Prairie Flowers

I started this little painting with oil paints a month ago.I did the underpainting and kind of got discouraged and quit.Last Monday I started a big painting about Tour de France for my husband.I did the underpainting and put it aside to dry.As the creative juices went on flowing I decided to finish this one too.I not only finished this one but also painted another one/I will post it the next time/.It was a great day!

This painting is a small one 5x7 on canvas board with oil paints.I've been getting very excited with the oil paints recently.I used my own photo of bouquet of wild flowers I picked by the bike trail last summer.

The boats of Nessebar

My first oil painting for the last seven- eight years is finally done.It took me quite a while.It takes forever for the oil paints to get dry.I wish I had a bigger studio to be able to work in oils more often because it is fun.I still can do one at a time but it will take my whole work area.

I hope my friend will like her painting.

Down The Root River

This is my newest one in acrylics.I used my own reference photo from my bike rides in the summer.I hope I caught the mood of the bright hot summer day.The painting is completed with Daler and Rowney acrylics on stretched canvas size 8x10.

Work In Progress

Today I put some more hours on this oil painting.I was so carried away that I even forgot to eat lunch.I can not deny there was a moment of struggle with the oil paints but I also enjoyed them very much.The painting is almost done.It needs a couple of fine details and i have to fix the sky bacause I smudged it when doing the houses.

The Christmas Project

I painted this yesterday as a project for my Christmas cards.I will take the painting to a print shop as I don't own a printer yet.

I painted it on a 9x12 piece of Strathmore watercolor paper with Prang pan watercolors.

I used a reference photo of my daughter with Santa from last year.The resemblance is kind of off but I did not try very hard to achieve that.I think in this case the mood is more important.

I hope you like it.

Work In Progress

This is work in progress,one of my few attempts in oils.A friend of mine challenged me to paint her a painting in oils.She liked my acrylic painting of the town of Nessebar but she wanted it bigger and in oils.So,here I am, painting in oils,which is great fun but the only thing that bothers me is that the oil paints dry up so slowly and it takes forever to finish a painting.Here you can see the two stages of the painting,so far.The first one shows the underpainting and the second one gives you an idea about the blocking of the main colors and also my work on the water reflections.The painting is on stretched canvass,size 16x20inches.

The Old Mill

I am back from my trip to Bulgaria.I had a wonderful time visiting my family and friends.I had a little bit time to sketch and took a lot of pictures which ,I hope ,will give me ideas for future paintings.The thing that I did not have luck with was the weather.The first three days it was hot in the nineties/ in F/and then overnight the temperatures dropped to 66-68F.It was cold and windy most of the time and it rained.Actually it was colder than it was in Minnesota.Can you believe that?September in Bulgaria is usually still a beach month.I had to give up my plans to take my daughter to the seaside and show her the Black Sea.We had a horrible trip back home but I don't want to talk about that now.
This little painting however is not from my trip.I painted it before I left.It depicts the old mill on the creek that runs by my house/and flooded it a year ago/.It is again ATC size and the medium is gouache.

Ashley

I don't have much time for painting getting ready for my trip so that's why I decided to experiment with a miniature painting.This one is the size of ATC/artists trading cards/

or 3.5x2.5 inches.I painted one of our cats- the seven-year old Ashley.I used gouache on watercolor paper and I plan to use this little study for a larger painting in acrylics.

An Old Bulgarian House

This is my last piece.I have just finished it.I spent the whole morning putting finishing touches on it and also fixing some other paintings.It is not my favourite part of the process of creating but it had to be done.I also signed some of the paintings and varnished them.Yesterday we went to Hobby Lobby and I bought four frames for my paintings.I want to decorate my house with some of my paintings so I had to get them ready.
This painting depicts an old house in an old city in Bulgaria,I don't remember which one.It reminds me of the school field trips to historical places from my childhood.In September my daughter and I are going to Bulgaria for three weeks.Maybe that's why my thoughts took that direction and I felt like painting landscapes from my native country.It is 9x12 on acrylic paper.

The Red Barn

I had a couple of days off in the middle of this week and managed to paint two pieces. But I am posting only today's painting because the other one needs to be fixed. I posted it at Wet Canvas and my fellow-artists helped me to discover some major mistakes.
I am happier with this one.This red barn is in a place named Choice which is situated in a beautiful valley. It is especially pretty in spring when the fields are covered with flowers and the grass is bright green.This piece is not big,a post card size,5x7,on canvas board with acrylic paints.

A Study With Acrylics

It is again my daughter watching TV.Last summer we went on a short two - day vacation to Chicago and I took a picture of her in the hotel room.I thought I could use this picture for a quick study with acrylic paints on acrylic paper.I used acrylics on watercolor paper once, six or seven years ago, but I had no experience with that media and did not like it very much. I rediscovered it about three -four years ago and it is my favourite media at the moment.
This piece is 4 1/2x6 inches big.I gessoed the paper before I painted it.

The Music Is In Me

This is my newest piece. I finished it three hours ago. I painted it on gessoed acrylic paper with Daler & Rowney acrylic paints. The size is 8x10.I used my own reference photo,a picture I took at the concert of my step daughter's high-school band. And this is one of the young performers.
I have always liked to paint musicians. They look so spiritual and inspiring to me.
This time I was not so concerned about the resemblance with the real subject but I was trying to achieve that dreamy mood of the person absorbed in the world of music.

Portrait Of Sonya

Did you have a nice 4-th of July?Because I did.I had wonderful time with my family. We went on a picnic with friends and we had fireworks in the evening .On the next day we went on a trip to Wisconsin ,bought a new piece of furniture ,went to a strawberry patch to pick up some strawberries.I had time to go on a bike ride and even had time to paint!!!
I painted this portrait of my daughter Sonya at the early hours of 4th of July when everybody at home was sleeping.I am pleased with the way it turned out. The resemblance is pretty good and I am happy with the color scheme.
The piece is 8x10 on stretched canvas. I used Daler and Rowney acrylic paints.

Mountainous Landscape

I am going on practicing different techniques with acrylics following the demos in the book I have been reading.For this painting I used my own picture of the Balkan Mountain Range in Bulgaria.

I painted it on Daler and Rowney acrylic paper which I had gessoed beforehand .The size of the paper is 9x12.I am not happy with the photo image I got with my Kodak camera .All the colors turned out right but the color of the furthest range.I painted it purple but the camera did not show up the right color .I tried several times with no success.

Nessebar

I have been reading a book about the techniques in acrylics written by a team of Spanish artists and teachers.I like the simple language and the helpful demos in the book.I tried to master some of the techniques applying them in my own paintings.The Title of the book is All About Techniques In Acrylics-An indispensable manual for artists- published in English by Barron's Educational Series,Inc.
Inspired by the demos in the book I painted this seascape of the town of Nessebar,Bulgaria on Daler and Rowney gessoed acrylic paper with the same kind of acrylic paints.The size is 9x12 inches.

Watercolor Study

I can't offer anything else but this little study of a flute player I painted with the idea to turn into an acrylic painting down the road.I haven't felt like painting recently because I had a lot of worries on my plate.We had a horrible weather in the Midwest the last two weeks.We had to deal with tornado wornings,severe thunderstorms and rivers overflowing their banks.We were on the edge of flooding again and I had hard time sleeping and eating.As we live by a river and a creek our basement started collecting water and we had to check the pump and the draining system every half an hour to make sure they worked properly.Thank God we have been spared this time and my thoughts and prayers are with the poor people from Iowa who got hit the hardest this season.I have been through this and I know how they feel.

I painted this little piece with watercolors /Prang /on watercolor paper/Strathmore/.

Lilies

As a result of my experimenting with different media, in this case watercolor and pastel ,I came up with this painting.I was working on improving my skills in those media separately when I decided to combine them in one painting.I did not invent this technique, I have seen it in an art magazine years ago and I am glad I remembered it. I am pretty happy with what my painting turned out.I started it with light washes of watercolor trying to establish the value .When it dried up I painted it with different kinds of pastels -soft and hard.
The painting is about 6 x 8 inches big on Strathmore watercolor paper.

Red Orchid

This is a small watercolor study. I have been concentrating on small pieces recently. It is not so scary if you wreck the painting and waste the materials. And also you can experiment different techniques and media. I've been experimenting with pastels too and I posted the paintings on my other blog-Vanya's Art Journal.

This painting is 4 1/2 x 6 on Strathmore watercolor paper with Prang watercolor paints.I like this brand although it is not very famous-the colors are bright and vibrant.

Sunflower Fields

We moved in to our house on March 23,the Saturday before Easter.After seven months living with relatives and in a FEMA trailer we are happy to be home.The house looks brand new from the inside and it is going to look like this from the outside too.We are getting a new siding and new windows upstairs although the second floor was not affected by the flood.We decided to go for it because the new windows would be more energy efficient. And I have another benefit from the whole flood thing-I got a small studio,something I was dreaming about for years.It is just a windowless closet but good enough for me and my supplies.
I still don't have much time for painting-too much to do around the house,but I'm getting there.The painting I am posting now was painted in March /before the move/while waiting for another one to get dry.I would call its style fantasy ,primitive ,folk art. Whatever it is I had great fun painting it.It is on acrylic paper,6x9.

Cardinal

There hasn't been much time for painting recently. I had to work more hours at my main job and also we are very exited about moving back to our old house which we have been remodeling after the flood. We plan to move in on March 22 ,the Saturday before Easter.So, there are a lot of things going on.

Anyway I am posting this little painting I did two weeks ago. I was going to paint a girl's portrait but did not like the beginning and ended painting this little fellow. I had fun painting him.The background is pale blue although it looks almost white in the picture.