ALL MY LOVE...

Wanted to show you my latest piece I just finished.

I call it  "ALL MY LOVE"

I added little beads to her headband...it really sets it off and adds texture.

I really love how the background came out...the colors, the texture...kind of like an old wall that's been painted over and over.

sending you all my love this New Year!

HONEYMOON...

What do you give your sister that just wed a cattle rancher...and as their first purchase as a married couple, bought a new heiffer calf at a bull sale that they named "Honeymoon"?

You paint them a picture of their new baby

...meet Honeymoon.

I was a little late in sending it to them, as they got married a couple of months ago, but made it before the start of the new year!

MY HOME AT CHRISTMAS TIME...

First, I want to show you the "traveling painting" that I just finished contributing to and am going to send off today.  Carrie Joy Byrnes had the great idea to do this and a group of us jumped at the chance to be a part.  The artists that are contributing are:  Maria, De Leon, Joji Todd, Charlotte Phillips, Cathy Gillette, Elaina Allen-Valeando, Lisa Scherer, Leslie Rubio, Joan Rudolf, Carrie Joy Byrnes, and me.  Carrie transferred an image of an old photo onto a panel, and we each are painting 7 squares.  Carrie will then put the painting up for sale and the proceeds will go to the Veteran's Leadership Council-Cares.  Their mission is to reduce the number of homeless veterans in North Carolina.

I just LOVE decorating for the Christmas holidays.  I love the colors, the lights, and the memories of each decoration I decorate with. This big armoir in our foyer I got from craigslist...I just love it.

I love my Fontanini creche.  The problem is...only one wise man.  Every year I think I am going to search online for the other two, and just haven't actually either won the auction on ebay or something.  I decided to prop my "Fall On Your Knees" painting in back of it.

This is looking the other direction in the foyer.  That church pew was purchased off of craigslist too.  We got it from a grange hall about an hour away.  Picture it on top of our car...husband holding it with one hand out the window while driving...in the coldest part of January.  Picture his hand by the time we got home.  Of course, it was tied to the roof, but just to know that it wasn't moving he held onto it.  Less than $100 and such a find!  Can't remember offhand the length....long though.  I think between 10-15 feet.

Here's my "Magic of Winter" propped with white and silvery decor.

That vintage red plaid hat box I recently picked up at a thrift store...love it!  On the mantle is the little cardboard village set I grew up with.  They make replicas today (which I also have---love little houses) but vintage, and memories are worth so much more!

I put icicle ornaments along the mantle too, and just love the icy feel they give the village.

I have this house up all year, but decorate it with the wreath, tree, snow, skis, etc. for the holiday.

Our centerpiece scene on our table is a winter wonderland.  I used white snowy themed ornaments along with silvery trees (from the $1 store) to decorate it.  I used little house ornaments (replicas of my mantle ones) too.  I also used the "snow" that I used in my "Winter" painting...and glittery snowflakes from the $1 store mixed in.  The big "snowballs" were ornaments too...from World Market last year.  I just took off the hangers.

My chalkboard changes shape for the holiday to highlight my village.  It's a mixture of Dicken's Village and New England Village.

Here's an alcove in our entry with my "Winter" propped against the wall.  I used those snowflakes on her cloak.  More houses...

Merry Christmas!

SHARIYAH AND CAMERON WON all because of their SPARKLING SHINING LOVE!

I would say I can't believe it...but I CAN believe it!!!  My niece, Shariyah, and her husband Cameron WON The World's Best Couple contest given by Michael Hill Jewelers in New Zealand!  There were thousands of couples who entered and a panel of celebrity judges picked the winner from the top 6 couples.  Right now...this very minute, they are in New York City being presented with a 22 carot diamond ring by Kim Kardashian at a fancy dancy restaurant!!! Isn't that so exciting!  I can't wait until she blogs about it with lots of pics and newsy news I'm sure!  Here is one of their challenges that they used to win...I think it's so cute and clever.
By the way, I'll be interviewing Shariyah soon on my blog!

MAJESTY...

Well, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We got our tree over the weekend, which is our tradtion.  Even though it seems early to some, I like being able to enjoy the seaon longer.  I just love decorating for Christmas...the lights...the warm, cozy feeling of it all. 

The kids were out of school an extra day...a snow day!  It was all of a trace on the ground, and the schools were closed.  If we lived somewhere else, like Montana or Chicago, that wouldn't have happened.  But it does make it exciting.

I also took a bit of time to paint.  This is what I came up with...

I think with recently owning our own horse has made me even more drawn to the majesty of the animal.

I will be putting prints and the orignal up for sale on Etsy!

GIVE THANKS

I just want to say THANK YOU to all of you that have taken the time to visit my blog and to those that have taken the time to comment...it means so much to me.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.

and I wanted to share with you this fabulous video created by The Brave Girls Club.  I get their daily affirmations in my e-mail and they just posted this video...which brought a tear to my eye and thought I'd share with you.

THE SONG OF ANGELS...

I just finished my latest piece I title "THE SONG OF ANGELS"...

In this first image it's harder to see the words on her halo because of the shine of the silver...

I love the silver...even from a distance it makes it "pop". I also added silver to her wings. 

Here are some close-ups...I really distressed it after I finished. I felt it really called out for distressing.  It looked so old...yet with fresh paint looked too new.

in this last image you can see the words in her halo better...it says:

For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.  romans 8:18

I will be putting prints and the original up for sale on etsy soon!

FALL ON YOUR KNEES

I've had this image of Mary and Jesus that I printed on my art desk for a long time.  I was thinking I wanted to paint it at some point and didn't know when.  I just thought It was so beautiful...the glow that was on the faces of Mary and the angels as they looked at baby Jesus.  So, here is the beginning...

The song that kept going through my head the whole time I was painting it...over and over...was Oh Holy Night.  And so after painting it, and realizing there was a lot of empty space, especially above them...I thought if I could incorporate that song somehow into the painting, that would be cool.  So I carved a verse into gel medium and after it dried, painted the words.

Here are some close-ups...

and here is the finished piece...I ended up putting more gel medium which I let dry clear onto the sides as well to balance out the texture.

To me, this song is one of the most moving.  Every year, when I hear it sung well...with the crescendo of "fall on your knees, hear the angels voices"  I get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye.  It's so powerful and you can just imagine...