Sepia Dreams ~ This is acrylics on watercolor paper, 5 x 7 inches. I sketched the arch shape in on this one a couple of weeks ago when I painted the 2 Southwest ACEOs with arches (a couple of posts down). The other night I was trying to get inspiration for another painting and grabbed this one and just started painting to see where it would go. It's funny that this one has a totally different feeling from the other two I painted! That red oxide on top isn't this bright in the actual painting. Do you ever just start painting/creating and let it go where it will without a real plan? It's a good creativity boost for me! I hope everyone has a really great weekend!

Misty Blue Morn ~ This painting is 9 x 12 inches, acrylics on Canson 140 lb. watercolor paper. I don't know why I painted a 'fall tree' near the end of winter but it just sort of flowed out that way! I hope youall got to enjoy the beauty of the full eclipse of the moon tonight...I did in between the clouds and it was glorious looking!!

Blue Moon Night and Twining Tree ~ I just painted this one but I think I'm going to do more to it before I call it finished. I've painted several in the blue moon series and really enjoy doing them...plus the twist on lid on my phthalo blue cracked the other day so I need to used up that blue anyways! This one is 11 x 14 on a stretched canvas and done in acrylics.

Tales from the warm, sunny southwest ~ Well, actually I must be dreaming/wishing I was really there! I haven't been out there in over 20 years but I remember the beauty of the landscape and would love to visit again! These are the ACEO size paintings in acrylics I just finished and I was pleasantly surprised with them. I had no idea how they were going to turn out but the more I worked on them, the 'sunnier' they started to get and the more I was happy with the way they turned out!

I hope everyone has a

Very Happy Valentine's Day!

New ACEOs ~ I just finished these four ACEOs and they're acrylics on 140 lb. watercolor paper. The titles for the top 2 are 'Rainbow Dancer' and 'Washday'. I used a new technique for these two. I watered down the acrylics to use like watercolors and let the pools of color spread out and dry. Then I looked at the shapes and used my imagination to 'see' the pictures that were formed in the dried paint. The bottom two and top one are more fantasy trees but I haven't thought of a title for them yet.

Some New Small Ones ~ I've been painting some ACEO size ones this week. These are acrylics on watercolor paper.

Did you ever wonder what it would feel like to ride in one of the Navy's Blue Angel jets?! I was visiting my family website today and found this awesome link which made me very sure I would never, ever want to ride in one. The reporter that has the camera on him passed out three times! eeek, let me out of this thing. I actually got dizzy just watching the video! The link is below:

blue angels

Red Wave Blue Bubbles and a Blue Vintage Mustang ~ I painted another larger one and it's acrylics on 11 x 14 x 1 1/2 inches deep stretched canvas. I see kind of a glare on this so I'm going to try taking it outside to get a better picture tomorrow. Today, me and my camera were 'employed' by my husband to get lots of pictures of his 'baby'. He is really into the classic cars, especially ones with 'hemis' or 'mopars' and I still don't know what that means LOL except they are loud, fast, and look neat!! He restored this Mustang and we took it up the road to the lake today so I could get some photos of it. He is into fast cars and I'm into art so that's a great combination! :) I liked the way the colors in my painting and his car looked together!

Hoo Me? ~ The other day I was up in the attic rummaging around for something and found an old art kit I had given my daughter many years ago. I found some oil pastels in there, and having no idea of how to actually use them, I started drawing on a piece of watercolor paper with them. They are almost like regular crayons which you can smear around with your fingers! I made a little owl which is 3 x 5 inches and hey I'm kind of attached to him now hehe! I'm finally starting to feel human again after being run over by the flu. I think next year I may try the flu shot!

'Dreamcatcher', the painting pictured below is now gone. A friend of my daughter's boyfriend saw some of my paintings at their house and wanted a 'weird' one...so I was happy to sell that one to him! I think I may try one similiar to it in blue!

FLU SEASON! ~ Yuck, both my husband, Rob and I have been soo clobbered by the flu this past week. I have to say it felt sort of like being run over by a mac truck for about two days! High fever, chills and I won't go into the rest of the gory details! We are both feeling sort of human now and I have really missed painting. I did paint this in acrylics but it's only the beginning of something and has a long way to go. I just noticed how washed out the photo is because I took it inside with a flash. It has been raining most of the day so I couldn't get a decent pic of it outside.

Inside Photo

Outside photo

Pink and Silver ~ Well I haven't named these yet but I finished these 3 new ACEO trees today and I did them in acrylics and used the iridescent pearl again (I love that stuff!). I took some photos of them inside with the flash going off and then took some outside on the deck, which was in the shade with bright light and no flash. Now I have to decide which pics turned out best and can't decide, grr!

I hope everyone is having a great day! I think we're going to go out to eat tonight so that'll be fun. Nothing fancy, but yummy!

Dreamcatcher ~ This is 11 x 14 inches on a stretched canvas. I got up my nerve to try another abstract on a large canvas and before I knew it, I had a 'mud' painting, arrgh! While it was all still wet, I grabbed a pointy toothpick and pallette knife and started scratching, swirling and scraping the paint and finally ended up with this one after applying some of the crimson acrylics. I think I may keep it hanging on the bedroom wall to 'catch' bad dreams hehe!

'Fire Orchard' 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches acrylics on 140 lb. wc paper

'Whirlpool' 11 x 14 x 1 1/2 inches acrylics on stretched canvas

This is crazy, but it actually took me longer to paint this tiny ACEO than it did to paint the larger painting! I had ordered a box of pre-stretched canvases from Cheap Joe's a while back and they've been sitting in the floor unused ever since. They are 11 x 14 inches and 1 1/2 inches deep. I kept putting off trying to paint on them because I was so scared of messing them up. I am so used to painting the small ACEOs size ones. Anyways, last night I grabbed one of the large stretched canvas out of the box and with both feet, or both hands I should say, and my largest brush I tackled one of them. I was actually kind of happy with the way it turned out but I may tweak it some more though before I varnish it and call it finished.

When is Spring coming? ~ I've been thinking about spring and did a couple of ACEOs which I finished today. I am looking forward to spring, but would like to see at least one good snow out here before winter is over. We still have a couple of months to go though. I can picture my friends to the north and west, who probably do have snow on the ground, rolling their eyes at me for that comment! :p

My friend Terri tagged me so I have to share some facts about myself, eek! So, here are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I recently found out that I can't eat a lot of chocolate, especially my fave the dark kind, without it making me soo irritable and in a really bad mood. I even did an internet search and found out it affects some others that way too! :( :(

2. I can spread out and wiggle my toes (like a monkey) . My husband and daughter can't do that.

3. When I was in the 8th and 9th grade, I was the fastest runner in my gym classes (about a 100 girls).

4. My husband said I grit my teeth at night.

5. My cousin and I got caught skipping school in High School. They didn't catch us all the other times though hehe!

'Nightfall' ~ I used the pearl iridescent acrylics and you can see how it changes when the light hits it. This work is 8 x 10 inches on a stretched canvas.

A very talented artist and dear on-line friend lost her Mother this morning. My thoughts, prayers, tears and lots and lots of hugs go out to her.

:(

'Silver Tree and Heart' and a close up (above) of the pearl iridescent acrylic paint

5x7 inch acrylics on cold press Canson 140 lb. watercolor paper

'Hot Taters' Acrylics on a 6x6 inch stretched canvas

Hot and Cold ~ I just finished painting the two pieces above and I used the pearl iridescent acrylics to paint the snow on the trees and snowflakes in the first painting. It seems like I went from cold to hot in these two works!

Spring and Summer ACEO Trees Finished! ~ Yea I finished up the series of 4 seasons ACEOs and got them in the mail today! I had gone to Michaels yesterday and stocked up on some new Golden brand paints...feeling like a kid in a candy shop! I bought some iridescent pearl and it actually contains finely ground mica. I used it to paint the ribbons around the spring trees (pink ones) and it's so pretty how the light makes it reflective! I've been wanting to give the interference acrylics a try too.

Capturing a Mood with the Camera ~ The other day it rained all day long and I was glad since we had been in a drought most of the summer, with water restrictions. Right at dusk I looked out the back door and the backyard looked all misty and wet and strangely mysterious...I was thinking it looked like a scene from the movie 'The Blair Witch Project' eek!! I grabbed my camera and stood out on the deck to see if I could capture the unusual creepiness out there! I even got some orbs (hehe raindrops) in the photo!

I am still trying to get used to my new computer with Windows Vista...new error messages/new programs, trying to find things in my computer that used to be so easy, etc. I'm getting there, slowly but surely, arrrgh helllp! I love this new flat screen monitor but some of my photos look distorted and too wide. Maybe it just needs an adjustment or something.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. I got all the holiday decorations out of the house today and Yeaaa, my house is almost back to normal. See ya next year, Christmas decorations! (sniff, sniff) :)

'New and Improved' summer ACEOs ~ I worked some more on the summer ones and now I think they look a whole lot better! Babs, thank you for the tips and Pamie I hope that you are feeling better!

I haven't been visiting my friends blogs as much lately because my 8 year old computer has gotten slower than molasses in the winter! It takes forever for most web pages to even load now but Santa is bringing me a new computer this year, so hopefully things will be much faster soon.

I hope everyone has a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Puddin' and the Christmas Octopus ~ This is my cat Puddin and her Christmas buddy who plays 'Jingle Bells' through what sounds like blowing bubbles, when you press the red spot on his tentacle! She was all snuggled up with him tonight on the back of the couch and I had to grab the camera. She didn't look too thrilled with the camera flash in that one picture LOL, if looks could kill! She always gives me 'the look' when I get near her with a camera though! :) I hope everyone is having fun and getting in the holiday spirit because Christmas is almost here, woohoo!

ACEO SETS for Pamie ~ Three of Each Season and I still have the spring trees to go to complete the set! Thank You Pamie! EEK only 2 more weeks till Christmas!! I've baked a couple batches of Christmas cookies but it looks like I'm going to have to make some more next week. I gave my daughter and her boyfriend one batch and my husband and I have about finished off the second batch. My friend Babs http://wilsonart-babs.blogspot.com/ gave me a great recipe that I'm going to have to try that has pecans, oatmeal and raisins, yum!!!