Nativity Scene: Mary, Angel, Sheep & Shepherd plus finished backdrop

professional photos of my art

These are some photographs of my more recent art which were done by an OCAC student, Brittany.

Wordless Wednesday: fog, autumn leaves, and handmade earrings

Nativity Scene: 3 Animals & backdrop

Here is my donkey, cow, and one of my sheep all fired. Didn't they turn out great? 

And above is the wall/backdrop/creche before it is fired. I'll be getting it back in a week and I hope it's as awesome as my first batch of critters.

Nativity Scene: Donkey, Cow and Sheep

I once again worked on my nativity scene. I sent in my donkey, cow and one sheep to be fired. I should be picking them up on Thursday. I can't wait to see how they turn out, because they always surprise me in the way they look better than expected. :-)

Nativity Scene #1

Many moons ago I purchased greenware of a nativity scene. I used a sponge and scraping tool to finish the seams. I recently picked up my set after it was fired for the first time. Today, I took it to The Pottery Place (paid a fee for paint and second firing) and started. I worked on the wall and the little burro today and I'll go there and work on it some more tomorrow. I've always wanted a nice nativity scene, not the ones which are made in China. That's when I went to the local ceramic shop and found the perfect size for my very own nativity scene. I guess this started because my aunt (mother's sister) was an artist (she always encouraged me) and she painted a nativity scene for my parents and I always loved helping setting it up.

Now, I will have my own and when I have children I will show them the carefully painted pieces. I plan on posting photos of my process. Enjoy :-)

yesterday = horsie day!

So, yesterday was full of horsieness! My school studio buddy and I went around Portland looking at Deborah Butterfield sculptures. Has anyone ever seen one in person? Now, I've seen (and touched four!), Dance Horse, at the Portland Art Museum is in the courtyard and if the museum is open it's free to look at. The other three are a little bit harder to find at the Portland International Airport. They are just standing in a patch of grass as you exit the terminal (down the road). There is a secret little parking lot for like six cars and by some miracle, we found it. The super secret place is when you are about to go into the terminal drop off there is a delivery truck exit. Go on that and continue to the exit, and the parking area has no signs and is in the trees and there are picnic tables. But if you want to get up close to the horses .... you need to watch the traffic and at the right moment, sprint across three lanes of traffic. Well, that's the fun part, because yesterday the grass was super soggy and so were my shoes, but it was well worth it. :-)

Dance Horse

Dance Horse

The next part of my day of horsieness was watching Cavalia. I was so excited,  and it was for a reason because it was great! If you love horses and ever get the chance, DO IT! I was lucky enough to be outgoing and introduce myself to the woman sitting next to me and I found out that she went with her dressage barn. I was disappointed that I could only find two of my business cards, because I could have given them all to potential customers. It never dawned on me that I would be networking! But anyways, Cavalia was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Me with the Big White Top of Cavalia behind me

latest and greatest?

birthday portrait

art and life

So, today is my birthday ... I'm not so old yet that I've stopped counting. hahaha

I decided to share some of my recent art. This is a piece I created which is a process towards my thesis:

I really like the layering of watercolor and the drips. It's something different, loose and I think fun. It also is abstract and realistic, and I don't think it's over done. It's going to be hard to live up to this one .... maybe. What do you think of this new approach?

And this watercolor painting is of a commission:

The commissionee used to work at the golf course and he was visiting when he saw some sample paintings I had in the proshop and then he spent the night dreaming of hole he'd want me to paint. This is hole 15 and I have the white flowers he loved which grew in the rough and the green, bunker and pin of hole 4 peeping through the trees on the left. He absolutely loved it!!! I love it when my customers are in love with the painting I did just for them!   :-D

And now I have a picture of a woman who is part of a draft horse community which has commissioned me many, many times. I got to visit with her today, after many years. It was good to catch up on life. This photo is of her and her youngest team of European style Belguin horses (they are chunkier, like a bulldog) Hal (6 years old) and June (9 years old). I have painted both of their mothers (Daisy and Grace). So, here they are getting a load of anticipating parents and youngsters at a nearby orchards:

June is on the left and Hal is on the right. June is like a rock, she is a sound horse and very trusty, which is fantastic because Hal wasn't sure of some things along the dirt road winding through the apple, pear, and peach trees.

And lastly, I leave you with Obi. Today he is a 7 week 1 day old Blue Heeler/Border Collie mix. He's as cute as a button and I sooooo would love to have him, but he's my boss's new pup. So, here's OB (golf term for Out of Bounds) <3

I took this at work today, he was playing outside before I came into work and when he came in, we put him on the counter and started to take a nap. This is him waking up because his daddy came back in after playing in a tournament.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!! 

Wordless Wednesday: what I did today monoprinting