In the Past

Just a few years back, I painted and sold several little doll portraits. I called them Petite Poppet Portraits and modeled them after the Queen Anne dolls of the 18th and 19th centuries.

This week I decided to paint more of them (8 to be exact) and gave each one a name of one of my female ancestors. You can read more about them and see more photos here.

If you know someone who collects dolls, these would make sweet companion pieces to their collection.

That's it for May. Now that June is here, I have to finish up items for the Lavender Festival... it's just a few weeks away! :)

Take care and God bless,
Lana

Whatsoever Things Are Lovely...

This first painting's titled, Let Happiness Bloom. I named it this because I was so happy while painting it! I don't even attempt to paint realistically, don't think I could, but I absolutely LOVE mixing colors! I normally only use primary colors and white, burnt umber, and sometimes black. 

I love watching the colors blend, or not, seeing the brush strokes, and then hoping others see and feel what I see and feel when it's finished. I just want to share my art and help someone have a happy moment and smile when they view my art. :)

I've been retaking photos of some earlier paintings, as well. Whenever possible I use natural light to get more true to life color.

Come to the Church in the Wildwood

In the Pink

And while taking photos of paintings, I sometimes focus on the accessories to have some pretty images for things like this:

inspired by Philippians 4:8

Have a lovely, blessed day!
Lana

A Church, a few Abstract Still Lifes, and an Owl

I have really fallen behind on sharing my art and goings on in the studio. In the beginning, I wanted to post every few days and talk about my process and things I'd learned, whether through accomplishments or failures, because I believe that we learn from both.

For now, I'll just jump right in and start sharing again. Some posts may have one or two new things and another post may have half a dozen projects. At least I'll do that until I've caught up.

The first three photos (2 above and 1 below) are of a painting I recently did for my son's mother-in-law... or my daughter-in-law's mother... or better yet... my friend. When we first met (after our kids were engaged) we hit it off immediately. There was no awkwardness or tension as future in-laws. We were family and kindred spirits.

Below are some small paintings I did on Gessobord. I think I had some cad yellow and cad red left on my palette / freezer paper and instead of throwing it out, I painted the backgrounds on the three small panels.

Then I decided to paint the abstract flowers and vases.

The one below is my favorite. For some reason I love the background...

Here are two more small paintings using the same colors...

...and last but not least... the sweet white owl vase that my sister bought for me. I'm using it to hold my larger brushes. I love it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,
Lana

Happy Mother's Day

Have a blessed day!
Lana

Something Different

Sometimes I have this urge to do something creative and even if I don't have the time or the space cleared out for it... I just have to do it! I'd been studying other people's art techniques last week, watching youtube demos and tutorials, looking at brush strokes, admiring the use of color, reading art books, etc. and I got so inspired I just couldn't wait to try something different! I'm out of canvases (or so I thought) and pulled out my watercolor block to use. After brushing on a coat of gesso, I sketched a scene and started laying in the colors. I really don't know what I thought I'd do, but I kept adding thin layers until I had something I was pleased with.

I ended up with the painting at the top, but earlier it looked like this:

Maybe I should have kept it like that, but I just didn't like the way the tree was turning out.

Now that I'm seeing it again... I like it more than I did before.

I also changed a row of flowers. I use that term loosely because they resemble flowers about as much as the painting looks like a Monet or Renoir, but I had mounds / rows of lavender in mind. I guess if you stand wayyyyyy back and squint a lot, it could be a landscape with lavender in the foreground.

{compare this closeup to the painting at the top and you can see where I changed to look of the lavender.}

I had fun painting it anyway! :)

When I finished that one, I saw a canvas in the corner that I'd forgotten about and grabbed it up and started loosely painting a few stems of lavender. The canvas is 8" x 24" and is perfect for long stemmed flower paintings.

I'll do several layers, filling in more of the background and slowly defining the flowers... but not too much. I think I may try using a palette knife on it. We'll see how it turns out in a few days!

What have you been working on lately?
Any new artwork, needlework, decorating, gardening?

Have a blessed week,
Lana

Art Takes a Back Seat

Today, my art takes a back seat to nature,
for how can it compete with the art of our Creator?

Have a blessed weekend,
Lana