Back from Moving Land

I have been absent from this blog since December 28th. I have been in Moving Land, a place I have no desire to visit again! Our home went under contract on January 1st of 2014. With a lot of help from friends and lots of prayer, my husband, Rich, and I were out of there on January 27th. Needless to say, January was a whirlwind. The purpose of the move was to downsize our house and our debt so that I can devote myself to full-time painting. But February has been taken over by unpacking the boxes we spent January packing plus starting remodeling projects to make the new house our own. I love having the chance to decorate again.

Even though I have yet to pick up a paint brush or pastel since the move started, I have had some sales of paintings on Etsy and at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, CO. The still life pastel painting above sold. It's a 16 x 20 inch painting — one of my favorites. I'm told the new owner loves it in the spot she's picked for it in her house. I also sold a couple smaller oil paintings of bison that were inspired by my trip to the Zapata Ranch in southern Colorado last year.

My 24 x 24 inch pastel painting of a horse titled Breeze on Beauty (shown in an earlier post on this blog) has been juried in to the art show associated with the annual Rocky Mountain Horse Expo and will be on display at the horse show from March 7 through March 9. The artist's reception is March 8. Rich and I are bringing a couple young horse lovers we know to the artist's reception and to the Mane Event afterwards that night. I created a flyer for the show to advertise that I am now taking commissions for equine portraits.

It's GOOD to be back. I'm looking forward to creating paintings again soon. Our new house is more remote and surrounded on all sides by prairie and mountain views. I've already seen some glory-to-God sunrises that are waiting for me — just brewing in my mind.

Ready for Take Off - SOLD

This house sparrow visited our bird bath last summer. Did you ever notice that birds are always on alert? Constantly looking around? Their world is much different than we imagine it. I love painting them. They are too cute. This is a smaller format than I've tried before. I used to think 8 x 10 inch paintings were small : )

This painting is not framed. The image with a frame is provided to show you what it would look like framed. I can tell you where to buy this frame if you like it.

This 4 x 4 inch unframed oil painting is available in my Etsy shop for $40. Click here to purchase or to see my other available paintings.

Grazing Gray - SOLD

I have a soft spot for horses. From age 11 to 19 I owned four of them. I did every kind of riding from dressage to jumping to barrel racing. Great memories! I really enjoyed painting this horse. Thanks to Martin Pettitt on Flickr for use of his photo as reference. This unframed 5 x 7 inch oil painting is available on Etsy for $50. Click here to purchase or to see my other available work.

Tangerines - SOLD

This is my first painting on oil primed linen instead of canvas. It does feel very different. I love the way the painting turned out but the linen will take some getting used to. This is the surface that painter Daniel Keys recommends in a DVD tutorial I watched. Now I understand how he gets some of the textures in his work. You wouldn't think changing one thing would make such a difference. This 5 x 7 inch framed painting sold for $120 at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, CO.

Testing the Water - SOLD

We had a flock of robins show up at our birdbath this past fall — at least 2 dozen. It was very unusual. I took lots of photos. I couldn't believe my luck in catching this one as he dipped one foot in the water to check the temperature. Time for a bath maybe? I love to see animals show their personality.

This is an unframed 5 x 7 inch oil painting. It's for sale in my Etsy shop for $50. Click here to buy or to see what other paintings are available.

First Snow and Aspens

 

A friend in California, Gina Schemenauer, put some gorgeous fall photos up on Facebook that she took in the Sierras. She was kind enough to let me use them for painting. This is my first attempt. The trees were just glowing. This unframed 6 x 8 inch oil is for sale in my new Etsy shop for $60. Click here to purchase or to see the rest of the art in my shop.

My husband, Rich, and I are hoping to downsize our debt and our house which is now under contract. We made an offer on a new one that was accepted. But ours won't close until a house in Utah sells. So we wait and pray. All this to say that I have been distracted from painting too much lately. The goal of the move ultimately is to free me up to focus on making art : )

Bison by the Dunes - SOLD

My husband, Rich, and I recently went on a bison tour at the Zapata Ranch near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We were able to see a herd grazing on the prairie with the sand dunes and mountains in the background. The trip captured the magic of the west. The dunes were created by sand that was blown through a mountain pass and deposited over millions of years. The light colored horizontal strip behind the bison at the base of the blue mountains (Yes, they were that BLUE.) is the sand.

This 6 x 8 inch framed oil painting is available at the John Deaux Gallery in Pueblo, CO for $160. Contact me if you are interested in purchasing this painting at 719-547-1093.