portfolio & pinterest marry

I love getting feedback on my blog....the more the better!  Everything takes time and I am learning as I go but ultimately I blog to track my love for painting and art and the craziness of motherhood.  All I really want is for my work to speak to people and hopefully they will get something out of it.  It's hard with just a blog alone to showcase all of your work as a painter and a few people have told me it is difficult to see my samples.  I couldn't agree more!  Aha......pinterest.  How I do love you.  If you haven't discovered this wonderful obsession you must.  Right now. 

I will be adding pieces of my art to my board which is devoted to my original work on pinterest over the next few weeks.  In the end, my entire portfolio can be viewed at once going as far back as my days as a student.  Each piece will be linked back to the blog so they will be posted here first.

 Here goes:

Old Town Alexandria

oil pastel 19" x 24.5"

Model Italy

watercolor 13.5" x 18"

Street Band:  New Orleans

acrylic on paper 17.5" x 30"

Venice

watercolor 30" x 22"

the winning piece complete!

I finished the painting for Meghan, the winner of the drawing held in December!  She gave me a few clues to inspire me.  She wanted the piece for her bedroom which she just finished re-decorating in a romantic theme with red, purple, smoky topaz and chocolate throughout.  I asked her if she could travel anywhere where would it be: Paris.

Eiffel Tower at night

12" x 12" acrylic, gold & silver ink on canvas with polycrylic finish

congrats on winning the painting, Meghan and thanks for being a good sport about having your picture taken ; )....I hope you enjoy it!

like it, comment, share it...WIN IT!!!!

7.5" x 13"  "City Walk"

In an effort to promote my work and beef up my audience I will be giving away a FREE 12" x 12" painting...(Ohhh, yeah!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!) 

The winner's name will be drawn from a hat and announced at 8:00 am this Friday!  Shipping will be free of charge.  The winner will have their choice of the following:

A)  A painting by, hhhmmh...."moi"... based on a photo of a special place which the winner would like captured

OR

B)  You allow me full reign to create a painting for you based on a few questions I will ask...hmmm.

To be elegible you must:

1) Comment on this link on Facebook

2) "LIKE" the Apropos Beginning facebook page (see link to the right)

3) Share this link on Facebook with your friends

Very excited for this!!!  Thanks, as always, to those who have already supported my work and to those fabulous people going forward!  It means so much, thank you!!  Can't wait to find out who the winner will be....and to work with YOU!  The progress and finish of your piece will post on my blog!

shut the front door

so stinkin excited my sweet man cut all of these boards for me to create "painting sketches" for my show next month!  I'm about to be a painting fool....creating whimsical, fun pieces. 

Beginning with this image I could not get out of my head of a lady walking her poodle through the city.

hmmm...could it be I am channeling my inner Rachel Zoe....looks a smidge like her. 

About 50 more vibrant city scenes to come.  Can't wait!

creativity...

 

must begin somewhere

amber rose

Just finished amber....I think I am going to have a hard time parting with this one if someone wants to purchase.  The paint is built up with many layers and it's just a happy piece...very rich and full of color.

20" x 20" acrylic on cotton.  Edges painted all around....ready to hang OR it would look sharp with a simple but bold gold frame...this won't be up on etsy but is available for purchase if interested.  Please contact me. 

chartreuse II and more

today "amber" took on a life of her own and my original vision is way skewed.  But, that's the surprise in painting....you never know what will happen.  Almost done.

13 months

got away for a bit this afternoon to get my

newfound Chartreuse fix:

Walked away with a $3 frame that needs some love, but will be fabulous when done!  Will create an oil painting on wood for this....

today

at work on "amber" and doing laundry on this cozy fall day

history in the house

Maybe it is because my husband is reading The True Life of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots and I am almost done with the 800 page 17th century romance novel, Forever Amber, that has inspired me to recently feel the urge to:

A) Shine my silver (who voluntarily does this today? Ugh...not sure what is wrong with me):

And B):

Begin painting a piece depicting what I think the rebellious and daring Amber St. Clare may have looked like after she recovered from the plague.  I am a firm believer that artists are inspired by their subconscious and I often times will be mid-way through a painting and figure out where it came from.

Lately I have had an obsession with combining funky shapes, colors, patterns and modern elements with traditional subjects. 

Amber enjoying the sweet scent of roses in contrast to what will be a modern, graphic backdrop of colors and forms.  When I took a Summer en plein air painting course at The Torpedo Factory years ago my instructor emphasized just throwing color on the canvas and going from there.  So, I'm just throwing color on right now...we'll see what happens to Amber as I work.

20" x 20"...acrylic on cotton and I am sure I will use pencil, crayon and a hodge podge of other things

dansez...riez...buvez...chantez...aimez

12" x 16" acrylic, gold drawing ink and pencil on canvas with polycrylic finish.  Edges painted rose.

Dance, laugh, drink, sing, love