Ta Da! Owl Paintings are finished!

I feel super accomplished!  I finished 2 owl paintings this weekend, woohoo!  The first one was an 8x10, because I knew I could finish that one.  The second one was 20x20 and I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish it this weekend but I finished a few hours ago!

First Owl:

For Sale on Etsy

Second Owl:

For Sale on Etsy

I am really happy with the way both owls turned out.  I'm going to try to paint some more owls in the near future.  I've always loved birds. 

As a reward for finishing both paintings this weekend, I treated myself to a Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks (dellliiiicccciiiiouuuussss!!!!)  It's like dessert in a cup!

Have a relaxing Sunday, everyone! 

You can find both owl paintings for sale on my etsy; prints coming soon! 
http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyjae

New Paintings - Owls!

I've decided to paint some owls today, because today seems like the perfect day to do it!  Here in Georgia, it's dreary and rainy outside.  The rain always puts me in a quiet, thoughtful type of mood.  How many of you love to curl up with a good book on a rainy day?  I absolutely love it!  So as I was unpacking my art materials this morning, the image of an owl came to my mind and I knew I just had to paint it.  To me, owls are both majestic and mysterious.  They are always watching, never impulsive, and so beautiful. 

I'm going to paint several owls and hopefully get them up for sale this weekend for anyone interested.  A day full of painting, cannot wait!


As a side note, although I may find this day very inspirational... my poor dog doesn't feel the same.  He is the sweetest dog, but has a lot of anxiety about EVERYTHING!  So when he heard the first roll of thunder this morning, he ran for the bedroom and hid his head under the bed.  Poor baby is having a rough day! 

Meet Dexter!

Goals for 2012 - Painting, Art, and Teaching Art

2012 is finally here!  I have a really good feeling about this year and have some personal goals as well as some goals for my students.  I am going to really push myself to participate in as many local art shows as I can.  That means I need to stay creative, try new things with my work, and not lose focus!  I'm already starting on a good note, the first show I'll be participating in has an opening reception on January 13 and will feature 3 of my paintings:

"The Blue Heron." 28x22" Acrylic on Canvas.
Prints will be available in a few days; contact me at http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyjae if you are interested!











"Carefree." 24x36" Acrylic on Canvas

Prints will be available in a few days; contact me at http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyjae if you are interested!

"Bell Peppers."  20x20" Acrylic on Canvas.
Prints will be available in a few days; contact me at http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyjae if you are interested!










I also want to expand my work by creating prints (which I've mentioned in a previous post).  I am in the process of having some paintings scanned so prints will be available of my more popular paintings. 

And my goals for teaching are to give my students more open ended assignments to expand their creativity and really make them think outside of the box.  ESPECIALLY the AP art students  =)

Happy New Year!!

How to Paint the Edges of a Painting

Happy Holidays to all!  As I've recently started selling artwork on Etsy, I've been thinking about painting the edges of my canvas more and more.  Painting the edges makes the painting ready to hang, without the need for a frame, which appeals to many people (including myself!).  It seems like many artists paint the edges of their canvas black, so it mimics a more modern framing around the picture.  I think this works beautifully will many paintings.  Other artists continue the painting onto the edges, so it wraps around the stretcher bars.  I have done this myself for a few paintings and I think this is a really neat effect.

My dilemma is that I never use straight black paint in any of my paintings.  Many of my paintings are very colorful, and I feel that black paint would take away from a lot of my colors.  So for these paintings, I tend to paint the sides a dominant color found in the painting, or a neutral color like brown.  For example:

I painted the sides of this particular painting a flat yellow-green.  This helps to match the overall tone of the painting without being distracting, and I think it works really well.







For this painting:

I painted the sides a dark umber brown.  I love this color on the sides because its an earthy color, which goes along with the organic nature of this painting.  I didn't want any one color of this painting to become dominant by painting the sides of the canvas that color, so the brown was a good choice for this particular painting.







Overall, I think painting the sides of a canvas (as long as it is gallery wrapped) is a great choice for artists.  Personally, I love hanging paintings on my wall without the frame, because that is how the artist was looking at the canvas while painting so that is how I want to view it as well.  It also gives a more modern feel to the room the painting is hanging in.

You can find these paintings and more at my etsy store (hey I rhymed!):  http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyjae

Retro and Bicycles

Lately I've been inspired by retro bicycles.  They give off a feeling of simple times, carefree existence, and community.  I'm not a big "vintage" or "retro" person, but retro bikes appeal to me and they make great subject matter to paint because they are SO dynamic!  I took it upon myself to do a retro bicycle painting a few weeks ago on a 24x36" canvas and I really love how it turned out:

I think next I want to try to do a retro bike from various angles, in different settings (maybe one on a beach?).  

Sometimes I have a problem after I paint something; I want to keep it!!  I think this is a good thing, because I put so much effort, thought, and soul into my paintings that they become a part of me.  This specific painting is being entered into a local art show, but hopefully I will have more to post on my etsy soon!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/artbyjae