Pirate Ship Painting

Hey friends!  Sorry it has been a while since my last post.  Things have been pretty crazy around here.

I had asked my three-year-old son about a month ago what he would like me to paint for him.  He didn't skip a beat.  "A pirate ship!" he yelled.  My first thought was how in the world am I going to paint this pirate ship.  Then I came across one of my favorite whimsical paintings by Cindy Thornton named "Lullaby Bay" on YouTube.  I absolutely loved the color scheme she used.  I wanted to capture the same feel in my son's painting.

This was a really fun piece to work on.  It was not without frustration at times.  As with any painting, it first starts with an idea.  Then that idea becomes a sketch.  The absolute best part is when you see the finished painting and know that the journey was completely worth any frustration.

Flower Wall Art

This is a piece I worked on this weekend.  It was so much fun.  Okay.  I admit.  There was a moment where I thought I had completely ruined the piece.  Therein lies the beauty of art.  Sometimes the mistakes become the beautiful part.

I had a few layers of paint on this canvas because I couldn't decide on a background color.  It had been a bluesy purple and even yellow at one point.  I then decided to go with the cooler colors of blues and greens with my background.

Closeup of the background texture.  

My daughter had been asking me to paint something for her room.  She's the typical girly-girl and she wanted a pretty flower.  I knew I wanted to make it a bit of a mixed media piece.  I picked a few papers that I knew she would love, keeping in mind I wanted to keep them in the same color scheme.

I had recently received a Friskars Ultra ShapeXpress with a flower petal template for Christmas.  I hadn't used it yet, so this was a perfect time to break it out.  It took a bit of getting used to, but it was worth it in the end.  I have trouble with my hand after a surgery in 2006 and it really saved me time.

Other than the flower petals, the rest of the piece is all acrylic paints.

Hello 2013!

Well here I am.  I have to admit this is pretty intimidating even without a following.  Okay.  I'm sure mom is there.  (Hi, Mom!)

What will this blog be about, you ask?  An open journal so to speak into my journey back to my creative side.  I haven't picked up a pencil or a paint brush in years.  After getting married, leaving a job that left me less than inspired, and now a stay-at-home-mother of two, I'm ready to get messy.  I don't have an idea of what to expect.  Of course I fear utter failure, but I'm ready to see where this takes me.  I hope you'll join me along the process and hope there is an ever-flowing creative spark.

Ahhhh.  It feels good to finally be able to start thinking creatively again.