$1.50 pastel set

Months ago I was rummaging at one of my favorite thrift stores and found an oil pastel set that was water soluble. I had never used pastels or chalks, but have seen some wonderful art done with them. Since I do enjoy water color painting and acrylic painting, I thought this might be up my alley.
I had watercolor paper already and sketched a few things that I like to paint and gave the oil pastels a try. I loved how fast I could complete a "painting" because I didn't have to keep mixing different shades of the same color to get variation. You just apply water to blend and you remove color to obtain your shading. Awesome!
So, then I wanted more colors and went to Hobby Lobby where I had seen an inexpensive pastel set.. but it wasn't water soluble. So this piece looks less polished to me. I am still experimenting, but think the water soluble product is the way to go.
I had no more than finished these three experiments when my friend Lori, who is a talented faux painting artist called and asked me if I was interested in a small job. This picture of the airplane mural is NOT my work or Lori's.. it is in the home of one of Lori's clients and was painted in a child's room when Lori's client purchased the home. There are also two banners that had the previous child's name personalized on them. I was asked to remove the old name and replace with the name of the boy who's room this is now.
My part in this room was very small. Just the name change here on this sign and on another banner that I can't show as it has the child's full name. But I wanted to show this great mural that I spent the past two days oogling and which I helped give a new life to. I looked, but could not find a place where the artist signed or dated their work (it might have been behind the bed?) If you are doing work like this, you should sign it somewhere! Funny how long it had been since I had painted, and all of a sudden, I was doing a lot of it. I forgot how much I enjoy it.

You call that art?

"White dishes", displayed at Felissimo Fine Foods (acrylic on canvas banners)

When I was young my Mom signed me up for nearly every type of afterschool activity, gymnastics, horse back riding lessons, 4-H, drawing and painting classes and I was in all kinds of school activities as well. She just encouraged my sister and I to try many things, to see what we enjoyed, but mostly she just wanted us to be busy, leave her be and to occassionally have the house to herself. These are some of the paintings I have done, either for myself or my mom or for a client.

"Patio behind French Doors" Brad Bachman Custom Homes (3'x4' mural on cement wall)

"Itallian Courtyard" Brad Bachman Custom Homes (6' x 4' mural on cement wall)

"Cafe & Catering" Felissimo Fine Foods (Collage and acrylic on canvas)

"Purple Flower" acrylic on canvas 18"x 20"

"War Horse" acrylic on 2.5' square canvas

Complete copy.. from famous French poster (hangs in my living room)

18" x 36" acrylic on canvas

"Madame X" scaled down reproduction of Virginie Gautreau by John Singer Sargent painted for my mother. Acrylic on canvas 18" x 20".

My senior year of high school, I transfered from a school I had attened most of my school years to a new Magnet school for art that was opening here in Wichita. I couldn't wait to get to class, to learn more about art, photography, I even tried ceramics. I just want to piddle in everything. I want to try it all. And so far I have been fortunate enough to have been able to dabble in many wonderful hobbies and crafts. I love painting because it is so easy to change what you are doing, to add or modify what is happening on the canvas. I didn't say I was all that great at it, but man is it fun to work on!

Horse-n-Around

This is my fireplace. We've lived in this house four years and I have refurnished and redecorated this room about every six months since the day we got the keys. It is currently furnished with my furniture from a previous home and vast quantities of hand-me-downs from my mother's home. She sold her 5-bderoom home and down-sized. I took in as many orphans as my walls and garage could handle.
On a trip to K.C. two years ago, Mom saw a painting of a horse she fell in love with. She hated the price tag, though and asked me to paint one like it. I looked at the painting for 5 minutes.. we were on a schedule. When we returned, I found a perfectly square canvas that was framed nicely, but had cheap, cheap art painted on it. Six dollars. Perfect. Exactly what we wanted to spend. Thus my horsey sprang to life on a re-purposed Goodwill canvas.

I knew when I painted him that someday he would come home to see me.. Thank goodness I used colors that would work for me! He is fireplace makeover #7. She threw in the green chair and red blanket and pillow at no extra charge. I just had to load it myself. I love a cheap thrill.