When a Painting Style Evolves

"Do You See What I See?"

Acrylic, 6x6"

Bid in the DPW Auction

Opening Bid $45

This painting was inspired by a photo by Mark Muir on the Paint my Photo site.  Until recently, I have painted from life and from my own photos.  They say that an artist should paint from their own photos, because without direct experience of the subject matter, the artist cannot have a genuine emotional reaction to the reference.  Perhaps...  

However, I found it very liberating to paint from a photo someone else created.  I was able to focus on color, form, effect, without being so tied into what was "real."  I was able to play with my materials and bring something out from within me that may not have been possible had I been having a genuine emotional reaction to my own reference photo :D

Beginning January 1, Leslie Saeta will be hosting another 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I believe I am in!  I want to continue to explore this new way of working.  I'm interested to know which of my artists friends are joining in, too...

And, as an aside, a very Happy Birthday to my wonderful mother!! 

"Finale!" Oil Pastel - 30 Paintings in 2015

Oil Pastel, 2.5 x 3.5"

SOLD (thank you!)

Celebrate!

Congratulations, everyone!  We made it!!  Time to celebrate!!  Clean our houses!  Renew our connections with our loved ones!

Thank you for being such an important part of my month.  If you are reading this, I absolutely include you in my thanks, even if this is your first visit to my blog.  I appreciate every single person who comes here, artist or art-appreciator, whether you ever let me know you are here Watching or not.

 I want all the artists in the group to know that I have been so uplifted and inspired by seeing your amazing art each day and so honored to have met some of you through our mutual blogs.  I do hope we keep in touch.

And special thanks to Leslie Saeta for convening this challenging and motivating us every step of the way!

Note About the Auction

I haven't used the DPW auctions much, so I thought it would be fun to do something different for my Finale! Painting.  If you want to bid, just click on the link directly below the painting at the top of this page :-)  You will be taken to the auction page on Daily Paintworks.

The auction will end on Tuesday, February 3, and if I have arranged things as intended, it will not re-list if there are no bids by the end of the auction.  If the painting doesn't sell at auction, I am going to put it On Reserve--meaning, it will not be available immediately for sale with a PayPal link in my DPW gallery.

(also, if you want to bid, please note the actual dimensions, listed above, are teeny!  I have made this painting as large as I could on the blog, for effect!)

Personal Note about the Collage

Leslie encourages us as the final step to create and post a collage showing all our work together in one image.  I am wanting you to know I may skip this part of the challenge.  I haven't decided for sure, but I am leaning towards feeling the time it would take me to create the collage is time I would rather spend with my family and away from the computer.  Possibly...we'll see.

"Sunburst" Oil Pastel

Oil Pastel, 3.5 x 2.5"

$15 plus shipping

Purchase here

I just LOVE painting these teeny ones.  I highly recommend anyone learning to use oil pastels (or soft pastels) try painting these minis!

This just in:  I have learned that no one in my family understood the significance of yesterday's image!  All these years, I thought it was a shared memory, that we had witnessed this miraculous even together...I mean, my niece glowed!  Apparently, I'm the only one who noticed...

Happy Painting, fellow 30 in 30ers...