wild acres at Dusk

If this looks familiar its because this is almost the same painting as day before yesterday. This time I put a pink or magenta glaze over the painting to give it the appearance of early evening light.
8 by 10 acrylic on illustration Board. 75.00

Reflective Lake

fall is approaching!

Tribute to Monet

This is my tribute to Monet who love to paint his pond and as you can see I used some of the lavender he loved to use.

When I saw the Monet’s for the firat time....I was very surprised to see the many layers of paint he used. Some of his paintings were at least an inch thick. As an artist I understand this completely. The layering is a meditative process and one that can be difficult to stop once one has started the process. There is a snow painting I looked at for over 30 minutes… its of a village he painted over and over and the white paint is layered with other colors so that you see thru the white and you glimpse the pink, lavender and the blue, it brought me to tears. The beauty of that painting must be seen in person to truly feel the emotion of the piece. I may do a series of paintings using some of the impressionistic techniques and colors. I love water paintings and reflections so check back with me to see more paintings like this one.

The Golden Hour

6 by 7 inches watercolor on 140 lb artist grade paper. $44.00 I was taught to paint snow by Zoltan Szabo and my snow paintings are not half as beautiful as his because in my estimation, he painted the most beautiful snow paintings ever.This little piece of paper was cut from my ten foot roll of paper when I was preparing my large 35″ by 35″ piece. Its an odd size but would look great in a square mat and frame. If you want it framed in a black frame ( 6 inches by 6 inches )with a white mat, I could do that for you for an additional $20.00 plus an additional $3.00 shipping and handling.

The farm in the hollow, a painting a day

$100.00 + $6.5 priority mail

The size of this painting is 11 by 15 inches, a watercolor on 100% cotton rag paper.

Of course if you would like a more professional look you could always frame it in a 16 by 20 inch standard size frame with a mat. I sell this size painting framed for $300.00 So you see a little do- it- your- self can save you lots of money.

I’ve never lived in snow country and lots of folks tell me they like the way the cool snow paintings done in blues and greens look, I however have always tried to make my snow paintings a little warmer. Usually I put yellow or orange in the sky and it just seems to make the white of the paper (snow) glow a bit more by contrast.

The Tree of faith

This watercolor on illustration board is painted with a palette knife, a brush and a sea sponge. The colors are magenta, deep green, sometimes mixed with magenta, naples yellow, burn't sienna, sepia, orange lake & cobalt blue.


You start out painting the background first. The light yellow color at the top and graduating down to the blue and lavender. A little orange was also mixed in but not enough to really notice. You let this dry. Then using a palette knife you put in the limbs, also using a brush whenever you feel the need. The palette knife keeps the limbs from looking too mechanical. You put the tip of the knife down and pull up on the knife very much like a rigger. The paint has to be wet but not runny.

You allow this to dry and then you sponge in the leaves starting with the light magenta and orange going to the darker magenta then finally the deep green. I wanted the piece to be darker around the edges so as to give a feeling of looking up thru the center of the trees to see daylight but you don't have to to this.

Frosty night

11 by 7 60.00

I painted these trees using Friskit and waited for it to dry then painted the background, allowed that to dry, then pulled off the friskit and
dry-brushed the trees. Its a great way to paint tress at night or birch trees. The colors used in the background are ultramarine blue with some purple sometimes mixed with green. These colors are mixed in several puddles of color and painted on so that they merge together. The lighter areas of the background are lifted color, while still damp, use tissues to lift off color.

Approaching storm

$30.00

This little painting is 4 inches by 4 inches and is painted in colors I feel enhance each other.

Rolling Hills Vinyard

$50.00
This piece is 4 by 6. I grew up around a vineyard and love the way the fresh green leaves look in spring. The symmetry of the rows and how they seemly go on forever, its all so beautiful. What most folks don't know is that vineyards are full of spiders, wasps, lizards and the occasional snake. You take the good with the bad.

ACEO Blue Lake

This little card is mixed media, for whatever reason I have difficulty photographing these small aceos, they never look as good as they should.

This one has much more contrast and refective qualities in the water. The camera seems to have flatened out the color and it has lost some of its dimension.

Pastel and Watercolor 3 by 5 postcard

This 3 by 5 inch size postcard was painted in watercolor and finished in soft pastel.

SOLD

ACEO Cows in Spring

Here is an ACEO It's $ 10.00 + 1.50 SH shantmarie@aol.com if interested. Watercolor on 140lb Artist grade paper Signed and dated.

Still waiting

Still waiting was actually painted several years ago and was a result of watching Zoltan Szabo paint something like this. It was a tree with a yellow ribbon in snow. It reminds me of how things change and yet stay the same. Here we are again tying ribbons around trees waiting and hoping that the troops come home.
I repainted it and decided to put it up for the painting of the day for the 25th of April 2007.
its 11 by 15.

Memories in the mist

This painting is 7.5 by 11 inches and was painted today. I was thinking about how beautiful the Pacific Northwest really is and how the mist rolls along over the lakes and rivers. I haven't been out west for a few years but I have a definite connection to that part of the country. This is for sale for $40.00 the photo could be a little better, I took it while the paint was still wet and you can see a shadow right down the middle where the paper rolled a bit. I don't tape down my paper usually and I just allow it to do whatever it does. When its dry, I will flatten out the painting by placing it under a ton of books.

Rocks, a lesson plan

I have been working out lesson plans and I had decided to paint something that would teach several things. I love rocks, I love water, gee, that was easy, This is a simple painting yet it allows me to teach some of the various techniques I have learned over the years. I can teach a student several techniques and some color theory at the same time. Also, rocks can be drawn by anyone, their easy and basically boxes, so most people are not afraid to jump right in.

I love these colors, their some of my favorite combinations. Raw sienna and manganese blue also dark purple and burn't sienna. You can see I'm mixing warm with cool and creating some push pull. Also most of these colors also create a beautiful granulation which happens to be one of my favorite textures.

Doves Corner

This is a small painting of an area frequented by doves and many other birds but we started calling it Dove's corner just because a pair of doves are always in the area.


The weeds are painted using a pallet knife, & the snow is just the white of the paper. I like painting snow and I think students love to paint it too. Maybe its because its easy to get the contrasts needed for a good depth in the values.

Waterfall

This was a bit of an experiment, I used compliments and wanted to see if I could get some variation and also wanted to try a technique I had heard about. After a bit I added a third color and then another & finally some white. It actually wasn't a waterfall at first, then at the end, I decided it needed something right down the middle. This might be the only painting I have painted using white out of the 226 dailies I have painted thus far.

I usually just save the white of the paper...

Waterfall

About This Painting:
100% artist grade paints and paper. Paintings are one of a kind originals. I paint in several sizes. In inches.. ACEO 2.5 by 3.5 =$10.00- 6 by 9 or 5 by 7 is $25.00,7/11 is 40.00 and 11/15 is $250.00

Media: watercolor
Size: 12 in X 12 in (30.5 cm X 30.5 cm)
Price: $40

How to Purchase:

Buy this painting on PayPal
Price: $40 plus $5.5 s/h
Or, send me an email

Calmness a painting a day

Shantmarie@aol.com

In looking back over the last several paintings I can see that I'm painting from a different place. I don't mean a physical place but a mindset. I'm distilling scenes and not literally painting them. As a daily painter with more than 200 dailies painted so far, I can see trends and attitudes reflect back to me from my work. Its interesting to see the subtle changes taking place. Every once in a while, I do a commission and then it seems like its all technique. These little daily paintings allow me the freedom to paint anything, really anything can be worthy of being the focus for the day. This freedom to paint anything also allow you to explore various things you may not in larger works. You are more adventurous and less predictable. Its as if we have been trained(even as artists) to do what you know works. With the dailies its a bit different, you don't really loose anything, the supplies are minimal, the time only an hour or two, so you might explore the way light recedes thru the woods or you may try to push texture, hue or chroma. You may push it too far and figure out whats too much, all the same your work doesn't suffer because its just a wee little painting and there is someone out there who will love it. This need to explore and test is an important element into developing your style. You'll know when it speaks to you, you'll respond to it, & then, you'll know this is also your voice. An artist's journey isn't much different from others, it just takes a few more twists and turns, that's all. "Calmness" is a small painting and will be for sale for $40.00. size is 10.5 by 5 inches.

Next Generation - a painting a day

I was rummaging thru my flat files looking for a mat for a painting I sold and this little painting was tucked in under the mats. It had a terribly bad dark passage where the little pine tree is and I decided I would try to save it. I could of gone the mixed media route but liking a challenge, I decided to see what I could do with watercolor. I painted the little tree over the dark passage and made it the focal point, darkened up the front and the sides and tried to pull some light areas here and there. I think it works! If you like this painting just email me and it can be shipped to your home. Its 25.00. quick lesson: The way to make the grass is very simple, you lay down a light color ( say gold orchre)on the paper where the grass is to be, then while the light color is wet you paint over it with an intense color,( dark brown say sepia) you let the intense color soak in but do not allow it to dry. When the dark color is almost dry, use the end of your paint brush or a pin knife or palette knife to pull out the grasses. You can get carried away with this, so catch yourself before you put grass everywhere, its kinda fun!

Snow trees - a painting a day

I painted this on clay board, the size is 3 by 5 and is for sale for 25.00 It would frame really well in an 8 by 10 frame or even an 11 by 14 frame if matted. Or it could be framed without a mat and keep its small size.

I love the way trees look after a freeze. Did you see the photo on the front page of the New York Times today? Wow what a great photo. The mist rising in the background and the snow on the ground a light blue gray with a sky that had a yellow glow. Two silhouette figures and one tall black tree for interest and you have a beautiful scene and I wish I had been there. Shantmarie@aol.com