Thanks to everyone that left such wonderful comments about those first paintings I posted last month. It always is encouraging to hear praises and is appreciated, but I'd also appreciate hearing what you might not have liked about one, or suggestions on a change. I'll be posting them periodically here in my corner studio as it is a motivator to have a "gallery" to show one's work.
What have I been painting lately, you ask? Well, seems like whatever inspires me and at the moment I have a goal to enter some miniature paintings into a few exhibitions around the country. My favorite of them this year is the Alaskan scene below that I sketched from a friend's photo, and it's done in oil on a tiny canvas. It's been accepted for the MSPGS juried show, 77th Annual International Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature at the Strathmore Mansion in Bethesda, MD.
I was so happy with the way it turned out (though my photo could be better) and decided to try enlarging it to an 11 x 14. I'm being brave enough to show you this work-in-progress below (ugh!)
This didn't go so well, and in fact, I set it aside for a while, and then tackled it again after scrubbing out a good portion of it. Oils are not my favorite medium as they take so much time, and I'm a very slow painter. I keep setting it aside and work at it between others that are works-in-progress. However, I want to share this unfinished piece with you anyway to get your comments, and it will spur me on to finish it sometime soon, I hope.
Here's another miniature that turned out pretty well and I thought was worth an entry in the Miniature Art exhibit at the Art Gallery of Fells Point, Baltimore, MD.
Surreybrook Gardens
Pastel 2-1/2 x 3-1/2
These gardens are designed as part of a local retail nursery here in Frederick and a beautiful place to visit. I painted this miniature after I had done an 11 x 14 oil of the same scene. I had entered the larger oil painting into the exhibit at Art in the Mill in Berryville, VA last week, and it was sold.
By the way, have to mention that the paintings shown in this blog are originals and copyright protected, so am only displaying them here in my Corner Studio for you ..... a gallery of sorts since they are for sale (if not so marked). Just let me know if you have any comments or questions about any of them.
I'll be showing more of my recent work in the coming weeks, and I hope you'll check back to see them. Plus, am now busily working on some handmade holiday cards to send to Operation Write Home (OWH) for the deployed troops. Here's a few that I just mailed off to OWH.
I think that's enough for now, as I must get back to making more holiday cards that are urgently needed to ship soon. There's also a big need for the handwritten letters to Any Hero that are included with every box of cards shipped to the troops. Just go to the OWH website for info if you would also like to help.
Thanks for visiting here....and come back soon as I promise to have more to share with you.
~~Dolores~~
