I've been Tagged

One of my very talented on-line artist friends Dean Haven (also fondly called "Deano") has tagged me. Thanks, Dean ;)

Here are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. 2. Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, let's see. What interesting things can I share with you.

1. I've been married for 18 years and have two beautiful children (girl and boy)
2. I met my husband in Omaha, NE while we were both in the USAF
3. I LOVE sushi, cats and the color green
4. I'm illustrating two children's books right now
5. God really got a hold of me this last year and shook me up. I am learning what surrender is all about and it has really transformed my life and my family (and it is NOT what the American church teaches!!)

Here is who I'm tagging:

Erika Nelson
Melanie Pruitt
Jennifer Moody
Peter Yesis
Belinda Del Pesco

~Kathy

Charlie Sleeping

Over the years I've done a number of sleeping children and this is the latest one of my nephew Charlie. He was a brand new infant at the time the reference photo was taken. He is now 4 1/2.

The painting is approximately 9 x 12 in.

Watercolor painted on Arches 140# hot press.

Illustration Friday 12/21/07

This is my first time participating in Illustration Friday. This image I did last year came to my mind when I saw the theme which is "HORIZONS". It's watercolor and collage on 140# cold press w/c paper, 3.5 x 2.5 inches.

It's actually titled "On The Horizon"

The Masked Snowboy

Here's another snowman er snowboy. I'm feeling late as far as Christmas paintings go but snowmen go with winter not just Christmas so I figure I have a little more time with these. Click here to bid.

Catching Snowflakes

Here's a little snowman ACEO. I LOVE snowmen so I have to paint at least one around Christmas. Bidding starts at .99. Click here.

Christmas Poinsettia

Here is my first Christmas ACEO of the year. I think poinsettias rank up there among my favorite plants to paint. (I'm starting the bid at .99) Click here.

Double Portrait Children

I just finished this commissioned portrait. It is watercolor on Arches 140 lb hot press paper. It's 20 x 16 inches. Very striking from across the room.

Bountiful

Here is a new ACEO to start November in a spirit of thanksgiving.

"Bountiful"

To bid click here.

Click the link to read my interview on the http://www.ebsqart.com/ home page.

Afternoon Sparkle ACEO

Here's a new ACEO. It's one I've wanted to do for a while because I like the way the late afternoon sun makes the plants sparkle. Click here to bid.

Black Cat Work In Progress

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. I had a portrait that I was going to share and then in my rush to deliver it, I forgot to scan it. *sigh*

Here is a WIP of a new ACEO (art card, editions & originals) that I just listed on Ebay. No black was used in this painting. I mixed my black with winsor green, alizarin crimson and antwerp blue. Though at the end I did add some payne's gray to deepen the darks a bit. Some might say that's the same thing. I used to be a non-black watercolorist but sometimes a touch of payne's gray really helps and I have started using black in my illustrations. It's all good. Whatever works.

First Meeting

This is a watercolor I just finished (about 8 x 10 on Arches 140 lb. hot press). It's a picture of my son and nephew when we were visiting family in New England. They were both almost 2 at the time.

More Pumpkins et al

I'm calling one of them "Mouse Mansion" if you can guess. The other painting is of currants. Both are listed on Ebay along with some other stuff. =)

A Pumpkin & Mice

This is a little ACEO that popped into my head the other day. I love this time of year and pumpkins are so fun to paint. Happy Fall!

This will be listed on Ebay starting at 7:45 CST tonight (9/20). Click here to view.

Sunbather

In between finishing up some new paintings for a show I'm in next month, I'm trying to squeeze in a few ACEOs. Here is one of my cats sunbathing on the stairs. (2.5 x 3.5 on 300 lb. hot press watercolor paper)

In all Seriousness

Well, not all serious.=) Had to throw one in of my cat, Midnight, seen previously in a very elegant pose with a daffodil, but she's usually found hugging the top of my monitor. These are all art cards which will be listed on Ebay tonight. Click here to bid.

The Boy and His Balloon

I just happened to have my camera handy the other day when my son stopped to show me how big he could blow up a balloon. :) This is ACEO sized (2.5 x 3.5) and it's painted on Arches 140 lb. hot press w/c paper. If you're interested in bidding, it should be on Ebay tonight.

More Daffodils "Triplets"

I wished they bloomed longer. Revisiting Spring.

Click here to bid.

Midnight in Her Garden

Looks like I've been away for longer than I meant to....Here's a new art card. Click here to bid. When I was taking pictures of some daffodils this spring, my cat jumped up into the windowsill. I'm always honored when my cats decide to pose for me. :) I started a 5 x 7 version of this subject on 140 lb cold press watercolor paper, but today I decided to try a miniature version on 300 lb. hot press watercolor paper. You're seeing the miniature.

Something Different

I've been teaching myself about illustration this summer. I did this little ACEO (Art Card, Editions & Originals) in a cartoonish style as practice and also for a themed contest on Ebay called Nibblefest. This month's theme is Polka dots & Plaid. Each auction must start at .99 and the one with the most unique bidders wins! (.... the prestige of saying they won for that month :).) Click here to see the auction. It ends on July 27th.

A Wedding Portrait

This is a gift for my nephew and his wife who were married this spring.

Nebraska Gold

This is a little landscape (5 x 7) of an area in Nebraska City, Nebraska which is about 45 minutes south of Omaha. This is much different from where I live but typical for Nebraska. Isn't it pretty? I think these were soybean fields. It was a nice rich burnt umber kind of color. Click here to bid.

Candy Girls

I have a thing for these vending machines at our local zoo (Henry Doorly in Omaha). It all began about 6 years ago. I've done a couple of watercolors previously, but this is my first acrylic. It's 4 x 6.

Sulking

We had spent the whole day at the zoo, touching, seeing, smelling, mingling and the trip was coming to an end. My daughter's friend got really sad........Here she is "Sulking" Watercolor 2.5 x 3.5

Bubble Play

This is another art card from a photo I took during Fun & Fitness Day at my son's school and hopefully, I will get to start a slightly larger acrylic version of this little girl blowing bubbles with another classmate sometime this week. Click here to bid.

Ladybug Spotted second version

I've been wanting to do some paintings in acrylic since working on the benches last month. Here is "Ladybug Spotted" redone in acrylic 10 x 8 on art board (I posted the watercolor trading card version yesterday). I like the way it came out though I realized how different painting skin in acrylic is compared to watercolor. More acrylic paintings coming soon...

Ladybug Spotted

Here are two art cards I finished today.
Dreamin' 'bout Fish and Ladybug Spotted. Click here to bid.

Popsicle Break

This is an art card of 4 girls from my son's kindergarten class. They were taking a popsicle break during Fun & Fitness Day, a perfect photo opportunity. :)

Vase O Violets

One of the Ebay groups that I belong to (you can search "WNW" on Ebay) has a monthly watercolor challenge. This month's photo was by Karen aka Sunshinesketches (she's a wonderful illustrator).
Click here to bid on Ebay.

More Daffodils and Pears

Two of my favorite subjects. I may have already shared this daffodil painting but now it's finished and up on Ebay and the pears are, too. The daffs are 11 x 14 and the pears are 5 x 7.

Airplane Bench - finished pictures

Both benches were picked up and delivered about 30 minutes ago so my part of this project is now completed! Here are finished pictures of the airplane bench. This summer my main project will be illustrating my first book. It was a wonderful opportunity offered to me that I couldn't pass up and my model (age 5) and I are ready to start taking pictures. :) Speaking of pictures, I spent my morning taking pictures of 4-6 year olds in my son's class while they had Fun & Fitness Day today. I think I got some great pictures for future paintings of little ones.

Buffalo Bench - Finished Pics

Here is the Buffalo Bench! Finally done, clearcoated and ready to be delivered on Wednesday.
Yeee Ha! The Plane Bench is in the process of being clearcoated. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Buffalo Bench - Back

I've been working on the back of my buffalo bench for a couple of days now. I still have a LOT of painting to do. It doesn't seem to be going quite as quickly as the front did. As I was painting today, I started wondering how many people are going to be offended. I am not advocating anything. This is pretend! It may be taboo for today's generation because of the media hype about guns but we all played cowboys & indians or cops & robbers as kids and most of us grew up without any desire to shoot people. So don't take this too seriously, PLEASE!

Buffalo Bench Front is Done!

I'm finished with the front of the buffalo as of today. The finishing touch was to have my daughter write the phrase "Cowboys & Indians" so I could project it onto the bench. That's a small change I made to the original design. I thought it would look better with a child's handwriting since this is all about kids playing. I'm really enjoying myself as I paint this bench. Tomorrow I start the back.

Buffalo Bench

I painted in the background today. I didn't take any closeups because I realized that if you just click on the pictures, they'll open up larger. :)

Buffalo Bench started

I finally got started on my buffalo bench yesterday and after a rocky start, I am pleased with the progress I made today. This is my favorite of the two benches and also has more faces to paint, however, I'm painting this monochromatically (burnt umber and white) so I just have to work with value instead of color temperature and value....Here's my unsolicited plug for Chroma Atelier Acrylics - I am SOOOO glad I bought them for this project. They really do stay moist and blend very nicely. And I can just rinse my paintbrush out in water! I'll see if I can get some close-ups tomorrow but for now, you can see how the front of the bench looks.

White Poppy Art Card

I worked on this small art card (2.5 x 3.5 in) over the weekend. It is painted on 300 lb. hot press watercolor paper.