luminescent pastel tea roses 31

Hi there! So happy the weekend is here! I've been practicing my rose painting skills. I keep reminding myself that several of my favorite floral artists not only studied art in college but they have also been painting for years. Gary Jenkins has more than 40 years under his belt! He's not only a wealth of knowledge, inspiration but he's also an amazing teacher. I referred to one of The Beauty of Oil Painting books by Gary Jenkins as I painted these luminescent pastel tea roses:

I REALLY struggled painting the pink rose. I think I started over 5 or 6 times. One of the great properties of working with oil paints is that if you are not happy with your work, a little turpenoid will erase it right off your surface! :)

The base background was painted using acrylics and all the rest was painted using oils on a 12" x 12" gessoed art board:

For color inspiration, I joined along with the current Scrap Africa Mood Board Challenge:

I'm also linking this to this week's Paint Party Friday post:

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great weekend!
Be Sweet ;)

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a trio of pink Irises 18

Hi there! I hope you are having a great week! I'm having fun painting Irises. Today I have a trio of pink Irises to share that I painted on a 12" x 12" gessoed board:

My source of inspiration was this photo that I found on the website, "Paint My Photo" courtesy of Debra Babcock:

My goal was to paint a bit more impressionistic Irises. When all is said and done, I am gaining the ability to step back, look at my painting and see where I could make changes. I think I "over stroked" the Irises on this one but it was a learning exercise :)

I started this painting by first sketching the Irises on the surface:

followed with a random application of various acrylic paints:

For color inspiration, I joined along with the current Berry71Bleu color inspiration story:

I'm also linking this painting to the Paint Party Friday site:

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be Sweet ;)

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a luminescent white Iris 24

Hi there! I hope you had a great weekend! While Scott and I were in the Los Angeles area for a weekend get away recently, we visited the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. We photographed so many beautiful flowers including the white Iris shown below: 

I've seen so many beautiful paintings featuring various Iris's which inspired me to try to paint this magnificent flower. I referred to one of The Beauty of Oil Painting books by artist Gary Jenkins as I painted this luminescent white Iris on an 8" x 8" gessoed board using acrylics for the background and oils for the rest:

I was pleasantly surprised with my first attempt but I can definitely see where I need to make stroke improvements. I squeezed out more than enough paints on the palette so I'm going to make good use of it and have another go.

Here's what the background looked like before I painted the Iris and foliage. As you can see, I sketched the Iris prior to painting the background:

For color inspiration, I joined along with the Color Throwdown color challenge:

I'm also linking to Paint Party Friday:

Many thanks for stopping by ~ I hope you have a great day!
Be Sweet ;)

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a trio of roses 26

Hi! I hope all is well with you! I'm still here, living the dream and enjoying life :) Although I had a project to share, it's been over a month since I took the time to craft for various reasons. I sort of lost my crafty mojo along the way. Not sure if it's related to the 6 years non stop of blogging, dt responsibilities or a combination of various things. I may have one more Prima project to share then my term will be complete. I've stepped down from the other dt's that I was on, just lost the interest to craft. I've been quite busy taking care of my family, myself and completing domestic projects around the home. I've always been involved in fitness since childhood and that has carried over into my lifestyle. Being a woman nearing 50, maintaining my girly shape has become even more challenging but I'm always up for the challenge :) I spend many hours a week exercising either indoors or outdoors. It's a lot of hard work and dedication but is so rewarding. Here I am at the gym :)

My sweet husband built and surprised me with this rose garden for Mother's Day! 

Another HUGE project that both Scott and I tackled was replacing our outdoor couch cushion coverings. I received a quote for $1,200.00 to replace the cushions which I thought was quite outrageous since I have the ability and skills to sew! I cost us $250. to do it ourselves! Scott cut ALL the fabric and I did all the sewing :) Here's the before picture:

and here's the after:

Here's my little helper Gretchen putting the cushions through quality control :)

Scott made a custom cabinet to store my paper organizer in. Here's a few pics along the way. Once he built it, he base painted it brown so when it was distressed, the dark brown surface would peek through:

I painted it using Martha Stewart chalk paint:

We both worked on sanding it to distress it, Scott applied the antiquing glaze then I applied the polyurethane:

and here it is in my craft room :)

Feeling refreshed after a month's break from creating, I pulled out my paints and palette last night and followed along with Gary Jenkins Old Fashioned Roses video tutorial. This is a 12" x 12" gessoed board: 

I need to get the hang of a paintbrush in my hand again. Just like anything, practice, practice, practice...

I'm linking this to Paint Party Friday:

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Be Sweet ;)

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