Merry Christmas

glitter-graphics.com

Wishing you and yours a Very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous and Happy New Year!

Snowman Family

This is a 5x7 oil painting on canvas panel. You can purchase this painting thru my etsy shop at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

For JLO

My foster daughter, JLO liked my Fall aceo so much that she wanted me to paint her a bigger version for her. So, here it is, Fall 2.

I really like how the lamp turned out on this one. The colors are more vibrant than in this pic.

For Jessica

My daughter Loves leopards and cheetahs! She did her room in this theme. Now and then she asks me if I will paint her a picture of a leopard that she pulls off the internet. Well, I do it for her...it may take me awhile to get to it, but I eventually do it. Now of course, because of copywright infringements I can paint it for her, but can NOT make any money off of it . So no zazzle products or cafepress. I don't even know if I will put it up on my website. So this is really the only place where you'll see this painting. It's 16x20, and I love how it turned out.

WWAO November Showcase - Functional Art

This month's themed showcase, Functional Art, is hosted by Staci Rose. She did an incredible job, and it looks fabulous! Please click on the link and enjoy. You will find some outstanding art by some outstanding women.
http://stacirose.blogspot.com/2008/11/functional-art-wwao-november-online.html

Winter Wonderland

I like this one so much that I may paint a larger one. Thinking about using it for my Christmas cards this year.

You can find the original at my etsy shop http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

This one is called Caring aceo. It is an original aceo oil painting on watercolor paper. That means it is 3.5x2.5 inches. At first I wasn't real sure about it, but I really like how it turned out.

It is for sale at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

ALL PROCEEDS FOR THIS PAINTING WILL GO TO THE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION!!!

Fall aceo

I finally got around to it! I wanted to do a fall themed aceo for over a week now. Actually I wanted to enter it into the Fall Quest for my DAWG group (Designing Artist Women's Group)

It's just a fun contest among our group members. But didn't get it done in time. Oh well.

I had a picture of the lantern and vines, which I used as my reference picture, in my camera for over a year. I took it at my Church, Living Word Christian Center. Well, this past week I finally learned how to get pictures from my camera to my computer, thank you Jessica. I have several pictures I want to use for paintings, and now I can. : )

Unless I decide to change something, this painting should be posted at my etsy shop, http://luvs2paint.etsy.com/ tomorrow.

This next quest is Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer Awareness. I already have it sketched out, so I should be able to enter this time. ; )

Hope you have a happy weekend! God bless.

Christmas Shopping With WWAO

Hosted by WWAO member, Sharon K. Shubert

World Wide Women Artists Online (WWAO) is a juried

group of international women artists

showing and selling their art online.

http://redladyart.com/WWAOChristmas.html

Guest Artist - Ruth Palmer

Canadian artist Ruth Palmer, proud member of the Worldwide Women Artists Online is a versatile contemporary artist working and experimenting with various mediums.
Her most widely used medium is acrylic, however, digital and computer art is a close second. Ruth is also a supporting member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.
Ruth’s paintings are currently in private collections throughout Canada, the United States, Australia, England and Scandinavia.

Along the River Bank

Lead me Not

House of Memories

Psalm 33

Fruits of the Spirit

I have known Ruth for many years now, on line that is. I think it was not too long after we started painting. Ruth is full of energy, very talented, inspirational, creativie and has a sweet spirit. She loves the Lord, and her art reflects that. I admire Ruth as an artist, and person. Her abstracts are my favorite. In fact, when I think abstract, I think Ruth Palmer.

You can view her artwork at http://rpalmer.myexpose.com/

http://www.redbubble.com/people/ruthpalmer
http://www.artistrising.com/shop/artist/4428/Ruth-Palmer.htm

WWAO October Showcase

Every month a member of World Wide Women Artists volunteers to host a themed showcase on their website. This month the theme is 'Autumn Leaves, Autumn Trees' hosted by Chel Dodge of Lava Jewlery at http://lava-jewelry.com/wwao.html. Come check it out!

Magnets

I now have magnets with images of my paintings.

So I was looking on etsy, and seeing all these cute marble magnets and thought I'd give it a try. First I tried regular computer paper, but then I tried card stock, and that worked much better. I used mod podge to seal the picture before glueing it onto the marble. Bought some good 3/4" button magnets and E600 glue. I think they turned out good. I like them. I have Splendor In the Meadow magnet for sale at my etsy shop http://luvs2paint.etsy.com/ and will be posting more every day.

Glory aceo

Butterflies are so beautiful and free. This is my latest in my butterfly series. I still have to put these last two on my website, hopefully today. But they are listed in my etsy shop http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

Butterfly aceo

Oil on watercolor paper.

Here is another from my butterfly series I seem to be doing. I love the flash of red and bit of yellow on his wings.

Featured Artist - Sharon K. Shubert

I'd like to tell you about a wonderful published artist from Texas, Sharon K. Shubert. Sharon has her fingers into just about everything, she does acrylic painting, watercolor, collage, digital design, sculpting, Poetry, Pyrography, decoupage, and the list goes on. She is also an active member and moderator of WWAO (World Wide Women Artists), a juried international group of ladies who promote and sell quality artwork online.

Sharon is a very talented and generous artist who I greatly admire. She has been showcasing daily Etsy Treasuries on her website, (frankly I don't know how she finds the time for all she does.) She has also started featuring a Weekly Guest Artist on her website, which gave me the idea of featuring her.

Sharons' Website http://www.redladyarts.com/

Etsy Shop http://redladyarts.etsy.com/

Sharons' Blog http://sharonkshubert.blogspot.com/

These are just a few of my favorite items she has for sale at her Etsy shop and website.

This is a Mixed Media Collage with Love Bird and Heart

I love these guys!

Pumpkin People Set Polymer Clay, Mixed Media

Blue Heron Fauve Influence Painting

Are You Our Mother OOAK squared 4x4 mixed media

I hope you take the time to check out her website, Etsy shop and blog. Her sweet spirit and love of life and nature comes through in her work. I am sure you will fall in love with her beautiful artwork too.

DesignStyleGuide

I have an etsy shop and belong to the Design Style Guide, our tag on etsy is interiordesignteam. I am involved in blogging there also. Thought you may want to take a look at some really cool items that's been pointed out. Our regular blogger for today has been evacuated from her home because of the hurricane, thank God she's ok. So I filled in for her today. My prayers go out to all who have been effected by this hurricane, past hurricanes, and any other tragic event.



Here's the link http://designstyleguide.blogspot.com/

Rascal aceo

Here's my latest painting, entitled Rascal aceo. My brother-in-law was live trapping squirrels to release else where, when he accidently caught a racoon. My mother-in-law called to tell us about it and to ask my husband if he could go to Tim's and release him since Tim wasn't home. I had been wanting to see a live racoon in person for quite a few years, so I was very excited when this opportunity presented itself. We quickly grabbed the cameras and jumped in the car. When we got there, here this cute racoon sat, stuck in a cage, so we quickly took a few pictures of him, trying not to freak him out more than he already was. Boy did he keep his eyes on my husband the whole time, following his every move.

While standing as far back as possible, Paul used a crowbar to open the cage. I was sitting safely in the car at this time. Once the cage was open, Paul quickly ran to the other side of the car to get more distance between him and the racoon. The racoon slowly came to the door of the cage, looked around, and then took off to a wood pile. It was very exciting to see him be released. Thank you Tim.

I have this painting for sale at my etsy shop, http://luvs2paint.etsy.com/

Horse Portrait aceo

Last weekend I was sitting on our newly done deck, the old one was rotting away, drawing out this guy. Well, with school starting, that means back to work for me. I work in the lunchroom at an elementary school for 2.5 hours a day. Basically I am running around like crazy washing tables. For most this would be no big deal, but I have a muscle weakness, so it takes quite a bit out of me. So yesturday, I was finally able to sit down and finish my Horse Portrait. I used Watercolor Pencils & Colored Pencils on Watercolor paper. Normally I do my shadows with alot of purple and blue, but this time I wanted to keep it a bit more realistic and have alot of gray in there. I didn't know if it was going to turn out, but I am happy with it. It feels really good to get back to my art after a very busy week. You can find this on my website at http://www.brendathour.com/ look under aceo's. I will also be posting it on my etsy shop in a little while at http://www.luvs2paint.etsy.com/

Preview

I am hosting Septembers' Showcase for the WWAO (World Wide Women Artists). The theme is 'Wild'. Just click on the link to see a sneak preview http://brendathour.com/wwaoshowcase.html

Pretty In Pink oil

I decided to do a version of Pretty In Pink in oil, and I like it much better. His head has a better shape and I love the teal background behind the pink of the bird, it makes the bird really pop. I had gotten some opinions from my WWAO friends (World Wide Women Artists Online), and one of the ladies mentioned that I should make the background more dramatic, and she was right on. Thank you : )

Pink

These are my latest two aceo's I did. Why are they pink, you ask? They are for a charity auction for Breastcancer, and they are suppose to be pink. I came up with these two ideas. First I created the bird, named it PRETTY IN PINK, then I came across a picture of this tiger we took at the zoo, and couldn't reisist creating this PINK TIGER.

Butterfly Garden

I decided to name this one Butterfly Garden.

It's been kind of cool. I look at it, concentrate on what I feel, and a name comes to me.

It's just about done, I just need to do a bit more tweaking. See if I can make the top butterfly pop. Plus, I may have forgotten his legs, oops.

This painting has been exciting from the very beginning, and has just flowed.

Here we are in the process of the painting. I can't help but start on the center of interest, in this case the butterflies. My goal is to make the big black and yellow butterfly the center of attention, followed by the middle one, and then you notice the smaller bottom one, that's why he's a little hidden in the flowers.

Three Butterflies

I know the sketched canvas doesn't show up real well through the acrylic glaze, but I have 3 butterflies on flowers. Here are the photos that I am working from.

I love that excited feeling that I get when my painting is planned and ready for me to pick up the brush. That's my favorite part, starting the painting. The sky's the limit. My least favorite part is planning out the painting. Sometimes the idea comes quickly and the sketch goes smoothly , I like that. But too often I just am not sure what I want to paint, so that becomes a real struggle. Even though I have tons of ideas for future paintings, it may not feel right at that time. It has to feel right, that's when I can put my heart and soul into it and its like magic, for lack of a better word.

Spread Your Wings

I feel like I got quite a bit done today, and that feels good. I finished up this painting. I Sketched out my next painting on a canvas and got some marketing things done.

The colors in this pic didn't come out quite right, but I like how the painting turned out. The titles of the paintings have actually been coming to me much easier- yah!

I am hoping to start my next painting tomorrow.

Fishy Fishy

This is a fun little 5x7 oil painting I did. I love using colors that I don't use regularly on my palette. It's funny how I tend to use certain colors most of the time. I love how paintings turn out when I spread my wings a bit and use one or more of the brilliant colors that is out of the norm for me. Reference photo was taken by Jessica Lee Olson.
You will soon be able to find this painting on my website, http://www.brendathour.com/ under Pet Portraits. I uploaded Fishy Fishy to my website, but just noticed that it's not showing. So I will have to go on my desktop computer and upload it again.

FLY AWAY

WWAO August Showcase
Every month, a member of WWAO (World Wide Women Artists Online) hosts a
themed showcase. This months' theme is 'Fly Away', hosted by
Chel, Lava Jewelry, Zbella. She did a beautiful job, and I hope you will take the time to view all the
beautiful works of art.
http://lava-jewelry.com/wwao.html

Baby Llama aceo

I painted this baby llama today.
This is a sold aceo oil painting.

Reference photo taken by Pat Otten.

I've been doing quite a few aceo's lately, and I am starting to want to go a little bigger, or alot bigger...well, bigger anyways.

This weekend we are going up to Duluth to see the big sailing ships come in. I am hoping to get some good reference photos for future paintings. Wish me luck.

My new Lens

I created a new lens on Squidoo.com today. Here's the link to it.

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/workshop/beginning2paint#

I also copy and pasted it here if you don't want to click on the link. But....if you click on the link you can help my rankings, you can rate my lens, add a comment, etc.

WHERE DO I START?

I remember when I first started painting, I always wondered what was the secret? What am I suppose to paint first??? Do I start with the sky, you know, the background, and then work forward from there? This is for acrylic and oil. (I'm not tackling watercolor, because even though I have done some watercolor, it's like thinking backwards for me, and I am not as proficient in this medium as the other two.) So, when I paint using acrylic or oil, what do I paint first??? Well, I have learned that there is really no magic answer, no mystery to solve. Generally you can start where ever you want in the painting. And different people have different preferences. The main thing to remember, is that when painting, for the most part, you place paint next to paint, not over an already painted finished area. That was the key. This is where negative painting comes into play.

OK, SO WHAT IS NEGATIVE PAINTING???

I would read the Artist Magazine and anything else I could get my hands on, and would find the mysterious phrase, 'negative painting', but they never explained what that meant. Well, in a nut shell, negative painting is painting the area around an object. So lets say I am painting a tree. Ok, got the tree in, but what about the area around the tree and the sky holes within the tree? That's negative painting. So I can either paint the skyholes and sky first, or paint the tree first then later paint the sky and pop in some skyholes. I do it both ways. For me, it helps to have the skyholes drawn out on the canvas, so I have a plan or blueprint. Or, I am painting the bird in this painting, that's the posative painting, and everything else around it is negative painting. So it kinda switches up, depending on what you are painting. I have outlined the skyholes in this painting in fuscia. (I tried making the picture bigger in photoshop, but when I uploaded it here, it remained the same. Hmm, something else to learn.) Now there are times you do have to paint over paint, like when you put in a winter tree, small branches, blades of grass, etc.

MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE

Well, I like to get into the painting and start with the center of interest. Now, that's just what I usually prefer to do. One major reason is because I have a muscle weekness, and I need to rest my hand somewhere, so it works best for me to paint from the center of the painting out. This way I am not as likely to rest my hand on the wet painted area. I hate it when I do that. Ya, I do that...too often sometimes. I should probably mention that when painting, I turn my canvas sideways and upside down. whatever I need to do to get to that area I am working on.I know I can use a mahl stick or artists bridge, but since I don't have one, and it is way down on my priority list, this is what I do. :)

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Brown Swiss Calf aceo

Baby cows are adorable, and Brown Swiss Calfs are VERY adorable. I saw this little guy, at the Minnesota Zoological Zoo, and knew I'd end up painting him for sure. So last night I cleaned off my palette, got out fresh paint and here he is.

You will be able to find him at my website, http://brendathour.com,

Rooster aceo

I love the colors of this guy. This is oil on watercolor paper, aceo size. ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. They are 3.5x2.5 inches, and they make affordable, addorable mini works of art. Can be framed, displayed on a mini easle or added to your collection.

You can find Rooster aceo at http://www.brendathour.com/

Swimming ACEO

I saw this little guy at the Minnesota Zoological Gardens, and I just love his coloring. I haven't been able to identify what kind of duck he is yet.

You can find him at my etsy shop at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

Bunny Dreams

This little guy is from another photo we took at the zoo, in the farm area. He is such a cute little bunny that I couldn't resist. He was in a hutch, so I of course changed the background.

This one is 5x7 inches, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, with the sides painted as a continuation of the painting.

He can be found at http://brendathour.com

and I'll be putting him in my etsy shop here in a few minutes at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com

WWAO July Showcase

WWAO July Showcase
Every month, a member of WWAO (World Wide Women Artists Online) hosts a themed showcase. This months theme is 'My Favorite Works', hosted by Noelle Hunt. She did a fantastic job, I hope you will take the time to view all the beautiful works of art. Clink on the link to view this months showcase.
http://wickeddollz.angelfire.com/WWAO.html

Jersey Cow aceo

We went to the Minnesota Zoological Gardens the other day, and of course I brought the cameras. I noticed that there were two very cute, even pretty cows. This one, which is a Jersey, and another called Brown Swiss (which I am sure I will end up painting. )

My favorite cow was a 3 month old Brown Swiss calf named Tolbie. You guessed it, I'll be painting him soon too.

This one is an original aceo oil painting on watercolor paper. It can be purchased through my etsy store, http://luvs2paint.etsy.com or through my website at http://www.brendathour.com.

Elephant Portrait

I have really been enjoying doing these wild animal portraits. This one is 12x16, oil on stretched canvas, stapled on the back. The sides are painted as a continuation of the painting.

This painting can be purchased through my website at http://www.brendathour.com look under Wildlife.

Pony aceo

This one is another aceo of a cute little pony. I really like how he turned out. He is oil on watercolor paper. This one and the two chipmunks aceos, from the previous post are all sold. My first aceo sales. Yah!!!

I want to have prints made of these and some others that are in private collections and post at my etsy shop at http://luvs2paint.etsy.com. They will also soon to be found in my http://cafepress.com/brendathour shop.

Here are the other two I did that same day. The first one is called Chipmunk aceo, and the second, (my favorite) Peek-a-Boo aceo. They are, of course, 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Reference photos by Pat Otten.

African Rainbow Lizard aceo

Here is a little aceo oil painting of an African Lizard.
This one is from a reference photo by Dr. Thomas Trainer, he is so sweet to allow me to use his awesome photos. As soon as I saw this shot I knew I would paint it.
The other evening I sat down and did 3 aceos, and I had a great time. I will be posting the other 2 in the next couple of days. In the meantime I will be uploading it to my etsy shot, http://luvstopaint.etsy.com, and my website, www.brendathour.com. I'm sure it will also end up on my cafepress shot, http://cafepress.com/brendathour, and my zazzle shop at http://www.zazzle.com/bmthour*.

Dikdik - Dwarf Antelope

I did this painting last weekend. It is 5x7 on gallery wrapped canvas.

When I saw this little guy, I knew I was going to paint him, he is just so adorable with those big beautiful black eyes. I had to look up on the internet to find out what kind of animal he is. He is a Dwarf Antelope from Africa called a dikdik. (kind of a strange name)

The reference photo came from Dr. Thomas Trainer, with permission of course. He is so very generous and sweet to allow me the privledge of using his photos.

Mothers Bouquet aceo

Here's an aceo I did this morning. It's another painting from my mothers day bouquet.

Untitled

My daughters gave me beautiful flowers for mothers day. This painting came from one of the photos I took of them. Unfortunately the pic didn't turn out very well. The big yellow flower has a bit of a glare, and the bottom flowers are more purple, less blue.

This is a 5x7 oil painting.

I haven't come up with a name, so it is untitled.

Rhino

I started this painting on Thursday, and finished it yesturday, (Friday). It is 12"x12" oil on stretched canvas. I really like how he turned out.
Photo reference came from Dr. Thomas Trainer, with permission of course. I've really been having fun with these African Wildlife paintings. I'm sure you will be seeing more of them coming up.