Koi Trio ACEO

2.5 by 3.5 ACEO

I spend the day cleaning up my studio, trying to get a leak in the ceiling repaired and paying bills. Not exactly your dream day. Finally, I started an acrylic abstract painting but couldn't decide how to finish it. I'll try to put it up tomorrow.

Two Cherries ACEO

This aceo is still wet has has some shine reflecting back on it. 2.5 by 3.5 its an artist trading card. I like the color red and like to paint red things. Since I'm pretty busy these days, I have been painting some aceos (artist trading cards) each week to at least keep my hands on the brushes each day.



Regarding my husband Update:
My husband went to a pain specialist yesterday and they are starting to cut back his doasage of morphine and vicodine to one tab of each every eight hours. He still slept for most of the day, but he was able to get up for about an hour in a half and seemed reasonably happy. The seeping from his chest tube has stopped and we are hoping that is a good sign. His swollen legs also seem to be a bit better. He drove the car to the trash bin without getting in a wreck. which is a good thing... its good to see him trying to be normal. He has lost about 39 pounds since the accident on july 14th. I had to buy him some new jeans for fear his pants would drop to his feet while walking into the Dr's office. Its happened a few times here at home.

"Mod Koi" Artist trading card or ACEO

I helped a friend paint a koi today and in doing so ended up painting this little guy. He is almost an abstract koi but not quite.... so, I'm calling him a Modern Koi.

Valley of the Hawk "A painting a day"

I think this is finished now. I had to get some of that red out of the foreground it dominated the viewer's attention. I still can't seem to get a good photo of it, but this is pretty close to what it looks like.

"Looking In" An absract mixed media

This piece is powerful and colorful.

This is a small gem at 5.5 by 5.5
$50.00 plus 5.5 s& H

Valley of the Hawk

"Valley of the Hawk" is an acrylic on canvas 11 by 15 painting. $100.00

It looks better in person, I had some problems getting the darks and lights to read correctly. The foreground isn't as dark as it appears. The road is a little lighter. This is a work in progress, I'll post it again on the next stage.

a painting a day, lesson in abstract expressionism

This is mixed media (11″ by 11″) on illustration board. $50.00

I guess this piece would fall into the category of abstract expressionism. Its more about how I felt at the time I created the piece then what the piece actually looks like. I started out with a collage of handmade papers I made, then I used some gesso and allowed it to dry, then I painted a full watercolor over this entire piece, then used acrylics to paint over some of the areas. It has texture and some really wonderful passages. Its difficult to photograph because it has a semi gloss fixative which reflects back light into the camera lens.

ACEO "Fall path" a painting a day

This 2.5 by 3.5 is an artist collector’s card. its watercolor on paper and will sell for $13.00 plus 1.0 s& H
I’m reading a lot these days as I seem to be sitting around Dr.’s waiting rooms. I’m like a kid who has to stay inside, I look out the windows hoping for a glace of inspiration. A soft green grassy hill or maybe a beautiful fall tree. Nope, none of those things, just parking lots and cars, sick people and more sick people. Bad health can consume a person or even a person’s family. The appointments, errands and the prescriptions who knew… not me, I’ve always been pretty healthy. If your healthy, enjoy it, it could be taken away in a minute. My husband is getting better, it just takes a long time to heal from such a serious trauma as a motorcycle accident. He has stopped using the oxygen most of the day and only occasionally reaches for it. He even took out the trash last night. It was to me a milestone in his recovery.

Solitude A painting a day

This 5 inch by 6 inch painting is acrylic on illustration board.

The name of the piece sounds sad but to anyone who knows me... they know I like being alone and think the word solitude is more welcome than not. Also I think the name is more about the season change. Autumn is just around the corner, the cooler air today is starting to make me feel the sweetness of this fleeting season. The leaves are falling, days are getting shorter and the color of this sunset reminds me of the fall colors.

"Common Ground" A landscape painting a day

$50.00

This 8.25 by 9.50 acrylic painting on Illustration board was painted several times. I kept painting and repainting this painting.....changing the lighting, intensity,and trying out various color combinations. This is the problem with acrylics, the possibilities are limitless and you must discipline yourself not to be too flexible. You decide on where the light is coming from and the palette and stay with it for the most part. You can waste a lot of paint, painting over color choices you haphazardly tried out on a whim. Needless to say I will have to adjust the highlight on the tree trunks to correspond with the shadow. I originally had the shadow on the other side and made a switch at the last minute.

I do like a change every now and then and may paint with acrylics for a while. You can tell me what you think...

"Tree lined road" aceo -a painting a day

ACEO 13.00 Tree lined road. This Little landscape is for all of you ATC collectors.


This has been a rough weekend and I surely I will get more paintings done this week than last. I have been tired and basically a slug for the last few days. I'm hoping I can get my MOJO back and get into the spirit of life, love and the joy of painting.
This morning I drank a cup of coffee followed by a caffeinated drink thinking somethings got to get me jump started. It worked for about an hour and then it was like.... ZZZZZzzzzz so now what? I guess those artificially highs just don't really last. Oh yeah and its hot.... do I sound like I'm complaining? I am, its Freaking 92 degrees, I mean really, its October. No rain in sight and I have to run the AC. Art keeps telling me he's freezing (79 degrees) and I end up sweltering so he doesn't get sick.
It wouldn't be so bad if it were cool, I mean, if it were overcast at least you could blame your mood on the weather. I'm blaming my mood on the weather anyway.

Last night I went out to pick up some Chinese food and had two glasses of wine while I waited... jeez I could barely drive home. Now that's not supposed to happen, when did I turn into a light weight? Don't get me wrong, I don't drink a lot but two glasses of wine should not effect most people. I guess its cause I hadn't eaten yet. So what if I went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at 7:30, its not a crime to sleep in. Then of course I had to take this photograph four or five times and still couldn't get a decent picture....I guess I have ranted enought for today. Tomorrow will be better ... all I can do is hope.

Butterfly Blue

I feel a little better today and painted this butterfly in the wet and pour method. Its a simple method and one that allows the paint to flow across the paper mingling as it goes across or down depending on how you tilt the paper.

You paint the paper first in water then add wet paint to the design & while its still wet you tilt the paper and see the various colors introduced mingle and develop new colors. You don't touch it and just lay it flat and allow it to dry. This is a great lesson for small children or even beginning watercolor students.

Oh yes I forgot you don't paint any water where you want white and the paint will not flow into the dry spots. ( be careful not to use too much water or it will).

Silver Boys / Underwater Koi ACEO

THIS ACEO HAS TWO SIDES SILVERBOYS OR UNDERWATER KOI

I had a migraine this morning and was glad that I could paint these two little guys.

Orange Koi ACEO

2.5 by 3.5

"The Japanese consider it the most spirited of fish, so full of energy and power that it can fight its way up swift-running streams and cascades. Because of its strength and determination to overcome all obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals. The carp is an appropriate symbol to encourage the overcoming of life's difficulties leading to consequent success."

Angel falls

I've been experimenting with Illustration board all week and thought I would try to see if the texture of gesso on the board would work for rocks and water. I think it does well and can think of other landscape textures that might also look good.

this piece is 11 by 15.

note about my husband... He is getter better but it is very slow and he is in constant pain. We saw a pain specialist last week, but have not been able to find a solution to his problem.

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.

Misty Mountains

I painted this using the triad system. It only has three colors. Burn't Sienna, Andrew's turquoise and Naples yellow. The triad doesn't have to be primaries for this type of painting to work. Billy Shellburn instructed us to put water and paint on the paper and allow the colors to mingel watching to see what happens. This gives you an idea as to what it will be. After putting a mat around it and allowing it to dry you comeback to it and take a nice long look, then you finish it. Its a fun excercise and some of the paintings are really beautiful.

Spirit tree a watercolor by Shanti Marie

This is a watercolor on illustration board with modeling paste. The modeling paste gives the painting an actual texture. It looks great and you can almost feel the roughness of the bark.
I like it in this format but also like it on its side.


You can decide which way it should go.

Wild Acres Workshop

This picture was taken at the Wild Acres Retreat in North Carolina. Its a wonderful place to take a group of friends to rest and paint.

This photo was taken at sunrise the first morning.

This phto was taken during the day, while the moon was still out.


This is one of the painting I did in the workshop with Billy Shellburn.

The technique is simple: you use heavy illustration board. You put on very thick paint in either a "y" "z" or "x" pattern. Then you put on white ink (using an eye dropper)and spritz it. This makes breaking waves over the darker colors. The sky is painted in gesso mixing in some of the wave color. This technique works for mountains too!

Children's toys

This small 4 by 6 was painted in watercolor on paper. I may go back over this now that I see it on the screen. I like it, I just think I can make it a bit better.

I think I'll make the shadows and relflected light a bit darker.

I'm going to be doing some larger pieces over the weekend, I'll post them here for you to see. I'm going to a workshop with Billy Shellburn at Wild Acres in NC.

Southern Koi ll An aceo by Shanti Marie

I love to paint these little paintings and I had a request for a companion piece for another koi painting I painted earlier this year...this one will go with "Southern Koi". check it out... ( there is a search box on the sidebar) and see if you agree.

ACEO " koi in motion"

$15.00

I painted this little card last night and was trying out some new paper. I don't believe its my usual paper and I had some difficulty getting the paint to sink into the paper. It had a lot of sizing. After some experimentation, I think I got it to work pretty good. As an artist, its difficult to change paints or paper because all of these things contiribute to the finished appearance of your work. Changing anything can make a big difference.

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.

Woodland's Light

15 by 22 $500.00

I have been so busy I haven’t had the energy to paint these last few days. I have posted an older painting I painted earlier last year.
It was part of a series of paintings of woodlands. Specifically the ground cover and flora one finds growing on the ground under the tall trees and in the woods.

Its amazing how many wild flowers grow in the woods where ever light peeks thru. This is hot press paper and it gives the piece a look which is a bit different from the cold press paper. The hot press paper doesn’t have any bumps or texture, you can’t really stroke the paint too much either. You have to put it down and leave it alone, other wise the paper seems to lose its vibrancy right away. Its a bit more difficult (you have to paint fast or think ahead) to soften edges as you go because the paint sinks right into the paper before you have a chance to go back and change things.

Lost Soul

I drew this woman and her image huanted me. I think it was her intense small eyes and the way she could looks right thru you. Someone said she looks like a ghoast or a spirit.

15 by 22 $200.0

Tiny Acorns

This little painting is 6 inches by nine inches and is for sale for 50.00

I loved the weather today, it is getting cooler 75 (F)and there was a slight breeze.

Starched White Shirt

This is a ten minute sketch 9 by 7 done in pencil at my figures session.



Boy, I finally was able to get my hair done, its been 9 weeks and I really needed it. I fell asleep with my head in the shampoo bowl. I had to sit and wait for my conditioner to do its thing (isnt that the longest five minutes?). Anyway, Art is doing a little better each day, so I thought I could leave him alone for two hours
(I was just down the street)while he took a nap. This morning we woke up at 4 am. because his heart rate dropped down to 34 beats a minute and he got the dry heaves. I hate that because there isn't anything I know to do for it. I gave him some warm peppermint tea and it seemed to help. His heart rate came back up after about ten minutes. This slow heart rate almost always comes just before a rapid heart rate which is very frigtening.

River in fall a painting a day by Shanti Marie

This little gem is 4 inches by 6 inches and is watercolor on 300 lb paper. Today was our first cool day and I wanted to commemorate this day with a fall painting.

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.

Ancient Ritual 24.... a painting a day

This 4 by 6 piece is another in my abstract series exploring ritual and how we as humans mark time and the events in our lives with ritual.

Vibrant Red Flowers

This painting is another in a series of red paintings I have been doing of late. I don’t usually paint with red very much but it seems I can’t stop painting red subject matter. Also if your tired of the flowers, I can’t tell you why I have painted so many lately. Usually I paint a variety of subjects. Maybe there is a color therapist out there that can tell me if the red means anything.
BTW
This red is actually combinations of yellow, orange, red ,magenta, and green. Not all at once but in glazes…. colors built up so that some of the last color shines thru. When one layer dries, you paint another so that you get a glow. Building up the layers this way makes the color look like stained glass. The darkest dark is the magenta and green mixed together on the pallette.
The actual size of the painting is 8 by 12.
This piece would look great with a large white mat. $200.00

Watercolor butterflies

I painted two of these butterflies last night. I thought they would make great companion pieces. $25.00 each 4 by 6 plus shipping
This is done in the drop in method. Basically you paint in water, then while the water is still shiny, you drop in paint and allow it to run. Sometimes you tilt the paper to guide the color other times you just let it do it's thing. Its fun to do and is one of the first lessons most water color artists learn. Sometimes I forget how beautiful the simple techniques really are.

Glass Marbles watercolor on paper

This painting is 4 inches by 6 inches and will sell for $50.00.
I was so tired yesterday, I slept and missed my painting time. Today I decided to paint something that was a bit of fun. I love painting glass. Marbles are basically spheres and they can be easily painted in a variety of colors.


Update on Art, my husband. I brought Art home from the hospital, he is on O2 and sleeps a lot but seems happier. He starts occupational therapy tomorrow so we'll see how it goes.

Pink roses and buds

8 by 9.5 watercolor on paper $60.00

Yesterday's Yellow Roses

4 by 6 watercolor and pastel on paper. $50.00

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.

Ancient Ritual 21.... 4" by 4"

If you haven't noticed I tend to paint many of my abstracts using a grid method. Sometimes I will use other methods but I find I naturally paint in a grid like manner. When an artist says they paint in a grid manner, what they mean is the way the put the paint down is very much like a grid. One section down at a time in rows both vertically and horizontally. Often the rows over lap or cross over making the piece more interesting. This piece was actually 4" by 6" and I felt there were too many focal areas, so I cropped it down to a 4 by 4 and now I feel it is more soothing yet energetic all at the same time. I love these colors. I put in the circles to break up the linear shapes. The circles were actually pulled out of the wet paint to allow the paper to show thru.


You can decide which way you like it.
Here is how it looked before I cropped it.

Wild Acres - Your Invited!

I have been struggling with getting this workshop filled due to a recent accident my husband had on his motorcycle. If you know of anyone who may be interested please pass this information on to them. I only have six of the fifteen rooms filled and need let folks know about this wonderful opportunity. Usually I would go to the various art groups and organization and sign folks up but since I have been spending every available minute at the Hospital, I have only used closed friends and email to get the word out.
Remember…Non painting friends may also come along, there are plenty of things to do, napping, hiking, reading, writing, blogging.


Wild Acres September Workshop
Wild Acres and The Charlotte Art League will present a fall workshop instructed by Billie Shelburn, an artist in residence at the John C. Campbell folk school. The workshop will take place September 28 - 30, 2007 at Wild Acres, a 1600 acre mountain retreat adjacent to the Blue Ridge Parkway and thousands of acres of the Pisgah National Forest.

Billie has studied painting with a number of prominent watercolorists privately and in workshops. She has taught art classes to both children and adults and has served on the boards of the Dunwoody Fine Arts Assoc., the Georgia Watercolor Society, and A.R.T. Station in Stone Mountain, GA. Billie is a member of the National Organization for Women in the Arts in Washington, DC, and is the folk schools’ Resident Artist in Painting, Drawing, and Mixed Media. Her work is represented in numerous galleries and exhibitions. Says Billie, “Watercolor can be frustrating and difficult, or… wet, wild, and wonderful!”

This class will allow 15 to 20 students to delve into creative use of materials, working with photographs, sketches, or subliminal images. The workshop will focus on learning and mastering techniques to be used in conjunction with the student’s own style of painting to produce better work. Each class will begin with a demonstration by the instructor, and end with a constructive critique session with suggestions offered. A question and answer period about successful paintings will be covered. A mini workshop on Watercolor Mixed Media will be included if desired, featuring watercolor combined with collage.

The cost of $230.00 includes instruction, all meals, and a double occupancy room. Please contact me, Shanti at 704- 678-4442 or shantmarie@aol.com to reserve your place. Single rooms may be available; handicapped rooms are available on a first come basis.
They have a great web site… check it out… www.wildacres.org

Our group is being sponsored by The Charlotte Art League. I’m the Education Director and will be glad to assist you in joining us for this wonderful experience. If you live in or around Charlotte NC, there are others who are willing to car pool.

Pink Rose bud ACEO

2.5 by 3.5 15.00

the negative and the positive

This little painting was painted quickly using the negative shapes as much as the positive. I love the fresh look of this type of work.

Tulips

11 by 7 $60.00 red tulips painted in watercolor on paper.
These tulips are easy to paint. Start out with a light yellow glaze and when the yellow has lost its shine ( but is still damp) paint in the red over portions of the yellow. In some places they will mix and in other places the red will dominate, either way it looks great! Don’t stroke the paint too much one stroke painting is fresher and will give you a look that appears less labored. Try it, if you can’t get the values right on the red and want it to go deeper, you may have to add blue or brown to the red. Also allow it to mix on the paper sometimes for a variation of color.

Butterfly Dance

3 inch by 3 inch $25.00

The Motor Cycle Accident

It was July 14 and I was drivivng back from my weekly drawing session when I noticed that my cell phone was dead. I had forgotten to put it in its charger the night before. Usually I’m pretty good about plugging it in each night because my husband and I keep pretty close tabs on each other. We are the kind of couple that are turely opposites in almost everything we do. He is usually off somewhere shooting trap, riding his motorcycles or flying his remote control airplanes. Of course I am usually doing something related to art or nature and the outdoors. The cell phones keep us close even when we’re apart. I wondered about my husband Art, ( yes his name is Art …so you see I do love Art, both the man and the discipline) how he was doing on his long ride in the mountains. He and his boss took their high powered racing motorcycles up to Boone NC planning on checking out the highland games and having lunch. It was a beautiful day and I was glad he could get away and have some fun. I figured he would call and check to see how my session went and upon arriving home I when stright to the phone machine.

You can imagine my angst when the first message was from Art saying he had an accident. He sounded very alert and his usual self but his message was rather frightening because he said he was in a ravine and no one could find him. Literally he was calling me from the scene of the accident and he was alone, injured and lying on the side of a mountain. Right in the middle of the message and before I had time to think, the phone rings again. Its Art, he says he’s sure his shoulder is broken, maybe his collar bone too and he has called 911 for help. They are looking for him but without any real landmarks and it being a very rugged rual area, it may be a while. I can hear the blaring of his motorcycle’s horn going off in the background as he speaks. I have a sinking feeling in my chest because I can’t think of a single thing to do or a way to help him. He is three hours away. The poor guy calls me just wanting to reassure me that he is Ok and not to worry. He says he can hear a motorcycle, it’s Jim, his boss going back and forth on the road, looking for him, just 100 feet above him, but Arts says he isn’ t visable from the road and he’s sure he didn’t leave any skid marks. Most likely the sound of his motorcycle is louder than Art’s mototrcycle horn because even thought its blaring, Jim continues to ride by.

We talk and I try to reassure him that help will come soon and he says he is trying to lay still and be calm. its alreadybeen about 20 minutes when 911 calls him back and tells him they have recived a call from a homeowner who can hear his horn blowing, so they know where to look and the search and rescue team will be sent there ASAP. Apparently a woman who has a home nearby was in her garden at the time and could hear a horn but couldn’t see anything from her lower vanatage point. She called her neighbor who lives on the top of the mountain which looks down into the ravine and asks him to go outside and look for a car. He of course does this and can see Art and his motocycle lying on the side of the mountain just a ways below him. These two good samaritans and the rescue team probably saved Art’s life that day. I’ll have to find them and give them all a big hug.

Arts in surgery as I write this note. Its been 6 weeks 6 days since his accident. He has internal injuries and needs to have some blood removed from his chest cavity. He did have broken bones, a clavicle and scapula, shoulder blade and five ribs. He also severed his liver and puncured his lung. He was wearing full body armor and of course a high tech racing helmet or he wouldn’t have made it. He will have a long recovery and will face some difficult days ahead, but I plan to be there for him and will do everything I can to help him be 100 % again. No he will never ride a mortocycle again and it will be awhile before he can shoot trap, kyack on Lake Wylie or mountain bike but when he gets out of the trauma center, I have a recliner at home with his name on it . Maybe indoor sports will be his hobby for awhile.

Deep Red Poppies

4 by 6 $50.00

I have been painting a larger painting... you can see it at... http://h20color.wordpress.com

This painting has influenced my daily painting choice. I painted this small 4 by 6 painting in a deeper red color.
p. s.
My husband is going to have another cat scan today. Maybe the Dr can figure out what is wrong with his right lung and why it is not healing correctly. Thanks for your cards and notes.