Author Archives: janellmithani

What Inspires you

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One of the biggest inspirations for my art is my garden.  I love spending time gardening, painting and just sitting and observing what is happening outside my studio.  I just love the tiny bright red blooms on the plants just outside my door.  They seem so soft and fragile.  I image little fairy’s snuggling among them for an afternoon nap.

garden with birdhouse photograph by Janell Mithani

I am also inspired by yellow and purple color combinations, lately.  The bright yellow is so cheery next to the light purple of the lavender.

Photograph of lavendar and daisy by Janell Mithani

So… What inspires you?

Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell

A Meloncholy Sketch

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I’ve been sketching some more and I just began working on another painting.  This sketch seems a little melancholy and her eyes seem a bit sad.  Hmm… possibly due to the fact that my daughter is heading back to college next week…all they way in Chicago?  I know she will have a great year, but I can’t help thinking of how much I will miss her.  It is interesting how my thoughts and emotions seem to be expressed in the characters I draw.

Lizzy2B

Well, I am going to think about all the Skype sessions, emails, texts and phone calls we will share while she is away.  That should cheer me up!  Thank goodness for technology. 🙂

Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell

A Tree Fairy Painting on Austrailian Paper Bark

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I love painting tree fairies and I have been experimenting with painting them on the bark of the Australian paper bark, Melaleuca quinquenervia trees.  We have a lot of them here in Southern California.  I love the organic shapes and the textures and feel painting on a natural piece of bark fits with my art.  The paper-like bark peels right off of the trees and it doesn’t hurt the tree to harvest the bark.

Tree fairy painting on paper bark tree

This is an ancient art tradition of the Aboriginal people of Australia.  They created wonderful dot paintings, often times telling the stories of their dreams.  I found out about this style of art a few years ago when I was researching the art of different countries to teach in my art workshops for teens. It is still a popular art style, and I found many beautiful paintings on the internet.  It has also become one of my most popular summer workshops.

I posted the sketch of my tree fairy a few weeks ago.  The tree bark can be really smooth on the back side, but I really liked the front side of this piece of bark.  Since it had a lot of texture, I decided to re-create my sketch to size, cut it out, and glue it to the bark as a beginning for the painting.  I also applied a coat of gel to seal and smooth out the bark.

Applying gel to the piece

I attached the bark to my easel with a clip and began painting.  I love the light  in this picture.  I have a wonderful south-facing skylight that lights my easel over my left shoulder.  It was my husbands idea when we built the studio and I just love it.

Bark painting and sketch on easel

Here is a picture of the piece against my wood floor.   I wanted to see different colors behind it.

Fairy bark painting against wood flooring

Now I need to figure out how to present and frame it. Hmmm….

Any ideas would be much appreciated!  🙂

Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell

 

Poppies for Jazz

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I just finished a painting for my daughter.  She is returning to college in Chicago in a few weeks, and will be sharing an apartment instead of living in the dorms.  She wanted a painting of poppies to remind her of home in sunny California.  So… “Poppies for Jazz” it is!

Painting of poppies by Janell Mithani

I painted a good portion of the piece at the Montrose Art Walk in July.  I always like to work on a painting in my booth when I do art fairs.

Artwalk7_2014BoothBlog

Here is my progress at the art fair…

PoppiesatArtWalk7_2014B

Then it sat on my easel in the studio for a few weeks while I finished up my July art workshops.

Here is another look at the finished painting.  I love it so much I am making prints of it to sell at my next art walk in September.

Painting of poppies by Janell Mithani

So glad I had time to paint today!  🙂

Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell

Mixed Media SHE Art = FUN!

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I have been wanting to do a piece of SHE art for a while. (I have a board full of them on Pinterest.) I was teaching a mixed media collage workshop this week, so on Sunday afternoon, I created this piece as my sample.  It was so much fun!

She Art mixed media by Janell Mithani

Drawing and cutting out things that I love and adding them into the piece was a fun process.  I used my Golden gels as “glue” and even played a bit with symbolism in the piece.  It is interesting how you can add little items, almost hidden in the piece as little surprises.  Prints of my paintings I had made for jewelry pieces were just perfect for the collage.   Just as I was about done, I noticed the easel seemed too clean for my studio (HA!), so I added all the little paint spots.

The class went great and I had a full house. (Yippee!)  I am going to make some of these for my girlfriends as gifts, too.  I love all the details and how you can make them personal or themed.  How fun is that!

Have you ever created one?    If so, add a link in my comments.  I’d love to see it.

Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell