April Comment Winner

Alright...so I dropped all the names (I'd like to say in a hat but it was more like a pile on my desk) of those who left comments for the month of April...and the winner is Sara Liddell!!  (Isn't she gorgeous...)  Anyhoo, she gets to pick a free painting from April...she picked True Inspiration!!  If you're interested in May...keep the comments flowing!

Summer Art Classes

I've had some inquiries for my Children's Summer Art Classes.  They are beginning Wed June 15 and continue every Wed from 10am-12pm until August 17th.  They are for kids ages 5 and up and the cost is $80 for the classes with a $20 supplies fee.  We will be learning about some wonderful artists (Rousseau, O'Keeffe, van Gogh, Pollock,etc.) and trying some of their techniques.  (Not to mention we're going to have a blast getting messy.)  If you want to register your kids or want more information contact me raimie10@yahoo.com.  Paint On!!

For All the Moms I've Loved Before (Sold) 8x11

My last painting sparked (besides a little guilt for rushing) an exciting inspiration for me.  With Mothers Day coming, loving my wonderful mom and love being a mom, I've been thinking a lot about all of the moms that have influenced my life.  Flowers are the perfect representation of mothers, per myself.  Flowers are so varied.  Some are beautiful, some smell wonderful, some start out odd, some are the perfect finish to the perfect arrangement, some are stinky, some are weeds, some are plain familiar but always constant, some are delicate and some are so interesting you can't help but wonder how on earth God came up with that formula.  Hmmm...so moms and flowers.  Like weeds some mothers are wonderful teachers of hard work.  Stinky ones???  Did you know that most stinky flowers stink for a reason??  Often to ward off insects and bugs, they protect other flowers.  Take a carnation...constant, simple, sometimes a filler but no less beautiful.  Sunflowers!!  They grow tall, strong, powerful under heat.  What inspiration ey??  So all of my pieces up to Mothers Day are going to be of Mothers (flowers).  If you decide to buy a piece for your Mother for Mothers Day $10 smackaroos off.  Yeah Moms!!

Dear Mother I Learned How to Love Them from You (Sold) 8x10

So what started as an inspirational story on this one, kind of deflated, bummer.  My mom's love of flowers was the first idea that came to my mind. (Not to mention my mom's house looks like an art museum slammed into a garden, she has quite the art collection, jealous.)  Shamefully so, today my only desire was to get this piece finished for my blog.  My week is running away from me...and my season is the season of motherhood, and I would have it no other way.  So nothing too exciting except that I loved the short 2 hours I had to work on this piece and maybe because my mom was my inspiration, that is what brought on the mayhem.  Mayhem is motherhood right??  For those of you who know and love my mother, no one handles more mayhem than her.  I love you mom! (Interested for Mothers Day...$10 off Mothers Day Paintings and $20 same day framing.)

True Inspiration (Sold) 11x14

This past Spring Break I had the opportunity to visit Moab and St. George, UT with my eternal boyfriend and our darling babies.  We took many hikes and made many climbs.  Those sweet hiking moments overload my brain with ideas for art.  Obviously.  Delicate Arch...inspiring.  Sand Dune Arch...inspiring.  Kayente...total art inspiring.  The problem often with those inspirations is that everyone is familiar with the inspiration.  Painting a scene from Delicate Arch is like a contestant on American Idol trying to redo "Kiss" by Prince.  You simply don't mess with perfection.  That poses some challenges.  The true inspiration that I found this past week was not in the beauty of my surroundings, but in the beauty of my life.  Nothing is more beautiful than watching my kids, a perfect creation from my husband and myself, laugh, smile, and love with each other.  Climbing big rocks with huge smiles of accomplishment on their shiny red faces oozing little drops of sweat, watching my tiniest chickie bob up and down as she runs the trails trying to keep up with her buddies, the way we smell as we all pile back into the car to head out for a well deserved lunch.  So the awe that inspired this, could be totally hokey piece, is not nature's beauty but the beauty of family.

Sing Your Heart Out (Sold) 18x24

I'm sure you can guess the inspiration for this piece...Spring baby!  I can hardly wait for the colors and blooms and walks in the early morning.  Also I love COLOR bold strong powerful color!!  No sissy pale yellows or soft blues,  Boo-Hoo!!  I honestly can hear the sigh of a canvas or a wall after a new coat of paint (kind of like the sound your car makes in the winter when you kick a big ice chunk off the wheel well).  And let me tell you this canvas sang her heart out.

Patience (Sold) 11x14

Do you ever have those moments in life where you are wondering what kind of sense of humor mother nature has?  Do you cling to the tiny tender mercies of sunshine that you know are gifts strait from God?  Well that's where this story begins.  Each year as I get older, my patience or memory? grow smaller.  Call it seasonal depression, call it...was winter this long last year...but the last days of winter seem a large mountain to climb.  The air is often drear as I crave the arrival of spring.  (Drear not dreariness for the addition of "iness" implies to my mind that it belongs on words that are delicious...happiness, cheeriness).  So, the drear is annoying the socks right off me as I await the warm beams of sun that tan the skin and renew the vitamin D.  So...She is patiently awaiting spring and the blessings of the first peeks of color, the joys of being outside and the breezy warmth.   She keeps a forward focus not letting her surroundings dampened those butterflies in her tummy.  Her face is blessed with the all seeing eye to offer protection, from envy.  Envy of the San Diegoians, the St Georgians, the Hawaiians, the I'm cruising on Royal Caribbeanians.  The flower that thrives is the one touching her anticipatingly joyous heart. I am calling this piece..."Patience!?"