In case you don’t follow me on Instagram (or you missed it), I wanted to share that I finished number 100 of my #100oilstills series!  It’s pretty amazing to think that I have painted over 200 oil paintings in the last year, especially since it’s just a side hobby. And, I was so pleased that number 100 turned out as well as it did and I could clearly see how all of the hours put in at the easel between numbers 1 and 100 have paid off. One of my followers on my art Instagram account said it was like a bouquet of yellow fireworks, celebrating the achievement.  I loved that description of it. As a comparison, here is number 1 and number 100 side by side. Since progress is my goal, I would say that goal has been met. I have continued doing still life paintings since I have

I really wanted to write this post on the one-year anniversary, but I was in Italy on that date and have been posting mostly about my trip, so I missed the boat.  I really didn’t want to let this milestone pass without a post about it, so better late than never.   After about a year of dabbling with watercolors and sketches, I started oil painting in earnest last September.  I had purchased most of the materials a few months earlier and they had been languishing in a drawer, mostly because I felt intimidated by using oils.  I didn’t know how to use them or even how to clean up after using them.  It is something I dreamed of doing, though.  I wanted to be an oil painter and it’s impossible to be an oil painter without painting with oils! An instructor I took a watercolor class from, Michelle Wooderson, wanted to

The last couple of days have been busy with birthday parties, Mayo Clinic visits, house keeping, and back to school shopping, so I haven’t had much time for home projects or for posting here on the blog!  I thought I would pop in, though, just to give an update on my oil painting. I started oil painting last September and the journey has been such a gift to my creative soul.  I don’t paint with any grand aspirations.  I paint because I love it and I’m thoroughly enjoying the progress I am seeing in my work.  The excitement at the visible progress keeps me coming back for more.  I still have so far to go, but I am “getting it” more and more with each painting and book and tutorial. I decided a few months ago that I would like to further nurture this new love and take an art

Before I lose you altogether, at least hear me out, okay? Painting is a learned skill, meaning you can learn to do it and get better and better as you practice.  Even just a couple of years ago, if you had asked me to paint an apple on a canvas with oil paints, I would’ve laughed and told you I could never do that.  I’ve never been confident in my drawing abilities and I’ve never thought of myself as a “fine art” sort of person.  You might want me on your team in a game of Pictionary, but the drawing talent stops there. A large part of the problem was that I was looking at art produced by people who had been painting for years or decades and thinking my first works had to look as good as theirs or I had no talent for it.  That’s just ridiculous!  We

If you follow my on Instagram, you know I have started my next art challenge!  I am much more focused when I have a challenge before me, so when the 100 meadows project ended, I needed a new one.  I initially thought I would paint faces/portraits, but I realized I would be painting off of photographs again and, after painting 100 landscapes from photographs, I was starting to see (and experience) the issues and limitations that come with painting with a 2D image.  This led me to still life.  I can set up a scene in my studio, control the light, look at it, and paint it. Here are the first twenty paintings in the series… (The ones that have a “buy here” link underneath are for sale via auction.  The rest have already sold or have not been listed yet.) No. One I knew the benefits of painting a

I have had mixed feelings about selling my paintings from the 100 Meadows Project.  I knew I would be embarrassed by some of them.  Many of them.  Would I regret sending them out into the world?  Would I regret that my “practice” is hung on someone’s wall? I haven’t found a definitive answer to that question, but, while I may someday regret it, I am glad I sold them.  Yep.  Gladness and regret mingling in oxymoronic fashion. It made me think back to the first few years of my business and I realized that I’ve been selling services and created goods while refining my craft all along.  Even as I was just learning to paint murals, I sold them to people.  My early upholstery pieces, with all of their puckers and imperfections, were sold.  As I was learning which paints and stains and finishes I liked, all of those guinea