Busy Little Hummingbird

Last January a bunch of my family members and a couple of friends took a cruise on Carnival Cruise Line.  It was a blast!  One of the stops was Honduras. 

   I was walking around with my husband, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law and this beautiful little hummingbird flew right in front of us and started enjoying the flowers like hummingbirds do.  Unfortunately I didn't have my big camera with me and so I wasn't able to get any pictures because I was having trouble with the focus in zoom mode.  My brother-in-law had his camera, so it was "Curt to the rescue!"

He and my sister are very supportive of my artwork and are sweet enough to let me use their photos for reference material for my paintings.  Curt especially is big into photography.  

Busy Little Hummingbird is the painting I created from the shots that Curt took.

It is listed in my Etsy Shop and will soon be in my Zazzle shop too, under "Birds".

 

 My hat saved me from a lot of light rain and drizzle and will never be the same again.  Can you say forever floppy?

 This is my dad and brother in Honduras and it rained for a part of the time, but was warm.

 First day on the ship.  Me and some of my family members.

(Photo taken by Ronda Reimer.)

 More family members lounging around.

(Photo taken by Ronda Reimer.)

My guys!

Left to right: Curt, dad, brother and hubby!

Hope you have a great day!!!
hugs,
Brenda

Sleeping Buddies II Commission

I received a request from a customer on Etsy from Germany.  She saw my little Sleeping Buddies aceo on google, which was already sold, and wondered if I coulde paint her a bigger one but with a brown bear, light brown mouse and green background.  I was delighted to and quickly replied to her request.

She decided on a 5x7 and so I quickly sketched him out on a piece of paper and then quickly colored him in a bit with colored pencils to get a feel for it. 

Because of the texture on the canvas, I usually like to draw my painting on a piece of paper and then trace it onto the canvas by scribbling on the back of the paper with pencil and then tracing it.  I've tried tracing paper but that leaves smudges all over the place. 

I started by putting in some of the shadows on the bear, and then working from there.

I then painted the little mouse, making sure you could clearly see the mouse among all that brown.

Got a little carried away with the background before I remembered to take a picture.  This little guy begged for purple flowers with all that green.

I find that I get better results if I walk away from the painting every now and then to get a fresh look when I come back.  I pretty much finished him after a couple of hours.

The next day I did a little tweeking and painted the sides.

Here he is on my desk drying next to another painting I am working on.  Actually when I finished painting the sides of Sleeping Buddies II, I decided to paint the sides on the cat painting, still haven't named it, so it can dry and I can finish with the last bit of details.

Here's Sleeping Buddies II.  The picture is bad because the paint is still wet and I took it in my studio instead of outside, which is what I'll do once it dries before I ship it off to Germany. 
Here's a link to the original Sleeping Buddies in my shop .

I hope you enjoyed going through the process with me, it was a lot of fun for me to share. 
Have a wonderful day!

Hugs,
Brenda

Commuter Bags

Commuter Bags

http://www.zazzle.com/seal_commuter_bag-210745482966908400?CMPN=addthis&lang=en&rf=238394130656528072

Chip's Spring Surprise Laptop Commuter Bag by bmthour
View Bags for Laptops online at zazzle.com

Rhino Mini Messenger Bag by bmthour
Browse Rhino Messenger Bags

Fawn Innocence Courier Bag by bmthour
View more Fawn Messenger Bags at zazzle.com

minnesota zephyr messenger bag by bmthour
Browse other commuter bag designs on Zazzle.

Chicken Commuter Bags by brendathour
View more messenger bags.

Polar Bear In Prayer Messenger Bag by brendathour
Browse more Polar bear Messenger Bags at Zazzle

Leopard Courier Bags by brendathour
Shop for another courier bag.

Black and Orange Spotted Butterfly 2 Commuter Bag by brendathour
Browse more Butterfly Messenger Bags

African Roller Mini Messenger Bag by bmthour
See other commuter bags.

This is the one that I have and I absolutely love it.  This is the small one and here you can get a better idea of the size. 
 

Proud Pelican

I had a lot of fun painting this little show-off!  Reference photos taken by my daughter, Jessica Thour.  Thank you Jessica for your support. 

Proud Pelican

11x14 oil painting.

I am going to put him in the Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute Art Show that's coming in May.

Grand Opening Thursday, May 2, 2013

5 to 8pm

Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Insstitute

800 East 28th Street

Minneapolis, MN  55407-399

Show runs from May 2 - May 24, 2013.

Hope to see you there.

Tropical Paradise Treasury

I thought I'd start sharing some of the treasuries from my etsy team, Interior Design & Style Guide.  Some of them I will be in, and some I won't.   Enjoy!

Treasury from: Overstock
Tropical Paradise
"Tropical Abstract" Watercolor on paper, 10 x 14 inches From: Lynn Cyr Art $160.00	Floral Fantasia Beautiful Art Glass Vase From: BeautifulThings $59.95	Happy Holiday Floral From: Floral Creation by POMA $49.95
giraffe 2 From: Judeco $90.00	Chenille Leopard print accent pillow From: House Of Peltier/ A. Peltier Interiors $45.00	Set of four tile coasters From: House Of Peltier/ A. Peltier Interiors $12.00
The Napali Coast 2 - Kauai From: The Creators Palette - Art by Melanie $70.00	Zebra Print Pillow Cover From: Petette $24.00	Pineapple Postcard - Mexican Vintage Pillow From: Arriba Chica $35.00
Caribbean Palm Trees in Ocean From: hud2art@yahoo.com $150.00	Sailing into the Sunset From: Sharen Johnston $325.00	Coiled basket large green contemporary danish From: SewDanish - Scandinavian Textile Art $47.00

Winter Visitor Original Painting

This is one of my newest oil paintings called Winter Visitor.  Reference photo by Patricia Otten.

This painting is 11x14 on stretched canvas.

Winter Visitor Pillow by bmthour
View more Cardinal Pillows at zazzle.com

For the Love of It

 

by Clint Watson

I've often seen masterful works by "amateurs" and truly horrible schlock by "professionals." In fact, I don't think an artist can achieve true mastery without working for the simple love of creating... as amateurs do. I've occasionally met those who are in it mostly for money and their work is usually... lacking. [...]

Read the rest of this article at:
http://faso.com/fineartviews/51424/for-the-love-of-it

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This excerpt appears courtesy of FineArtViews Art Marketing Newsletter by FASO,
a free email newsletter about art, marketing, inspiration and fine living for artists,
collectors and galleries (and anyone else who loves art).


For a complimentary subscription, visit: http://www.faso.com/art-marketing-newsletter

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Free giveaway by Stephanie Samos

 Just wanted to share this blog post with you so you can get on the free giveaway on Stephanie Samos' blog. Here's the link.

the not so everyday blog of an artist: Blog Giveaway: Spark and Inspire:    Spark and Inspire in the studio Oh my gosh! I am SOOO excited this week!!! I'm hosting a blog giveaway of one of the most ...

Praying Polar Bear Print Sale

 Having a sale on Praying Polar Bear.  Buy a 16x20 stretched canvas print for $60.  You save $12.23.  Hurry, because there's a limited amount of prints available at this great savings.  Sale lasts until Friday, Oct. 19, 2012.
Just click on the link below.
http://fineartamerica.com/weeklypromotion.html?promotionid=96027

Sleeping Buddies Original Oil Painting

After doing Praying Polar Bear I got an idea to do a baby polar bear with a little mouse cuddled up to him.  So I turned the adult polar bear into a cub with my magic paint brush...ok, it's not magic, just thought it sounded good.  added a mouse and there we have Sleeping Buddies aceo.  Oil on card stock. 
Soon to be listed in my etsy shop.