Horse for my Mom

I've wanted to do this for my mom for a couple of years now. I borrowed an old sketchbook of hers so that I could recreate a horse she drew years ago when she fell off a horse and broke her shoulder. The painting is acrylic on slate.

My mom's sketch

Brittany's Boxes

My sister requested magazine holders for her classroom. Since she teaches math, she asked for geometric patterns. 

McKenna's Lion

6" x 6" acrylic on canvas.

It's based on the giraffe pattern currently in my niece's bedroom:

Grace's Octopus

Grace wanted a zebra. And then she wanted an octopus. And then she considered a series of three sea creatures. And then she settled on an octopus again. Once I was relatively certain she wasn't going to ask for a dragon or a butterfly midway, I painted her octopus. I wanted it to be really dramatic and pop. The background is black with a midnight blue glaze, like the very depths of the ocean. And this is a blue-ringed octopus.

Photography provided by Dawn K Moyer Photography

Alexandra's Kittens

Being a big sister is a big responsibility (just ask my older sister). So, I wanted to give Hrafn's older sister, Alexandra, a special gift of her own. Her mom said that she likes kittens and anything cute, so kittens she will get. Acrylic on canvas.

Ocean Creatures

One of my dearest friends and his wonderful wife just had a handsome baby boy named Hrafn Michael. Since I can't be there in Iceland to meet their son, I'm sending them ocean creatures.

Not-so-Scary Pumpkins

The girls in my book club got me hooked on watching the Food Network Challenges where the contestants make these great cake sculptures surrounding some fanciful theme. Around Halloween, I was watching an episode where they carved and sculpted pumpkins. When they started sculpting the pumpkins, my jaw dropped, and I sat in awe watching Ray Villafane create this:

And then this (some of the snakes actually move):

My jaw dropped, and I said, "I didn't know you could do that with a pumpkin. I want to try it!" So, I stopped at a church selling pumpkins on the front lawn, picked out two with loads of character, and gave it a go:

I was pretty pleased with it, so I gave it another go:

And then I bought a pumpkin squash:

I went home that weekend to visit my parents, and my mom asked me to carve some pumpkins for her as well:

He's ornery:

This is what you get when I carve pumpkins while watching a movie starring Russell Crowe:

And he's just so happy to be here:

A Piece That Defines Me

I had wanted some sort of artwork for my Family Room for a while. The background is symbolic of the art process for me. I start with globs of paint and watch them slowly transform into an image I see in my mind. The quote is my own. The original quote was, "There are so few things we really get to control in life that we cling to the few things we can. And that's why I paint. I control the paint and the paintbrush, and I watch globs of color turn into an elephant, or an octopus, or a dog. And when it's all done, I sit back and smile, because I made order from chaos. And it smiles back." I wanted a piece of artwork that really meant something to me and would make me smile whenever I saw it. It is, of course, acrylic on three 10" x 20" canvases. The font is based on Giddyup Std.

Monkeys

After the large elephant painting, I was missing my acrylic paints. I was also looking for a fun project to sort of reset myself for my next project. I've started investing in better quality acrylics and acrylic medium, so I thought this was the perfect time to test them out, since the paintings were just for fun and no one would be affected if they didn't turn out well. These are acrylic on 5" x 5" canvases. And they're monkeys.

"Cowabunga"

"Leap of Faith"

"Splat"

This was the original final panel, but it didn't really do much. I still like it, it's just a stand alone piece now.

"No Peeking"

Elephant Oil Painting

This is an oil painting on a 30" x 40" canvas. It's based on a photograph found at a Cord Camera store by Nic, the person commissioning the work.

Lawn Goblins 3 of 3

Lawn Goblins 2 of 3

Lawn Goblin Flower Pots 1 of 3

Three of my plants have quite happily grown out of their flower pots. This meant that despite my ever growing list of art projects, I absolutely had to stop and finish painting three of the flower pots I started nearly a year ago. It's a series of lawn goblins, two based on goblins I sculpted out of clay that met tragic ends because the clay was air dry and not very durable - especially for how delicate the work was to begin with. Nonetheless, here are the flower pots:

Shadow

This is my first oil painting. It's on a 5" x 5" canvas board. This is of my sister and her husband's dog, Shadow, a half-lab, half-pit bull mix. The picture was taken by my aunt, Dawn K. Perry, a professional photographer.

Giraffe and Cheetah for Carrie

Carrie asked for two 18" x 18" canvases for her children's bathroom. Her daughter's favorite animal is a giraffe, and her son's is a cheetah. She loaned me a bath towel and gave me pictures of her bathroom so that I could match the colors. Her towel and shower curtain were both striped, so I used the colors and the pattern for the background.

I learned a lot about acrylic on this project. I discovered Frogger tape, a type of painter's tape that truly does not bleed, and I also learned that yes, it is possible to remove acrylic with sandpaper or a rough sponge, but only the first few layers. That's the first time I've ever ripped a canvas, but it worked out, because as soon as I had a clean canvas, the giraffe was a cinch.