Happy Halloween?

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That was strange, I'm typing out my blog when it automatically publishes itself??? I don't think I hit the button, heck, I know I didn't! It happened while I was typing, and then I lost everything I was typing! Strange!

Anyway, I was typing before that happened, I'm just not in a Halloween mood this year. My kids aren't little and cute, I don't have any ideas for a costume and there are no parties going on this year. Oh well.

Anyway, today's daily painting doesn't have a name, nothing came to me today. Another floral spiral abstract. I am still enjoying painting these, hope everyone isn't getting bored with them! Another 8 x 10 oil painting on canvas board. Auction will start this evening.

Worked on the portrait commission this morning, not ready to post another progress photo yet. I may work on it more this afternoon. I have a lot of other work to do though. I have orders to ship and a studio to clean up. Usually I am much better prepared for the holiday rush! I still have many, many originals to list in my etsy shop. Can't sell them if they aren't listed, right?

I have had some great correspondence with other artists online this week. The online community of artists is so wonderful! Everyone helping each other out and providing inspiration. It is such a welcome change to the days when I had no connection to the outside world! I love the fact that I can easily make connections with people from all over the world! I never would have believed it 10 years ago. Thanks to all my new online artist friends for making that connection!

A New Week And A New Daily Painting!

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Here is today's daily painting, another 8 x 10 oil painting on canvas board. This one I'm calling 'Happy Sun', actually, I think it named itself. I didn't even have to think about it. The auction will start this evening, I will post a link later.

My back is killing me today, it went out this morning when I woke up. Probably all the mats I cut last week! Happily, the order was shipped out on Saturday.

Now it's back to painting! The rest of today is dedicated to working on the portrait commission. I need to have it done this week. I will try to post a new progress photo by tomorrow.

It is really feeling like fall now, after the time change and cooler weather. I love the fall season, all the beautiful colors, crisp air, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the beginning of the Holiday season! The bosque trees are differing colors of yellow, orange, brown and red! I will try to post some photos if I get the chance.

Back to the studio, time to paint!

No daily painting today :(

No time, I am finishing up my huge mat order and I have to take the boys to the doctor this afternoon. It's been one of those weeks where nothing is really going right, or should I say, like I planned. Of course, whenever my business is booming and I have too much to do, my personal life starts falling apart. Sometimes I think my boys are jealous of my work. They do whatever they can to keep me from it. Its not like I don't give them plenty of attention!

My goal for this weekend is to get the mat order shipped and hopefully finish the portrait commission. I will work on it for sure, don't know about the finishing part.

Feeling just a little overwhelmed right now! Anyway, I have to go pick up Jeff from school for his doctor's appt. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Two day daily painting!

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OK, so I can't really call this a daily painting as it took me two days to finish it. Yesterday was my birthday so I didn't really get much work done. This 8 x 10 oil painting on canvas board will go up for auction this evening. I will add the link later.


This adorable photo is of my oldest son and his girlfriend, aren't they a cute couple? I love this photo and just had to share it!

Connections

The internet is such a cool place! I've made some great connections with other artists through this great medium. For instance, I recently received an email from another artist who saw one of my prints and said it was very similar to a glass piece she was making. She emailed to say she was shocked at the connection we had, even though we've never met. Well, she ended up gifting me this very awesome pendant for my birthday today! So, I promised I would tell people about her here on my blog. Please go check out her etsy shop and if you find something you love, make sure you tell her Paula sent you! She has some really great pendants and glass work in there! Below is a link to the photo of the pendant and the print she connected with.

http://www.etsy.com/get_secret_jpg_full_image.php?image_id=1743064&conversation_id=184312

Swamped!

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Here is today's daily painting, another 8 x 10 inch oil painting on canvas board. The auction will start this evening. Link will be added later.

It is becoming more difficult to stay up with the daily painting, but I'm not giving up! In addition to the portrait commission I'm working on, I now have an order for 150 multi-opening mats to cut! Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! In fact, I love it when I'm swamped! For some reason I just work better under pressure. It's impossible for me to procrastinate when there is someone out there waiting for my work. When I'm working for myself, I procrastinate like crazy! But when there is an order involved, I'm on it!

Hence, the reason the daily painting is getting more difficult. I reason with myself that I need to get my orders out, but the first thing I HAVE to do every day is paint! I'm an artist right? So, now that the daily painting is out of the way for today........off I go to cut mats and paint portraits!

Daily painting and portrait progress

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Here is today's daily painting. Auction will start this afternoon, I will post a link once it starts. This is an 8 x 10 oil painting on canvas board.

This is a progress photo of the portrait commission I'm currently working on. Hoping to finish it this week. This is a 16 x 20 oil painting. I just love painting portraits in oil! If you are interested in a commission, check out my commission page on my website.

Busy day yesterday

Yesterday was a busy day and I never got around to my daily painting. I had to work on the portrait commission, plus I have a large order for mats to get out. I will do a daily journal painting today and post it later this afternoon, I may even post a progress pic of the portrait I'm working on.
Tonight is open studios night at the Harwood Art center where I used to have a studio. I love to go check out all the new art, even though I no longer work there. I still have a couple of artist friends with studios in the building. I often think of moving back there, I miss the atmosphere in the building. The knowledge that art is being made all around me is a great inspiration. Plus it's nice to take a break every once in a while and talk art with other artists. Working at home has it's advantages of course, like no commuting to work, I can paint any time of the day, and I'm here when my boys get home from school. Then there are the disadvantages, housework distractions, phone call distractions, family distractions, distractions, distractions, distractions! And the biggest one of all, the feeling of isolation from the outside world. Luckily, I have the internet to help with that one! Plus there is always open studio night to go hang out with my artist friends in real life.
Hope everyone has a wonderful day today! I will be back later to post photos.

Late start today

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Here is today's daily journal painting #1. I may paint two today. Taking a break to post the first one. Once again, this is an 8 x 10 inch oil on canvas. The auction begins this afternoon, I'll add the link once it starts.

Also working on the portrait commission. Hope to have it finished by the end of next week.

There is way too much I need to do as usual. All the office work I always put off. One of the problems with being a professional artist, all the paperwork! Many people don't realize that being an artist is like any other business. Databases, mailing lists, promotion, web site updates and on and on. Of course I have to do it all or it doesn't get done. One of my goals in life is to be able to hire an assistant to take care of all that. Although I wonder if I ever will because I'm a little bit of a control freak.

So, back to painting I go.....(way to put off the office work, Paula! :)


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Second Daily Journal painting for today. Auction for this one starts this evening. I'm now off to work on my portrait commission!

Today's Daily

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Today's daily journal painting. Another 8 x 10 oil painting. I got an early start today. I have a lot of work to do today! I must get the portrait commission going. I've started the drawing and hope to start painting today.

I'm loving the daily journal paintings. Today's painting seemed to get flowing a little slow, I guess because its been a few days since I touched a brush. I'm happy with the ultimate outcome though. This one will go up for auction around noon today. I will add the link once it starts.

Beginning another week

Today is my day for visiting my great Aunt. She lives in an assisted living facility here in town. I like to visit her once a week and take her out to lunch and sometimes even a drive or some other activity. She is the sister of my late grandmother. I love visiting her partly because she is so much fun to be around, but also partly because I never had the chance with my grammy. Auntie (what everyone calls her) has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. She used to visit us here in New Mexico with my grammy and we always visited her in Vermont whenever we went back east. She is 90 years old now and suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She is still in the first stages, which is pretty good considering her age. My grammy also had alzheimer's, she passed away in 2003. Auntie never married or had kids of her own, which is another reason I like to visit her. My mom and her sister are the only other people in the family who visit her on a regular basis. It makes me feel good to brighten up her day. She says my visits are like therapy to her, making her feel so much better.

So......this is the reason I rarely have time for much else on Mondays. Nothing is more important to me than these weekly visits, I may not ever have the chance to make them up if I were to put them off. Enjoy your elderly family members while you can, you may not get another chance! Auntie is the last of her generation and I'm so happy that I've had the chance to get to know her better!

Internet is back! For good?

Daily Journal painting(Click Here to Buy) 8 x 10 oil on canvas board

Red Sunburst Flower Abstract (not currently for sale) 12 inch square oil on canvas

Yesterday's daily journal painting (Click Here to Buy)

8 x 10 inch oil on canvas board

Woke up this morning and I now have my high speed internet back......for the moment? I'm not sure, so I'm doing as much as I can now, before I lose it again. Anyway, here is one of the daily paintings I did this week, along with the Flower abstract I finished earlier this week. I have another daily painting that I still need to download from my camera, I will post that one later. (Update: See yesterday's daily painting at the bottom) The auction for this daily painting should start this evening, I will add the link once it is up. The auction for the second daily painting will begin on Saturday evening.

Limited Access!

My home internet connection is not working this week. I'm at another computer this afternoon to check my email so unfortunately my daily journal paintings will be delayed in being posted. I may have to go to the library with the laptop tomorrow, if I get the chance. Hopefully, Comcast will get my connection working by tomorrow afternoon. I'm just so frustrated with the whole thing right now!

I've started work on the portrait commission, I may post progress photos.....if I get my internet back!

I cannot live without the internet, how sad is that?! I remember years ago when it was the telephone I couldn't live without (although I was forced to many times).

Anyway, hopefully all will be back to normal by next week at the latest. I may just have to call Qwest and switch internet providers if Comcast gives me much more trouble.

Hectic week!

It's one of those weeks where I have tons of non-art things to do. I did finish a daily journal painting yesterday, I just haven't had the chance to post it.

Today is open house at my son's high school, plus I have a dentist's appt. Hopefully, I will get the chance to post the new painting this afternoon.

I also finished the flower abstract I was working on, it won't be available for sale until after December, it is reserved for a gallery show in Gallup, NM. Of course, hopefully it will sell in the show! I will try to get that painting posted this afternoon as well.

Flower theme

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I'm feeling so inspired today, I painted two paintings in record time! More 8 x 10" daily journal paintings, oil on canvas board. I will add the links to the auctions once they begin. One starts today and the other starts tomorrow evening.

Green is my favorite color, in case you were wondering 'why on earth would she paint a green flower?' Besides, these are abstract, not realistic flowers. I'm really enjoying these little paintings! I'm thinking about creating a new poster with all the small paintings collaged together.

Next week I have the commission to start on. My goal is to finish the portrait by the end of the month. I'm psyched that I get to do an oil portrait! I love doing pencil sketches, but they are not as challenging as they used to be.

Portrait commission

Just had to tell someone, I just secured a portrait commission for my asking price! Not that this is something new, but it has been a while since I had a portrait commission and I was beginning to wonder if my prices were too high. I personally don't think so. With all the stress involved in doing a portrait commission (Will they like it? Does it look just like the person? etc, etc.), I think I'm asking a fair price. I've known artists who charge WAY more! Just the time it takes alone is reason enough for the prices I charge. Anyway, I don't feel I need to justify myself, it's just that self doubt creeping in. In any case, I'm very happy about the commission because it's just another sign that the slow sales period for this year is over at last!

I'm still working on the flower spiral abstract painting. Not sure whether I'll be able to finish it today or not. I don't really care, nothing could ruin my good mood now!

Something a little different

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Today's Daily Journal Painting was actually painted yesterday, but I saved it for today so I could work longer on my flower abstract painting that I'm almost done with. Once again, this is watermixable oils on 8 x 10 inch canvas board. A little different than my other spiral abstracts, I decided to use my hand as the central design element today.

My spiral abstract series is inspired by the petroglyphs that can be found all over New Mexico, of which the spiral and hand are repeated often. Also, the line work and geometric shapes are inspired by the pueblo pottery that I love so much. When I began this series, my goal was to take the elements that inspired me and make my own statement with them. I have drawn and painted pottery and petroglyphs for many years and always felt like I was misappropriating someone else's vision. Basically, this series is what goes on inside my head. When I close my eyes and meditate on what to paint, these are what I see. It has taken me a long time to see my own vision in my art and paint what is my truth. So, there you have it!

Today's Daily Journal Painting

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Today's painting is called 'Brown Sun'. This is one of my favorite color combinations. Turquoise with yellow and brown. All of my daily journal paintings are watermixable oil paintings on 8 x 10 inch canvas board. I finished two daily paintings today, but I'm saving the other one for tomorrow. I also worked some on the new Flower spiral abstract. I may finish it tomorrow.

Can't complain about today, the weather is great, I painted for 3 hours and now I have mat orders to cut. This weekend is the beginning of Balloon Fiesta so I will have to get ready for the outdoor market tomorrow and Friday. I haven't decided whether to set up both Sat. and Sun. or just Sat. I will make up my mind Sat. after I see how busy it is out there. I have been told that Balloon Fiesta weekends are the busiest. It may rain, so that could dampen the mood.

New Daily Journal painting

Here is my latest 'Daily Journal Painting'. I just love this color combo! It's good to be back at work in the studio. This one has already been put up for auction, click the link under the photo to bid.
I am also making progress on my next flower abstract. This one will be a 12 inch square. I would post a progress pic, but I don't want anyone to see where it's at right now. I'm having a little difficulty with it.

Not much to write about currently. I have lots of work to do today! Check back again tomorrow for the latest daily journal painting.

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