Went for a lovely bike ride with my hubby and found some beautiful inspiration in the way of wildflowers. Desert globemallow flowers to be exact.
Desert Globemallows
5×7 on birch wood panel
(sold – Thank you!)
Rushed back and immediately painted this. I love it when inspiration pushes you all the way home so you can do what you love.
Stillness
8×10 Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
Fiesta
11 x 14 Acrylic on Canvas
Agave Blooms
12 x 16 Acrylic on Canvas
(sold)
Saving my favorite three paintings, from my Tohono Chul exhibit, for last.
Living in Arizona my whole life, I grew up seeing a lot of earthy pastel colored southwestern art. I know that it is not the only kind, but it is what I remember most. I really wanted my desert inspired art to highlight the brightness of the sun and show how striking the cactus blooms are against a blue or sunny sky, or amidst the calming green of the cactus. There is so much colorful beauty in the southwestern desert.
I will have new prints, of a few select paintings, in my shop soon!
Potted Cactus
5×7 Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
(sold)
Saguaro
6×12 Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
(sold)
Some happy cactus art for you today.
Gerbera Daisies
4×4 Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
(sold)
Jar of Flowers
6×12 Acrylic on Cradled Wood Panel
Jars of flowers make me so happy. I have a beautiful blue mason jar from 1976 that sits on the dining room table. We alternate paper flowers with real flowers depending on the season. If it is too warm, real flowers won’t last very long. A painted vase of flowers though, lasts forever!
Blooming
12 x 12 Acrylic on Canvas
(sold)
Two more paintings from my Tohono Chul show. Big, fat, happy blooms.
Freshly Cut
11 x 14 Acrylic on Canvas
(sold)
The weather has been quite warm around here (a little too early if you ask me) and the flowers have been starting to bloom everywhere. We got quite a bit of rain last season, so I hoping for extra blooms this spring. There is nothing like flowers to brighten up the desert landscape!
I had a wonderful time at the artist reception for the Tohono Chul show, “In Full Bloom”. It is such a beautiful venue and they do such a fantastic job of hanging the art and making everything look so lovely.
Five pieces sold the first night, which was very exciting! It is kinds fun to see my colorful desert blooms hanging in the gallery all grouped together. The show will be open for viewing until April 24th.
Over the next week, I wanted to try to post the paintings that were in the show. Posting them on my blog helps me to chronologically keep track of what I’ve done. Seven of the paintings in the show were painted at the end of last year (most of which I have already shared in past posts) and 9 were painted this month.
“Elf Owl”
(sold)
This cute little guy was painted last November and I can’t believe I never shared him. He is one of my most favorite owl paintings that I’ve done.
“Succulent”
(sold)
This little succulent painting, and the next one below, are newer.
“Cactus Bloom”
(sold)
I am thinking I might revisit these little cactus blooms and succulents on bigger canvases.
If you are local, hope to see you there!
The very kind folks from ChalkOla sent me these free chalk board markers to try out and review. I have two doors in my home painted with black chalk board paint, so of course I jumped at the chance to check these markers out. The image above is on my kitchen pantry door.
First, I love the neon colors! Second, the two different style markers make writing and drawing super fun. They come in 6mm and 15mm. The 15mm markers are my favorite because you can make both bold and thin lines and fill in larger areas quickly. I used the 15mm markers, almost entirely on the Tea drawing above – using the smaller markers to add highlights and small details lines.
Here is my other door, decorated with lovely words by the Beatles for Valentine’s day.
A few things to know about these markers:
1) The Markers are used on Non Porous Surface only (So its best to test a small area). They work great on windows, chalkboards, whiteboards, glass, labels, etc.
2) Chalk markers, as a medium, have high density Chalk Ink. New markers take 2 to 3 mins prep time – Once used the ink flows smoothly.
3) They are perfect for kids, parents, teachers, crafters and artists.
4) Wipes off easily with wet cloth (don’t forget to test your surface first!).
I also got to try out the chalk board labels, which are removable self-adhesive. I made labels for my jars of nuts. Now they look so nicely organized in my pantry.
Please enjoy 20% off the 15mm markers:
15mm Markers– [Link] 20% Off on Amazon – Use Code -> CHK20OFF
6mm Pens – [Link]
Amazon UK Link – [Link] 20% Off on Amazon – Use Code -> CHALK20A
Website: http://www.chalkola.com/
***Although these items were free for review, the Amazon links are not affiliate links.
The gem and mineral show was in town for the last 3 weeks and we finally went. It has been 10 years since the last time I went, and this time around was so much more fun.
The gem show, one of the biggest (or THE biggest) in the world, can be so overwhelming. There are 45 venues all over town, some require a retail/business license and others are open to the public. Some tents sell beads, some have rough gem stones & crystals, some have fossils, others sell fine jewelry and some have a little of everything. Once you know what you are looking for, you can narrow it down and make it much more manageable.
I wanted some beads and some crystals & gem stones. I found my fair share of both. It really helped that my hubby got into navigating me to the right spots and helping me find what I was looking for. It was like a grand hunt. We went for two days, telling my boys about how much fun we had, they wanted to go too–so we went on the last day of the show for another gem show adventure. It was fun to see my guys get all into it and pick a few stones they liked. They even want to save up some money and go again next year.
I left with a hearty stash of beads and gem stones. I have some necklaces and bracelets I want to make for myself. And the gemstones are for my beloved collection. I love keeping them in my studio and all over the house.
Heart in Hand
5×7 on cradled wood panel
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Just a fun, super quick painting video – 2 minutes long – in reality took me about 2 hours. 🙂
Big Love
9×12 on cradled wood panel
And a fun, messy big heart, with two little baby hearts. Super fun to make something like this after concentrating on flowers for the last couple of weeks.
Hope you have a happy, love filled day!
