A Happy Talent

"It is a happy talent to know how to play."

 ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The very essence of playfulness is an openness 

to anything that may happen, 

the feeling that whatever happens, it's okay. 

 You're either free to play, or you're not."

 ~ John Cleese

I'm really looking forward to our "play"shop tomorrow!

See more about it here.

Assisting Fellow Travellers on the Dreamway

"Loved ones are released to become travellers

on their own Dreamway."

~ Robert Genn

Woo Hoo! Our July 23rd Watercolor on Yupo Workshop, 

that I just announced two days ago,

is already half filled!

A little note about the art I create for teaching purposes - When I design a theme and a project(s) for one of my workshops, I do lessons with my students in mind. I often teach complete beginners right along side of others who have moderate or even extensive art training. This means keeping steps as simple as possible, going back to basics, stepping back, evaluating, using a more predictable technique(s) and coming up with a subject that most students will have success with. Everybody needs to feel that they learned something and created a beautiful (or at least satisfying) piece. So, for instance, I know everyone loves my loose, white horse, (posted above), but this is not something I would try to teach at a one day workshop! We'd probably have a few disappointed attendees to say the least.

Art is a noble quest with no set in stone, end destination.

I help people just starting out on the path and those who've been on the Dreamway quite a while.

With an art career spanning over four decades, I have a depth of knowledge

and experience that can help guide artists in all phases of the art voyage.

The main thing is to motivate them with love, accomplishment and joy to

just keep taking one step after the other and never give up the dream.

Happy Creating My Friends!

X ♥  O

 

Year Of The Horse (Day 30)

I was born in the

"Year Of The Horse" 

with a fascination in them

which predated every other 

single thing I remember. 

Before I knew the facts of life, 

way before I was in school, 

before I learned to read or draw, 

I wanted a horse so badly 

that I was certain one day 

I would have them.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Year Of The Horse~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alcohol Inks and Watercolor on Yupo paper

See painting specifications and price here.

I bought my first horse at the age of 14, after saving up two whole years of babysitting money. My parents said I could have a horse if I paid for it myself and I think they were very surprised when I actually accomplished it. I always worked to support my horse and except for a few short years when I was in college, I have had horses as part of my family ever since. This is an album of photos on facebook of some of the horses I have owned and loved.

Today, another 30 paintings in 30 Days Challenge has come to an end! Now that it's over, I have mixed emotions. While I welcome the break and a slower pace, I will also miss the discipline and connection to the sisterhood of participating artist friends.

I am enjoying a visit from my parents now, along with getting ready for my 2nd Annual Sales Event, so you can be sure I will remain very busy this coming month! My studio show and sale is open to online collectors and actual local visitors. I've got an exciting line-up of recent works and older classic paintings and prints, all on sale at up to 55% off! Last year's show was a huge success. Be sure to mark your calendars and check out the details of this year's show here!

X ♥  O

Horse ~ Symbol of Independence and Power

"The wind of heaven is that

which blows between a horse's ears."

Horse Spirit ~ Graceful Strength Day 18 Freedom ~ Respect ~ Finesse  ~ Sensitivity 8.5 x 6.5" Hand Painted Watercolor on Yupo Paper Matted and Framed to 10" x 8"

Horse Spirit ~ Graceful Strength

Day 18

Freedom ~ Respect ~ Finesse  ~ Sensitivity

8.5 x 6.5" Hand Painted Watercolor on Yupo Paper

Matted and Framed to 10" x 8"

Painting Options

painting only $99.00 USD art matted w/ backing $105.00 USD art matted + Framed - Med. Wood $135.00 USD

People seemed to enjoy yesterday's progress shots, so here are some more of today's painting. I really can't believe I remembered to stop a couple of times and take pictures two days in a row! Wow, is this turning into a habit?

First Step - Paint the eyes.

Second Step - Put in light mid-tones.

Third Step - Put in darker mid-tones.

Fourth - Add the background wash.

Finally, the painting is refined and detailed

by taking pigment away with a damp brush

and adding a little darker mid-tone here and there.

Horse Spirit -  Full frame/ Uncropped

I tweaked this painting quite a bit and here is what it looks like now.

Before          After

Thanks so much for stopping by and for

your friendship, comments and feedback!

X ♥  O

Happy 2014 ! ~ Year of The Horse

"According to the Chinese astrology calendar,

the Year of the Green Wood Horse

will begin Feb. 4, 2014 and it will be

a year full of true spirit, opportunity,

determination, focus and endurance."

The horse will lead us into a year full of great turning points, opening a new period of human evolution and change which will set the stage for the next 25 years.

Year of the Horse

Signed and certified by the artist and matted to 8" x 10".
Purchase information here.

Here is a shot of my first wash on the Yupo paper.

As you can see, I wasn't real concerned with staying in the lines.

The darker colors can be painted directly on top of the initial wash.

If the colors were lighter, the surface could first be wiped back to clean paper.

Starting tomorrow, for the whole month,

I'll be doing my third

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.

This time, I really feel prepared.

I've settled on the theme of "Spirit Guides"

and have already done 36 thumb nail sketches.

I pre-cut all my paper and plan to use the same color palette

throughout the series.

In January 2013, I didn't even find out

about the challenge until January 3rd,

but was able to complete all 30 paintings in my series;

 "Paintings Inspired by Quotes About Trees".

In September, my "Legends, Myths and Folktales"

proved to be more complicated than I had anticipated,

so this month I've decided to K.I.S.S. it.

"Keep It Sensationally Simple"

I hope you will follow my daily posts, give me some feedback,

come join in the fun and paint along if you have the gumption.

"In truth, people can generally make time for what they choose to do;
it is not really the time but the will that is lacking."
~ John Lubbock

Have a great New Years Eve.

Wishing You Health, Happiness, Love and Prosperity in 

2014, The Year Of The Horse!

"Think in terms of the day's resolutions, not the year's."
~Henry Moore

X ♥  O

Announcing a Print Giveaway

ATTENTION ALL SANDY SANDY ART FACEBOOK FANS ...

(To become a fan follow the link above and click on "like" at the top right of the page.)

Win any two of my matted 8" x 10" signed and numbered lithograph prints of your choice from my Etsy shop! (This is a 47 dollar value including the shipping.) Comment below and tell me which titles you would like to win. Then go to facebook and 'Share' this post with your friends and your name will be added to my drawing. I will be giving away two 8" x 10" prints (can be a set or not) from my Etsy shop at 200 Facebook Business Page 'Likes'.

Horse Sundance
Matted 8" x 10" Signed and numbered lithograph print
ready to fit into an 8" x 10" frame
 

(Contest open to residents of the US and Canada)

Good luck and thanks for your interest in my work!

X ♥ O

Mare In Moonlight ~ SOLD

I've been very distracted from painting this past week. Last Friday afternoon, without any warning, my dear husband, Jerry, unexpectedly lost the sight of his right eye. He was just finishing up a job at the Borgata Casino Health Club in Atlantic City when his right eye went totally black / blind. He drove home, then I took him to the Hospital. His blood pressure was sky high and they thought he may have had a mini stroke. He never had high blood pressure before. After extensive testing, they still didn't know what was going on, so they took him to Will's Eye Hospital in Philadelphia for more tests. Basically, what they said was, Jerry had a stroke of the eye. We were at Wills Eye Hospital Retina Center all day on Monday for more tests. The doctors at Wills were very discouraging and said the loss of sight would most likely be permanent. I refuse to believe it though. On Friday, when it happened, the eye was totally black and each day, Jerry is starting to see more. Today he said he 'sorta sees' colors, so I believe that the doctor was wrong and he can recover his sight. Now our main cercern is getting his blood pressure under control so it doesn't blow out the other eye.

Moonlight Mare

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~SOLD ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope all is well in your world, dear blog friends.

Have a great weekend!

X ♥  O

Holiday E-Card

2012 FB Holiday Header

As I said in my last post, there are so many things happening in Sandy Land right now. The only reason I have a moment to post here is that I'm sitting at my laptop while supervising the cloning of the hard drive on my iMac. I recently got an email from Apple regarding the possible failure of certain iMacs, including the one I own. Needless to say, I have to get a new hard drive installed in my computer, el pronto. It's already starting to act a bit suspicious and I don't want to wait until it fails to do something... Yikes! With the help of Carbon Copy Cloner software, I think I'll be able to make a bootable external hard drive with everything intact which I can then transfer to my new iMac hard drive. Cross your fingers for me!

Since some of you do not use Facebook, I thought I'd share my FB holiday cover photo here with you today. Hope everything's going well with you!

Until next time, I hope your days are Merry and Bright!

Thanks for reading and especially for commenting if you do.

X♥O