Wordless Wednesday.....

Wordless Wednesday-photo to watercolor

"Snow Birds"-Original Watercolor Painting

Little tiny paintings

So what's an ACEO you may ask...I know I did when I first joined Etsy and saw them listed everywhere!! After doing a little investigating, I learned that they are miniature pieces of art that only measure 2 1/2" by 3 1/2"...the baseball trading cards of the art world you might say. They are any medium from paint, glass, textile, photography, I could go on and on. Since I am a watercolor artist, I decided to try my hand at creating my own ACEOs. After all, how long could one little painting take!!! Well....I soon discovered that it isn't as easy as it looks, at least for this artist. I'm used to painting on anything from 1/4 to 1/2 sheet of watercolor paper and to hand me a piece of paper that only measures 2 1/2" by 3 1/2" and tell me to paint on is challenging!!
After many tries I think I have finally gotten the hang of these little tiny paintings. I have even sold quite a few and decided I enjoy the process that goes into making them. I love the fact that people that may not be able to afford or don't have space for the full size pieces of art, now have a wonderful option. Here are two new watercolor paintings that I have listed in my Etsy shop. In this format they look the same size, but the single blackeyed susan painting is just a little tiny painting....an ACEO.

The Evolution of a Painting...that is being stubborn!!

The two paintings that are shown here weren't the let the creative juices flow, everything going right, I love the way it looks paintings. They were the throw in a drawer for a year, oh I messed it up, it doesn't look right kind of paintings!!

The fish painting was the one in the drawer for a year..liked it but didn't know how to finish it off. It's done in Yupo (which I really don't like...) and since we covered Yupo in my last watercolor class, I decided to resurrect it and work on it in that class. For some reason, I decided to paint the fish some bright colors and call it a day and it worked! The dolphin ACEO was the one I messed up and didn't look right full size painting that I took the paper cutter to! Looks pretty cute as an ACEO!! It was hard to cut off everything but the dolphins but it served its purpose.

So now that I am happy with both of these paintings, they are posted in my Etsy shop for someone to purchase. If only they knew the journey they took to get there!

Scattered Leaves-A painting for friends

This is an original watercolor painting that was started while vacationing with friends in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Five couples, most of us friends since High School , decided to rent out an entire inn for a long weekend getaway. It was October, so the colors of the trees and the leaves laying on the ground were enough inspiration to start a painting. It became a game to see who could find the prettiest leaves for me. As we hiked through the beautiful Watkins Glen State Park, instead of looking at the waterfalls and gorges, I found myself scouring the ground for leaves!! By the time we returned to the inn and I got my paints out, I had all of the material I needed to create "Scattered Leaves".As I worked on the painting, my friends would come over and critic my work and ask questions. Not knowing the process of watercolor painting, some of them said "they don't look like leaves" or "the colors are too light". As the process continued, they realized the method to my madness and saw the painting come to life.

My friend Karen seem to fall in love with the painting as I worked on it. She said that she loved leaves and that the colors I was using would be perfect in their family room. I told her she could have it if I didn't proceed to mess it up before the painting was finished. After getting side tracked by a couple of art shows and the holidays, I finally completed the painting and gave it to Karen and her husband Tony on Super Bowl Sunday. We were with the same people we went to NY State with that day so it was very fitting that I gave it to them then. They told me they loved it and I believed them...Karen had that look in her eyes of someone who just received a special gift. It was a special gift to a special friend at a gathering of special people.