Each panel is 16″ x 20″ – separation is about 2″ in between each.

Does this remind you of spring?  I painted this pretty wall painting in acrylics on canvas for my granddaughters room.  It’s a mural they can take with them if they move to another place. She loves butterflies, flowers and birds.

Makes a nice painting to put over a bed or crib!

I plan to paint some more of these with different themes for kids rooms and have them available for sale.  If you would like one of these in a special theme or picture please email  me at ArtsyUs@gmail.com  The cost for this size would be $175.00 plus tax and shipping and handling (if needed). The size and panels can be adjusted.

Note:  The “ArtsyUs” watermark on these pictures are for web viewing only, not on the original painting.

Banner 56"x59"

 We will be participating in the Military Show at the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft. Lauderdale this coming Friday, Feb. 10th.  We will have a display to represent the First American Volunteer Group, better known as The Flying Tigers, who fought in Burma and China just before the war.  I made this banner for our presentation.

Painted all the black first

 It’s 56″x59″ made of silky Charmeuse fabric.  The writing and picture are all hand painted with fabric paint.

We plan to attend other military shows in the coming months.  We hope to see you at one of them!

I am available to make a special banner for your group or organization!  If you are interested, email me at

ArtsyUs@gmail.com

Filed under: Craft Idea, Paintings, Rossvally/Historical, sewing Tagged: American Volunteer Group, AVG, Burma, China, Flying Tigers, historical, history, Japan, living history, military, re-enactment, WW2, WWII ]]> http://artsyus.com/2012/02/08/flying-tigers-banner/feed/ 0 artsyus Banner w Peter 4 banner 6 Banner w Peter 6 http://artsyus.com/2011/09/28/mangrove-morning/ http://artsyus.com/2011/09/28/mangrove-morning/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:02:19 +0000 ArtsyUs http://artsyus.com/?p=305 ]]> Here in South Florida we have very unique trees that grow along the rivers and beaches.  This particular one is called Mangrove.  I love all the knots and tangleness of the roots.  They are mostly found in the Everglades.  They release a pod-like seed that floats along in the water until it finds some sand to begin to send out roots and grow.  I painted this picture, using a photograph I took along a fork of the New River in Fort Lauderdale.  The paper I used was Arches 22″x30″ cold press paper.  Here is a brief step by step tutorial of how I painted it.

The photo I used as my reference

 First, I sketched out my lines and then painted white mask on the areas that I wanted to remain white and on the mangrove roots.

The picture was a little too plain, so I wanted to include a water bird we see around here all the time.  As reference, I looked up a picture on the internet for a white crane. They are so pretty and graceful.  I like the peacefulness of the bird in contrast to the tangleness of the roots behind him.

Sky - Morning glow

 I painted in the sky and reflection in the water with wet on wet, using windsor yellow and orange and reds.  Then I let it dry.

Greens

 Then I painted in the greens of the trees and in the water.

After putting most of my background, I let it dry completely and then rubbed off the mask. This is where I really spent a lot of time sharpening and painting in the details.  Here is the finished product.

Mangrove Morning

Three toddler tees, embellished with buttons and ribbons

I was organizing my sewing basket the other day and began collecting all the random buttons into a clear zip lock bag.  By the time I finished, I had almost a bag full!  Most of these were the extra button you always get when you buy clothes that use buttons -blouses for me.  Since I had so many different kinds, I decided to use them to embellish 2 of these tee shirts for my granddaughter.  On the white one ,I just made a simple design with ribbon and embroidered daisies I had among my stash of notions. I  hope you like these designs and try them out for yourself, if you also have a bag full of buttons!  (Note: Double stitch and knot each one if you are using it for a child’s tee. You don’t want them to come off!)

Made a bow with ribbon and sewed the button on top.

Found this little embroidered rose in my basket. Used little buttons that color matched.

White tee with black and white gingham ribbon and white and red daisies.

Oil on Canvas painting of my granddaughter stepping into the ocean.

I used the compositional rule of thirds to compose this painting.  The rule of thirds dictates that you divide your frame/canvas into 9 equal parts – horizontally, two lines, making 3 equal parts and then vertically, making 3 equal parts, like a tic-tac-toe grid.  Then, you a line your main subject, or focal point of interest on one of the intersecting points on the grid.  In this case, the little girl, my focal point, is a lined at the lower right point and line.  This gives your picture more interest.  Remember to never a line your main subject in the dead  center of the picture. Keep this in mind with your photographs as the same rule applies!  Have fun and keep practicing this rule!

Bridal Bouquet with centerpiece from reception

My mother-in-law and my niece and I made all the flower bouquets the afternoon before.  We had a great time putting them together.  The centerpieces for reception included these simple but pretty water-filled glass bowls with floating flowers.

This was a cute idea: Little Tea Cups filled with candy and a picture of the bride and groom- Used for centerpieces and for wedding favors.

Bridesmaid Bouquets

As the work crew began to clean up afterwards, they put all the centerpieces on a table.  I loved how the light was bouncing around all the glass and water.

Next time you are at a wedding, look for those special photographic happenings.  You will be surprised at how many there are!

The paper is 22″ x 30″ cold press Arches natural white paper.  Here is the progression of this painting:

First I sketched in the main lines and then painted on white mask (liquid frisket) on the areas I wanted to maintain white and light.

Worked on the background.

After wetting the paper, I used olive green with various other colors to get the lights and darks.

Then I painted in the bottom (river).

Rubbed off the mask from the dock and trees and then applied it again to the highlighted areas. Then worked on sharpening and details.

Here is where it took some time to paint in the negative areas – the darks.  I painted in the dock using burnt umber with other colors for darks and lights. The little boy was fun as he was created from a fun memory of a trip to the keys with my Mom (Mima), Dad (Papo) and the kids, fishing the old-fashioned way – with just a spool of nylon string and a hook with bait.  Papo was the only one who caught anything!  But, it was fun all the same.

The finished painting.

At the end, I removed the remaining mask and then sharpened those areas.  Then I used watercolor pencils for added highlights.

I loved my escape to old Florida and this quite place.   I’m taken there each time I look at the finished painting.  I hope this post was able to take you there as well for a little while!

Blessings!

This painting is of some cute purple lillies that pop up throughout spring and summer.

This one is of the pretty Plumerias in my back yard.

Then I put in details using the tubes.  I used black to define it more.  I think it turned out pretty good.  At least I can still wear the shirts for fun, artsy events.

I’m willing to paint something on your stained blouses.  Just email me – Let’s talk!

The sunrise woven through the Mossy Oaks.

There was a chain link fence in my way, so I rested the camera lens (canon 55.0-250.0 mm) through the open link and put the timer on so as to keep it as still as possible. The aperture was f/11.0 and ISO 400.

Sunrise woven through mossy oaks - vertical

Sunset light lit up the Moss

I used the same lens for this to zoom in and also used the timer. The aperture was f/5.6  to focus on the moss alone and ISO 200.

For the morning shoot, Peter and I found some old-fashioned toys in the porch. We had fun staging this shot.  I used a 28.0-80.0 mm lens, f/11.0 so that all the toys would be in focus, ISO 200 and put the camera on a tripod and set the timer.  Because of all the trees the light was low.

Always bring your camera! You never know what great pictures are waiting for you just around the corner! Have fun!