bible.”
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