musings on painting and parenting, love and life
“Bucephalus” 2.5″x 3.5″ oil on watercolor paper ACEO
This is one of my newer aceo’s. I’ve actually been painting more than one a day lately, I’ve just been lazy about posting! So, you can have a look at all of the other ones on my ebay listings.
Have a great night,
Ciao
The Eyes Have It — 2.5″ x 3.5″ aceo
Just a quick post tonight. I’m busy and tired. I painted three aceo’s today, cleaned house, played with my kids at the park, cooked dinner, gave the kids a bath, put them to bed, folded three loads of laundry, and now it’s time to get to work on my Barkerville paintings.
YAWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!
But, I’m painting:) Who could ask for more?
G’night, all.
“I SEE YOU” 2.5″ x 3.5″ oil on watercolor paper
Here’s another little ACEO. I’ve been having fun with these kitties this week. My first one, Baby Blue Eyes comes up for auction on Ebay tomorrow at about 7pm, pacific standard time, so check it out. I think next week I’ll do horses, or maybe musicians…hmmm. I also finished three other ACEO’s and a top secret Barkerville watercolor this week, so I’ve been busy. I’m a very tired mommy tonight, so I don’t have much to say. Oh, I know, you other artists out there, I have a question for you…What is your favorite type of watercolor paint? I need to upgrade, and I’m wondering if anyone has any opinions.
Okay, that’s it. Goodnight, all.
Okay, well, I know I have painted this image of my beloved Shiva before, but never this small:) I sold the original one, and I really love this picture of her posing in a ray of sunshine on our old farm. The light is so beautiful, I just had to do it again as an ACEO.
In other news, hmmm…let’s see. I know I had something I wanted to talk about. Oh yeah…commissions. I’ve discovered something new about actually working full time as an artist. I hadn’t up until this Barkerville project came up. I’d always dreamed of being able to support myself with my art, but let’s just say I didn’t do a whole lot to make that dream happen. I painted when I had the energy, or when inspiration hit, or when I thought I had time. When it’s a job, though, holy…do priorities ever change. Suddenly it’s really not that important to have coffee with girlfriends, or make sure your child gets to the play centre three times a week that’s half an hour drive away, and lasts for three hours, or watching Medium every Monday night. I’d love to still be doing those things, mind you, but they sure don’t allow me to get any painting done. This is hard!@ It’s work. It’s good work, because I’m doing what I love, but sometimes I have to do an image I’m not crazy about, or subject matter I’m not familiar with, and…it’s work! I’m the one who decided I wanted to paint Barkerville anyways, so it’s not like I have to just paint what I’m told, either. But still, I started to feel smothered, and hopeless.
I know I was going to go somewhere with this…damn mommy brain…I wish I could sleep at night:) That’s it…back to the ACEO’s. I’ve realized, that no matter how tiny, or insignificant it is, we, as artists, need to remember to take time to paint just for ourselves, or we’ll start hating it. I was getting so burnt out. The last thing I wanted to do was pick up a paintbrush. And then I took an hour and put it aside for just me, and painted a little trading card. It turned out great, and I felt great, and I didn’t have to take it all seriously, and worry if it was going to be good enough. So now, when I’m feeling smothered by the project, I grab a little 2.5″ by 3.5″ card and whip off a little kitty, or horse, or something totally frivolous, and suddenly everything’s all good again.
“Baby Blue Eyes” 2.5″ x 3.5″ oil on primed watercolor paper
I know!!! I’ve been away from here forever, but…I’m going to try to come back, I promise. I’m finally painting something I’m allowed to show you all:)
For the last five months, I’ve been working on a top secret project:) I’m not allowed to show the paintings off online…yet. Not until the website is up and running. I’ll give you a hint, though. The Candyman painting is one of the paintings included in the project. And, this cat painting is not, lol! Okay, I’ll tell you about it. I know that I mentioned somewhere that I decided to do my body of work on Barkerville, this cool historical, restored ghost town near Quesnel, B.C. — Well Serendipity walked in, and about a week after I’d made that decision, I was contacted by a man working in Barkerville, who saw my art online and wanted to know if I might happen to be interested in illustrating a book he was writing. (At that point, the only person I had told about my decision was my husband.) Well, DUH!! I had just decided to do twenty or so paintings about Barkerville anyways, so that was a no-brainer.
So, I’ve been working really hard on those full-size, original oil paintings ever since, and haven’t given myself much time to paint anything just for me. These little ACEO miniature paintings are perfect, since they don’t take long to finish, so they’re not really cutting into my project time, but I still get that wonderful sense of accomplishment of finishing a new painting. Plus, I can paint whatever I want, and that’s nice, too. I’m really enjoying the Barkerville project, but sometimes it’s hard as an artist when you’re being directed. So, Baby Blue Eyes was my solution! Hope you like her. She’ll be on Ebay for the next week, so have a look.
