Comparing Acrylic to Watercolor

Do you prefer one over the other?

First painting:  Acrylic

Second painting:  Watercolor and ink

For me watercolors tend to be more ‘free.’ I like to quickly draw, quickly paint and have it be a little crazy.  

With acrylics I get a little pickier and can spend a LOT of time on them.  You can see that the BEGGAR’S face is detailed, but the farther you get from his face, the wilder it gets.  That’s simply my style, and helps you focus on what’s important instead of, say, his tail.  So... which do you like better? :)

Cat Painting

Since I seem to have this cat theme going lately I might as well continue with it. This is my baby watching over me. When I woke up from my post-surgery stupor there he was, laying there looking down over me. I did a sketch of him directly onto a canvas in bed and painted it later.  I don’t even remember making that sketch!  It was a bad surgery and a hard recovery.  Anyway, a couple weeks later I had this painting so that’s ONE good thing!  He’s for sale.  12”x24” on canvas, wired for hanging. You can find this fur baby at

Colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

 It’s a painting that’s hard to part with, but I still have my furry feline watcher. Some of these paintings need to go so I can paint new ones!

My Newest Painting!

Here’s my newest painting, just finished today! Your’s truly holding my matching palette in front of it.

The paints themselves are so beautiful.  Aside from the gold, I used a micaceous oxide paint (expensive) which you can see in the closeup. It’s hard to photograph but is made of crushed up mica and you get this gorgeous, shiny, textured grey like, well, crushed up mica.  

The entire piece is really reflective and hard to photograph.  My goal was to make it look classical and timeless.  What comes off as peachy in the photo is actually a titanium white for the highlights which makes it look more three dimensional.

Here it is still sitting on my easel in my studio:

This is the closeup, showing some of the cool textures as well as the mica flecks (sort of)

  I’ll keep working on better photos.  Anyway, I’m happy.  Finishing a painting is like giving birth to a child. :)

Valentine’s Day Gift

With Valentine’s Day coming fast I’m expecting someone to snap this one up.  This paint pour is heart shaped and glistening with Valentine’s gorgeousness.  Find it at

www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

My little giraffe friend certainly likes it!

It is FILLED with pearlescents and golds. ❤️ 

Soo pretty.

New Painting, Please Help Naming!

I need some help naming this; it reminds me of a river opening up and mixing with the salt of the ocean.  Two of my choices are ‘Delta’ or ‘Rivers to the Sea.’  Any help here?  Oh, and yes, I do have paint on our house.  So glad you asked.

This is one of my newest pieces which I am listing tonight. I really love the colors.  I took photos from different places so you could feel the warmth as the yellows and golds really leave a nice vein throughout and don’t show up in some lighting.  As you scroll I’m sure you’ll notice the difference.  

Oh man, I love these colors! They look very boho to me.  Maybe I should name it ‘Boho.’ ??

I hope you like it!  It will be listed at www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com in about two hours.  18”x24” on gallery-wrapped canvas.

Bad Art

It’s what happens to half-finished bad paintings.

Step one:

Step two:

Paint it all under - now.  I’m free of it.  Time to begin again.

One thing a creative person does is stab out and do new things, even if scary, all the time.  And another thing an artist does is continually practice.  Practice, practice, practice.  One cannot be afraid to fail, one can only be afraid to not try.  This painting was bad.  NO big deal; I learned stuff.  I’ll take my ‘learnings’ and go on and continue to improve.  I acknowledge that it was bad, covered it up and go on a little bit better and a little bit smarter.  I guess that makes me the winner!

Happy New Year Artist Desk

Happy new year!  From my desk to yours.  My desk is sporting a lot of Golden paints, my favorite, Bubba!  When I get into the throes of painting I leave a wake of a mess behind me.  That’s what we’ve got here; I’m lucky to get the lids on straight.  Once finished with my work I go back and open each lid, clean off dry or oozing paint and get the lids on nice and tight.  As for the mugs?  The sock monkey has got to be my favorite student gift this year.  I think it came filled with cocoa or something.  Makes me smile every time I look at it.  The Nashville mug represents our church choir’s trip there this fall.  It was AWESOME!  We sang at the Ryman Auditorium, made a recording, went to the Country Music Hall of Fame, rode Segues all over town - SOO fun - toured Nashville in so many ways, went to the Johnny Cash museum, enjoyed the Dove Awards... and ate at Peg Leg Porker’s.  Wow.  Some of the best food we’ve ever HAD.

Top Nine 2019

Instead of choosing nine best to wrap up 2019 I decided to choose nine SOLD.  As for all of you I am sure, it’s been a both an extremely difficult year and a truly wonderful year.  I feel privileged to walk in the creative path that God planned for me and thank all of you who support me in continuing the walk down that path.  #blessed #topnine

SOLD - ‘Watermark’ Painting

SOLD!!!  This beauty, named ‘Watermark’ because it reminds me of water and rocks, is going to someone who collects rocks!  I think it will be a pretty perfect enhancement of their rock collection.  Maybe I sold it because I have a handsome male model, huh?  You can find more art like this at my website, shown below..  Sometimes my clients come to me asking for a painting I’ve sold and want one just like it.  Sorry it doesn’t work that way; once it’s gone, it’s gone.  This is original art in all its quirkiness and I couldn’t reproduce one if I tried.  So... if you like it, let me know, because it’s not going to come again!

www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com is my website.

Dog Painting

After painting so many wild animals I wanted to paint a domesticated one.  Well, this slobber dog at least has a chance of being domesticated, and the crazy background symbolizes his path of destruction.  Wouldn’t you love to own an excitable pup of your own that you don’t have to clean up after?  All my acrylics are protected and all you need do is wipe them off with a damp cloth.  That’s much easier than a dog!  Find details and more pics at www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com. www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

Here I am holding it so you can see what size it is: :)

Gifts in the Mail

Wouldn’t YOU like to get lovely packages in the mail filled with cool original art?  It’s possible!  Easy shopping and fun surprises as well.  You never know what kind of thank you gift I’m going to stuff into your package.  Now’s the time to start your Christmas shopping and you can get cool stuff in the mail AND get ahead of your gift-giving plans. 🙂. Always a good thing.  Www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com.

www.colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

And... if you happen to enjoy postage stamps, you never know what combination you’re going to get.  As a child I avidly collected stamps, actually well into my 20s.  I learned the political geography of the entire world because it was FUN and fascinating through the collecting of stamps.  It took me until I was an adult for me to realize that I was actually just collecting pictures.  Pictures!  What a surprise and how out of character for me, haha!  Even today I still go to the post office and stand in line to get the cool stamps with which to grace your packages. :)

Art Decision Making

Okay, so here’s the problem, and one reason why it’s so wonderful to get a perfect piece.  I adore this 8x10.  I love the colors, the way they flow and intermingle, the shapes... everything.  Except for the leaf stuck in the paint.  What would you do? I could try tweezering it off, but the chance of ruining the entire piece is about 85%.  I could just pour resin over the whole thing and call it art... hmmm?

Other things that can happen?  People mowing and blowing down the street - flying debris.  Insects, twigs, dirt... the paint literally sliding off once I get it ‘set’ and ruining the entire composition... cats and rats and elephants... SOOOO when I get one I like - I REJOICE!  Let me know what you think about my LEAF painting.  Would you buy a painting with a leaf? 

Honestly, for me, it’s so beautiful I’m just not willing to risk ruining the whole thing to remove one leaf.

Newest Painting, ‘Festival’

I decided to give you a little tour around my latest painting.  This one is a 16x20 paint pour.  I wanted to incorporate whole bunches of cheery, complimentary colors, a lot of gold and some iridescents for a downright, riotous festival.  Hmm... I should name it festival.  Festival it is!  Now, to cure, then I have to varnish and wire it.  Look for wonderful new stuff being added to my website regularly as I get ready for upcoming shows and Christmas giving. Super bad reflections in this first one; it’s mirror-shiny. :)

After the entire painting, here are some closeups:

Oh my goodness, I love the way the colors meld and how you can see through the layers.

The above one, where it looks kind of grey, it’s really blues, whites and the iridescents that make it look that way from this angle.

I’ll be putting it up as soon as I get it wired.  If you’re interested, let me know right away as I’m sure this one’s going to go fast!  

SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!

Wolf Painting

Wolves!  This wolf is laying on a bed of splashy golds and I did just the right amount of painting to take it from an abstract to the wolf that he is.  The painting is wild because, well, wolves are wild!  Love those gold splashes.  If you look very closely, there’s a nice tame bit of green hidden in the fur.  This is a really strong painting and will entirely dominate a room for you!

I’ve painted lions and tigers and bears, it seemed only fitting to paint a wolf as well.  24”x30” on heavy gallery wrapped canvas.   I use the highest quality archival paints and finish it all with a UV varnish so you’ve got yourself an heirloom with my work!

Here’s a nice close-up:

Absolutely love those splashes!  Take a walk on the wild side and check out my art at 

colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

Luscious Art Supplies

Aren’t these gorgeous? Sennelier is coming out with some lovely new products.  Of course as a creative person, I would like to try every new product out on the market, but that balances nicely with my classes.  I’m always on the search for new art supplies because my students come back to me year after year and I want them to experience a broad range of supplies.  THESE are wonderful!!! 🙂. Bright and blend nicely.  Primary colors - sometimes it’s just about all you need, most of the time. 🙂 

Watercolor Lilies

I couldn’t resist the lilies at Kroger’s.  Well, I did resist buying them, but couldn’t resist photographing them.  This is a diptych, two pieces that together make one.  You can see how my watercolor progressed.  My shoulder is  starting to feel a little better and my head is clearing enough so that I can do a little painting these days.  Yay, finally!  It was Jamie Wyeth that said ‘Painting is as difficult as brain surgery.  It’s not that relaxing, but that’s the discipline.’ I have thought of that quote so many times this summer as people have asked, “Which shoulder did you have surgery on? Oh, the left, and you’re right handed? Good!  That means you can paint!”  I just smiled, but alas and alack, not so.  I agree with Jamie Wyeth.  But now, NOW... I am coming back!

Train Art, Memories

This tiny card.  How can I explain the meaning behind it? I always tell my students to make art to remember.  I hold this one close to me but will tell you of it nonetheless.  It’s the Great Northern Railway mascot, the Rocky Mountain Goat. My dad worked for this Railroad for 43 years and we were a railroad family, moving to whatever state he was promoted to next. As we moved, my brothers would come of age and not move with us. 

I grew up on trains.  Checking them on Saturdays with Dad, clambering all over them to check for needed repairs and make sure everything was ship shape, riding them across those Rocky Mountains more times than I could count, even driving one. Finally he was transferred to Minnesota and at age 18 I prepared to stay in Illinois.  Last minute I decided it was time to blow that town and I moved with them. 

I started working for the railroad and met my husband there and we continued the railroad travel. Before my dad retired, he was in charge of materials at the headquarters, and was responsible for the safekeeping of the original Rocky Mountain Goat, enshrined in its plexiglas display case.  One little logo.  A lifetime of precious memories. 

Octopus Painting Sold

Sold ‘Maestro’ last night. Soon he will be flying first class to Massachusetts! My painting gets to fly in a better class than we do!  The other octopus painting, ‘Walking,’ is still available. 

Mystery Painting Piece

Here’s another tiny section of my new mystery painting.  Can you tell what it is yet? My concentration for this piece was texture and color.  The plan was to lay down textures before anything else, and then I thinly glazed colors, one on top of the other so it would be as luminous as stained glass. I am a colorful girl after all! The big reveal will be tonight at 7:00.  To help you guess what it is, this painting is the mate to another, which you will already find on my website 

colorcatstudios101.etsy.com

This painting really is a celebration of color.  I love even this tiny section!  Stay tuned: I’m going to reveal the entire painting tonight.

Painting Reveal

Here’s a super-closeup of a new painting I’ve got up my sleeve. Since it’s 24x30”, I guess that means I’ve got a big sleeve, huh?  Can you guess what it is?  This painting is a friend of another I recently painted as they both have the same subject; but that one was based on a linear concept with a strong emphasis on drawing and lines.  For this one I first laid down a heavy layer of textures and words to be the base for the painting itself.  My goal was to layer the colors in very transparent glazes so you could see how the glazing reacted with the textures and so you enjoy how the colors interact with each other, changing and mixing as they’re either layered or not layered.  Goodness, this painting is as complex as expensive, aged wine!  You’ll get the big reveal SOON!  Hope you like the little sneak peek!