A ROSE TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY ...

It is anything but bright here. Rain, rain and more rain.  A change predicted for this afternoon though.  Snow.  :/

IT WAS ALWAYS A YELLOW ROSE II

Small 4 x 4" Acrylic on Wood with stand for Display

More information can be found HERE

This is another in the '30 in 30' Challenge.  Just 2 more days left in the Challenge.  While I won't make all 30 days I will come close.  I took the pressure off myself this time ~ if I didn't make all 30 days it was o.k.  Made it a lot more enjoyable! 

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I included this section below in my monthly Newsletter, but since there are a lot of you that just get my Blogs I thought I would re-post it here too.  Perseverance: Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc. especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Here is a delightful example of perseverance. It's all about how one Womans determination, perseverance, and ... 1500 loaves of homemade banana bread, were able to bring smiles to homeless children in Uganda. To learn more about Jaajabarbs (Grandma Barbs) Home of Angels please click HERE. It's just proof positive that if you want something bad enough, with hard work and determination, just about anything is possible. For more information Please Click HERE  Christmas at the Home  ~  The Balloons are 'ornaments' on the tree  :) ***************************************************************************************** Cloud of the Day ... Now this is a stretch, but a lot of times when I look up into the clouds, it's more about a 'sense' of what I see, than what I actually see.  This time I looked at the photo and had the sense of a Great White Whale coming up out of the ocean.  :) IF SWIMMING IS SUCH A GOOD WAY TO STAY IN SHAPE ... EXPLAIN WHALES. ~ unknown Charleen

FROM THE GARDEN ... SORTA.

A COUPLE OF MORE MINIS. 
THESE ARE BOTH 4 x 4" AND EACH COME WITH A STAND FOR DISPLAY

'PINK POPPY LOVE'

'LADY G'

For more information on either of these Pieces Please Click HERE

'We may think we are nurturing our Garden but of course it is our garden that is really nurturing us.'

~  Jenny Uglow

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I see a Smurf !

Charleen

EAVESDROPPING. YES, OR NO ... OR, IT DEPENDS ... :)

Have you ever eavesdropped?  Yes ... of course I have.  :/

'THE EAVESDROPPERS'

5 x 7" Acrylic on Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please click HERE

There's nothing like eavesdropping to show you that the world outside your head is different from the world inside your head.

~ Thornton Wilder

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This looks like something from a scary movie ...

THE FOG  is coming to get you (or me) !  Actually, it reminds me of the first scary movie I ever went to see in a Movie theatre.  It was called 'The Blob' ... and if that doesn't date me nothing else will!

Charleen

HERE A PEAR. THERE A PEAR ...

A few more Pears for your consideration ...  :) 
         (still working on the '30 in 30')

'SOMETIMES THREE IS A CROWD'

6  x  6" Acrylic on Wood Panel

'THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL'

6 x 6" Acrylic on Wood Panel

For more information on either of these Pieces Please click HERE

'EAT PEARS, FOR THEY POLISH THE HEART'

~  Iman Ali

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Snow Capped Mountains ...

Charleen

I WONDER ... DO YOU?

'THE IMPORTANCE OF WONDER'

6 x 6" Acrylic on Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

I saw 'late evening' when I did this and then another Artist commented that she saw an 'early morning mist'.  I love it when that happens.  It's always fun to hear how other people interpret your work.  Years ago I had a card company where we (hand) produced 3-dimensional cards.  One of the cards I designed had a big yellow schoolbus on the front (with a little boy pulling a litte girls pigtails inside the bus :).  On the front it also said 'You finally made it!'  On the inside you could interchange greetings.  I initially put in Congratulations because I designed it as a Graduation card.  But ... one of my Retail customers ordered it with 'Happy Birthday!' inside.  When I called to make sure it wasn't an error he said No, he saw it as a birthday card.  It had never occured to me to use it as a B'day card but as soon as he said it I saw it. 

As Knowledge increases, Wonder deepens

~  Charles Morgan

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O.K. I did something a little different today.  The first photo is my cloud photo .. wispy and hardly there.  But just for fun, this is the same photo as viewed through a Teleidsocope (not a 'Kaleidoscope')  Kaleisocopes work on the practice of seeing designs through bits of glass, seashells, etc.  Teleidoscope Designs come from what you are actually viewing through a series of mirrors.  Your trivia for today.  :)

Charleen

SOME OF THE NICEST GIFTS COME IN TINY PACKAGES ... :)

I have a couple of larger sized Paintings in the Works that I can't possibly finish in a day so occasionally I do a 'mini' for that days '30 in 30'.

'PINK SURPRISE'

4 x 4" Acrylic on Wood Panel

Here it is shown on the stand that comes with it.

You can find more information on this by Clicking HERE

THERE ARE ALWAYS FLOWERS FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO SEE THEM

~ Henri Matisse

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The Armada is in!

DAY 16 ... ALREADY!!

Here we are, officially halfway through the month of January.  Hard to believe since I have been house-bound with a miserable head cold for the last two weeks.  You would think that the time would have just dragged by but I've utilized a lot of the time in my studio which has been great.  Couldn't go anywhere so no reason for interruptions.  :)  In fact I've had such a good time I've neglected to get as much reading done on a book I need finished by this Wednesday for a Book Club meeting.  :(  I can usually read fairly fast (how much I retain is another question) so I kept putting off reading the book figuring I'd have no problem getting it done in time.  Surprise 1 ... Charleen 0.  The book is titled 'Book of Ages: The life and Opinions of Jane Franklin'.   If you are not familar with it, it is about Jane Franklin, Benjamin Franklins youngest sister, and their relationship.  Problem: it is primarily written in 'Olde English' ~ a definite 'slower downer' right there, compounded by the fact that a lot of the writings from those days (in this book) are VERY mispelled due to lack of education, so I find myself reading certain sentences 2-3 times to make sure I understood them (!) and then ... that is compounded by the fact that this book is 11,000 pages on Kindle!  I'm on page 2000 something.  Remember ... by Wednesday.


I'm not sure why but I love painting Pears.  Here are two I painted for this weeks Challenge of '30 Paintings in 30 Days'

THERE'S ONE IN EVERY CROWD

6 x 6" Acrylic on Wood Panel

RED HOT CHILI PEARS

For more information on either of these Pieces Please click HERE

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.

~ Mother Teresa

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(BEAUTIFUL) CONFUSION!

Charleen

A LITTLE CHAOS ON DAY 9 ...

"WHAT CAN I SAY?  I THRIVE ON CHAOS."

6 x 6" Mixed Media Collage on Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

(Family and Friends would probably say this is true!!)

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The Easter Parade?  I see several Ladies hats on display.  :)

Charleen

As a singer I tried on all these hats, these voices, these clothes, 

and eventually out came me.                     ~ Carly Simon

DAY 8 IS LITERALLY FOR THE BIRDS ...

You thought I was kidding?!  

'CONVERSATIONS IN TIME'

5 x 7" Mixed Media collage on Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

I decided to take a break fom Painting and do a few Collage pieces.  The Air Mail stamp is an oldie (7 cents!), sent to me by a friend whose Father use to collect stamps.  The seal on the lower left is an actual seal from a property deed. The 'Post Card' is a copy of one from the 40's and the Asian Newspaper is about 30 years old from San Franciscos Chinatown.  


          No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.

                                                                             ~ William Blake

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I see Godzilla.  :/

Charleen

DAYS 6 AND 7. HERE, THEN GONE.

Here are Day 6 and 7 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge  ...  

'FIRE IN THE NIGHT SKY'

6 x 6 Acrylic on Wood Panel

More information on this can be found HERE

“The fires of night
through distance dance
ghosts who still know how to sing” 

― Tamara Rendell, Mystical Tides

'JUST SMELIN' THE FLOWERS'

6 x 6 Acrylic on Wood Panel

More information on this can be found HERE

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And here are our clouds for today.  I took this photo down in Coeur d'Alene a few weeks ago.  I can see an Eagle in flight but ... the soft Blues and Pinks make me just want to wrap a newborn baby in a quilt of these clouds.  :)

Charleen

BABY ... IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

But, not quite as cold as it had been ... thankfully!  So, I don't know whether it was the cold weather that made me see snow (we're covered with it here) in the background for this painting, or the texture on the wood that made me think snow.  Either way, that's what I saw after the texture dried on this 6 x 9"  wood panel. I first painted red over the background and then when dry, added the white.  I wasn't sure where I was going next but it didn't take too long before the Cardinal made his appearance.  :)

'RED, HE SAID, IS MY FAVORITE COLOR'

6 x 9" Acrylic on Textured Wood Panel

I'm doing Leslie Saeta's '30 Paintings in 30 Days' Challenge.  I missed the first 3 days due to having company over the New Years weekend.  'Red, he said, is my Favorite Color' is my Day 6 painting. 

'WINTER AT BROKEN LIMB FALLS'

I posted 'Winter at Broken Limb Falls' back in October but wasn't 100% satisfied with it.  (Not that I am EVER 100% satisfied!)  I recently pulled it out and added a little more color to it.  I think it really helps to 'pop' the broken tree limbs.  I posted it here on my FACEBOOK page and another Artist that saw it said "Look at the Heart.  Yay!!"  It probably couldn't be more obvious but I never saw it until she said that.  :/  Can you see it?

Clouds of the Day ... Cataldo, Idaho

Without  r e a l l y stretching it, I can't say I see anything in particular in this photo other than a possible painting.  :)  

Have a great day.  I should be back soon with more paintings from the '30 in 30' Challenge.

Charleen

We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.  ~   Zhuangzi