I Really Did Do It....

I have now finished the 4th of 5 paintings that I have to finish for an upcoming gallery show. I was actually in an "artist block" mode and decided to look to my favorite artist for some inspiration. I have loved Monet's work since I was a little girl and I can always look at some of his paintings and immediately feel inspired. I love his water lilly paintings and I owe him credit for giving me the inspiration for this piece.

Onward on to my announcement of what "I really did do".... Earlier in January, I made a promise to myself and everyone else that I was going to have my Etsy shop up and running by the end of the month of January. Well, I did - I actually got it up earlier last week, but just haven't had a chance to make the announcement here until today. I still have some tweaking to do, but it is up and going, and I made my first sale within a few minutes of having the store up! You can click on my link on the sidebar if you'd like to take a look. If you do, let me know what you think.

I am in the middle of finishing my 4th painting and as soon as I am finished I will upload it as well.

Cheers~
Stacy

Passage of Time

I have been very busy working on my paintings for an upcoming gallery exhibit. This is my latest creation that I finished last night. I have already started the next one - getting closer and closer to having them all completed way ahead of schedule. I have several other projects that I need and want to work on as well but for some reason, I just can't seem to let myself start anything else until I get all of these paintings completed. Normally, it's not uncommon for me to have several projects going at once so that I can move around to each one as I feel inspired. This is different for me. I think it is partly because lately I have been on an artistic high - meaning I haven't hit any artist's blocks in the last few days. That tends to happen to me from time to time, but I might as well "make hay while the sun shines." Can you tell I'm a Texas girl? How much more yee haw can you get? I grew up in a small town and my grandparents owned a large dairy where my Papaw always said that phrase - especially when he really was working in his hay field!

Tuscan Sunset

This is a piece that I finished yesterday. Although I have never been to Italy (it is my husband and I's dream vacation) this is how I imagine it. In my "dream" of looking out of a beautiful Tuscan balcony, the golden sunset casts a warm glow on the landscape around me. O.K. back to reality - this is one of several paintings that I am making for a gallery exhibit coming up soon.

Finding Strength

This is a painting of an oak tree I just finished for my brother who just got home from the hospital recovering from septic pneumonia. Like I have said before, I love trees. They have always intrigued me with their natural beauty and the way that, to me, they have always had special meaning and felt like a sense of strength. The oak tree is actually considered the symbol of strength. My favorite thing about the fall and winter months is that I get to observe God's beautiful trees, and their amazing branches are there for the world to see without their leaves covering them up. These are just some of the many reasons that I love painting trees so much.

My Plan

I have been thinking about doing something for the past several months, and because of my health issues and just life being it's normal, busy self, I haven't done it. I am planning on getting my Etsy shop up and running. I figured if I documented it in writing, then I would be much more likely to get it done, so I have made a promise to myself to have it ready by the end of January. Since things seem to be getting better, I don't have any excuses. Believe it or not, it looks like I may actually have it ready much sooner.

There...I said it, now I have to do it! Here is a peak at some of the things I have finished over the last few days. Seems like I have been on a roll of creativity lately!

I created this second Santa for a very special person as a Christmas present as well as a thank you. I post the story behind this probably tomorrow. It is somewhat of a long story, and I have my hands full with Ashlyn being home sick today with tonsillitis.