For Everything There is a Season

Hi everyone,

The verse in the painting above is one of my favorites, along with the next several verses in that passage. You can find it in Ecclesiastes 3.

My father-in-law passed away this past Thursday. He was bed-fast for several years and suffered greatly the past year or so. Through it all, he always had a smile and spoke with such love to all of his family when any of us visited. God had His reasons for keeping him here, and God had his reasons for taking him home when He did. Please keep our family in your prayers. He left behind a wife of 53 years, 12 children and their 11 spouses, 23 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. He was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.

Because of this, I was considering cancelling my trip to the Norcross Art Fest this coming weekend, but my husband expects me to go. I am torn because I am sad to have to leave Roger so soon after his dad passed away, but I am glad to be able to do this art show. Again, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

I wanted to send one more invitation to any of you that may be close enough to attend the Norcross Art Fest. Here's a link to all the information. I'd love to meet you if you are there. :)

I painted as long as I could and started gathering props and making prints, but had to put everything aside since last Thursday morning. This week I will just get everything as organized as possible and hope it all fits in the car. It is what it is and I will just make do with what I can accomplish the next 4 days. I'm sure it will all work out as it should.

Thank you for your continued support of my art endeavors. It is caring, kind friends and customers like you that make it possible for me to work from home and help support my family and to try new venues for my business, such as this out of state art festival. I appreciate you so much!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Days 18 and 19 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Pumpkins, anyone? I have painted several pumpkins recently to take to the Norcross Art Fest in October.
I've been busy getting ready for that, so I missed posting yesterday. To make up for that, I'll post two paintings today that I did this month.

Hopefully, I will be back tomorrow and will stay caught up with the challenge.

Have a blessed day!
Lana

Day 17 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I haven't painted for a couple of days, so I have to go back and pull a painting from a previous day this month. I have been doing a few paintings a day, so I have plenty from which to choose. This is a whimsical portrait of Linus, a brown leghorn rooster we had several years ago. He was handsome, but had a mean streak! You can see a photo of him in this blog post.

It's getting closer to festival time and I am trying to work as much as possible in preparing for that. And speaking of the festival, in order to raise a bit more money for travel expenses and such, I'll be listing some new prints at a discount for a limited time. Check back tonight for the details.

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Yay! Day 16 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

We just passed the half-way point of 30 Paintings in 30 Days! I am glad I signed up for this. I would have been painting to get ready for the art fest, but this challenge has kept me more on my toes, knowing that I have to have photos ready to post every day.

Hydrangeas are still one of my favorite things to paint. I could paint them every day and just change out the color a bit!

Back to the paint tubes and brushes...

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Morton Salt Girl & Day 15 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

The photo above shows a small collection of the more than 100 paintings I will be taking to the Norcross Art Fest in GA next month. I hope folks are looking for pumpkins, birds, and owls! I'll also have all kinds of flowers, fruits, and other subjects as well.

I painted the two owl silhouettes last night. I was so tired but I knew if I sat down I'd never get back up to finish them so I painted a while, and then leaned on the table to rest a while, and then painted a while again, lol!

I am home today. Our large upright freezer (that is less than 4 years old) died in the wee hours this morning. It still runs, but won't cool / freeze. Early this morning I grabbed a cup of coffee and started salvaging all I could, sent some things nearby to store in someone's freezer, and now I'm canning the green beans that I had previously frozen and making strawberry jam (not freezer jam) with all the strawberries I had in the freezer. Can't get hold of anyone at Frigidaire to ask about the warranty till tomorrow. I don't remember if we bought the extended warranty. If not... that's another unexpected expense that's hit us recently. It was a new dryer a little over a month ago. Oh, and have I mentioned something's wrong with my car and I have to take it to be checked next week? Praying nothing else happens before I have to leave for GA the first week of October for the Norcross Art Fest.

Do you ever feel like the little Morton Salt girl?
"When it rains it pours."
 That's how I feel today.

{image via Morton Salt}

Thank you for dropping by!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 14 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I think I'm getting slower and slower about posting. I am still painting every day... more than one painting because I am getting ready for the Norcross Art Fest. That's why it's getting harder and harder to stop and take photos, edit, upload, and post on the blog. I am trying to devote much of my time to painting and getting ready for the show.

This one was a fun, whimsical piece! I love painting on black backgrounds and leaving an outline around the objects.

"Baker's Dozen #2"
8x24
acrylic on canvas

This painting will be available at the Norcross Art Fest (Norcross,GA) in October.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 13 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Here's a simple one... not very imaginative... and you see these all over the place... but I needed to do something fairly quick and easy and it matches my decor! :)

"Always"
8 x 10
acrylic on canvas

Have a lovely weekend!
Lana

My Product Model & Day 12 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I've been having my daughter, Jessica, model some of my artwork for me. I thought these would be fun pics to use in my Etsy shop.

I think she's perfect for the job! What do you think? :)


And now for the 12th painting of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge:

Are you getting tired of this yet? If you just found me you can see more of my paintings from this challenge here. You may also enjoy going to Leslie's blog to see all the artwork from day one.

I seem to be stuck on either roses, hydrangeas, pears, or pumpkins! I hope that's what folks are looking for when they visit the Norcross Art Fest in October! :)

Thank you for stopping by to see what's new!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 11 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

You know what's the hardest about doing 30 paintings in 30 days? Posting photos! I am so busy painting, that I am forgetting to stop throughout the day and take a few photos of the finished pieces.

This one was quite simple, as are most of my paintings. I just wanted basic, choppy brush strokes.
And I wanted to incorporate some pink... or maybe a lot! ;)

I've been painting more pumpkins for the Norcross Art Fest, too! I'll share those in just a few days.

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 10 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

This will be my last palette knife painting of hydrangeas for a few days. I've got to move on to something else so I'll have more of a variety at the art fest.... like more artsy roses! For years I took my silk ribbon embroidery to festivals and was called the ribbon lady by customers that didn't know my name. Now I can be called the rustic, distressed hydrangea lady... or the abstract, whimsical rose artist... no telling what they'll call me, lol!

The flowers didn't quite make it to the orange I was going for, but working late at night with bad lighting isn't the best thing for color mixing. However, the next morning when I came back to see what it looked like, I was still pleased with the end results.

I wanted the container to look rusty and think it turned out well. I'm still loving the random texture and color you can get with a palette knife!

If you want to see more submissions from other artists for the 30 day challenge, click here.

Thanks so much for coming to visit... maybe I'll throw in another post soon that isn't challenge related. :)

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 9 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

And here's yet another hydrangea painting... aptly called
Can't. Stop. Painting. Hydrangeas.
I see a few things to tweak, but it'll be finished today.

11x14
acrylic on canvas
with palette knife
will be for sale at the Norcross Art Fest next month.

Have a wonderful week!
Lana

Day 8 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I'm still working with a palette knife and still painting hydrangeas on rustic, distressed backgrounds and I'm still enjoying it! :)

Untitled
8x24
acrylic on canvas
palette knife

This one will be for sale at Norcross Art Fest in October along with all the others.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 7 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

After painting the one I shared yesterday, I have painted 3 more larger palette knife hydrangea bouquets. At least in my mind they are hydrangeas.

Since the detail is minimal, I suppose one could claim them to be whimsically hued roses or peonies, perhaps. There's a thought... I think I will do pink ones today... and may an orange bouquet.... off to the easel! :)

Blue Hydrangeas (until I think of something more creative)
11x14
acrylic on canvas
will be for sale at Norcross Art Fest in GA the first weekend of October

Thank you for stopping by to see day 7 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 6 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Serendipity"
11x14
acrylic on canvas with palette knife
Purchase my art here.

I know, I know... I said I'd do more roses like yesterday's example... and I have done more, but I am also trying palette knife paintings again and love it! :)

The reason I'm doing so many a day is that I have a deadline to meet and it's looming ahead in just a couple more weeks.

This one was so much fun once I got the hang if it! I think it's one of my favorites and I like it so much that I am painting several versions of it for the Norcross Art Fest.

I love the unexpected bits of color spread here and there and the texture you can get with a palette knife. Just makes you want to touch it all over!

If you want to see more submissions by other artists, visit Leslie Saeta's blog. There usually more than 200 entries a day!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

P.S. Still taking Canopy Conundrum card orders. You can read about it here. Thanks!

Day 5 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Hi there! As I said in an earlier post, I like painting these roses so you'll be seeing more of them! :)
Rather than changing subject matter each day, for now I'm concentrating more on mixing colors, using mainly cad yellow, pthalo blue, and cad red or quinacridone magenta... and some white or black as needed.

I am also trying to find the perfect brush... or two or three. I try to use only one brush throughout an entire painting. If you have a favorite brush (brand, size, type, etc.) to use with acrylics, please let me know in the comments. I'm still looking!

And... If you want to see more 30 Paintings in 30 Days by other artists, visit Leslie Saeta's blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 4 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Here's #4... a brighter, choppier version of #3, but still whimsical roses still life in pink and yellow.

"Pink Passion"
8x10
acrylic on canvas

This one isn't for sale, but I have lots more original art, as well as prints, in my Etsy shop: Lana Manis Designs.

Click here if you'd like to see submissions to the challenge by all the other artists.

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 3 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

I decided to perk up my paintings with some pinks and yellows this week! This one is a whimsical still life of roses. I really like it and will probably do several variations of it this week.

"Oh, Happy Day"
8x10
acrylic on canvas

If you want to see more participants in the 30 Day challenge, head over to Leslie Saeta's blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 2 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Here's my second painting for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge! I find when I'm having a little trouble with inspiration or not feeling well, I can still paint a pear... even wonky pears look ok! :)

"Center of Attention"
8 x 10
acrylic on canvas
$75 plus shipping
(email me to purchase via PayPal invoice or find it in my Etsy shop later today)


Take care & God bless,
Lana

Day 1 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Well, it's begun! I'm posting the first of thirty paintings to be done in thirty days. The rules were a bit lenient, such as if you just couldn't do one every day, do a few extra at a time to have on hand for the days you couldn't paint. Today was one of those days. We went to church this morning and on to visit a family member that had been in the hospital. I didn't get home till later today and decided to use one of my free passes. :)

"A Little Old Fashioned"
6 x 12
acrylic on canvas
$75 plus shipping
(email me to purchase via PayPal invoice)


Take care & God bless,
Lana