Today's Daily Journal Painting

Today's journal painting is called 'Worm Hole', it was inspired by the name of my brother's band. Last time I saw him he told me my spiral art would be perfect as an cd cover, so....here it is, my interpretation of Worm Hole! This is an oil painting on 8 x 8 inch canvas board.

Great information on links

I had to share this link that I found on the Art Biz Blog. Alyson always has great information on her blog, if you haven't been there, you should check it out.

Anyway, here is the link about links that I'm talking about;

http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=126&page=Blog&subkeyvalue=410

I plan to post a new daily painting today, I haven't started it yet, but I figure if I post about it, then I HAVE to do it! Accountability... I love it!

Update: I still haven't painted the daily painting, but I did work on the large one some. Above is a new progress pic. Now I have to wait for this layer to dry, so I'm on to the daily painting.

Progress at last!

Click on the image to see it larger

Finally, the progress pic I've been promising. This one is going to take a while! Don't know if I said before, this is a 20 inch square canvas, oil painting. I haven't done a large size painting in some time. I love painting the small daily canvases but, the large ones can have so much more detail! I'm a little obsessive about detail, in case you haven't noticed. The detail is where I get lost in the painting zone. My favorite part about painting!

Cool Link

A good friend of mine sent me this link and I just had to share! This is an animated drawing of a woman done from the inside out. Very cool....check it out!

http://fcmx.net/vec/get.swf?i=003702

Hoping to post a progress pic later today! :)

Another rough day

Actually, I should say, rough weekend. If you read rough day you know I'm having problems with my 16 year old, middle son. Well, he cemented it, he's going to Arkansas to live with his dad. He doesn't want to, he's going because I want him to graduate from high school. I don't know what it is with my boys, hopefully not my youngest one too, but the older one went to live with his dad at 16 too. Hopefully, my ex will have better luck with him. He did in the past. It is just tearing me apart! I keep going back and forth between wanting him to go, knowing it will be good for him and not wanting him to go, knowing it's going to hurt. Luckily, everyone in the family is with me on it. I know it is going to be for the better in the long run, but my heart is breaking!
So, I'm dealing with my pain the only way I know how, I'm painting, or at least trying to. Obviously, I'm here typing right now, taking a break, right? I am about to go back to painting so I can post a progress pic later. I'm mulling a title for this painting, probably going to have something to do with heartbreak or torn in to a million pieces or something like that. I'd like it to be more positive though. I hate negative titles. Oh well, back to painting now.

New Lettered Mats!

Today I'm working on something a little different. I call these my lettered photo mats. The top one is currently for sale in my Etsy shop. They are all 10 x 20 inch mats. The Peace mat has 3 x 4 inch letters and the baby mats have 4 x 6 inch letters. I have filled the Peace mat with small giclee prints of my daily journal paintings. The baby mats are left empty so you can add your own 4 x 6 snapshots. The Peace mats are selling for $25 as it has my prints in it and the baby mats are going for $15.

I can also cut custom lettered mats with any name or word you would like. I plan to put up a listing for the custom lettered mats and they will go for $20.

Progress on Newest Floral Spiral

So, even with the rough day I had yesterday, perhaps BECAUSE of the rough day I had yesterday, I started my next Flower Spiral Abstract. This is an oil painting done on a 20 inch square canvas. This is a progress photo, there is still a lot to be done! Just wanted everyone to see that I am painting daily! I need to get some more small canvas boards so I can continue doing the daily paintings. I'm really liking this one so far! Click on the image to see the details better.

Rough Day

I'm having a rough day today. Hard to concentrate on work. I don't really like to write too much about my private life on here, but at this point, I need to get it out!

My 16 year old son is making our families' life hell. We have made the decision to send him back to live with his dad. This decision is based on the fact that his dad seems to have power over him, because when he has lived there in the past, his grades were great! He behaved himself. He did what he needed to do. This is a boy who has never done well living with me. He was diagnosed ADHD at the age of 5. This was a few months after my divorce from his dad. Looking back now, I think he really missed his dad to be totally honest. I hate to admit that! My ex is not a good person as far as I'm concerned. I mean he's much better than when we were together, but it kills me to know that he just has the magic touch with my middle son.

Without getting into all the details, I think he would be better off in the long run. This is really hard for me to admit! I feel like a failure as a parent! Which is also hard, because I know I'm a good parent, but.......and the doubt creeps back in. Being a parent is so damned difficult! I have so much more respect for my parents now. Why is 16 such an awful age??? It was awful for me, my oldest son and now the middle one. I hope the youngest will spare us!

I am trying to work on my latest large canvas right now, having a little luck, but I can't stop thinking about the problems with my son. I love him soooooo much, it's killing me! I guess I should get back to painting, hopefully get into the zone and forget about these problems for a little while! :)

Track of the Day

Time to do a little bragging! My husband (Aaron Lewis) recently posted one of his songs (he is a classical guitarist/composer) on Garageband.com and after only 2 days he was made the Track of the Day in the Classical section! Garageband.com is a site where musicians post their music for reviews and contests. Follow the link below to go listen to his song, "Awaken". It will only be on the front page for today, so go NOW! :)

http://www.garageband.com/genre/classical

Today I'm getting orders out and working on getting things together to put into our new flea market booth. We just moved into the indoor flea market this past weekend. We have been flea marketing for over 5 years, but haven't had an indoor booth in a while. We do it to make a little extra cash, but it's more of an excuse to feed our addiction to shopping yard sales!

I'm hoping to start my newest large sized painting either today or tomorrow. I will post a progress photo once I get going on it.

Great Hike in the Snow!

Yesterday, my hubby and I went for a great hike in the Sandias east of town. It was a little chilly, so we left around noon. The sun was out so once we got going it was perfectly warm. The cold air on the face was so invigorating that we made it farther than we expected. Ended up having to turn back because of the snow!

For anyone not familiar with New Mexico, we DO get snow here! In fact, there are several ski areas in the state. The amazing thing to me is that we can hop in the car, drive about 5 minutes east of town and hike up the mountain to the snow in a couple hours. I think it is this fact alone that has kept us living in the city for so long. We are both nature freaks and if it wasn't for the escape the mountains provide us, we would have moved away from Albuquerque years ago. Enjoy the photos!

Today, I'm working on cleaning and organizing so I can get more work done this week! I have such a hard time concentrating on work when the house is a mess. That has got to be the main pitfall with working from home.

Peace on Earth

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Today's daily painting is called Peace On Earth. It's been quite some time since I painted a peace theme, so, being that it's the Holiday season, I figured today was as good a day as any to paint peace! I used the red and green to give it a holiday feel, although being in New Mexico I guess it could be a chile theme as well. For those who don't know, the official question in NM is 'red or green?'. This is another 8 x 10 oil on canvas board and you can find it in my etsy shop for only $30! In fact, all of my daily paintings are specially priced for the holidays at $20 off the regular price.

Rested and Ready to go

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Yesterday was nice and relaxing, after getting the mats packed and shipped along with the other orders I had. Above is today's daily painting. The goal is to get back into painting one of these every day. I felt a little rusty today as it has been a few weeks since I painted a daily. It felt good to be back at it though. This painting is already up for sale in my Etsy shop. I'm running a Holiday Special on my daily paintings right now; $20 off the normal $50 price.

Tomorrow I will start a new large size painting. I have two 20 inch square canvases ready to go, still thinking about what I will paint. I know it will be a spiral abstract, just not sure of the colors or flower yet. Back in September while I was at the State Fair I took some great photos of different flowers in the flower section. The last red sunburst flower came from those photos.

It seems that every Holiday season I'm behind in everything I wanted to accomplish for the year. Then the Holiday season descends and I'm swamped with everything else I have to do! Maybe next year will be different, in any case, I think that will be my resolution for the New Year. Maybe I should call it a goal instead. Seems resolutions usually end up in failure!

Woke up to snow on the ground this morning. My guys even had a 2 hour delay day! Which is actually pretty funny because there was only a dusting of snow on the roads. Nothing like when we lived in Colorado and the snow had to be 4 feet deep before they would delay or close the schools! I guess the problem is, New Mexicans don't know how to drive in regular weather, so a little ice on the ground is cause for a major shut down. Of course by this time in the day, the sun is out and the snow is melted. It is still pretty cold out there.

I have a lot of new listings to put up today, so I'd better get busy!

Is it Tuesday already?

I had a somewhat relaxing weekend. I worked on finishing up the large mat order I've been working on. Finished this afternoon.

I don't have anything interesting to blog about. I just hate to leave a big gap in postings. I'm currently relaxing after all my hard work over the past month. Looking forward to getting back into the studio and back to my daily paintings. Hopefully, tomorrow, I will have something new to post. I plan to post some new prints and notecards in my etsy shop this week.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are having a small dinner at home, my oldest son is coming over with his girlfriend. Turkey and all the trimmings, of course!

I am having a Holiday sale in my etsy shop. I have several Daily Journal Paintings for $20 off. I hope to have several new items also listed by Friday evening.

I'm taking the day off tomorrow to spend with my family. Gobble, gobble!

Final Portrait

Here it is, the final portrait! The client has seen it, approved it, picked the frame and I am almost done getting it ready to go! Everyone was right, btw, he loved it!

Today I'm working on cutting mats and cleaning house. My brother and his wife are coming up from Las Cruces to visit, so everyone will be at our house for dinner tonight. I'm making beef stew in the crock pot, so I can still get my work done during the day.

I'm really excited about finishing the portrait and mats because that means I can get back to working on MY art! I am going to get back to my flower spiral abstract series, as I have a gallery show in December to get ready for. I will let you know more about that as I know. What I know so far is the gallery is in Gallup, New Mexico and it is a new gallery for me. The owner saw my work at the state fair in September and invited me to show in his grand reopening in December. They are moving into a new building at the moment. Once I get more info I will post more.

Not much else exciting happening. Holiday season is upon us and I am in a rush to get everything together. I have lots of new things to post in my etsy shop, hopefully they have worked out all the bugs for the new V2 by the time I get around to listing everything.

Anyway, I'd better get back to work, hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Last progress photo

This is yesterday's progress photo of the portrait commission I'm working on. I finished this morning! Waiting for my camera batteries to recharge so I can take the final photo. There were only a few last touches to be made after this photo, so I figured I'd post it while I wait for the batteries. I don't think I said before, but this is an oil painting on canvas, 16 x 20".

I'm so nervous about showing it to the customer. That's always the hardest part with doing commissions. Will they love it? Will they think it was worth the money they paid?

Personally, I love it and think it came out beautifully!

Now it's back to cutting mats!

Portrait progress

Latest progress photo, taken before I worked on it for a couple hours today. I seriously have to be done with this by Friday! I am getting close. I ran out of light to take a photo of today's progress, but I want to work on it another day before I post another one.

Today I went to the doctor, she prescribed physical therapy for my back problem. Hopefully, that works. I may just have to get a massage too, oh darn!

Once I get the portrait done, I have tons of mats to cut! For any of you who don't know this already, I also do matting and framing jobs on the side, to help support my art. I have worked as a manager and even owned a frame shop in the past, now I work out of my studio. So, if you have any matting or framing that you need done, I have great wholesale prices, just email me. You can also find some of my mat listings in my ebay store. One of these days, when I have time, I also plan to put up some ready made standard size wood frames. Since I make them all myself, I have also considered putting them up on Etsy. All I need is a few 40 hour days to get it all done! Or possibly a little patience in the knowledge that I can't do it all at once. ;)

New Blogger

Finally switched over to the new version of blogger. So far, I like it much more than old version! I have already changed the template and colors. I would like to eventually add more links to my website, etc. If there is anything you would like to suggest, let me know in the comments.

Busy, busy, busy

Taking a break from cutting mats. I have new progress photos to post, but will have to do that later today. I plan to work on the portrait more this afternoon, so I will post more photos after I work on it.

It looks like it's going to be a long weekend of working. I will have a break on Saturday with a visit from my dad. He's coming up from El Paso tomorrow. (Looking forward to seeing you dad!)

So, I guess I won't be working all weekend. Hubby has a school function with the students this weekend, so he won't be around as much as usual. I should be able to get a lot done.

Nothing much else happening, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Two more progress photos of the portrait commission I'm currently working on. The top photo was taken yesterday before I started painting, the second photo is at the end of my painting session yesterday. It's really starting to take shape now. I had to move the boy on the right's eye, I had them too close together before. The girl on the left is almost done. There is a little more shading to finish up and her hands still need work. I should finish the portrait by the end of this week!

On a different note, it's a glorious day to be an American! The American people have spoken and the Democrats are back in charge of the Congress!!! WOOHOO!! The Congressional race here in my district is still too close to call, only 1,303 votes difference with only 2% left to count. Go Patricia Madrid! I haven't been this politically happy in years! What took so long America??

Where have I been?

progress photo #2 of portrait commission

I know, gap in postings!

Yesterday was my youngest son's 14th birthday! How did my baby get so old so fast??!! I cannot believe how fast it goes by! My oldest son will be 21 in March!

I also have another large mat order to cut. Started on it Friday. Haven't done any daily painting in a few days. Right now my goal is to finish the portrait before I do anymore daily paintings. It has already taken too long. I hate to make people wait longer than a month for a commission and it will be one month on the 9th. So......I have to get busy. Today I'm posting another progress photo of the portrait (Finally!), but even this photo is a little dated. I will take a new photo at the end of the day today. It has already come a long way since this photo was taken.

The free hugs campaign sure is popular! I showed the video to my teenage sons and now they want to go downtown with free hugs signs. I may just take them up on it and go with them. What a wonderful mother/sons thing to do, don't you think? Thanks to everyone who linked to my blog because of the video. Wouldn't it be great to start seeing people holding free hugs signs everywhere?! Even better, for people to just start hugging strangers WITHOUT the use of the signs!

Top everything off with the fact that my back, neck and shoulders have been killing me for the past 2 weeks! It does no good to go to the doctor, they just tell me I need to exercise my back muscles because I have a large bra size! So....I've been exercising religiously for 3 years and STILL the back pain. I guess I should go back to the doctor, but I know they'll suggest surgery or prescribe muscle relaxers....which I don't want! What I need is a massage! Oh well......

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)

Peace on Earth!

I saw this video on Michelle Caplan's blog this morning and just had to add it here as well! What a wonderful idea! I may just have to make a sign and head downtown! Spread the hugs people!

November already!!

No daily painting for today. Not because I'm not painting! I'm working on the portrait commission today. I HAVE to finish it by Monday! It's coming along, I will try to post a progress photo later if I can. It may be tomorrow before I get to it.

I have also been working on getting my office and studio organized and cleaned up! What a chore! I guess I should follow my hubby's advice and do it more regularly so I don't end up with a week long project on my hands! Yeah, right! There is always something more important than cleaning to do. Like painting for instance. Or surfing the internet or anything for that matter!

I was a little bummed out last night, we didn't get one single trick or treater! What's up with that? Oh well, and we had good candy too! Chocolate!

I just listed all my individual Paula Beck prints on ebay, get 'em now, after December they are outta here!!! As in, up in flames! Seriously. And, if you are interested in buying them all in bulk for resale, there are bulk listings separated into categories too. If you don't know the story behind the Beck prints, check out my Art Story.

Etsy is going full steam ahead right now! I've made several sales and trades this week! If you haven't checked out Etsy, you just have to go there....NOW! There is this really cool thing called Treasury that seems to be the hot things these days. This is a place where you can pick all your favorite listings and make a cool page with them all. It's hard to explain if you aren't an etsyan, but just trust me and check it out! Also, this weekend, Etsy will be down in order to switch to the V2 Etsy. It will be back and better than ever by Monday.

I guess that's all the news for now, I'd better get back to painting so I can post that progress photo! :)

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

SOLD

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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

SOLD

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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Friday again

Here it is, Friday again. As usual, I didn't get everything done that I wanted to. I did complete quite a bit of painting though! I have missed working in the studio, so I was inspired to get back to painting this week. I started a larger flower spiral abstract today. Glad today is Friday, looking forward to having a weekend off to spend with the family!

Here are a couple more paintings finished yesterday. These are also 8 x 10 inches on canvas board. They will be going up for auction by next week. I will add the links once the auctions are started. Don't forget to check out the paintings from yesterday's post as well. (Update: These auctions have ended, all unsold auctions will be posted for sale in my etsy shop, follow the links)

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SOLD

Busy Painting

I have been busy the past couple of days in my studio. Most of the day Wednesday I spent preparing canvas boards and canvas. I bought some 8 x 10 inch canvas boards but decided they needed a bit of gesso to smooth them out. I also bought some unprimed canvas, so after stretching the canvas, I gessoed them as well. I finished a couple of small canvas board paintings yesterday and a couple today. I prepared 21 canvas boards so I can get back to painting everyday again. I hope to list a painting everyday, sometimes two. I am also looking forward to starting a couple of new larger canvases. These will be a continuation of the flower spiral abstract series. This time with different flowers. Below are three of the paintings I've finished this week, I wasn't happy with the photo for the 4th one so I will post that later. I plan to list these at auction starting tonight, tomorrow and Saturday. I will add links once the auctions begin. Update: These auctions have ended without a buyer, so I have moved them to my etsy shop. Follow the links to buy.

These are all 8 x 10" H2O Oils on canvas board.

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Finally a day off!

The State Fair has come to a close and I am finally enjoying a day off. Seventeen straight 12 hour days was rough! I'm not whining, I'm just exhausted! I did enjoy being out there everyday, meeting new people, having my confidence boosted. I fell just short of my sales goal, but with the couple days of bad weather we had, there was nothing that could have been done.

I received an invitation for a gallery show in Gallup, NM. This was pretty exciting to me as the gallery owner is interested in my newest works. There was a lot of interest in my newest spiral abstract flowers. I needed that boost to my confidence. It was good for me to get the confirmation that what I'm painting now will be accepted. I decided months ago that I will no longer paint what I think people will like. I'm painting what is inside of me and even though it makes no difference whether or not people love it, it felt good to find out that my joy for what I'm now painting shows in the work.

I made some great trades with other vendors which is always one of my favorite things to do at an art show. Receiving compliments on my work from other artists has always meant more to me than compliments from regular people. Not that compliments from regular people don't mean anything, it's just that other artists are "experts in the field" so to speak.

So, it's now back to being holed up in the studio. I'm planning to go crazy with new paintings, now that I can afford to stock up on canvas! I hope to have an open studio event soon. I have wanted to open the studio up to the public for some time, but just haven't gotten around to doing it. Now that the outdoor show season is over, I should have plenty of time to plan and make it happen. Stay tuned for more information on that.

Tomorrow I will be back at work. I have several paintings and painted boxes to put in my etsy store. I'm also going to put a few up for auction on ebay.

Almost over!

Four days left out at the State Fair. It's been a busy week. Yesterday was dollar day, so it was the most crowded day so far. We had a downpour early in the afternoon, but it didn't scare anyone away. I sold the painting that I posted a couple of days ago along with another painting I completed out there. I have one more that I did that I need to photograph today. The other one was sold before I had the chance to take a picture of it. This has been a very successful show for me, which has been very nice. I needed the confidence boost!

I'm taking the day off on Monday, but plan on putting up some new listings on Tuesday. Once the fair is over I plan on only one more weekend out at the outdoor market for Balloon Fiesta weekend. Then it's inside for the rest of the winter. Time to paint my heart out and get ready for Christmas time.

I will try to post my other painting sometime today if I can get the signal long enough and strong enough. I have also painted a few more boxes that I need to photograph. I sold one without getting a photo of it. Wouldn't you know it was my favorite one! I may have to paint another one like it to keep!

In other news, my oldest son called recently to tell me that he's looking into joining the Air Force. I'm proud of him for his patriotism, he was brought up to be patriotic, but I fear for him being in the military in a time of war. Luckily, the Air Force is probably the safest branch for him to join. I'm being supportive because I know that flying is his one big dream. As a mom, I just can't help but want to keep him from it. However, being a veteran of the US Army, I know it will be the best thing he can do for himself. I'll just keep hoping and praying that he won't ever be in harms way. Just like every other mom of a service member. I guess it just gives me more reason to promote peace.

Peace Jam

http://www.peacejam.org/

Thanks Cynthia for the link to the Peace Jam website! I may have to look into starting a Peace Jam club here in Albuquerque, if there isn't one already. What a wonderful organization! We need more of these type of people in the world. I only wish I would have known about the conference before it was over!

This is the last week out at the State Fair. The fair ends on Sunday. I have really enjoyed being out here, meeting people from all over the state and even a few tourists. One of my favorite things about New Mexico is the great diversity of the people that live here. Every other place I've been has seemed so one dimensional compared to here. Then of course there is also the natural beauty of this place. If you have never been here, I must suggest you come out for a visit someday. When you do, please stop by and say hi!

Busy weekend and a great article on Peace

I had a very busy weekend at the Fair. Met lots of very cool people! I hope to post some photos very soon of the paintings and painted boxes I finished the past couple of days.

I also received this article on a Peace project from my Peace listserve a day or so ago. Thought it would be nice to share with everyone. It's just too bad that there were no American kids involved.

Published in The New York Times -- 03 September 2006
On the Web at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/03/movies/03hays.html

30 Teenagers, 7 Short Movies, 1 Dream of Peace
By MATTHEW HAYS
GALIANO ISLAND, British Columbia

THE organizers of this summer's Peace It Together Camp here never expected it would be easy to bring together 10 Israeli, 10 Palestinian and 10 Canadian teenagers to make several short films in a spirit of dialogue and collaboration. But they also never expected to do so in a time of war.

The conflict erupted in Lebanon just two weeks before the youths arrived on this gulf island on Canada's west coast. There were some sleepless nights, acknowledged Adri Hamael, co-executive director of this 18-day event, arranged by the Creative Peace Network. Suddenly the Middle East looked like it was on fire. If bombs are dropping on people's heads, they tend not to be in a very generous mood. When violence escalates, people become more polarized and skeptical about programs like this one. But I had faith that we would make it happen. Canceling really wasn't an option.

Gathering young Israelis and Palestinians in a safe environment as a means of breaking down barriers is not a new idea. Several charitable organizations undertake such efforts annually in North America, and one such meeting was captured in the Oscar-nominated 2001 feature-length documentary Promises. But the Creative Peace Network, which had organized a previous peace camp in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2004, decided to use filmmaking as a way to promote cross-cultural understanding and cooperation after being approached by the Gulf Island Film and Television School. In early August the 30 adolescents arrived from Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and Canada to get to know one another while creating a series of short films. Our point has always been to use dialogue and creativity as a means of breaking down barriers and changing lives, Mr. Hamael said.

The students, all between 15 and 17, were chosen by regional coordinators. Thanks to private donations, their travel and living expenses were subsidized. A small tuition of $400 was required of each participant. On arrival the students were broken down into seven groups to work in either animated, documentary or dramatic filmmaking. Each group was assigned an adult mentor to help with brainstorming sessions, screenwriting and technical matters. Each morning the teenagers met to exchange views about their lives and the Middle East conflict; in the afternoons they worked on their films. The idea was that the discussions would be enhanced by the collaborative effort of moviemaking.

Ala’a Abu Dawoud, a 17-year-old Palestinian from the northern Israeli town of Majd Al-Kurum, said the camp was an extremely difficult place to be at times. "Sometimes I feel like crying", she said during an interview here. "Sometimes I feel I've done the wrong thing by coming here. Sometimes it's hard to interview here. Sometimes it's hard to rethink the things we've been told and the things we see on the news every day. But I realized over time that I was having fun with the Jewish people who were here. And now we've become friends.

For Ms. Dawoud and the others, the filmmaking process helped to bring them together. "I thought it would be so complicated," she said. "But because we're doing something I really love, and because we're showing the conflict in a different way through our eyes, the act of making the film has been really fascinating."

Not surprisingly, exchanges could occasionally prove acrimonious. "Some people might see this as a feelgood project, but it can be very intense," Mr. Hamael said. "The youth who are here are a product of violence. They are born either under occupation or under the threat of violence. They come with emotional baggage."

While the topics of the seven films were varied, they shared themes of promoting peace and conflct resolution. In the five-minute documentary Sweet Like Chocolate, several teenagers describe what they think peace would feel, sound and taste like. In the seven-minute drama No Place for Dreamers, a Palestinian man and an Israeli woman find it impossible to continue their budding romance because of a roadblock that a checkpoint places between them. In the film's conclusion the despondent woman looks through a fence as Israeli soldiers tell the Palestinian man that he cannot pass through to the other side. Part of the inspiration for On the Line, a combination of documentary and drama, came after one of the Israeli youths, Nir Ayalon, revealed to the other teenagers that he would serve in the Israeli military next year. "There were some faces made when I told them," Mr. Ayalon, 17, acknowledged. "But I will not be serving in a combat capacity, so there's no way I'm going to be shooting at anyone."

The film depicts Mr. Ayalon's friendship with one of the Palestinian teenagers at the camp, but concludes ambiguously with a fantasy sequence in which the two meet up again, in 2008, when Mr. Ayalon has become an Israeli soldier manning a checkpoint.

Alternately sweet and bitter, the films by the teenagers at times seem naïve, until one considers that the Israel and Palestinian youths face very real threats of violence, and that their scenarios are all rooted in that reality.

The camp's organizers have said they hoped to screen the anthology of seven films on the film festival circuit. "I feel we have made an impact," Mr. Hamael said. "Even if that is a limited impact, it is something nonetheless. Governments spend billions of dollars every year on the possibility of war. We are trying to spend something on the possibility of peace."

David Ozier, a Vancouver filmmaker who worked as a mentor, said those who attended appeared to be affected by the experience. "Both the Palestinian and Israeli teenagers learned to work together and formed some very strong friendships," Mr. Ozier said. "True to stereotype, the Canadian kids were often the ones who were filling a diplomatic role when there was conflict."

Relief!

So the middle son is home again, safe and sound. Well, maybe not safe from us! He has some serious nerve. He did make the right decision to come home, but he's being a snot about it! Oh, to be 16 again and know everything!!! He is too much like I was.

Day 7 at the State Fair. After today, 10 to go. We haven't had any rain for a few days and the forecast for this weekend is sunny and clear.

Below is a photo of my booth set up. I actually have half a booth. It's hard to get a good photo without showing the other booths. Today has been extremely slow, but I'm looking forward to the coming weekend. Supposedly, this weekend is the busiest.

Yesterday stunk, hope today is better!

Yesterday ended up being a terrible day. I stayed positive all day, I don't even mind that I made only one sale.

I woke up with a fever and feeling just terrible. I've had a cold with sore throat and upset stomach for over two weeks now. Yesterday was the worst. I still had to go out to the fair, so I took some tylenol and my fever broke before I had to go.

That isn't even the worst of it. My 16 year old son ran away yesterday evening because we are "trying to control" him by making him get a job! It seems he IS too much like me and has to learn about life the hard way. Why can't teenagers just realize that we parents know what we're talking about....I've been there before for crying out loud! I so thought I could make it on my own at 16, only I had a baby to support too! I was worried at the beginning, but he called my youngest son and told him he was at a friends house. So, at least I know he's not wandering the streets, which is a little scary to me living here in Albuquerque. Hopefully, he will show up at school today. My husband teaches at the high school that he goes to, so we will know right away if he skips school. I've always known that he would be the difficult teenager, he is the middle child after all. He has always been the most difficult of the three boys. I am getting close to the end of my rope with him! I guess I'll just tie a knot and hang on tight! Luckily we went through a similar situation with my oldest son, so I know he will eventually come around and apologize for being such a pain. But at the moment, I just don't know what to do! Anyway, keep some positive thoughts going for me!

Imagine Peace

Another day at the State Fair, nice and quiet today. Plenty of time for painting. I finished the painting below today and will put it up on ebay for bidding by the end of today. The wifi connection has been sporadic today, so I don't even know if I will get this post up before I lose the connection again. I had planned to paint a new Peace painting today in remembrance of 9/11/01, but this sun spiral came out instead. I just go with the flow! I love these colors together, I may have to do a couple more! For some reason, my cropped version didn't save right so I will have to fix that later. Just trying to get this posted before I lose the connection again.

8 x 10 inch H2O oils on canvas board
SOLD

Day 3

Yesterday ended up being a wonderful day out at the Fair! I reached my sales goal for the day, it only rained a little, but the leaks were fixed, and we ended up going to the Ozomatli and Los Lobos concert to top off the day! The concert was awesome! We really wanted to go, but didn't think we could afford it. Turned out the tickets were only $13!! I'm paying for staying up so late today, but it was well worth it! Only problem is, I forgot to bring my camera cable again today, so I still can't post photos.

New Mexico State Fair 2006

Out at the Fair today, luckily I was able to get a wireless hook up out here. Yesterday we had a downpour in the evening, leaks in the roof, lots of fun! It's nice and sunny today though. I was hoping to post some photos today, but I forgot my cable to connect the camera, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. I took photos yesterday of the dark rain clouds right before the wind blew in and the clouds burst over us.

Procrastination

I just love to procrastinate! Here it is, one day before I'm supposed to set up my booth at the State Fair, and I'm messing around online! Actually, I just finished cutting all my mats, so I'm taking a break. Still a lot of work to do to get ready. I'm hoping there will be wifi out at the fairgrounds so I can keep up my blogging.

However, just in case there isn't, I will be out at the Fair for 17 days starting this Friday, Sept. 8th. If you are local to Albuquerque, or even New Mexico, and plan to make a trip to the fair, please stop by my booth in the Enchantment Arts and Crafts Show. We will be set up behind the Manuel Lujan Bldg.

I plan to take my paints with me so I can play while I'm there. I'm still thinking a lot about the direction of my work. I will hopefully be able to post the paintings I do in the next couple weeks. I feel like I'm at a major transition with my art, even though I'm not yet sure where it's going, I know it's changing. Maybe not really changing, but morphing is a better word to use.

Until I get a chance to post some new work, here is an original I currently have up for sale in my etsy shop. This is an oil painting on paper. Priced to sell at $25!

Beautiful Day!

I just returned from a walk along the Rio Grande. What a beautiful day it is! I need to make my walks along the river a daily thing again. It has been way too long! No wonder my mind has been racing with thoughts and worries. All it takes is twenty minutes among the trees, birds, squirrels and rushing water to clear my mind and make me feel totally at peace with the world. I know this, so why do I let months pass without these wonderful calming walks?

How many people out there spend their lives without ever stopping to see all the little details of nature? It makes me sad to think of these people, rushing around, to work, home from work, always hurrying around for this and that, never stopping for a second to appreciate the beauty in the little details of life. The veins in a single leaf, the ripples in the water, the clouds in the sky with all their wonderful shapes!

For some time now I have been struggling with my subject matter as an artist. What shall I paint? How shall I paint it? Should I stick to realism or let go with an abstract. Today's walk made something clear to me, I need to let my art come from inside of me, and paint all the little details that everyone else misses. It's a mix of realism and abstraction. Those little details are all around me, but in my rush to live in this crazy world, I'd forgotten about them.

I love walking along the Rio Grande, especially here in Albuquerque. As I walk out of my neighborhood and into the trees, the sound of traffic is overtaken by the sounds of birds singing and wind blowing through the leaves, water rushing(or trickling as is most times the case these days) down to the sea. It's easy to forget that you are in the middle of the largest city in New Mexico! It often reminds me of walking through Central Park in New York City. If it wasn't for my walks along the Rio Grande, I don't know if I could live in the city another day. Of course, my ultimate dream is to someday live far, far away from the city, but until then, walks along the river will have to do!

Now, off to the studio to paint!

Waiting for the gesso to dry

While I wait for my gessoed canvas boards to dry, I decided to post this painting that I finished a couple days ago. This is H2O oils on canvas board, small size of 4 x6 inches. I'm going to list this on etsy for the awesome price of $10!

No Motivation!

I am having a very difficult time building up momentum today. No motivation to do anything. I haven't painted in too long! I have spent the last couple of days getting canvas boards gessoed so I will have something to paint on, other than that, I'm lost.

To any other artists reading this; what do you do to inspire yourself to create?

I usually can make myself start painting and then it just seems to flow. For some reason that isn't happening today. I don't know why. I have no ideas for paintings, actually I do, they just aren't appealing to me today.

I think I've been closed up in the house for too many days straight. I'm feeling a little stir crazy. We haven't been hiking in way too long. The weather hasn't been cooperating, not to mention we've been working 7 days a week since school started.

Yesterday was my middle son's 16th birthday.....I'm feeling old! My baby will be 14 in November! Where did all the time go?

I guess I should stop feeling sorry for myself and cheer up! My life is more than great and I have nothing to complain about. I guess I'm just in a funk right now. That settles it, I think I'll go for a walk down by the Rio Grande and perhaps take the camera. Maybe I can find some inspiration down there?!