A Mothers Day painting- a mixed up style!

May 2013 I wanted to paint something for my dear mom, Millie, for Mother's Day.  Mom had started painting with me and she loved it, she also loves hydrangeas and has a collection of blue Danish plates.  That was my starting point for a still life for her.  It took me FOREVER to set it up,  I wouldn't have thought that was such a hard part of it, but it took me an hour to adjust petals, move vases, adjust the background.  Here is the final result....

Of course my mom LOVED it, just because she's an awesome mom.  It turned out pretty good, I like the reflective essay on the pitcher, the flower bugs me,  broad painterly style compared to the pitcher, the brush and paint looks good. The table looks weird,  off kilter.  When I finish a painting, especially as I look back on it, a few years back, I just have to say, what a learning experience.

My  still life I worked off of and my original sketch....

A FAILed start to painting again.....

2013.  I took a couple year break from painting,  not on purpose,  I thought I would be able to grab an easel and paint at home.  It's not easy with three kids,  always something else to do, like laundry. When I finally started painting again, I went to a local studio, Carrie Curran Art Studios to paint with a group of ladies.  It's like making an appointment to work out,  I can make sure to paint every week now.  I started off not having any idea what my style is, or what I want to paint.  I chose something really random.  I grabbed a green leather dog that used to be mine as a baby, a long time ago,  I'm not telling how long.  I found some robot nesting dolls to put in a still life with the dog,  I thought it would be a fun juxtaposition.  Like the old and the modern.  Let me show you how I started this painting, so bad. Don't laugh. FAIL!!

Granted this is the under painting, but what the heck,  it looks like a cartoon.  It's like I forgot how to ride a bike, or mix colors. Part of it is I was trying to learn how to do more photo realistic versus the more painterly look I had been doing.  Total FAIL.  I had to repaint it.  A few times,  I hated the background too.  After changing it totally I ended up with this....

Yes this is the same painting.  Much better, right?  It took awhile to get the highlights in the right spots to make the leather ears look shiny and the roundness of the robots.  

Here is the final painting,  I was so glad to finish it,  it took forever!! I put it in my sons room.

Still Life Flowers- 2011

My next painting, I wanted to try to paint a photo I saw in a book of an old painting of flowers.  It seems really vintage looking, and I wanted that look, for the house.  I really like how it turned out, such soft colors.

View of the Sea-2011

I wanted to stay in the old fashioned theme, so I could hang the paintings in my house.  I found a really great old photo of a painting of a woman and her dog standing on the beach,  love her white dress and sash blowing in the wind. I almost got painted the dog without a shadow,  it looked like it was floating in space.  Shadows are so important to ground the subject,  good thing I didn't leave it out.  What a newbie!

First foray into oil painting

I've always been some type of artist. At least I think so in my head and heart. Whether a it's crafty, sewing, drawing, design. It's all art. So I wanted to try oil painting. My first painting in 2011 was my version of a Van Gogh.