"Girl in a Sunbonnet" -

This is taken directly from a lithographed image on an octagonal cookie tin gifted to me by my favorite aunt.  Mom, Aunt Rose, Aunt Edie and I planned a "day with the girls", and after a great lunch we went back to Aunt Rose's place to visit a while longer.  I was admiring the beautiful things she has collected over the years (she loves yard sales and flea markets) when the tin caught my eye.  I asked her about it and she offered it to me!!   

Compared to the original image this depiction seems "cartoonish", but she is so charming I enjoyed sketching it immensely.

"Imaginary Waterfall"

Practice, practice, practice.....respecting brush time....

I'm going to post to Yahoo's Everydaymatter's art group, of which I have been a member for some time now.  The groups is always generous with positive feedback.  I'm thinking .... lack of aerial perspective, improper shading (depicting rocks is a PAIN !!), and overall coloration are why I don't like it. 

It was still fun to do because painting with Amy is always fun !!

"Drive"

......done for my nephew, Anthony, upon his request. He asked me to paint a poster relative to the movie "Drive" - so the name of the piece. When Anth saw the movie around September, last year, he was inspired. I showed him some of my other work recently, and from that he asked me to paint. It's a preliminary pastel sketch done to get a feel for the final piece.

The image was taken directly from the movie. It's straight forward so I "skewed the view" for interest. When I showed it to him .... he liked it.

It's posted here because I jumped out of my comfort zone to get started....it's much different from typical subject matter.

Thanks Anth, for always having faith in my work and for helping it grow. I love you very much. xoxoxo

"Albatross"

This is my latest effort with respect to working out how to  paint horses.  I sketched him during a lazy, Sunday a week or two back, and I'm encouraged with the result.

I complained when I posted "Azul" because I couldn't get satisfaction with line drawings.  I think perhaps "Azul" helped to provide courage and confidence for this attempt.  Ultimately, I'd like to produce an acrylic rendition which resembles this sketch.

Please don't be afraid to add a comment using the link.  I rely on your input to  improve.

"Azul" - Impressionist Horse's Head

My daughters and I were painting together yesterday; we haven't in a very long time and were all really enjoying the opportunity. The girls painted flowers on used, empty glass bottles. I wondered what I was going to work on so decided to mill around in my "stuff" to see what would inspire.

I had been working with "splash painting" and had leftover splash backgrounds I hadn't used. Lately, horses have been strong in my mind to attempt to depict, but the many line drawings I tried just weren't working. I pulled out one of the empty splash backgrounds and immediately saw in the brush strokes the outline of this horse staring back at me. I immediately put to working on it.

The outcome is surprising because the palatte is random and "out of the box". Have you ever seen a horse with pink eyelids and a blue neck? My hands were obviously leading ........ so, I followed. I never went in with so little thought to composition and I worked with my fingers, brushes and palette knives .... felt wonderful !!

I gifted it to Amy for her living room...she fell in love with him. Amanda approved, as well.

Please feel free to comment. It's helpful and inspires me when you do....

"Black Horse" - Splash Painting

Yet another splash painting .... this one is gone wild !

I am happy about this piece for a couple of reasons. The first is the subject matter. I have appreciated horses for a long time. It started as a young girl with picture books. The passion moved to local trail riding and then to mucking stalls for free riding lessons. Learning about tacking up western saddle and eventually riding bare back on a gorgeous, huge Belgian; Bob, is where I left off years ago. Beautiful memories.

The other reason I enjoy this piece is that when the "splashing" was dry I went quickly with light blue violet and a long handled filbert. In a very short time I traced/sketched in the image; the head and mane of a black horse. Wow !

When I showed this piece to my family my daughter immediately claimed it, and now it hangs, of all places, in her kitchen.

Please share what you think of it with a comment. Thank you for stopping in.....

Blue Pedal Pond

Back to basics.....

This one was just for me and is hanging in my living room.

I am so happy that I was able to capture the stems of this plant thru the pedals. When I saw this image (a calendar picture) I knew I just had to "play" with it to see if I could capture the view, with pastels, and keep it from getting muddy. It worked so I had to share it.

I'm hoping you will like it as much as I do....

Mixed Media Study - Oil Pastel, Watercolor and Acrylic Paint

This painting is not a finished painting. I'm posting it now to create the opportunity to see it this way as compared to what it will be when it's finished.

I am excited about this because it started out as a quick splash painting w/thalo blue and gesso, and it's a landscape (my favorite). I slowly worked in watercolor and oil pastels to get it to where it is now. I am still waiting for it to dry completely.

I plan to work in darker tones to create arial perspective, and to omit the tree trunk in the lower right corner.

"Moonlit Lady w/ Spanish Moss" - v.2 - Blue Splash Painting Study

"Goin' to Play Baseball" - Splash Painting Study

"Black Evergreens"

"Pastel Meadow"

The Sky in a River

This piece is done with heavy body acrylics on canvas panel.
The more I work with heavy body paint, the more I like it. I've worked on it for the past few months, and painted and repainted the grasses on the right. Oddly enough, the grass was the toughest to depict. There is an insect in plain view. Can you find it?

This image is from within me, and it was done to depict the sky from within the river. I fell in love with the idea that the sky can be shown from the bottom of an image, and have it still make sense to the mind's eye.

This one was a labor of love; specifically painted for my best friend. I have yet to turn it over to him because he lives far away from me. I've wanted him to see it for months, and it occurred to me that this is the best way to let him see it and to get opinions from you about it. Bobby, I hope you like it !

Please leave a comment. Did you find the grasshopper?

Pastel Callas for Amanda

A colleague of mine works with grids and patterns to create some of the most beautiful knitted afghans I have had the pleasure to see. Amanda lays out all of her own patterns; grids them, and then knits them into reality. She truly is an artist in her own right.

This piece wss done at her request. Amanda appreciates the flower so much she used them in her wedding bouquet. I wonder if she knows that the Calla Lily was the flower that the early Romans used to mark the passage of the winter solstice. The Romans planted the Calla Lily just inside the portal to their homes, timing it to bloom for winter solstice and giving the effect of bringing the light indoors during the darkest days of the year. The greater the display of Calla Lilies usually meant the wealthier the resident that lived there. The Romans valued them so much that they often decorated the edges of the bloom with filaments of gold. The Calla Lilies of Roman times were said to be much larger than today’s varieties, and often were as tall as seven feet!

This piece is done on coarse 80 grit, black sand paper with soft General's Pastels. It was a lot of fun to do, but when I transported it to Amanda at work I learned that the pigment wouldn't hold to the paper as I had anticipated; in spite of the fixative I applied. In my mind, the pigment had more crevices to hold onto, but I was sooo very wrong. I have started an acrylic version of this piece, but had to post it to treat it as a great learning experience.

Thank you for stopping in. Please feel free to leave your story in a comment.

"Dave's Happy Place" - Somewhere in Connecticut

As my profile states, I am a deskside technician for a large corporation. The project lead at work, Dave Carroll, posted a photograph of this; his favorite resting place (somewhere in Connecticut) out on FaceBook. I advertise my blog on FaceBook and was perusing when I came upon it. I immediately asked his permission to paint it, and he gave me the go-ahead. I started with this sketch to get an idea for the acrylic painting.

This one's for you, Dave. I'm still working on the acrylic piece; it should be done by sometime next year (at this rate). :o) The painting is taking so long I thought I'd surprise you with the pastel version here on my blog. Thank you for allowing me to capture this beautiful image my way.

Let me know what you think...Just click on the "comment" hyperlink below the posted piece.

Luv ya,
Trace

"Irises On My Mind"

Inspiration spoke flowers; this purple, bearded iris. Memory was the source material...I have planted and watched many grow and bloom.
I have come to know one who has affected me in ways I cannot describe with words. Suffice it to say that this friendship has changed me profoundly and forever.

The color purple fit as this person brings all of the elements it represents.

For those of you who don't know, purple is the color of good judgement; the color of people seeking spiritual fulfillment. It's said that if one surrounds oneself with purple, peace of mind will ensue. Purple has been used to symbolize magic, mystery, and royalty, is the color of purpose, and is associated with the Crown Chakra - this links individual and universal.

I couldn't wait to share it with you. Thank you for stoppping by to take a peek.

Felicia's Artwork

Hello to all...I'd like to introduce you to Felicia and to share her work with you all...here, on my site.

I met Felicia this weekend when I was visiting with girlfriends. She's delightful, quite pretty and thought enough of me to show me her work, and then to gift it to me.

As an advocate for creative expression I feel a deep-seated need to share the wealth; thus, what you see here. I think she's a natural, don't you?

Felicia, I hope you enjoy having your work published, and I am honored that you shared with me. It really was so very nice to meet you. And, I really didn't mind scrunching in the back on the way home to keep you safe...ok?

"Roses Study"

I haven't challenged myself with acrylics lately and so thought...it's time. I don't call this a painting.....more, a struggled study. The image is cropped to remove distracting practice strokes I put onto the panel when I was working on it.

It all began when a friend surprised me with a dozen pink roses as a gesture to brighten my spirit at the end of a long, miserable day. According to my friend I "lit up" immediately when presented with them, and the first thought was to attempt to capture them on canvas.

I've never before even entertained the idea to paint roses because everything I've ever heard said about it amongst my art friends is...roses are tough to depict. Still life's are not my forte' either.

I am disappointed with the outcome, but encouraged that they are a reasonable facsimile of the real thing....When I showed this piece to my daughter, Amy; she told me I should post them for the sake of learning.

Please comment as to what you think I can do to make the next attempt a better one?

As always, thank you for stopping by, and for your valuable input.

"Calico Cat in Doorway"

This little guy was
painted for my friend Mark.

Mark is always complimenting
my work and provides source
material for my effort regularly.
He is also a gifted computer technician.

Mark, I hope you enjoy owning this piece as much as I enjoyed creating it for you.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, and please feel free to leave your comment.

Purple, Potted, Pastel Pansies - Perfect !

The name pansy is derived from the French word pensée meaning "thought", and was so named because the flower resembles a human face; in August it nods forward as if deep in thought. Because of this the pansy has long been a symbol of Freethought.

I love to plant and have had many flower gardens over the years. Pansies, especially purple, have been planted in every one of them.

....inspiration to paint them with my favorite medium comes naturally.

I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed painting them.