night owl

oh what fun...this is one of favorite friends to paint. i tried something different by painting the background on the back of the glass. it seems to add a little dimension and i like that. success. and some of this sweet, crazy lil' owls friends are hanging out behind him. this is a single pane sash - first i've painted, also with a grid and a much more distressed, aged window. i really like it's personality - i feel like if this old window could talk, it sure would have a lot of stories...just like my wise ole owl friend.

next, i'm painting two more commissioned pieces. a repeat of the "peace-flower" and a fairy landscape. this is so much fun!

Gamecock Palmetto - makeover

After completing quite a few windows and selling a total of 9 (whoo-hoo!!!), I decided to update this Gamecock Palmetto because it is plain compared to the others I've created. It was one of my first. I'm liking it's "new do".  I crackled the frame with a top layer of black and added polka dots. I'm also planning to start selling on Etsy after several friends have suggested so to get my paintings out to more people. Hopefully, I'll have an Etsy "shop" by next week. 

another commissioned piece complete!

okay, so this was a request and it challenged me. i wasn't satisfied with the first window, so i started over. my dad called at just the right time...we call that a "Godincident"or "God wink". I was ready to toss the window that i wasn't happy with out my home window that i paint by! he reminded me that when you try new things (which i'd done with this particular painting), sometimes you fail...and that's okay. his suggestion was to get a up of coffee (okay, i have to admit i was in as soon as he said that!), grab a sketchbook and pray for direction. and, man, oh man, the ideas came aflowin'. ;-) that's actually when i got the flower/peace sign idea and also this one. the little girl that it's for loves butterflies and flowers...and the challenge to me, pastels. this window took much longer than i anticipated and i do hope anna loves it! (i added a second picture of a "closer look" because the flowers are the details of the butterfly and i wasn't sure that they showed up well in the regular picture.) this one i finished about a week ago. more to follow that i finished today.

Peace for Alex...

Commissioned work for a great, supportive friend who's moving into a new, fabulous home soon and wanted to get each of his daughters some artwork for their new rooms...this is for Alex who loves peace signs and has requested turquoise walls. I hope she digs this addition to her cool, new digs! Next will be his other daughter's request. I'm off for vacation a few days - then finishing her piece.

Baby Monkey - Commissioned Work

Well, since last time, I've gotten 2 commissioned works - 1 person requesting 2 windows: one for each of his daughters' rooms. And another requesting a baby gift. That's what I've posted here, the baby gift. The character blends with the crib sheets on their registry with the lil' monkey's jersey personalized to their alma mater. And the bible verse was especially chosen by my customer. Such a sweet idea she had...and a lot of fun to do. Next will be my other commissioned project...or my daughter's dog. She's begging me to paint lil' Chloe next, but Momma's gotta work when she's got it! ;-) And so many friends/new friends have been supportive through facebook and word of mouth of what I'm doing, for which I am so thankful. They've had some great ideas and even offered old windows to me. Very cool...

Pretty happy with this one. Just went at it freely and enjoyed the process. Not a request, no expectations - really fun to see how it turned out. Should sale, will sale, however...I have a lot of great places I'd like to hang in my own home. :-) Guess it's like shopping for a gift. You know it's right when you want to keep it.

house divided

Can't live in Carolina without a few divided homes! Did this one per request. Got a couple of commissioned gigs I'll be working on now...so back with those shortly. 2 girl's bedrooms - one with peace signs, one with flowers and butterflies.

Better late than never...

Bubbles...finished this one a couple of weeks ago and then slacked getting it on here. it just makes me happy! had to hang this one in my own home! looks translucent but actually not. mixed colors to make layering. kids and hubbie gone swimming while i put on my earphones and went at it. ahh, happy, happy, joy, joy...

Pleasant words

I did it! Finished another...this accountability thing might be working for me.

find the birdies

my friend, mr. zebra

hard to tell in the shot - palmetto tree & moon in garnet and black outline

my dad's company (a thank you for the windows) & a usc tribute since i do live in gamecock country

my blank canvas...getting started

As a teenager and in my early 20s, I did lots of drawing & painting. After not really doing much of it at all, I started dreaming a year of so ago of getting back into it. Maybe it's because my 40s are now creeping up on me. But for whatever reason, I missed it. I missed getting lost in creating something new, exploring all the possibilities, letting my imagination wander for awhile. I'm notorious for making excuses of why I can't do something I really want to do - what is that?!? However, I also feel like God sometimes just drops things in our laps for a reason and we should not question but just say "thanks" and follow His lead. As I wanted to take some time to "create," I bought some new paints and a couple of canvases, only to have my dad call me out of the blue saying he's having his windows replaced in his home and did I want some of the old ones to paint on. Uh, yeah. That would be great. I've never painted on windows before, but hey, let's do it! I'm off and running now. Well, truthfully, I have had them for quite a few months and only painted a handful so far. Then, I got another call with a "window offering." Okay, okay...I'm really doing this now. Hence, the blog...

I'm not much of a writer - that's my husband's and daughter's thing, my sister, too...their creative outlet. Me, I paint. I've never been great with words. It happened during my quiet time a few mornings ago though. The blog occurred to me as my accountability. I record what I've painted so far. I may fail to create what's in my mind exactly like I saw it or fail to get rid of all these windows I create, but I cannot fail to CREATE. The gift is here and it's my job to pass it along...all these ideas in my mind need to be on windows - who knew it would be windows? A window to my soul perhaps...hah!...no, seriously, that's cheesy...but windows, no less. For now, windows. Maybe something else down the road...we'll see.

I let life's daily chores get in the way of making time for my painting. So I'm challenging myself to have at least one picture per week of something I'm creating until the windows are complete. I'm recording what I have so far and then, next week I'll update with more! And this will be the most I write...that's one thing I AM sure of.