My Latest Painting … Returning to an Old Friend

Posted on January 24, 2014 by janellmithani

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!

Posted on December 5, 2013 by janellmithani

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

Posted on November 21, 2013 by janellmithani

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