While we were at the beach over the holidays, I got a chance to paint the view from the deck from the house we were renting. I just about finished the painting on site, now it is sitting on my easel … patiently waiting for a few finishing touches. I just loved the beautiful view we had and the peaceful sound of the ocean as I painted.
Oh, and here is a visitor that showed up to watch me paint. 🙂
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
In the midst of all our holiday celebrations, I submitted my portfolio to Xanadu Gallery of Scottsdale, Arizona. My art was accepted to their online gallery! Yippee! I am so thrilled to be associated with this wonderful gallery. And they notified me and had my page set up within 24 hours. (Even though their submission guidelines said two weeks.) It was really nice of them to be so prompt, it kept me from worrying and wondering for two weeks. 🙂
You can check out my page at http://www.xanadugallery.com/2013/Artists/ArtistPage.php?ArtistID=4361
I am still in the process of loading my art to the site and I LOVE how the purchase button is all set up. It takes you to a shopping cart that gives you payment options. I haven’t had the time to figure out how to set this up on my Artspan website. It’s so nice to have it all done for me.
Serenity in a Daffodil Meadow, Acrylic on canvas, 16″ x 20″
I met Jason Horejs, the owner of the gallery a few years ago at a workshop he taught for artists. His workshop was really helpful and he was so nice and gracious to all the artists that attended. He has written some great books to help artists with the business side of their art. Here is a link to the landing page with his books https://squareup.com/market/xanadu-gallery. He also writes a blog http://www.reddotblog.com/wordpress/ which is a great marketing resource for artists.
If you are an artist and you are interested in submitting your portfolio, here is the link: http://www.xanadugallery.com/Studios/Join.asp
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
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
A few months ago I posted about how I was thinking of adding these two little girls to a painting. I had created a sketch from a picture of my sister and I when we were children. Well, before I got a chance to start working on adding us in, I received a couple of inquiries about the painting. So, I decided to create a new painting with the two girls and give it to my sister for her birthday. 
While I was painting, I had a lot of time reminiscing about all the fun walks my sister and I shared while we were looking for wild flowers. We were fortunate to grow up in a small mill town called Hilt, located in Northern California. We spent a good amount of time roaming around the countryside. We had the best swimming hole!
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
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
Here is a painting that I finished recently. I was thinking of my daughter and that Mother’s Day will be here soon.
Mother and Daughter in the Wind, 8″ x 10″, Acrylic on canvas
I love trees and how they blow in the wind and how leaves sometimes just blow off in a group from a tree in a wind gust. I have been thinking of this painting for a while…how trees and people connect and how things in nature become representational of emotions we feel for each other. I have a feeling this is going to turn into a series as I am itching to do another one already. 🙂
I have been working on a new website dedicated to just my paintings. It is coming together and it is almost finished. I am so excited about it! I will post a link when I get it done.
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
Last week we checked out this little ghost town in Southern California. I had fun taking pictures and just fell in love with the little slumped shack… I think it will be appearing in one of my paintings soon.
Wagon seat, I just love the texture and faded color of the old wood.
A view of the valley below.
Loved the shape of this tree. It was situated in the middle of town.
I just walked around a corner and these were leaning against the wall by the jail. I just loved their juxtaposed position and the shadows.
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
Astrid is a fun and spunky gal! I am pretty sure I have had days when I had hair like this! 🙂
Astrid by Janell Mithani
Click here to see my portfolio of Manga characters.
Midnight
Occasionally a name for a character will just come to me as I am working on a piece. This was one of those times. I thought Midnight was the perfect name for my new character. She reminds me of the night and celebrates the color blue. Many times the name of a character or title of a piece of art is a challenging process for me. Sometimes I have two names I really like and can’t decide between the two. I do favor one word titles. My husband titles some of my pieces and always just nails it… like he read my mind when I didn’t know what I was thinking. HA!
What is your creative process for naming or titling your art?
I added some hearts to my Manga character JaZZie to make some Valentine’s cards. She is one of my most favorite characters, full of spunk and pzazz!
JaZZie loves Valentine’s Day!
JaZZie loves Hearts!
Have a wonderful creative day, Janell
janellmithani.com 
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