FTM Following the Masters Challenge #7

Self Portrait #7 - in the azalea's
acrylic on 8" by 10" canvas board

This is for Following the Masters Challenge #7 - Self Portrait. It is the first acrylic of myself I've done - oh yes, Paint Beckie in the Shower was acrylic - but certainly not of the portrait genre! I used the new color triad paints for my skin, but ended up completely covering it. I think that will either take a lot of work or probably a lesson or two! Optical illusion: The bill of my cap either looks turned up like a ball cap or turned down like a news-boy cap. It is a news boy cap, the kind I almost always have on! In the photo, taken in March 2008, it is actually a pink suade cap, I took the liberty of changing the color - because I could!

I had a wonderful time with my friend Joy at Epcot. I found out that amusement parks are OK but I really prefer more natural settings! However, I was offered on top of my free birthday pass to upgrade to a 3-day ticket for an additional $52. Since a one day admission is now $79, that seemed too good to pass up, so in the next six months, I will try to go to Adventure Park to see the animals. The food was wonderful! I took over 100 pictures, maybe I can get 2 or 3 turned into paintings - maybe!

The weather is finally starting to cool off here in Northern Florida. Saturday it is supposed to be 72 high and 55 low. I've invited my family over for a night on the patio with the firepit in full blaze! I also have 6 or 7 challenges coming up over the next couple of weeks, just hope I can get to at least 4 of them. Sometimes it seems like challenge painting is all I do but they have taught me so much and lead me to places I would never have gone alone - so - for now, that is the way it is! I'm going to have to work hard next month - Sherry always has her entries in early and mine are always the last minute! The tortoise and the hare!

Hi Dottie!

Art Challenge #18: Hidden Treasures

Hidden Treasures

acrylic on 12" by 16" by 3/4" Centurian LX linen gallery wrapped canvas

SOLD to Sheila $206

I'd like to tell Sherry, Irina, Megha and Mary Thank you.
Thank you for your interest in me and my work.
Thank you for your kind comments.
Thank you for believing in me and letting me know.
You are all so special to me and I want to tell you in a special way, UP TOP!

This is the seventeenth challenge for The Artist Gallery, Hidden Treasures. I got up Saturday morning and took pictures of the special places where I keep treasures in my house. The painting is a composite of 3 things. The first is a shelf from one of my bookcases. The dolls are on a desk in my living area, the blue wizard is a favorite of mine. The antique powder shaker is from my grandmothers, it was in the bedroom I always stayed in; I don't know where it originally came from. I'm happy with this painting. It took many hours, for that, I was surprised!
The following quotes can say it better than I can.
About books:

• Books may well be the only true magic. ~Alice Hoffman


• For books are more than books. They are the life, the very heart and core of ages past, the reason why men lived and worked and died, the essence and quintessence of their lives. ~Amy Lowell


• There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island ... and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life. ~Walt Disney

About memories:

• As humans we look at things and think about what we've looked at. We treasure it in a kind of private art gallery. ~Thom Gunn
  
• The many memories I will forever treasure. ~K. Hooton, from Just Not The Same


• The secret of a happy life isn't buried in a treasure chest... it lies within your heart. ~Author Unknown, from Life is for Living

DSFDF Challenge #25 - Week 44-45 - Streets of San Francisco

Lombard Street

acrylic on 14" by 18" x .75" Centurion LX Linen Stretched Canvas

Given to a friend

This is my first Different Strokes from Different Folks Challenge. I have been considering entering this challenge for a long time, but for one reason or another, never have. I have watched it closely since January.

The Challenge began September 3, 2008 as a weekly event. After the 11th Challenge, the Challenge Administrator, Karin Jurik, turned it into a biweekly event. It was successful from the first challenge with 55 entries. The premise is "One Photograph Painted by Many". This Challenge, Week 44-45, is the 25th Challenge.

As I prepared to post this, I looked over the earlier challenges. Everyone of them had some really fine paintings with many artists returning again and again. Two really stood out to me. One was week #11 - Pedestrians and Shadows. Although the art wasn't the best challenge, everyone was to paint their entry upside down. I've know about this, but never tried it. I thought that was a really good idea. The other outstanding challenge was week #16-18 Painting Us Different Folks. Every artist traded pictures and painted each other from that photo. They were a trip and what fun that must have been for the artists when the painting were revealed! And of course, most of them had never met!

I am very excited to have finally entered this challenge. As everyone knows, I love the challenges. But my heart belongs to another - and always will. You know who you are! And so would everyone just by taking a glance at my sidebar.

I met another 'kindred' artist, Sherry Massey, from The Virtual Paintout who inspired me to enter this challenge. Sherry, you're a good friend! Thank you! Now I need to get Sherry to take on The Pub!