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

Cheers to 2013

"We will open the book.  Its pages are blank. 

We are going to put words on them ourselves. 

The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Best Wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year!

X ♥  O 

"Happy New Year!"

"The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays and was not always January 1, which is purely arbitrary. Observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years go, the New Year began with the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring), a more logical time to begin a new year." ~ wilstar.com

====<<>>====

More quotations on the "The New Year":

"I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me." ~ Anaïs Nin

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." ~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Reposted from my January 2007 Spirit Art Letters.

An Old Decade / A New Year