Twilight In The Lavender

The "boss of me" cracked the whip today and made me finish the bunny I started last week. It really went through a transition! When I started it, it looked like an angry something-or-other but NOT a bunny! So today I put away my references and just painted by intuition. He has a soft look, almost as if he's being lulled by the scent of the lavender field. I know I would be!

For now I'll list him on Etsy while I decide which shop should have him.

Cold, pouring rainy poopy day here in Barrington :(

But we need the rain to make the lavender grow!♥

xoxo

Illustration Friday: Layer

After a seemingly endless dark day, the heavy layer of storm clouds were beginning to drift away.

Happily reunited, mother and baby basked in the glowing promise of a new day.

For Illustration Friday: layer

acrylic on canvas 6"x12"

Illustration Friday: Deja Vu

I know I've seen this tree before. I remember the same twists and turns resembling a half-eaten pretzel. Its leaves were a lace canopy letting the tiniest bits of light come through the pinhole openings.

That's it!! The light.

I've been here at twilight before but never this early in the morning while the sleepy pink sky was still hugging the horizon like a blanket.

No. This isn't deja vu.

I know this tree, and once again I'm grateful for the pleasure of her company.

for Illustration Friday: deja vu

tree studies done with acrylic paint on canvas

Illustration Friday: Burning

Keep the home fires burning.

A quick little painting for Illustration Friday's prompt: Burning

acrylic paint on masonite 6"x6"

Painting Process: Trees Gotta Sing!

See what happens when I take time out? I do two posts in one day and I actually finished a painting for a show! Hopefully they won't reject this one, but if they do, so be it. I had fun!

The theme of the show is "I Got Rhythm."

I printed out some sheet music and used heavy gel medium to adhere it and add texture to the canvas. This sheet music will end up being the foreground.

Next, I did an ochre wash over the entire piece.

Here I'm trying to establish the sky hoping for that mid-afternoon glow.

There are many layers of colors which you probably can't see.

 

I'm now establishing the composition and the placement of the trees.

You can see the musical notes peeking through the layers of color.

I start filling in the trees a bit more and adding more depth to the foreground.

If you click to enlarge this you'll still be able to see the subtle notes in the field.

Now I've placed some musical notes in the trees. After all, they gotta sing!

(My husband titled the painting and I love it!)

Close-ups of tree notes.

Close-up of foreground notes.

Ta-Daaa!

The finished piece 12x24, "Trees Gotta Sing."

Thanks for indulging me today!

xo♥

Skywatch Friday: Double Delight

This will be my last Skywatch post until I get to my new place back east. I thought it would be appropriate to show the last sunset I photographed when my uncle was here 2 weeks ago. The sky went from a gorgeous twilight lavender to a blazing sunset in a matter of twenty minutes.

Talk about the right place at the right time!

I'm looking forward to posting photos from the other coast soon.

Until then, check here for other skies around the world...and thanks for stopping by to enjoy the scenery here!

Skywatch Friday: The End Of The Day

This is the walking path at Asilomar Beach. Twilight is my favorite time of day.

For more sky pics from around the globe, go to Skywatch Friday.

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to look up!

IF: Signs of Stillness

I love marshes. There's something calming and serene about them. They're uncluttered by man-no signs sticking up out of the grasses telling us who to vote for or what to buy. The only signs of life are the birds that reside there like Egrets, Herons, Peregrine Falcons and Redwing Blackbirds. There are frogs, of course, and in some areas, otters.

You can sense the stillness of the water reflecting the twilight sky. The ever so gentle "hush" of the grasses when an errant breeze passes through. Perhaps the song of a cricket or two. And all is right with the world.

"Stillness" First in a series of marshes painted last week in the studio. Acrylic on canvas 24"x36" . (I've been hoping for a word to use this for.) Click to enlarge.