new watercolor painting - a pelican at edisto beach...

I take a lot of pictures whenever we go anywhere because I am always seeing things that I want to paint. I don't have an off switch, I'm in artist mode all the time!

I took some really great pictures on our trip to Edisto Island over Thanksgiving weekend. This is the first of the paintings I want to do from those photos. It is so peaceful there... not too many people and lots of what makes the lowcountry so beautiful- live oaks, marshes, beaches...

We are on our way tomorrow to New York! We'll be on Long Island, in the city, and then off to Ohio. Maine maybe in between? Who knows - we're feeling adventurous Good thing I made some room on my camera's memory card!

11"x14" watercolor on cold press - You can find this painting in my shop by clicking here!

Etsy Treasury - Pale Morning featured!

Thank you, Inmost Light for featuring Pale Morning in your treasury!

I love these soft colors all together!

DSDF Artist Portrait Challenge

For the end of year challenge on DSDF, we all submitted photos of ourselves and received another artists' photo to paint.

I painted this portrait three times... and I could just keep painting it in different ways to see how it comes out! I have been reading a lot of Myrna Wacknov's blog a lot lately, and the amazing things that she does with portraits is incredible. I myself use ink in my watercolors fairly often, and I saw one of her latest posts that used ink in portraits. So on my third version of this painting, that is what I did. I kept it really loose and used fun colors and used thick and thin ink lines. There are some really super talented artists that participate on DSDF, and that was very intimidating. Overall, I think if I painted this another 10 times I may end up happy, but the holiday season doesn't permit, so here are all my versions!

I think that painting kids and babies is just SO much easier, but what would art be if you never challenged yourself?

To see me, painted by Maria Soto Robbins, click here!

Baby Portrait Commission Complete

This little cutie is on his way to his new home!

I have a new appreciation for painting little people after the latest challenge for DSDF!  Every participant submits a photo of themselves and in turn receives a picture of another artist, and then they paint each other. I am on my second go of the challenge and it is really tough! Kids and babies for some reason come together a lot easier than adult portraits for me!

Click here to purchase a portrait of your little one! 

Orange Poppies Acrylic Painting

I love R.Garriott's Photoshop help! I scanned this painting into Photoshop, got it all stitched back together, and realized that my colors were way off! Thanks to this article , I got the color right.  Click here to purchase!

My new shop was juried into 1000 Markets and is ready to go! I love so many things about 1000 Markets- you can save your listing before posting it, it keeps all your images in a file, the site is gorgeous, there are no listing fees until you sell, you can pay using Amazon checkout, and much more!

I hope everyone is having a great time getting ready for Christmas and the New Year! I think I may be done with my shopping.... now I can start getting ready to head out of town! We're going to New York and Ohio for the holidays!

Wow! Another Etsy Treasury! Small Oil Painting - Field of Poppies

Thank you, Dewbead, for featuring Field of Poppies in your Etsy Treasury! 

This is a smaller oil painting, 4"x4".

Blank Cards new in my Shop and another Treasury!

New in my Shop! Blank cards, featuring my watercolor paintings! I started listing them yesterday, and when I checked my email this morning, the cards featuring Madison Avenue were featured in a treasury! Thanks, JBW Photography!

Winter Summer Painting Treasury on Etsy - "Reflection" featured!

Thank you, Elizabeth for featuring Reflection in your Etsy treasury!

Maine Rowboat Watercolor Painting

8"x10" Watercolor

I loved how linear this photo was- the water meets the land in a straight line, the dock is made up of straight lines, the ropes tied to the cleats are straights lines... It's different for me. I think that paired with my not so linear painting style it came out okay.

I love painting rowboats, so when my stepmom gave this reference photo to me, I took it with me on my much needed vacation to Edisto Island and got to work. I took about a million photos and can't wait to get started painting all the amazing boats and beaches that were there.

You can purchase the original painting by clicking here.

or a framed print by clicking here.

Prints! Bidding starts at $0.99 to kick off your holiday shopping!

Bidding starts at only $0.99!

Click here to bid on Madison Avenue

Click here to bid on Picnic

Click here to bid on Shrimp

Click here to bid on Bulkhead Buoys

Click here to bid on Pale Morning

Vista Lights!

Rachel and I had so much fun last night at Vista Lights! Lots of prints and paintings were sold and we met a ton of really great people! Thanks to everyone who came out- what a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

Something a little different... abstract -ish sky paintings

I have about 10 million great pictures of sunsets and sunrises on Lake Murray. I got them all out and started painting, and somewhere along the way I started having a little too much fun with the paint, and what I ended up with is a little different than my normal style. A little bit abstract? I think so, but not so much hat you can't tell what the paintings are of.

Top painting- 5"x7"- acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas- Click here to purchase

Bottom painting - 8"x8"- acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas - Click here to purchase

Maine Lobster Trap Original Watercolor Painting

I love the look of old, weathered wood that is so often seen on the coastal fishing towns of New England.  This painting is based on a photograph taken on Orrs Island, Maine.

The original is 8"x10" watercolor on 140 lb cold press - Click here to purchase.

Open edition prints, framed and unframed, and greeting cards can be purchased by clicking here.

Holiday Market and Matted Prints

Starting Wednesday, November 4th, Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens will be having a Holiday Farmers Market! It will feature handmade gifts by local artisans: arts and crafts, jewelry and recycled art, pottery and wreaths, and paintings. Plus, fresh produce, baked goods and more! The market will be 2:00 to dark every Wednesday in November and December.

And...

New in my shop! Matted prints! 

5"x7" prints matted to 8"x10"

Lauren/Gina Art Project Complete

Here is the art project that Gina and I have been working on.... the left side is Gina's and the right side is my own. The side that Gina painted is going to have a home on my studio wall and the side that I painted is on it's way to her! Each of the twelve sections has an inspirational quote and a little painting to go along with it. Click on the image for a close up. You can see Gina's original brainstorming sketch here and see her video explanation here.

Gina, what a great idea you had! I hope you love the twelve mini-originals that I'm sending your way!I've enjoyed working with you and I hope it's not own last project that we collaborate on! You have turned out to be such a great friend and I'm so happy we met in blog-land! Thank you for all your sweet words and encouragement, for sharing your beautiful artwork, and for all the inspiration! :)

DSDF - San Francisco Rooftops - Avanti Interior Design

For the latest DSDF challenge,  I cropped the original photo (a rooftop view of San Francisco near Market Street) to the top half. I liked the way there were a lot of square shapes that led your eye inward to a little bit of detail.  It's a combination of straight lines, loose brushwork, and muted, almost retro colors. 

A few of my originals are now for sale through Avanti Interior Design, in downtown Columbia. It's very cool to have paintings for sale in an interior design showroom because I think it really gives people an idea of what the artwork will look like in their homes or business, rather than them trying to envision it while the art is in a traditional art gallery setting...

"San Francisco Rooftops" 11"x14" watercolor on 140lb cold press.... click here to purchase!

I made it to the front page of Etsy!

Edinburgh Taxi Rank made it to the front page of Etsy! Thank you to everyone who sent me a message letting me know and thank to to Etsy for featuring me! :) I can't tell you how excited I am! Thank you Love and Dream for featuring this painting in their "Rainy Day" Treasury... very fitting since it has rained non-stop all week!

Fall colors

It has really started to cool off here in South Carolina, so I'm ready for fall now. I went to the farm stand yesterday and bought hay, pumpkins and mums and my house is ready now, too. I think decorating my home is my second  favorite art form! I think I've got some inspiration for some autumn paintings now, too. This is not a typical fall composition (it's a lilly flower) but the warm oranges and yellows remind me of it. It is a little bit abstract, I think, with big flowing shapes and not a lot of hard edges.... 

8"x10"watercolor on 300 lb cold press.... click here to purchase! 

Head in the Clouds

This is my latest submission for Michelle Burnett's Following the Masters blog. I think a self portrait is always tough. This is a picture of me in my favorite hat (I don't wear them often but this is a fall favorite) and I thought that a profile portrait would be interesting and a little different. 

Avanti Update, White Trumpet, ink vs. no ink and new Etsy Treasury

Last night was a huge success at the Fran Sullivan Breast Cancer Art Show Benefit at Avanti! Lots of paintings were sold, lots of money was raised and all for a great cause! Thank you to everyone who came out!

This is a new painting in my shop, White Trumpet. It is 12"x12" acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas. Click here to buy!

Sometimes a painting just isn't done until I add the ink.... this one for example was posted on my blog (view the un-inked version here), Facebook and listed in my shop and then I decided it needed a little something, and now I am much happier with it! 5"x7" water and ink on cold press. Click here to buy!

Red Tulip was feautured in an Etsy treasury created by stefny68! She has got some amazing floral mixed media paintings! Stop by and check her out!