:: more lemons

I've been busy practicing my oil painting,

on canvas,

and digitally using procreate.

The digital version is available for download in my Etsy shoppe,

while the oil version is drying & waiting its turn.

It's so much fun painting, both in real life with oils, 

and digitally on my iPad. I can't say for sure which I actually prefer.

I love being able to sit on the sofa watching/listening to a show

while creating art with no mess.

However, nothing quite feels like having a brush in your hand

deciding what color & stroke to make next...

even if it is a bit of a mess sometimes.

Hope you all are healthy & 

well as we go towards the weekend!

{ peace, love & hugs }

Carrie Ann

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:: watercolor flowers

I've been painting with watercolors on and off now for many years. Like most artists I go through certain creative periods, right now i'm entering into a watercolor period. Lately i've had a few ideas for paintings floating around in my head so i've started sketching them out for watercolors. I'm no watercolor expert, and it's been 5 years since I've actually drawn and painted something. So like most people I turned to YouTube for some watercolor inspiration. I started with this YouTube video. This was a super helpful place to start, it helped me feel a bit more comfortable with my brushes & paints. Then I moved on to this video, which as you will see is very similar to my painting above.  I'm kinda laughing now at the music playing in the background, but I really like all of these videos...even though I prefer classical music when I'm painting. It's still soothing overall to have the video going in the background while you get lost in creating. So, as you can see my painting is inspired by that video & some of it's techniques. However, nothing we ever do as an artist is going to come out exactly like someone else's work...we all develop our own style as we go. This was my first attempt, and I have to say I was pretty pleased with how it turned out & I enjoyed myself immensely.

I hope that possibly i've inspired you to give watercolors a try sometime, if you aren't already an accomplished watercolorist that is. Watercolors really are the most forgiving medium & I find it so relaxing.  Maybe some day with more practice I can give some actual video tutorials of my own. For now though, I can share with you the paints, paper, palette & brushes that I am currently using. I have had my Windsor & Newton compact set for many years now. I first purchased it to use for my illustrated travel journal...I absolutely love it, it's so tiny & so easy to travel with. I recently added to my watercolors by purchasing the Kuretake Gansai Tambi set and though it's not something I will ever travel with due to it's size, it's just lovely & has so many beautiful colors. I used a combination of the two sets for the painting above, and all of my recent paintings. This butcher tray palette, is also a recent acquisition and is hands down the best palette ever. I love that it's enamelware {speaks to the vintage lover in me} and it's fantastic for the amount of space it gives for mixing & keeping colors. Most of my brushes are inexpensive sets that I've purchased at Michael's or Hobby Lobby, though I recently purchased this Master's Touch 2000 round 12 brush & I think it's fantastic & I will be buying more of this series brush in the future.

So, will you be joining me in your own watercolor period? Do you already paint? If so what is your favorite subject? What are your favorite paints, paper & brushes? Feel free to share links in comments, I would love to see your work. Happy Painting!!

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

• affiliate links have been used in this post to offset the time & cost of maintaining this blog. All products represented I have purchased myself and currently use. I would never share something I did not love or believe to be of good value. I may get a small fee from items purchased through these links, the cost of products would be the same to you the consumer regardless. I am simply giving my honest opinion about products I already use. If you are so inclined to purchase something from one of my links please know that I greatly appreciate it & that it helps me to continue to write & share ideas with you which is something I love.•

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:: citrus artwork

Just a little preview of what I've been working on today.  

Happy Holiday

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

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:: flowers & painters

Woo Hoo, it's Friday.

Another quick week has gone by, I can't believe it.

I picked up the flowers above at my farmer's market last Saturday,

and they are still holding up all except the white dahlia's.

I love the green milkweed pods, I think they look so interesting.

I have painters here again today, 

so lots of changes happening around the wren's nest.

The kitchen has been painted...

the keeping room...

the laundry room...

the dining room,

and they are working on the foyer & the kids loft as I type.

That's a lot of painting that would have taken me days...

possibly weeks....thank goodness for professionals.

They finished up the kitchen & the keeping room yesterday,

and everything else they have done & are doing today.

It's so nice to have a freshly painted & cleaned space.

All of this moving things out of the way has gotten me excited

about ridding myself of a lot of clutter & things I no longer love.

My how we accumulate stuff we don't really need.

So, the rest of my day & weekend will be spent getting things

back in order around here. I so needed a fresh start,

and this has been the perfect catalyst.

I'm so excited about my new light & bright spaces.

I can't wait to share them with you.

Happy Weekend!

{peace, love & hugs}

Carrie

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:: 7 year itch

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{ art history }

Above the fireplace in my living room hangs this gorgeous painting by Paul Delaroche.

My sweet Papa commissioned an artist to reproduce this famous painting for me for my birthday last year. This painting is displayed in the National Gallery in London, and I fell in love with it when we were there. I guess to some { including a few people who comment on it every time they visit } it is a morbid subject matter, but to me I just see the innocence, but then again I know the history behind the painting, and have seen it's beauty in person. I love the history behind the art, and have read every book I can get my hands on about Henry the VIII, all of his wives, and Tudor history. In fact, I've said this before, but I love the Tudors on HBO, and I was so excited when Papa and I were able to actually go to England and see it all for ourselves. I'll have to share some pics soon. Anyway, I guess it kind of bothers me that some people feel that this painting is so gruesome. I'm going to share some information from an article in " The Weekly Standard " about my beloved painting. I was so happy when Papa brought the article to me this morning and I could read more about it. The article is titled " The Art of History....A reassessment of Paul Delaroche" by Henrik Bering.

In reading the article I found out that the painting was found in the cellars of the Tate Gallery in 1973, that's the year I was born, and just reiterated the fact that this painting belongs with me.

It was a huge 97 x 117 inch rolled up canvas, that was believed to be lost in a flood of the museum in the 1920's. The painting depicts a 16 year old Lady Jane, blindfolded and kneeling in front of a scaffold, donning a beautiful white gown groping for the chopping block, while she is supported by Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the Tower. Her ladies in waiting are in agony on the left, and the executioner stands solemnly on the right. The article goes on to say that when the painting was put in a show in the Paris Salon in 1975, it was considered in bad taste, and they expected the museumgoers to emphatically disapprove of the historical painting. In the catalog they noted that French painter Delaroche "is regarded, when the 20th century thinks of him at all, as something of a

charlatan who merits his present obscurity", the article goes on to say that " much to the curators surprise--and disgust, no doubt---Lady Jane Grey quickly turned into one of the museum's most popular paintings. The floor in front of it had to be constantly repolished.". The museum also now has a full dress exhibition of Delaroche.So, there you have it, validation for my morbid painting.... I feel better now.

Okay, with that all said, and me feeling so much better, I'm going to share the pictures of the project my sister and I had going on yesterday which involved moving a very large bookcase from my studio into my living room. Many thanks to my sweet neighbor and friend who came right over and helped us move that big ole bookcase.

So there it is after us three ladies moved that huge and awkward bookcase into it's new home. What do you think? Is it an improvement. I have been wanting a bookcase there for a while now, but since I'm on such a budget, I knew I wouldn't get one anytime soon, so over our morning coffee, my sister and I { or maybe just me } decided to give moving one from my studio into that space a try. I really like it alot, it gives just the right amount of height to balance out the huge window on the other side of the room { seen below }. Papa and I are avid readers, and I can't pass up a book, so we have lots of them. It was very hard for me to even weed out a few so I could get some pretties in. I could probably do a little better with the arrangement in the future, but that was a quick fix, so that when Papa came home to his surprise it would at least look pretty. My spur of the moment redo did get his approval...whew,

all that moving was well worth it, but you don't even want to see the mess it stirred up in my studio....

I'll save that for another LONG post. { Thank You again to my sweetest baby sis AKA miss fruity *wink* }

So there you have it, one huge project down and another to go. For now though I'm off to mow my lawn. How do you feel about riding a lawn mower to the beach? I know right....that doesn't sound to appealing huh,but that's what it's like when I spend 4 hours mowing our property { * laughing* was I the one who said I wanted an extra lot for privacy?....oh yeah...I did....eeega weega....what was I thinking? }. Truthfully I really enjoy it, especially knowing that I can help Papa out, and he doesn't have to spend his Saturday on a mower when he could bespending it with us. Plus I think I read somewhere that it's good for your brain and creativity { yay for me }

*peace & love*

Carrie

p.s. I've been thinking of painting the fireplace surround, do you have any suggestions on color?

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