First, my oil painting of a blue heron. I believe this is a “little” blue heron. 1 minute time lapse to watch me paint the art…
Next, see the funny and weird bird that I saw tonight. It looks like it might be a type of big heron. Make sure you see the ending. It was like a silent movie comedy show that the bird was starring in. I added music and voila! A star is born.
I shared my sunflower oil painting with you before (2 minute time-lapse video above to watch me paint this). Well, now I have my own sunflowers growing on the patio. I planted them from seed and they are now in bloom. See what happened today when I noticed a cardinal near my new sunflowers and I thought it would make a pretty picture. Have you ever seen a cardinal in a swing before?
You might remember that this swing was marketed for hummingbirds, and that’s why we bought it (I shared a hummingbird in swing video on a previous blog post). But the juvenile cardinals like it too! It’s so fun to watch them play and swing, and this time I finally was quick enough to capture it with both still photography (the first part of the video), and then I switched over to video mode, but he was nearly done by then. I was amazed at how long he was swinging. He seems to like the attention and looks for me!
Watch this oil painting inspired by satellite imagery of a hurricane come to life in under 2 minutes (time lapse)
During our first year in Georgia we evacuated for Hurricane Irma. It was my first hurricane, but I’d experienced tornadoes, blizzards, and other dangerous weather in other places I’ve lived. Powerful storms can change lives forever and can be devastating. I will be thinking of all of the people in harm’s way from Hurricane Ida, and praying for safety and rescue for those in need. *Update, now waiting to see what Hurricane Ian is going to do. God be with you, all who are in the path of the hurricane, flooding, winds, and may you rise above the fear to remain calm in the eye of the storm.
If you missed my new painting video that I shared yesterday, here it is again.
I did something different this time… I took pictures at the end of Session 1, Session 2, and then the final finished oil painting. Sometimes people like the minimalist look of my unfinished work. They see stages of my progress in the videos and like points along the way. So, this time, I decided to offer a couple of those progress points. The effect is like a storyboard, a collection of three paintings that tell the story of this cardinal becoming finished art.
Session 1
Session 2
Finished Art
Sometimes “unfinished” has a raw appeal that is passionate and interesting; as a metaphor for life, we are often endearing when we are in our unfinished state of being. Many of us fall in love when we are young and scattered, not yet settled and sorted out. The humble energy when we are seen while “in progress” is beautifully human. When we allow someone into our unfinished state of being, into our private space, we share our hearts with others.
Watch my new oil painting come to life! “Cardinal on a Tree Branch“, my latest painting that features a cardinal; a bird that is spiritually meaningful to many people and is simply delightful in nature, a truly peaceful and beautiful bird.
I also offer some fashion inspired by art from the previous collections. I plan to add some new designs from the 2021 Nature collection, and I’ll definitely include this cardinal. I know that some of you love cardinals and have been hoping for a new one. I understand because I love cardinals too, and they mean something personal to me and my family.
So the “and MORE” is the celebration that my 2021 art collection is FINISHED! WOOT!!! This feels awesome! I also wanted to announce that I’ll soon have the book and fashion parts of it done. But, I’ll hold back on the reveal of what the new collection for 2022 will be. I’ll be starting on the first painting of that series soon, so stay tuned!
Thank you for being a part of this journey. One more set of 50 done toward my lifetime goal of 1k finished paintings!
Watch this deer oil painting come to life in 2 minutes, and then see below for the real life video I took today!
Even when humanity is having a bad day, a dark day, a day of violence and unspeakable horror, nature goes on as if untroubled by the woes of mankind. Chaos and evil may rule our minds, yet the seasons pass undisturbed, giving us hope that we will feel peace once again. This is what I saw today. There is a magical moment at the end when eye contact is made. May you too experience this second, in which your breath stops, as you too make eye contact with peace on Earth, as fleeting as that beauty may be.
Watch “Flower Angel” come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)
You might remember that I shared this one when I finished it at the beginning of May, while the promise of spring was still unfolding. And now here we are approaching the end of August and summer is soon ending. The time has gone by quickly, yet slowly… as time often does.
As summer leaves us I remember how grateful I was to see flowers and feel the sun upon my face when spring first came to us. Now that the heat and insects have made outdoor experiences unpleasant, and the flowers are mostly gone, I suppose we’re feeling ready for the change of seasons. But whether we are committed to it or not, autumn is near – at least it is in my part of the world.
With so much uncertainty, it is comforting to remember the sameness of seasons. Every year we experience twelve months, fifty-two weeks, and twenty four hours in each of those 365 days. Time passes, both quickly and slowly, and when it does we can look back with certainty that the time we spent is now in the past. Given all that we’ve been through since this time last year, we may be relieved to see the seasons slip forward.
Sometimes this world throws so much darkness, chaos, confusion, fear, malice, violence and dangerous, heartless tyranny at us that there’s very little left to say. In these times, I feel opposing forces vying for my attention: faith and fear. Fear associates closely with suspicion, resentment, bitterness, anger and ultimately hate. So I must choose faith. Faith leads to trust, forgiveness, grace, peace and ultimately love.
The fires may rage, but we are delivered. We are like this little child led by our Guardian Angel. Or, maybe we are that angel to someone else. We can focus on the fire or believe in deliverance from it. When we believe that we are protected and loved, it is well with our soul.
I let the painting experience flow and evolve, and I liked the way it went: starting with an abstract background layer, then adding a middle layer of leaves/foliage, and ending with the foreground main subject layer of the flower. I later repeated this technique with intention (planning, instead of just stumbling upon it while “free painting”). It’s become one of my signature styles.
Sometimes we try too hard, when life would be so much easier if we let things flow naturally. And then, we can learn who we are and do more of that. As we wrap up another Sunday, may we reflect on who we are, and let ourselves be that person. It’s all that is ever asked of us – just be who we were born to be, the best that we know how.
Watch this oil painting “Peach tree Hurricane” come to life in under 2 minutes (time lapse)
I painted this after my first year in Georgia when we had to evacuate for a hurricane. It was scary, as my husband needed to work the late shift and we couldn’t leave until he was home. But, we got out in plenty of time, and the only damage to the property consisted of a few missing shingles on the roof and the top of the gazebo was torn to shreds. Since we were renting, the property wasn’t ours, and the homeowner didn’t seem to care about that top because there was no replacement. That’s fine, because I was happy it was off! It was ugly and I prefer the open sky. I strung some pretty lights on the frame and when we stay out after dark it looks beautiful (in my eyes anyway!).
I’m still glad that we stayed away until we got the all clear to return. It would have been scary to have heard the gazebo roof tearing and the house roof shingles ripping… we’d probably have thought the house was being shredded! On the way home we saw downed peach trees in long stretches of the journey. It was sad to see. But the orchards bounced back quickly. It was amazing how fast the area went from dangerously stormy to bright and sunny again.
That’s how life and nature work. We don’t know what the future holds, the journey is unknown. But we do know that the sun comes out before a storm, and returns after it.
