Day 8 - Five Lost at Sea

This painting was inspired by yesterday's painting of the duck in the bowl-turned sail boat.. I decided to take it a little more literally and paint the chickadees in a more boat like bowl in an ocean like setting.. :) I am loving this concept and have a few more in store..

I started this composition by deciding the color scheme and what animals I wanted in the bowl.. I am enjoying the more muted palette lately so went with generally a muted but saturated triad (yellow, red, blue).  I also began with just 4 chickadees but it just wasn't right.. this story needed a hearty bunch of these fellas to complete the tale plus the design rule of thumb to try to use odd numbers of things in a composition was niggling away at me. So, I added another and felt better about things... 

my question is why are the chickadees in a boat, and are they really lost?

5 Lost at Sea, oil, 9"x12", purchasing details can be found here

The original design of 4 Chickadees in a bowl -  and also, before I added leaves.. See?  Not as good..

Day 6 - A Little Birdie Told Me

 Here is the secret that is not a secret... This little chickadee is whispering "someone loves you" to the wee bug.. and maybe it's something you need to hear today too... Someone loves YOU too.

 I hope you are feeling wonderful today.  But maybe you are feeling small or insignificant, or maybe life is overwhelming today.  Whatever the case, I hope you know that this too shall pass (wise words my mom taught me), and behind every beautiful thing, there is some kind of pain.  So, if today is just not a good day in your book, I am sorry.  But things will turn around soon. Somebody loves you, and you will make it through.

♥

"A Little Birdie Told Me", oil, 7"x7", click here for purchasing details

Day 7 - Viva L'amor

Today my husband and I are celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary. ♥  I painted this painting in honor of love and the day he asked me to marry him.  That day, I was outside, working on my old junker of a car, a Nissan Sentra..(yes, I used to do that too...)  my arms were covered in black grease and I was a dirty mess.  It was a cold winter's day, mid January, and he came driving down my parent's driveway in his Ram Charger that we called the Big Blue Living Room.. he walked over to where I was as I leaned into the engine compartment, and stood there a minute. He finally spoke up and said.. "So... will you marry me?"  

My response...?

"Viva L'Amor", oil on panel, 6"x12", 
To purchase click here

"Are you kidding me?" I straightened up and looked at him carefully to make sure he wasn't pulling my leg.  You see, we had only been dating for around 2 months at that point...had only really known each other for a few months more than that.  So.. yes, I thought he was actually kidding... 

But he was not.  And he asked me again.  

And I said yes. :)

♥

Viva L'amor

10 days into the 30 in 30 - Beauty in Broken Things

This time we are all living in can sometimes feels like it is trying to break us. But, I've seen such strength, resilience and creativity come from all of this insanity too.  So many people I know are becoming more courageous, fiercer and even more determined than ever to live a life worth living. I know that I am not singular, and in fact am luckier than many.  I feel fortunate every second of every day to have been gifted my art and and am thankful it is my healer, my outlet, my answer... When times are particularly hard and the veil is thick, it may be difficult to remember... until that moment when you do.  Beauty can always be found in moments of sadness, in times of despair and even if we feel we've hit rock bottom. Just look at a flower.  A bird.  A feather.  A fragment of broken glass.  Blessed be and know that this too shall pass.

Beauty in Broken Things, 8"x8", oil, available to purchase here

Day 8 of my Holiday Painting Spree - "Spirit"

Painting is one of the few activities in life that can take me out of my head and into the moment. This painting is titled 'Spirit' after a quote from Leonardo Da Vinci that resonates with me - "Where the Spirit does not work with the hand, there is no Art".  I believe that all artists draw from their inner spirit to create something new, out of nothing... We fight it sometimes... and sometimes we let our brains take over, which usually yields less than acceptable art! But when we listen and follow Spirit, that is when masterpieces are created!

Spirit, oil on panel, ready to hang
to purchase, please click here

Also! Today is the first day you can enter for a chance to win my painting, "Fuzzy Dice" of a classic Thunderbird. I love this painting and so will you if you win!!!  Enter at my website, www.karenweberfineart.com, or you can enter by going to my instagram page, follow me and tag a friend! Thanks and good luck!

Click here to enter

Day 7 ~ And The Winner Is......

Yippee! I drew the first winner of my Holiday Painting Giveaway today!
And without further ado, the winner issss...
Anne Petrick of Reno, Nevada!

Congratulations! I love that this painting will be going to a good home! And I love that a friend from across the country will enjoy this little long horn. :)  I will be priority mailing this off Monday morning. Thank you to everyone who entered this weeks contest!  :) And don't forget, look out tomorrow morning at my website for next weeks new giveaway painting!  I think you're gonna like it...

Today is also Day 7 of my Holiday Painting Spree!  (I think I was a little nuts when I planned on doing all of this off in the weeks around all of the holidays!..)  I have a new mini series of birds... Chickadees!  They are the cutest little birds to paint with their black capped round heads and sweet little faces.  I am also having fun experimenting with the background.  I used both paint brushes and palette knives in this painting to create all of the different textures in both the bird and the background. I love the effect!
If you are interested in purchasing this painting, please visit my Daily Paintworks gallery here.

Little Captain, oil on panel, ready to hang
To purchase, please click here

ALSO... Today is Small Business Saturday....Artists ARE a small business!
Thank you for reading and check back tomorrow! I will be unveiling my new painting giveaway, which I think you will like...  Don't forget to enter here, starting Sunday!