Having A Car Smogged And A New Finished painting!

You know whats really fun?......Striking up a conversation with a complete and total stranger. Now, thats not to say that you approach just anyone on the street, but, when the situation arises, don't be shy! You may be surprised by your new aquaintance.

  Case in point. Yesterday, I went with my daughter to go have her car smogged. Now, lets face it, having a car smogged is not the most exciting thing to do. She didn't want to go alone, she still needs her mama.  It's one of those mundane life tasks that just have to be done. As we were sitting outside the smog shop, I was looking around and enjoying the beautiful warm sun. It's been really cold and rainy here in Cali lately so the weather was a welcome respite. An older gentleman pulled up in a van to have his car smogged. He walked over to the benches and sat down across from us and started to engage us in conversation.

  My daughter told him of her plans to move to Alaska to be with her fiancee who is stationed there in the army. He was so sweet. he offered her such fatherly advice and we sat and talked till all of a sudden, the car was done being smogged. It was such easy conversation and we talked like we had known each other for years! What was a boring morning turned into an interesting time at the smog shop!

  So , if you are sitting somewhere, doing something that lacks interest, you know, like the DMV (Eeeek)  for instance, engage the person next to you in conversation and watch the time fly. And who knows, you may make a new friend!

  So here is the finished Koi painting. I am really happy with the way it turned out. Sometimes you just don't know. I have painted paintings that I was not at all happy with, it happens. But remember, even if a painting you are working on doesn't feel right to you, it can always be changed or fixed so don't give up on it.

"Blissful Koi"

16X20 Mixed Media Acrylic

Another one finished.......It feels so good to finish up a painting! Now, I must work on my new bird painting and I will have my progress on that one up soon. Enjoy!

Blissful

Transform your thoughts and embrace love as a way of life. Your souls dance is one of great joy and by acknowledging its beauty you foster the awakening spirit and create positive outcomes in all aspects of life. The essence of being alive is to live like you mean it and transform limiting beliefs. By doing so you inspire the heart which will in return guide you along a path of bliss to a happy and passionate life.

Micheal Teal

Every morning I work on just being. Just being content, just staying in the present moment and just being blissful. 

Yesterday, I started out with my Koi painting at this stage........

And here is where I am at right now...................

I'm hoping to complete this painting today. I have really enjoyed working on this. The colors are vivid and it is loaded with texture partly due to the collage underpainting. I applied liquid acrylic, built up into layers, to create the illusion of rich water and yet still let the marks and the colors of the collage show through. I hope you are enjoying observing my creative process as much as I enjoy sharing it with you. I will post more later! 

More New Progress!

 I'm painting away!!!....After a very good Yoga workout this morning!

I want to show you all the progress I have made in the last few hours, on the 16X20 new canvas and a brand new 10X10 I'm also working on. Here was what the 16X20 looked like yesterday...............

And here is what it looks like now!

I really enjoy taking a lot of progress photos as I am working. it helps to get the overall view of where my painting is headed. As you can see, The main Koi has his mouth open. Have you ever seen how huge a Koi can open it's mouth? When open, their mouths are the diameter of their heads! amazing!

  And here, I have a brand new 10X10 of another one of my little chubby birds. Again, this is a mixed media collage on canvas, hopefully you can see the little sketch as it is faint right now.......Just wanted to share and now it's back to the studio for me. More photos and blog talk later!

Aqua Collages

  Hey.........yes I am still here. I have just been so busy, mostly painting but also still trying to get the house finished so we can get it up on the market.

  I do have a show next month that I am still busy getting ready for. I am going to paint up a bunch of these mini paintings to take up there. I will also have greeting cards and lots of prints of some of my larger work too. This first canvas is actually a 16X20 that I have been developing a background on. I am now ready to sketch my subject onto it........

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Hopefully, I will get around to adding the sketch onto this canvas today! But in the meantime, here is the new finished mini canvas.........

"Aqua Bliss"
2 1/2 x 3 1/2 Mixed Media Collage

I used the same technique for the background on both these canvasses.

I have two galleries in Colorado interested in taking my Koi paintings so I will probably be painting quite a few of those! I will be back soon with more progress! Happy Tuesday and keep paintin.

Up And Running

 Well, my little holiday hiatus is officially over and it's back to creating once again.

  A very good friend of mine, Penny, lives about an hour from me in Aqua Dulce. She took these beautiful snow pictures and I would like to share them with you. Now I know a lot of you probably have your own fair share of snow, but here in Cali, this is a rare sight so you will just have to humor me! It is very pretty though, isn't it

I just thought a little snowy eye-candy might be nice to put up here on my blog. Anyway, yes I have been painting. If you remember this canvas..........

It now looks like this................

This still has a ways to go but is progressing nicely. The little mark you see on the left of the canvas was a little gift that my dog Sadie kicked up onto the canvas as she was running circles around it as I was shooting it! it's just a small pebble, no damage done.

I hope you are all enjoying your New Year and it's back into the studio for me. Catch you all later!

Celebrating My Birthday

 Today, January 3rd 2011 is my 53 birthday. I am 53 years young!

  As I get older, the years seem to fly by quicker and quicker. Remember back to when you were a teenager. How impatient you were to turn 21. You couldn't wait, you counted the days, then the hours, then the minutes. You just couldn't wait to be an adult.

  Now as I think back, I realize the importance of taking my time to get there. To walk, not run, to that next phase of my life. To slow down and just enjoy the journey. Wish I knew then, what I know now!

  I have started taking up Yoga again. I realize how much I miss it and also how good it makes me feel. In fact, the past couple days, after my asanas are over, I have been so relaxed that I have fallen asleep! I am using Yoga as just another way to slow down and it is working it's magic.

  I have also added some meditation  to my day as well. In fact, I went to this beautiful spot and meditated last week..........

It's so good to just free up your mind and your thoughts. I haven't been painting very much through the holidays and now I know it's time to get back to the studio and let my creative energy unfold once again. But, just for today, on this my 53rd birthday, I am just going to reflect on the here and now, relax and let everything just be.  

A New Beginning

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." -Neil Gaiman

  Wishing you all a New Year filled with good health, prosperity and joy, and may all your dreams unfold before you!

Ellen