BALANCE ...

AND SYMMETRY . . .

'BALANCE AND SYMMETRY'

6 X 6" Mixed Media

Acrylic painting with ink over Acrylic Pour

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

Original Pour

Life is like riding a bicycle.
To keep your balance you must keep moving.

                                              ~ albert einstein

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY . . .

                                                                         ~  aimee kenoyer

Our daughter Aimee took this shot from the Space Needle in Seattle.  Besides just being a beautiful photo, it goes so nicely with the painting above, don't you think?!  :)

Charleen

FIELDS FULL OF GOLD . . .

WE WERE THE RECIPIENTS OF A VISUAL DELIGHT WHILE DOWN IN AJO.  MILES OF BRIGHT GOLD MEXICAN POPPIES WERE IN BLOOM THIS YEAR DUE TO AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF RAIN IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY.  THIS EVIDENTLY ONLY HAPPENS EVERY 5-10 YEARS (that number depends on who you talk to :). 

'POPPY GOLD'

12 x 12" Mixed Media Collage on Canvas

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HERE THEY ARE IN REAL LIFE . . .

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ....

Cat in the Hat.  Yes, Definitely Cat in the Hat ... without his hat of course!

"Look at me!

Look at me!

Look at me now!

It is fun to have fun

But you have to know how"

~  Dr. Seuss

Definitely!

FROM THE IDAHO STUDIO of CHARLEEN MARTIN

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

THE HAPPIEST OF HOLDAYS!

THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING PART OF MY JOURNEY

I WISH YOU GOOD HEALTH
AND SUCCESS IN THE COMING YEAR!

CHARLEEN

www.charleenmartin.com

http://www.charleenmartinstudios.com

FLOWERS FOR A SEPTEMBER DAY ...

Sometimes when we want flowers in our lives we just have to paint them ourselves.  I randomly painted this blue background and then needed to decide what I was going to paint on it.  Flowers seemed to be in order. 

'A BOUQUET FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON'

6 x 6 x 1.5" Acrylic on canvas

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

Most of my flowers outside are bidding me adieu.  I do have one little Rosebush that does seem to be loving the weather ...

and even my Rhubarb hasn't abandoned me yet ...

but this once lovely 'Summerina', which I just bought a few days ago, and which I thought I would get at least a few weeks of enjoyment out of, obviously did not like the 29 degrees we had the other night :(

Fortunately it's a perennial so I'll still plant it and hope it comes back next year.


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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

A FISH BY ANY OTHER NAME IS STILL A FISH.



By all these lovely tokens September days are here,
With summer's best of weather and autumn's best of cheer. 
~  Helen Hunt Jackson

Charleen

I HEAR THE MUSIC ...

AND, THEY DO TOO!

'HEARING THE MUSIC'

Pretty Pink Coneflowers keeping time to the rhythm of the Breeze ...

For more information on this piece Please click HERE

'ONE GOOD THING ABOUT MUSIC, WHEN IT HITS YOU, YOU FEEL NO PAIN.'

~  Bob Marley

I have been diligently working away on a Commissioned Piece which I just finished yesterday.  That's why I haven't been around lately to visit with you.  :)  This is another Pointillism Piece which I will post on my next blog.  I do like doing them but they are VERY time consuming. 

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

I can clearly see the face of a wizened old soul up in the lighter portion of the clouds.  I also see a Walrus and I can also see part of an angry Bears head.  :(  What am I missing?  :)

Charleen

ONE POPPY. TWO POPPIES. THREE POPPIES ...

O.K. THERE'S A WHOLE POPPY DANCE TROUPE!

POPPY'S DANCE TROUPE

10 x 10" Mixed Media on Canvas

This is on a Mixed Media 'Crackled' background.  It just called out for the Poppies to come dance.  :)  And while they are up dancing the folks in the home below are all sound asleep. 

'THE NIGHT SINGS BRIGHT'

6 x 8" Acrylic on Wood Panel

BOTH OF THESE PIECES CAN BE FOUND ON MY WEBSITE HERE

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NO CLOUDS TODAY ...

I thought I would share this photo with you.  For Mothers Day my Grandchildren bought me a Butterfly Net ... as a joke.  Catching Butterflies has not been a recent pastime of mine.  Last night I went out to the garage to turn off the lights, (that someone else in this family had left on), :/ and I found this little Hummingbird flying wildly around.  He kept banging into the lights, probably thinking they were daylight and a way out.  No, I couldn't turn off the lights because this is a newly finished garage and I have no idea where all the light switches are.  (I know, sounds strange, but there is nothing in this family that runs the gamut of normal. :)   At that point, I happened to remember the Butterfly net, so I went, retrieved it, and then proceeded to climb over piles of wood, tools, ATV's, and an un-hooked up Wood Stove trying to catch this little guy with my nifty pink Butterfly net.

But ... as you can see, I did catch him.

I think the poor little guy (or gal)  was so traumatized by the whole thing that he stayed in the net for 2 or 3 minutes before flying off.  I was able to bring him outside, lay the net handle across the arms of a Patio chair, run inside for my camera, and get this photo before he said "Enough!" and off he went.

Moral of the story ... if your children or grandchildren buy you a Butterfly net, don't laugh.  You just never know ...

Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.

~ Salvador Dali

see you next time

Charleen

DISCUSSIONS ... MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT ...

LET'S GO WITH AFTERNOON.  :)

'AFTERNOON DISCUSSION'

9 x 12" Acrylic and Pastel on Wood Panel

I really love the colors in this, just not as loose as I want to be.  Too many years of cutting tiny pieces of paper for my Collages and fitting them together like a 1000 piece puzzle.  Maybe I need to go buy a couple of children's 10 piece puzzles and practice putting them together so I get the feel of larger/looser!  

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

'THE KISS'

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech

when words become superfluous.
                                                                         ~   Ingrid Bergman

Have a Great Day!

Charleen

'TODAYS PICK' MAY BE TOMORROWS MEMORIES ...

I think most of the time when we do something different, or a little bit special, we are not really thinking that it will be tomorrows memory but that so often happens, doesn't it.  We pick a few flowers, put them in a jar, and bring them to a neighbor.  She's having a bad day and that small gesture changed the whole day for her.  It totally changed her memory of that day. I 'imagined' that these flowers had a story like that.  :)

'TODAYS PICK'

6 x 8"  Acrylic on Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

Well, let's see.  I see a Doxie's head.  My Aunt and Uncle had several Dachshunds. When one would pass they'd get another.  They were all named 'Doc'.  And, they all got to eat Pepper steak (made for them) off a Fine China dish.  :)

I also see waves crashing against the shore (Actually reminds me of the Devils Punch Bowl on the coast in Oregon), stormy skies and the sun trying to fight its way through.

“When everything is at risk, good judgment, not haste,
makes the difference between life and death. Panic is the enemy.” 

                                                                                   ~ Greg Iles, The Devil's Punchbowl

Charleen

FLOWERS, FLOWERS EVERYWHERE ...

"MOM SAYS DAFFODILS GROW UP THERE TOO."

6 x 6 Mixed Media Collage

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

'Daffodowndilly'

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead.” 

~ A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY  ...

Yes, I know it's upside down!  But ... I couldn't see anything right side up! :(  And there definitely is someone there this way!  I don't know what he's doing, getting ready to throw a spear, or create a Wind storm, but whatever it is, I see him and I know he's up to no good!

Charleen

FLOWERS AND A MOVIE ...

I love the name Sophie.  I had an Aunt by the name of Sophie.  She was one of the sweetest people I've ever known.  She could remember dates, numbers and happenings from years before like she had just read about them.  In an instant. Lickety split.  Today, I would imagine she would be diagnosed with a form of Autism, Asperger's, or similar, but back then she was 'just different'.  She had a nervous breakdown when her younger brother (my father) passed away at the age of 26.  She was 31.  Because of that breakdown she spent 13 years in a State Mental hospital.   (I'm sure things would be handled very differently today. A subject for another day.)   The day she was released my Aunt (her sister) and I went to meet her at the Bus Stop.  I was 13 and it was the first time I was meeting her.  Her Smile and Sweetness just enveloped me.  She lived with two of her sisters until she passed at the age of 76. 

'SOPHIES CHOICE'

9 x 12 Acrylic on Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE

“Let your love flow out on all living things.” 

                                                                                       ~  William Styron,  Sophie's Choice

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

I see an old man, resting in the midst of the Clouds.  At Peace.

Charleen

HAPPY SPRING!

HAPPY SPRING EVERYONE! 

FRESH FLOWERS TO HELP CELEBRATE THE DAY . . .

Just wanted to share a smile with you ...

'SMILES IN BLOOM'

4 x 4" Acrylic on Wood Panel

WHAT'S AROUND YOUR CORNER ...?

'ROUND THE CORNER, CATCH THE PENNY.'

12 x 12 x 1.5" Mixed Media on Wood Panel.

As you can see, I went a little abstract.  This is one of two that are quite similar and could easily be hung as a set.  Can you find the Penny?  :)

Both of these can be found on my Website at www.charleenmartin.com

IN THE SPRING I HAVE COUNTED 136 DIFFERENT KINDS OF WEATHER

INSIDE OF FOUR AND TWENTY HOURS.

~ Mark Twain

(isn't that the truth!)

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

I see Oscar the Grouch!

Charleen

LET'S TANGO!

DO YOU LIKE TO DANCE?  (I LOVE TO DANCE!)

TANGO PARTNERS

6 x 6" Acrylic on Textured Wood Panel

For more information on this Piece Please Click HERE


'NEVER GIVE A SWORD TO A MAN WHO CAN'T DANCE'
~  Confucius

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CLOUDS OF THE DAY ...

Well ... I know this is more than just the clouds but it was such a beautiful photo I thought I would include the whole picture.  (You never know, someone out there might want to paint it.  :)  This is a recent Sunset on Hayden Lake, Idaho.  My Grandson took this photo (I know, we might as well get the whole family working on my cloud photos, right?  :)  He was out fishing with friends.  What do I see?  I see all this through his eyes.  Certainly makes me feel good!  :)

Charleen