Butterfly Koi

Watercolor on Masonite 8 by 10. $75.00 Some folks call these fish ” fairy fish” or “Dragon fish” and “long fin Koi”. I watched this Butterfly Koi swimming back and forth under about a foot of water and I was desperatly trying to see if this little long fin fish would hold still. Not a chance, she was moving like Isadora Duncan, & her fins were flowing all around her like veils. She swirled in and out of the Lillypads. It was like watching an underwater dance all alone skimming thru the water and dancing for no one but for herself. They are beautiful fish and so different than the standard Koi. Some folks think their not Koi at all but a hybrid. I don’t really get involved in show Koi ( although they are beautiful) and I don’t care about the correct classifications of Koi, I just like them as I like my three rescue dogs, for the pleasure of watching them and having them be a part of my life.
I’ve owned several purebred dogs in the past but none ever gave me the love my three mutts have given me each and every day.
Also that reminds me of my Walmart fish.. I told this story a while back…who would have thought, its an ugly duckling story all over again.
It started to rain tonight and the weather seems a bit cooler. Its refreshing after a couple of very humid days.

Koi Friends

8 by 8 75.00 watercolor on gessoed Masonite.
I use my aquarium water to water my plants because it’s great fertilizer and my plants thrive. Koi are a great example of living within an eco system and being able to be a part of the system without ruining it. They live in the water and yes they dirty the water but as long as all the other things, plants, air, other fish are all in balance they will be able to contribute to the environment rather than take away from it. If only we could do the same.
One of my fish gave birth to about 30 little babies ( platties) and just the other day she did it again. Wow so many babies…. I need to find someone who wants to raise these little guys. At the very least, I’m going to have to separate the parents. Things always get fatter around me. My husband was a tall thin guy when I met him, My dogs were all strays and you could see every bone, now the vets says they could lose a few pounds. Two months ago I bought 10 little feeder goldfish for 12 cents each… now they are about 4 inches long… I didn’t think they would grow so big! They are so big they have outgrown the tank. I considered buying another aquarium but I can’t see spending $50.00 for $1.20 worth of fish. Thank goodness, I did find someone who wants them. Lets home they show up to take them home. People tell me to throw them in the lake and I can’t do that, not only would they be food for a Heron, you should never introduce a fish to a lake, they don’t belong and if they survive, it could hurt the delicate balance that exists.

Koi's eye view

3.5 by 7 watercolor on gessoed masonite.  $35.00

Somehow the red makes everything seem so surreal. 

Koi Love

150.00 11 by 14 by 1 watercolor on wood.

Shantimarie@aol.com for purchase information 7.50 shipping

"Little Bit"

This is painted on textured clayboard. 6 by 6 $40.00 http://www.dailypainters.com/ for pay pal button.

I thought I would clean off mydeck and start getting my flower pots filled with potting soil but when I woke up, it was 48 degrees and raining. It will have to wait a few more days.

NH Koi

watercolor on gessoed masonite 8 by 8

This Koi is related to the Koi I painted yesterday. They live in New Hampshire and I'm sure their dreaming of spring.

I'm doing a demonstration tomorrow at Cheap Joe's and I'll be painting on Illustration board, paper, gessoed Masonite and clayboard. I'm excited to teach people how I do this and will encourage more people to give watercolor a chance.

A koi slideshow

I made this little slide show just for fun. You can make one too. Its easy and its free.

Peek a Boo Koi

6" BY 6" BY 1" WOOD BLOCK

I love these wood blocks and I think I may have some made for me. I bought these from someone on ebay, I think it was called "artboards" they offered them in all sizes and shapes.

A studio tour and an ACEO

This was my painting for today. 2.5 by 3.5

I had planned to post pictures of my painting area today but as I was running behind (its 11:56 P M now) I will give you the link to my other blog and you can check it out.

Thanks for stopping by!


http:shantimarie.wordpress.com

"Nosey" 103 in the Koi series

SOLD

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.

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.

"Koi Tag " watercolor on Ampersand 6' by 6"

I picked up larger pieces of Ampersand (6 by 6) and thought I would try some of my Koi in the larger format.
They look very bright and the ampersand gives them a bit of texture. $50.00

They are covered with Fixative to help make them a bit more durable. They can be framed with or without glass.

Pastel and Watercolor 3 by 5 postcard

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

SOLD

A Showdown... Saachi Gallery

Starting May 28th I'm in the showdown so if you like this painting, please go to their site and vote for it! Thanks! P.S. you may have to cut and paste the link if it doesn't work...

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=24648

Abstract- Ancient Ritual 05 ACEO

This is another ACEO in my Ancient Ritual Series. I painted it today at our Art league. I have been developing a stamp for the backs of these cards, I have a few ideas, I just haven't decided what it will be exactly. Right now I just paint or do a small drawing on the backs.

10.00 SOLD

Gentle Koi

This watercolor piece is 5 inches by 7 inches its is on clyboard ( Ampersand) and has been sprayed with fixative.

You can choose to frame it like an oil painting or in the traditional manner of watercolor.

Another Koi? yep... ACEO

This Koi is an artist collector's card and is for sale for $8.50 and since its so small, shipping is FREE! Its a koi fish as you can see, the colors are Purple, blue orange and red.... This card is signed and dated and can be the start of your collection!

Here 's how its painted. Start wet into wet. Wet the entire background all around the fish, then drop in the lighter blue color and allow it to burst across the paper, while this is still wet, place some dark purple or ultramarine blue in areas around the edges of the paper. don't stroke the paint on but drop it in. Then using a thirsty brush, ( ie: a damp brush which has had all the water taken out of it by squeezing with a paper towel ) pull out some of the color in areas to create a little drama and to also allow some of the white of the paper to show. This will help you have three very distinct values. Light medium and dark. If you like the small amounts of white in the background this is actually painted around and just allowed to be white paper showing thru. Some artists call these "little windows" and they are always in their backgrounds. I find I like them in certain situations but don't always put them into my backgrounds.

If you would like to try watercolor a good way to start would be to paint some of these Small collectors cards. They are fast, easy and fun! They will teach you to paint with a big brush because all brushes are big when your painting on a surface that is 2.5 by 3.5!

I sell these on ebay as there are just tons of folks who collect these small cards. Originals bring the higher prices the prints are usually .99 cents. its an inexpensive way to start an art collection and they can be displayed in a number of ways. On an easel, in a frame, matted in intersted groupings, or placed in plastic baseball card sleeves and kept in an album.
ACEO stands for: Atist collector Edition or Original some folks call them ATC which stands for: Artist Trading Card then there are OSWOA Origninal Small Works of ART these are post card size paintings or silghtly larger. I noticed someone even has a book out now on how to paint these and market them. Trends seem to come and go we'll see where this one leads. I only paint a few a week and since their so small I can usually paint them pretty quick with drawing or planning. That makes them fun to paint.
email me shantmarie@aol.com

Windy day a semi abstract in brown

For my painting a day, I try to paint a variety of things. I have recently painted three small artists trading cards and also some florals which I haven’t done lately. In keeping with this need for variety I decided to paint an abstract. Of course this coincided with a query. I was asked by one of my collectors to use more brown. That made me laugh because I’m sure she meant well with that comment but I will tell you, customers are very hard to please. Most of the time I don’t usually try because the work suffers.
I had this little ampersand 5 by 7 panel and decided to see if I could paint an abstract with some browns. After only a minute or two I could see it wasn’t as abstract as I had planned but I went with it. I could see flags and trees blowing in the wind, then I saw what appeared to be a reflection in the bottom portion so I allowed that to stay, and painted some more reflective type shapes. When its all said and done I think it looks like a city street that just had a bit of rain, the wind is still blowing pretty hard and everything is shimmery.
So here is my painting with a bit of brown. Speaking of brown….I don’t know if this is happening in your part of the world but everyone here is painting their interior walls a color of brown that is somewhere between cafe latte and beige. My guess is: this is why there was request for more browns in my paintings.
Folks you don’t have to match your walls to your paintings. Be brave buy something YOU like, not something your decorator likes.Art is supposed to touch you personally, if you’e just looking for coordinating decor, you are missing out on so many wonderful paintings.
Artist’s TIP: if you want to paint watercolor on this ground you will have to use the watercolor almost full strength out of the tube as the surface is very slick.Also you will have to seal it with a spray varnish. I think its made for oils or acrylics but I’ll try watercolor on anything.

ACEO little sunflower

This is my painting for today its a collector's trading card or ACEO. size is 2.5 3.0 . I will put it up on eBay tonight( in my store) at midnight. Starting price is 10.00. Shipping is $1.50 in USA Or you can buy it now shantmarie@aol.com email me.