This painting is of a little-used country dirt road from the country church to the small town of Cedonia, WA. The notalgic scene depicts my mother and her younger cousin, Everett. Her uncle, Leo, usually had a cattle dog such as a border collie to help work the cows. The original acrylic painting, 20" x 16" is not for sale but professional quality giclee prints are available at my Etsy store.
Old Road To Cedonia - Almost to Bessie Newlun's Home
The first art that I can remember touching my life was the delightful pen & ink 'decorations' as they are called in the original "Winnie the Pooh" books by A. A. Milne. These lovely drawings were by the British artist, Ernest Shephard.
I can feel the influence of this early exposure in the next three little works shown below. Prints are available at my Etsy store.
"Rebekah Racoon As Little Red Riding Hood"
This is a pair of acrylic paintings inspired by many ponds viewed the last few years. We were blessed to purchase a home that has a small pond off the back patio. We bought some little Koi/Goldfish mixed breed fishes last summer - but they were so shy we never saw them unless we disturbed the water. We planted water lilies & bamboo for shelter for the fish as well as beauty. These original paintings are available at my Etsy store. I am happy to keep them - this is the perfect time of year to enjoy this type of art!
Having been inspired by following recent blogs, I am posting on my daily paintings blog which has been neglected for months... I have been painting, in spurts and have a few to add. The first is not a recent painting but one I am offering in giclee prints at my Etsy store. I greatly admire master painter, Richard Schmid, and own his powerful book, 'Alla Prima - Everthing I Know About Painting'. In it he states he prefers to not paint flowers in a vase or container. I painted these pansies as if they had been just picked and not yet formally arranged.
I had a busy day yesterday organizing and uploading art to my new Etsy shop, P Christensen Gallery. It is great how smoothly the Etsy system is to work with. I had researched and debated for weeks where to sell original art, prints and cards. Three venues were considered; eBay (been there, done that - expensive and not happy with the lack of concern or attention to dealing with security issues - long, boring story - so will not go there), a new kid on the block called 'Bonanzle' (will keep my eye on this one) or Etsy. I chose Etsy because it is arts & crafts oriented - so the lookers already are interested in the arts and not electronic games, etc. So after one day, here it is - Check it out here.
Late last night I finished up one more pastel painting. It is of rather tall and narrow proportions and would look elegant with a 4" white mat! A complete explanation about how I came upon this scene is explained at my Etsy shop if you are interested. This is from the beautiful neighborhood where my mother lives in Longmont, CO. It is a historic area with beautiful vintage homes of various architectural styles. This scene could really be anywhere, in any period of time...
"Watchful Eyes" ~ 20" x 11" ~ Pastel on Heavy Textured Sanded Pastel Paper
My sister recently lost a beloved horse to illnesses and she wrote a poetic tribute to him she entitled "Flying With Sparrows". I did this pastel to make a condolence card for her. She rides her horses in the Sonoma County, California, area so I placed the sparrows flying over hills and fields that resemble that area.
Finest quality pastels on a heavy archival sanded pastel paper were used to execute this piece. This painting is not for sale.
'Flying With Sparrows' - Pastel on Heavy Sanded Pastel Paper - 9" x 6"
Detail
'Summer's End ~ Black-eyed Susans' was painted for the flower of the month show over at EBSQ. This is a self-representing artists site.
These happy flowers are in a little corner of our front lawn. They alway look exuberant to me as they welcome the change of the season to our colorful Autumn!
'Summer's End ~ Black-eyed Susans' 12" x 9 " Pastel on Heavy Sanded Paper
Detail Image:
The 'Strutting Rooster' has already ordered the sun to rise and shine (as in the French story of Chanteclair) and is surveying his domain around the barnyard... This piece is a companion painting to "Hen And Chicks."
"Strutting Rooster" 9" x 11" Pastel on Heavy Sanded Paper
Detail of Head
I have wanted to do a painting of a mother hen and chicks for quite some time. I have a companion rooster in progress and will post him next.
"Hen And Chicks" 9" x 12" Pastel on heavy archival sanded paper
Detail of Head...
