Monday, December 14, 2015

 
 
Angel of Peace 12 X 16 mixed media
 
 
Oh, I love this last painting. I loved painting just values,
just light and dark.
I needed an angel and a blessing.
Some light in all the darkness
that seems to be occurring around us.
 
She inspired me to be loose,
to be open,
to be free.
 
She brings dreams of a new year full of hope.
I can see painting like this more often,
with a prayer for openness
and light.
 
Painting lessons begin again in January,
in St. Charles.
Message me for information and a holiday special.


Thursday, November 26, 2015

Black Friday Offer

 
Special Black Friday Offer
 
If you are reading this, you are one of my friends
and I would like to extend a special gift to you
I will be offering a beginners oil painting class
at Missouri on Main
in St. Charles
on Thursdays from 1:00 - 3:00
January 7 through February 4, 2016
The costs of the class is $95.00 plus materials.
The gift is this:
If you sign up and pay for the class before December 25,
The cost of the class is only $90.00
PLUS
you will receive TWO prepared canvases
AND
one of my favorite brushes
FREE.
You can only sign up by contacting me at
Hope to hear from you!


Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Lets hear it for the Whales


I wandered back into art journaling not too long ago.
Just couldn't stay away.
It's just too much fun and it really is a way I can find
my visual voice.
 
It reminds me how much I love the sea
and all the creatures in and around it.
That is where I come from.
I breathe better when I am near salt water.
I see things.
Everything.
It's life.
my life.
So the sea washes into my soul and out into my work
on a regular basis.
When I started to draw,
I drew light houses and sailing ships.
Then there were seashells and fishes.
Now I've traded my fins for feet and live landlocked
with only the river
to remind me
on those days when I need more wet than dry.
 
 
So my art journal holds these secret desires.
Poems and drawings.
I hear my mother singing this poem,
the way adults sing things to children.
Yes, Mother,
I will go down to the Sea again,
and dream of whales and storms.


Thursday, November 12, 2015

 
Hello! Long time no write!
Well I am sincerely hoping to get back in the groove of
sharing my art work and creativity with you.
Sometimes, as an artist, we need to cocoon a bit,
wrap up and see what we really nee to see.
Actually, that's not a bad thing for anyone.
 
I began teaching again in St. Charles,
at Missouri Artists on Main,
an amazing gallery full of the most talented collection
of artists in Missouri.
They are also the most welcoming and inspiring
group of artists I have ever met!
 
Teaching again reminded me how very much I love
lighting up the fire of art
in others.
It's one of the finest things I've ever done
and I love doing it.
It's both an honor and a pleasure.
 
The other piece of treasure I discovered in my cocooning
is a remembrance of the wonder of drawing.
My pens and pencils have all come out of hiding and have been put to work.
Drawing is a wonderful meditative thing
that is far more than image making.
It's a spiritual thing that opens you up as it slows you down.
If coloring books do wonders for you,
you should try drawing.
 
Well I have plans.
I have dreams.
But I am going to save them for another day.
I haven't forgotten my paints.
You can see my oils over at the
Kirkwood train station through the end of the month.
I will be here more often,
with some surprises,
some new journeys.
I hope you will join me.


Thursday, February 19, 2015

The wonder of Q-tips!

Chai Tea Roses
Click here to buy

It has taken me awhile to figure out how to do Winter.
Not easy for a woman who lived in the Southwest for oh so many years.
Boots, gloves, hats and scarves.
Grab what's needed to begin with,
then after ten years of ice and snow
I got the hang of it!

Now I have a lovely wardrobe of scarves.
I can match an outfit!
I was gifted with a pair of nice leather gloves, lined with thinsulite...yum
My boots are bright orange with yellow and gold flowers....
What can beat that?

Oh, maybe a cup of chai tea.
Yes, I am a coffee shop lurker,
but winter calls for a hot cup of tea,
with just a bit if sweetness
and something creamy on top.
Comfort is what dealing with winter is all about.

On the easel today I tried a new technique...
one I had heard about from several other artfolk.
I love working in an impressionistic style,
 but all those white mixed colors just looked heavy and chalky.
So I borrowed some Q-tips from my little bath sanctuary....
yes, it is a sanctuary, but that story is for another day.
I blocked in the painting focusing on where my darks and purest color would go.
Then a touched the Q-tip into some thinner and lifted out my whites.
Magic!
Just like watercolor painting.
In fact there is a luminescent quality about this little painting
I quite like!

I am teaching a watercolor workshop this Saturday
at the Green Door Art Gallery
and so I have been playing with my watercolors,
remembering why I love them so.
Flow and lift.
Wonders of color and paint.
Comfort in creativity...
while I sip my Chai.

Take a moment to fix yourself a cup of tea,
visit my website here
and treat yourself to a bit of color
of your very own.
I price my work so you can collect!

Friday, January 9, 2015

Come with me to Maui in February

Dreaming of Maui

Palm trees, rainbows, dancing whales.
NOT THIS YEAR.
Oh well, I decided to share Maui with everyone with a one day workshop at the Green Door Gallery in Webster Groves.
In the middle of the greyest, coldest February,
On the 21st.
From 10 am to 4 pm
There will be instruction on using watercolor and watercolor pencils in travel journals.
We will paint beaches, palm trees and maybe some dancing whales.
I will provide Hawaiian music, pineapple cake and macadamia nuts...
and we can dream as we paint.
I hope you can join me.Registration is through me.
$60 for the day.
A materials list when you register.
Call me at 314 - 780 - 8049
or email me at Paintdiva106@gmail.com
ALOHA!!