Hello. Here is my poorly planned bird. This is my first attempt at cubism and I believe that I am lost in the application of it. Pen is my least favorite medium. Goodbye.

So many dots!! This is my piece for "shadows, peace." I like to see it as light filtering through branches. Please see it however you like it! It was nice to do a piece of art that didn't require much thought and was conducive to a peaceful mindset. Very zen. 

Watercolor. 

Mother, Father. Trees with mountains! This was a one day assignment, so I will definitely be adding to it in order to add it to my concentration. Also the picture was taken with horrible, bright yellow light which ended up washing out all of the colors in the sky. For the record, it's not just orange. There is a lot of fun texture in the sky and trees and a long, continuous line flowing over the field. I'm thinking of adding abstracted rows of flowers, and a line of feathers blowing in the wind. But maybe I'll leave it. I also love the quietness of two solitary figures who, despite having space, have grown close together.

Temptation

February Challenge. "Temptation, motion"
I had a ton of fun with this piece. It just kind of painted itself. I limited myself to one brush and a palette knife and was able to capture some very cool texture along the way. The colors that I think of when I hear the word temptation are red and purple. I began the painting with a blue-violet, and worked the darkest layers up into a bright crimson. There are several layers glazed over this portion of the painting used to capture the very nature of temptation- that it exists because there are forbidden or hidden things that we wish to seek.  The last layer is one which resembles flowers. I incorporated tiny, dried flowers over the pink splotches. This takes a twist on the saying: "Stop and smell the flowers!" and how desire begins often times with something very innocent.

"Surrealism, black, white, and one color"
I just finished this piece. With the awful, nighttime lighting, I wasn't able to get a good picture of this drawing. I was only able to spend a few days on this, so I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out. I think I captured the emotion of grief pretty well. I wanted to a do a portrait of a child because they are much more willing to fully experience their emotions. This piece speaks to the heaviness of emotion, and to society's response to it. The young girl has a rose growing out of her mouth-- seen as beautiful by some (I don't like them because they look artificial AND they have thorns). Coming to feed on this rose is a hummingbird whose belly, head, and wings are slightly yellow as if dyed by the nectar of this flower. Too often, I see people who are drowning in pain or grief and still try as hard as possible to keep a happy face forward. Not for themselves, but rather to protect (continue to feed) those around them.
Pencil, Colored Pencil on Paper

"Distortion" February Challenge.

February Challenge "Music, choice"

"Night with text" in the February Challenge. This painting was inspired by the beautiful rock formations in Sedona, AZ.
 During the night, the sky emits a greenish light which is undetectable but sends a signal to mammals that it's time to sleep. Whenever I can't sleep I try to sit outside to reground with the world, let my body "feel" the green light, and get tired enough to go to sleep. I tried to capture that in this painting by eliminating black from palette and using mostly dark greens and reds for the sky. I added gel medium to all of my paints and that shows up as a shiny, deep, and almost ethereal feel to the painting as a whole. The line across the mountains reads: "I TRY TO SLEEP AND WAIT WAIT WAIT FOR THE DAWN".

Sometimes it feels like there is more animal food than people food in our house! Here's an assortment of dog and cat food with the real ruler of the roost sitting above it. Unfortunately, I got sick today so I didn't have an option for very good lighting. I may try to recreate this image at a later time, and with a higher quality camera (... iPhone 4 it is time to rest!).

 My take on the "Macro" category of the February Challenge! A mountain-y scene peeking through fall leaves. It's tough to finish a painting in two days... I'm happy with how this one turned out!

Day two of the February Challenge. Category "Breakfast" in Chalk Pastel. I wanted to put my own spin on this and approached it as "breakfast time" in an imaginary landscape.  I love the morning.... the beauty of it, not the waking up before the sun part! 

February Challenge has begun! My first piece for the category "New" in Colored Pencil. My new puppy! Char Char. Charizard. Charlie!
Colored pencil on construction paper.

THIS PAINTING WAS SO MUCH FUN! My style closely resembled Bob Ross.. one big brush, beating the paint off, painting! There are no mistakes, just happy accidents! Not sure that I'm done quite yet, I'll let ideas mull over in my brain.
Acrylic on canvas board.

I'm not as happy with how this painting turned out but it was one of the first times I used no reference and painted from my mind/heart. I may try a similar idea in the future.
Acrylic on canvas.

I am allowing my art to flow and demonstrate the possibilities of my Qi! This year has been about becoming more creative and being okay with mistakes. There's a note of wanting to create abstract/looser versions of landscapes which has been very freeing.
Acrylic on wood.