Tidying Up Before 30 Paintings in 30 Days

Before I begin Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge, I figured I'd get a few dozen vintage velvet pumpkins made and listed in my Etsy shop. Now that I have that taken care of, I can put those things aside and clear off some space for paints, brushes, and canvases. :)

There are three sizes available, as well as a few sets of stacked pumpkins. If you'd like to see them, click here for my shop link.

As for pumpkins in other mediums... I have several pumpkin paintings listed here.

Check back in September for 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

Blessings,
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

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 13

As I mentioned yesterday, I joined Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge a little late... 12 days late. However, I had been painting this month already and will share one of those with you today.

watercolor and ink on stained 140 lb. Strathmore cold press watercolor paper

I've been practicing simple watercolor sketches... or maybe I should call them pen and ink sketches with watercolor washes. I'd like to do a series of these to present at the Lavender Festival this summer.

This means my acrylic painting has been out on hold for a while and if you are interested in purchasing past works at a discount, you can do so by visiting my Lana Manis Designs Etsy shop. Be sure to use this code during checkout for 50% off everything in the shop:

GOODBYE2014

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed day! :)
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 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 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

Crazy?

Call me crazy, but I just signed up to participate in Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days next month! What better motivator than to commit myself to something like this when I am getting ready for an out of state art fest? I just added my blog link, announced it on her facebook and twitter pages, on my facebook page, and now I'm telling all of you. No big deal. :-/

If you would like to participate, head on over here and add your blog link: 30 Paintings in 30 Days.
It'll be fun! :)

Happy painting and God bless,
Lana

Supplies CAN Be Pretty!

I'm getting ready for Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days...

and in order to stay inspired, I decided to buy some really pretty colors.

I usually paint with only primary colors, along with white, burnt umber, and sometimes black...
mixing my own colors...

but I wanted to have fun and try something new!
The paints aren't expensive, but a girl's gotta work with what she can, and these will work just fine.

While spending the day with one of my sisters, I found this tall chevron vase at Goodwill.

I love the color and it's great for my longest brushes.

I'm just about ready... all I need now is to clear off my table and make room at my easel!

Check back September 1st for 30 Paintings in 30 Days!

Blessings,
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

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

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days - Day 5

8"x 10", acrylic on canvas, palette knife

Okay, let me start off by saying I painted this on New Year's Eve. The reason I'm sharing this (again) for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge is because I feel guilty in joining it 5 days late... and I wanted to share something! :)

If you want to see more photos and read about it, just scroll back a couple of posts and you'll see it.

I'll do my best to get another painting ready for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope this challenge will help me to learn more and get loosened up for all those lavender paintings I want to do.

I will eventually list some of my challenge paintings at Honeysuckle Lane. 

Blessings,
Lana

Thirty Paintings in Thirty Days - Day Fifteen

Lavender and Bumblebees
16" x 20"
acrylic on canvas

It's been very hit or miss for me during the 30 paintings in 30 days, but I'm going to post whatever I manage to get finished. I am enjoying it... I just can't find enough time in the day!

Thanks for visiting...

Blessings,
Lana

P.S. I'll eventually get my new paintings listed here and here.

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

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

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 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 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

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

Back Again!

Even though I'm about 12 days behind, I decided to jump in on Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.

I recently picked up my paint and pens after a break from painting and it's so good to be back! :)

Some of these watercolors will be for sale, I just haven't had time to get them listed. New works will be listed on this blog. If interested in new art shown here, email me: lanamanis (at) gmail (dot) com.

Through the rest of the month I have older works for sale with a 50% discount if you use coupon code GOODBYE2014.  Please visit Lana Manis Designs on Etsy to see what's available.

Have a blessed day!
Lana

30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 14

I'm still playing around with pen and ink and watercolor washes... just simple subjects... trying different papers. I don't like this paper as much as I like the Strathmore brand. I'll be glad to make the switch back in a couple of days. The water colors I have been using are by Sakura. It's a compact Koi® Water Color Field Sketch Travel Kit and is perfect for small spaces and on the go projects!

Come back tomorrow to see day #15 challenge!

Through the rest of the month I have older works for sale with a 50% discount if you use coupon code GOODBYE2014.  Please visit Lana Manis Designs on Etsy to see what's available.

Have a blessed day!
Lana