Arbeit in Arbeit

1) The first two I shared here a week or so ago and took in all of your advice! "Autumn Siren" and "Winter Radiance". The following two I started this week: 2) Desert/Untitled shows my first day and my second day a few days later. I was disturbed by the Juniper tree and the yucca seeming on the same plane and thus competing for the focus, so I moved the yucca way down below the canvas, greyed/blurred out the mountains a bit and worked more on the other plants. I'm not sure whether to draw the path out to the right or bring it down as I did in the first painting. I need to bring the darks back into the undershadows of the several yucca too, and add more detail to the prickly pears. Thoughts? Suggestions on how to improve this? 3) "Woodland Window" is the painting I had to the side to use up all of my unsued paint by the end of a session, using it to block in color on my next painting (part of my usual process I'm finding!) Both #1 and #2 are this step, although #1 shows more of the neon orange underpainting. I want to bring more of the warm, deeper colors back into the trunk, and I have a lot left to do on this painting....basically, haven't even begun to paint it in earnest! There will be blinding sunrays coming through the branches on the left in the end, and i will warm the painting up more like the 1st. All observations, reflections, suggestions, etc. welcome and valued!!!

Ich habe heute Abend an der Skulptur gearbeitet und mit den Sonnenblumen-Einsätzen getestet, wie sie aussehen werden.

this wall sculpture will be getting some Osage Orange in the sunflower centers epoxy resin covering it and the road below will be getting epoxy also with real sand and gravel on it next. Then finish paint. This is called "Meandering Through the Prairie"

I think my memorial portrait of Ava is complete, but I haven’t signed it yet.

She was a good girl who loved tennis balls and keep rides!

These are my photo references.

Completed painting

I am planning a new painting. Actually I like to work on 2 pieces at the same time. One of them will be a large 32 x 40 inches. It will be a cultural/mythological goddess painting. I don’t have the composition completely clear yet but I want to incoporate blue lotuses also called Egyptian lotus. So the photos show my sketches. And the final composition for my ’warm up’ piece. I decided to use and old frame (it is a pricy custom made frame). I have had this frame for years so I figured I could put it to good use for my ’warm up’ and make a independent painting of the Blue Lotus.

Still very much a work in progress and still in it messy stage, every detail thought out. I took a break and I’m finding it hard to get back into it. So I was thinking it needs a powerful name. What would you call this piece?

I got quite a bit of work done today.

I finished the treat can and the tennis balls. I also haven’t Ava’s eyes, nose and paws finished.

I just need to finish her body, collar and name tag.

The next time I post a photo it will be completed!

I imagine that this moment was immediately preceded by “Who wants a jeep ride!?”

I just received a new custom nesting doll commission- it’s a pretty elaborate pregnancy reveal for the grandparents- each doll is part of the story, starting with the largest doll, this is the mom.

We had some back and forth conversations about meaningful images to include- I started working on draft ideas for her!she found me by doing a google search for custom matryoshka sets, liked my style, started following me on IG and when I announced my spring sale she placed the order.

This is precisely how my website and marketing are supposed to work!!

added some facial information, think im getting close.

needed to establish some shadows, then working through some values, thinking about expressions and what they possibly could be looking at.

welp I thought I was going to paint two nuns having a smoke and an aperitif, but now something else has started emerged.

A sinus infection tried to take me out, but here’s where I’m at with the portrait of Ava.

The crowds weren’t heavy that day - much to my surprise.

We walked along the paved streets, taking our time—pausing at bakery windows, looking over handmade pieces, searching for something small we could carry home with us. Something that would hold the feeling of this place.

So far from home. Another country… and somehow it felt like another time.
It was safe, and it was the kind of afternoon you want to cherish forever.

And then I looked up.

A red balloon floating in the sky.

Bright. Still.

I looked at my husband and pointed.
“What?” he said.

“The balloon… don’t you see it?”

He followed where I was pointing, squinting slightly, then looked back at me.
“There’s no balloon. What are you talking about?”

I didn’t answer right away.

Because it was still there.

Exactly where I had seen it.

I glanced back at him, then up again, just to be sure I hadn’t imagined it.

But it hadn’t moved.

And somehow… that was worse.

The street carried on like nothing had changed—people talking, walking, laughing—but something had shifted. Just enough that I could feel it under everything else.

Like the moment had split in two.

One where everything was still safe and simple…

…and one where I was the only one who could see what didn’t belong.

This is still very early in the process. The basic idea behind it is women's rights and how the law (LEX) is taking them away. So, if you have any ideas for titles, let me know!

An artist on Reddit just shared their hand drawing progression over the years. 6,500 upvotes. 80+ comments. And you know what? It's literally just the same subject — a hand — drawn at different stages of their journey.

No fancy concept. No dramatic backstory. Just years of practice stacked side by side. The early ones? Flat, stiff, the kind of hand drawing where every finger looks like a sausage. The recent ones? Shading, detail, dimension — the kind of work that makes you stop scrolling.

The artist said something that stuck with me: "There was a time when I used to think I couldn't draw hands right no matter how much I tried. But as I kept drawing them throughout the years, I got a little better each time."

This is the part that matters for all of you. These progress posts blow up EVERY single time. On Reddit, on Instagram, on Town Square — doesn't matter. People are obsessed with seeing the journey. They want proof that practice actually works. And when YOU post your own version of this? You're giving them that proof. You're not just sharing art. You're sharing hope. That's why it goes viral.

You guys, I guarantee most of you have old sketchbooks sitting in a drawer somewhere. Dig them out. Put your earliest work next to your latest. The gap is the content. The gap IS the story.

So here's my question — what's the biggest leap you've seen in your own work? How many years between your "before" and your "now"?

https://www.reddit.com/r/drawing/comments/1ryy8gp/evolution_of_my_hand_drawings/

I was invited to step outside the canvas and into something a little different. While much of my work lives on walls, I’ve always been drawn to body art and wearable pieces - art that moves, that’s lived in, that becomes part of someone’s story.

My latest project brought that to life through custom-painted cowboy boots and a hat. It’s been an incredibly enjoyable process - exploring texture, colour, and personality in a completely new way. There’s something special about creating pieces that aren’t just seen, but worn...

art that carries energy out into the world.

With the underpainting complete, I’m looking forward to working on some details.