Pink Geraniums in Silver

6 x 6 x 1.5

Oil on Wood Panel

$85.00

It was tricky to not overdo the geraniums as they are made up of small petals to create the full flower but having painted hydrangeas before, I was confident going into it.  Not too simple but not too complicated either.  I love
painting silver objects. Will definitely follow this one up with another containing something silver soon.

It's Fall and I Love It!

....and one more thing!  I have been captivated by Polyvore!  If you haven't tried it yet, it is an online collage/shopping site.  At the center is a painting of mine (for sale on Etsy) surrounded by images from the Polyvore site to compliment the theme.  Some of the images are to support the design and others are actual items for sale by others from many different sites.  Shopping and creativity in the same place!

It's Fall and I Love It! by joannaolson featuring wall art

Wall art
nordstrom.com

World Market wall art
worldmarket.com

Accent chair
brookstone.com

Fall Harvest by joannasart on Etsy
etsy.com

First Full Day of Fall?

NFS

I just realized how appropriate this painting is to be posting on the first full day of Fall.  The orange background really makes this little black and white cat

look like he's ready for Halloween.  He belongs with Chablis, whose portrait I posted last week.

Sweet Geraniums

I enjoyed painting the silver bowl with pears a few weeks ago and had looked forward to painting more silvery things.  I'm also conscious of the fact that it is now Fall and my geraniums will have to be protected from frost until I can bring them in.  So the cycle begins, cut, arrange, photograph and hopefully soon after, paint!
I'll post the proper photo after I've contemplated this one.

Revisiting Journals

Birds from my journal

Closeup of bird applique

I haven't worked in my journals for ages and seeing them again makes me want to MAKE the time!  It's not as if I haven't been creating art in the meantime, it's just that the journals are just for me and the freedom to experiment is so special that I could never part with them.  The second image is a recent drawing/painting on fabric for the pillows I made for the local aviary fundraising event this past weekend.   

And Here's Charlie

Charlie

So Charlie is one of two portraits completed last week.  I did ask about their names. Puppy was the other one.  A happy little dog with a crooked smile.

RED SHALLOTS

RED SHALLOTS

And this is the final image.  I am in danger of over working my small format paintings.  Lately I've been going back to them a day or two or three later.

Which defeats the purpose.  Start strong, stay strong and walk away!  I do like this one though.

Painted AND Sewn

A slight departure from my normal posts.  There is a fund raiser for our local Aviary called The Nichoir this weekend.  And I decided to paint and stitch some pillows for it.  

Handpainted on unprimed canvas and embellished with free form stitching.  The birds are appliqued onto the background.  This was very satisfying to do as I can expand on this many ways and I can indulge in my love for fabric and beautiful embroidery threads at the same time.

As experiments do, this lead to my stitching up some Fall leaves using wool, dupioni silk and organza.  I'll incorporate these into wool scarves, handmade bags and more pillows.  

On My Easel This Monday Morning

And I thought this one would be a walk in the park!  Lots of greys in the cloth
and a constant battle not to over work.    So it's time to put the brushes down and come back to it in a little while.

Nasturtiums and Chablis

September!  The beginning of my favourite season.  Already I've re-organized my digital files, cleaned up my studio, took many new photos of the late season flowers in the garden, and looking forward to new projects.  

The photo of Chablis (the cat) has just been finished.  And the photo below is one of many that I took this morning that will be part of my Fall line up.