It’s that time of year again. I photographed these pumpkins a few years ago and thought I would share them with you.
I love all the different sizes of pumpkins…
And all their unique stems.
Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell
Category Archives: Janell’s Artwork
A Tree Fairy Painting on Austrailian Paper Bark
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.
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.
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.
Here is a picture of the piece against my wood floor. I wanted to see different colors behind it.
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
Storm, A New Painting
I finished a new painting in my Fae and Nature series: STORM.
Storm, 16″ x 20″, acrylic on canvas.
Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell
Going for a Swim…
Look who was swimming through my sketchbook today. 🙂
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
A Sketch From My Journal
Here is recent sketch I did in my sketching journal. Don’t you think he looks mad? Maybe because it is raining today. 🙂
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
A Recent Sketch
Here is a sketch I did recently. It’s been a couple of busy weeks and I haven’t had a chance to work on a painting. But, I am always sketching! 🙂 I just love to draw wispy hair.
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
My Latest Painting … Returning to an Old Friend
She raises her eyebrow and, with a slight shake of her head, she pulls me towards her.
Her lips part, “Tsk, tsk, you have been away from me long enough. Return. “
I nod, and slowly walk through my landscape.
“Well, maybe just for a while.”
I raise my brush and return home.
After a three-year pause from portraiture,
the ever intriguing face draws me through my landscapes into her knowing eyes.
She beckons to me and my brush.
Once again, she has captured my attention.
—-
I have been sketching a lot lately and I have noticed an interesting difference between my sketches and my paintings. My sketchbooks are filled with the human and fae faces and of my dreams. Yet landscapes, nature and trees are what come from my brush. I wanted to start a new series and spent some quiet time over the holidays with my journal — Writing, sketching and thinking about how to merge my paintings and sketchbooks. I want them to share the space of my paintings. I wrote the above notes in my journal and then this is the painting that emerged.
Now, I am sketching with the intention of a painting. I still sketch to just relax and record memories and dreams, but now I feel a connection and “full circle” pattern in all of my art.
Well, I better get back to my easel so I can finish this painting. 🙂
Have a wonderful, creative day, Janell
A Caribou Painting – Because I love Reindeer!
November and December are busy months. We have eight family members that have birthdays between November 1st and Christmas. I always say I am going to get ready for Christmas early, but by the time I get done with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and all our birthdays, it is the middle of December. And when it comes to sending out Holiday cards… well, I always have great intentions, but usually get about five sent out.
But I LOVE getting holiday cards! I look forward to hearing from friends and family so I want to send out cards and keep in touch. I am just like my grandmother, I count all the cards I receive every year and I hang them up and display them as soon as they come in the mail.
Well, this year I have a plan. I decided to take a break from creating my regular body of work and create a painting just for me. I have always loved Caribou (I fondly think of them as gentle reindeer) and I really miss the snow from my childhood now that I live in Southern California. So I painted “Gentle Reindeer” to hang in our home during the holidays. It reminds me of the wonderful snow filled days I spent as a child. I grew up in a small town of about 80 families. The sledding hill was right next to our house and my mom made the best hot chocolate for all of the kids in the neighborhood. My sister and I would stay out all day sledding and playing in the snow.
Once I finished the painting I realized I could photograph it, add some text, and make it into our Christmas card. (And I could even share it here with all my blogger friends.)
Yippee! I have the painting and the layout for the card finished and now, all I have to do is get the cards printed. Which I am doing today, right now, this very moment…
I wish you a wonderful holiday season and a spectacular new year. Thank you again for taking the time to stop by my blog during this busy time of year. I so appreciate it. Have a wonderful, creative day — Janell
Sunflower Painting
It has been a really busy month, but I was able to get out to the studio to work on a painting yesterday. I love sunflowers and I have photographed them a lot, so I thought it was time to start working on a sunflower painting. I used three of my photographs as a reference.
I am just about finished, I just have a few more details. As with all my paintings, I have this “sitting” period when I have it “sit” on my easel for a couple of days. This is so I can walk by it a bunch of times and get a fresh look to determine the final details and any changes I want to make. I love the heavy texture and of course, the green background. You know, this Irish girl loves her green! 🙂
Here is a close up of the corner where you can see I continued the painting around the edges as I used a gallery wrapped canvas. I like this style of canvas best because the back of the canvas is double wrapped with wood for a nice clean look.
I will post the final painting soon.
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
New painting: Serenity in the Daffodil Meadow
I finished a painting this weekend. Another one for my cottage series… Serenity in the Daffodil Meadow. This reminds me of my childhood. My sister and I grew up in a small mountain town in Northern California named Hilt. One of our favorite things to do during the summer months was go for long walks in the woods and meadows and look for wild flowers. Oh, it was such fun!
I even came up with the name Jasmine for my daughter on one of these walks. Well, I was going to name her Jasmine Wildflower. Wildflower didn’t quite get into her name 20 years later, but she knows she is and always will be my Wildflower.
The painting is Acrylic on canvas, 16″ x 20.”
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
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