New Year, New Ideas!

A new year is always refreshing, it seems to be a start over for many of us. Although today is probably not much different than most days. It's just how we think about it.

This Christmas I made many gifts for my family. One of them was a portrait of my son. He loves the Green Bay Packers and has since high school. So it seemed appropriate to reflect that in this painting of him.

It is done in watercolor on Arches hot press paper. It's not very big, an 10" x 8" painting. I often use my kids as models in my paintings and Brock has been known to complain that I have never used him. So it was time to paint him!

Today being the first day of the new year, I have been planning what I would like to accomplish this year. I paint a lot in acrylic, but I thought I would like to improve my watercolor techniques for 2015. I belong to the Utah Watercolor Society, and it is a wonderful organization with many talented painters. I hope to benefit this year by participating more in the paint-outs and workshops they hold.

If you would like to join us, here is the link to the website;

www.utahwatercolor.org

The meetings are the first Tuesday of each month and they are held at the Sons of the Utah Pioneer Building. Here's the address:

Sons of the Utah Pioneers Hall, 3301 E. Loiuse Ave (2920 S.) Salt Lake City, UT, 84109

I also am planning on writing on my blog more often and sharing my artistic process.Comments welcome!

One more thing I would like to say on this fresh new day in 2015... I am full of gratitude for my life, and my family. I am so thankful to be an artist and through my talent am able to show appreciation for the beauty of this earth. May we all be blessed with a happy and prosperous New Year!

She Can Do It!

Today I put the finishing touches on this painting. It's second in a series called "The Virtuous Woman".
When I was thinking (out loud) of what to paint next in this series, my daughter suggested that I do something like the poster of  "We Can Do It".  It is an American wartime propaganda poster produced by J. Howard Miller in 1943 for Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational image to boost worker morale. (1)

One of the titles I considered for this painting was "Strong in so Many Ways", but my daughter vetoed it. That title does say in just a few words the idea behind this painting. But no go. My next thought was to just call it "She Can Do It". My daughter was asleep on the couch and couldn't gun it down, so there you have it.

"She Can Do It" is a tribute to the strength of today's woman.

This painting is 8" x10" x .75" on gallery wrapped canvas. $250 plus $5 shipping in US. To purchase it please contact me!

(1) Wikipedia

A New Series of Paintings

Today on my blog I am posting the first of a series. The series is called Virtuous Woman and it is inspired by all the women that I know that are multi-talented, smart, and wonderfully kind and good in so many ways.

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. (Proverbs 31:10)

This first painting needed a title and as I thought and painted and painted and thought, a song soon began repeating itself in my mind. It was a song that was an anthem for women in the 1970's as women attempted to combat social and cultural inequalities. I was fresh out of high school back then and was able to witness that bit of history. Although my interpretation is a bit different, I think the song title lends itself to a perfect title for this painting.

How can I describe today's woman? Oh wait, that's why I am painting this series for! Each painting will be an exploration of the many facets in a woman's life. "I am Woman" is the opening statement. A woman and her world. I painted the world like a halo that crowns her head, symbolic for the angel that she is.

This is an 8" X 10" painting and is available for purchase, $250 plus $5 shipping in US. Contact me for info.