SOLD - "Winter Birches" - 18 x 24"

If you've seen some of the handmade items in my shop, you'll notice that I have a love of all things Birch! There's something about those long, skinny white trees that is so calming. I love how the knots in the bark look like eyes... watching us as we roam through the forest :)

I don't often paint this large, but when I took the reference photos for this piece, I knew right away that it should be painted BIG! The bold, contemporary design look even better with the frame. It looks amazing on any wall!

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California paintings

We had the luxury of spending the holidays in sunny California this year, which was a nice change from the cold, white north!

During our stay, we managed a quick trip along the coast, also known as the scenic Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). It's really one of my most favorites places, second after Ireland. I love the huge hills and valleys, and the vast changes between desert and rocky coastlines.

We had also been there about a decade earlier, and after looking through my plethora of photos for inspiration, I settled on these two to paint:

"Pacific Edge", 8 x 10" Oil on panel

"California Coast", 11 x 14" Oil on canvas

I don't paint Landscapes very often, but I had a great time working on these. I hope to paint more of them in the near future (I still have lots of photos to go through!).

SOLD - "Living on the Edge" - 14 x 18"

As promised, I'll be posting some of my latest works that hadn't yet made it to my blog. Here's one of them, titled "Living on the Edge".

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I started this painting last summer; it was the piece I was working on during a local Art Show, and had really struggled to finish it that weekend. I love going to this show... it's outdoors, and you get to meet your collectors face-to-face, which is always great! Plus, we usually set up our easels and paint while folks are admiring and shopping... something I always find interesting myself when I go to shows. I love seeing how each artist works.

However for me, being the social butterfly that I am, I almost never get to paint during these events because I'm too busy talking to everyone! And this is one of those paintings... started, but never finished. I finally brought it back to my studio and managed to finish it months later. And I'm so pleased with the final result!

The original photo (taken by my husband during a past trip to Tijuana, Mexico) was very dull and lifeless. I love bringing my sense of color to such drab scenes. That's where us artists really get to be artists :)

Autumn Arts Competition on Facebook

When I first saw this Group on Facebook, there were only a few entries for the competition so I thought to myself "Hey, I might actually have a chance at this!" HA! Guess again! :)

If anything, it's allowed me to work on some new autumn-inspired paintings, which I hadn't done in quite some time. I also hadn't worked in Watercolors in a few years, so it was nice to get those brushes wet again (the competition was for ANY medium, but Watercolors are so much faster drying, it was easier for me to create multiple pieces).

I'm really excited about my participation in this Art Competition! At closing, I think there were 884 entries - which is huge!! And I'm still in complete awe at the talent displayed there... There is talk of continuing these challenges for different seasons and themes, so it'll be fun to see what we come up.

"Soaking Up The Sun", 5 x 7" Watercolor on paper

"Troublemakers", 8 x 10" Oil on panel (SOLD)

"Autumn Pastures", 5 x 7" Watercolor on paper

Above are my three entries for this competition. The winners should be announced soon (hopefully!), so wish me luck!! And here's a link to the Group on Facebook: First Annual Autumn Arts Painting Challenge and Competition on Facebook

"I Love Maine", ACEO Challenge

I don't typically get involved in these types of challenges, especially since I had never really done an ACEO** before. Since I try to support my favorite ETSY team as much as I can, I thought I'd give it a try. How FUN!!!! The challenge was to create one (1) ACEO with a “Maine” theme using recycled or upcycled materials. It did not have to be 100% recycled materials, but as much as possible.

Here's my entry, which it simply titled "I Love Maine". It's made entirely of found and recycled objects. I started with real Birch bark as the background, then created a pine tree using leftover silk flower petals. The blue fabric across the bottom depicts Maine's coastline, along with a few seashells. I then added a few autumn leaves stickers at the bottom, and a gold snowflake as the sun.



This was so much fun to make and assemble - I hope I've captured the full essence of what Maine means to me (lush forests, gorgeous coastlines, and the four seasons). You can read more about this challenge, which ends on February 26, 2009. Good luck to all the other participants! :)

** What is an ACEO you ask? A.C.E.O. stands for: Art Cards, Editions and Originals. An ACEO is "always" 2.5 x 3.5 inches in portrait or landscape orientation. Small collectable pieces of original art or a signed "Open" or "Limited" Edition reproduction print by the artist. Designed on the Artist Trading Cards (ATC) which are 'traded' ...ACEO's are for sale to collectors. They allow people all around the world to collect and sell art because of their affordability and that the miniature size provides ease of shipping.

SOLD - "Play the Chessmaster" - 9 x 12"

Anyone who's visited Harvard Square (Cambridge, MA) in the summertime is undoubtedly familiar with the following scene. I snapped some photos a few years back, and always thought this one would make a great subject for a painting. This "chessmaster" has been immortalized in photos by many photographers, and now he's made it into one of my oil paintings!

This time, I also thought it would be nice to take photos of the painting-in-progress. Hopefully you enjoy this little slideshow!

Autumn Shadows - 10 x 14"

Fall in New England is something else... there's no way to really describe it unless you've been there. Having lived in the northeast my entire life, we sometimes take this for granted. One day, as I was driving through some backcountry roads, I came across this scene - tall, colorful trees casting these long purple shadows in the road... it was so beautiful!!! I had to capture this in a painting. The photos here don't do it quite justice... the painting is much brighter in real life!

This painting can be purchased through my Etsy shop.

SOLD - Come Home Safely - 10 x 14"

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No matter what your stance is on war, most of us can sympathize with those who have loved ones fighting for our rights. It's a sadness that we all feel. However, I wanted this painting to speak to the HOPE that we all have here, HOPE for those fighting for us that they WILL return home safely! You can't help but notice all the yellow ribbons - they're everywhere. It's the universal symbol that we use when we think of our troops abroad.

SOLD - Elephant - 9 x 12"

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I've always been fascinated by these large creatures... despite their immense size, they have a unique quality that makes them feel very approachable. I started this painting as a monochromatic experiment - using only ONE color, plus white, and seeing how many values can be achieved with just that color. I was so happy with the results that I decided to take the painting further by adding a light blue/teal background.

I only paint from life, or from my own reference photos, but in this case I was inspired by a gorgeous photo taken by the amazing Dianne Blell, which she generously gave me permission to use for my painting.

SOLD - Autumn Leaves - 12 x 16"

Fall is my favorite season of all - I absolutely LOVE seeing all those colors! When I was younger, my siblings and I used to look at the hills in our valley and call it "Fruity Pebbles", after the colorful cereal. And I love the smell of the air after all the leaves have fallen. The painting has lots of texture to it, with many layers of brushstrokes visible.

SOLD - Golden Pastures - 8 x 10"

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Although I don't consider myself a landscape artist, I do occasionally enjoy painting country scenes such as this one. I live in somewhat of a 'valley", so I'm surrounded by huge rolling hills. During one of my drives through the countryside last Fall, I came across this beautiful cow just standing there, staring at me! I thought she would make the perfect subject for a painting... I just loved the way she was standing there, light beaming on her, seeing the farms in the faraway background.

Swan Reflections - 10 x 14"

Back when I lived in Boston, a friend of mine came to visit me and we spent the entire day "being tourists". One of our stops was, of course, the Swan Pond. These elegant creatures were just begging to be photographed! I don't paint animals very often, but while looking through my stack of photos for inspiration, I came across this one and thought it would make the perfect subject for a painting.

This painting can be purchased through my Etsy shop.

Lakeshore - 33 x 20" diptych

Shortly after relocating from the busy life to our more serene lakefront home, I was inspired by my new view from the window. I had wanted to do a "diptych" (2 matching paintings) before, and I thought what better time to give it a try.

The painting depicts the lakeshore: the water on the bottom, sunset at the top, joined together by a white, wavy horizon line. I also added some actual river rocks to the piece, to add to the "organic", nature theme. The stones are held on the canvas by yellow waxed linen thread. It's an abstract piece that uses complimentary colors (orange and blue), and would go great in any home.

This painting can be purchased through my Etsy shop.

Tropical Abstract - 10 x 14"

As you can see in most of my work, I LOVE color!! In this painting, I wanted to attempt something I hadn't done - an abstract. Although it's not an abstract in the traditional sense (they're actually plant leaves, but I took a lot of liberty with the colors!). I'm happy with how the final pattern of colors worked out.

This painting can be purchased through my Etsy shop.

Celtic Souls - 16 x 20"

People who know me well, know that I'm absolutely in love with the country of Ireland. I swear, I must've been Irish in a past life or something! I mean, it's not like I share their heritage or anything? Trust me... I've gone back as far as I possibly can in my research, and I'm proud to say that I'm 200% French-Canadian! :D

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary 2 years ago. We wanted to go on special trip somewhere - not on some cruise (been there, done that!), a warm beach (although I'm sure my husband would've been all over that!), or even camping (which we do love, but come 'on... this was a huge milestone anniversary!). After not much discussion, we decided on Ireland. It seemed like an obvious choice.

Well, let me tell you... it was the best vacation ever! Ok, granted we haven't traveled much, like many of the people we know. But still! It's just such a gorgeous landscape, you can't help but just be in complete awe all the time... that, and the Guinness is just to die for!!!

So while visiting one of the many castles, I came across this great old cemetery. It was kind of perched on a slight hilltop, so I crouched down and snapped some pictures. Two years later, I decided to immortalize (no pun intended) it in a painting. It's currently one of my favorites hung on my walls :)

This painting can be purchased through my Etsy shop.