Merry Christmas

Spending a  few days in North Florida and staying close to this fire as its colder here. Nice to be with some family and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and thank you for following my blog, your encouraging words and support..       

I'm wishing all of my blogging friends a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and fill in the blanks if your salutation is not there.   I'm off for a few days, and will see you  when I return. My wish for the New Year is that the planet gets its act together so we can all live peacefully through the next year.. I'll do my part if you do yours. 
 Barbra Joan
 

Poinsettia Frenzy!

I started painting Poinsettias and couldn't stop ~ (as you can see) I don't know why I'd never painted one before..   

a Hybrid!!

A cross between a poinsettia and my mind.

The Color Black

I've talked about this color before and how I don't own a tube of black. I post this not so good w/c painting because of the black hat..   A mixture of UB (untramarine blue)  SG (sap green) and AZ (alizaron crimson) in different amounts will give you a warm black , more red , a cold black... more blue  . 

  Really... any blue, Indigo instead of UB. Can't live without Indigo Blue... 
So it reads as black even though I never used it.   TA DA!!!!

In the Mood Yet?

 I'm trying! .. working on some cards. The paintbrush one is for my artist friends, some got them last  year. Sorry, it could be more of the  same .They're time consuming as each one is original. I don't do prints.            

The weather should be putting me in the mood .. its in the 50's here in Florida.   

My Watercolor Rendition

Nothing can match the beauty of the real leaf  as when I took the photo below, but we all know I had to try.. I  framed it and it can hang  for a while. . My apologies to the 'Last Leaf of Autumn' .  

About Time!

I've been a bit on the 'blue side' so painted this and all is well. It's a long way to spring I know and these are crocus the first flower to appear when winter is gone.. so I give them to you  early.  

It's Post Time! from the Past !

And just a few flowers I've created.. pencil, watercolor maybe a  pastel in there too. oh yes and the fish... it's just a melange of  some of my past work since I'm still painting walls...

My Artistic Contribution for the Day

While  at the art show everyone else was busy photographing art,  I spotted this leaf casting its shadow on the trunk of a tree and took it at an angle.

It's as though  the leaf is saying " I see my shadow .... therefore I am"  .. Out of about 150,000 people at the show, I think it's my exclusive.. ! and Sherry pointed out the heart shape of the shadow. ! !

Peter Anderson Festival

I'll be leaving for the Peter Anderson Festival  in Ocean Springs Ms.  very close to Biloxi and some friends. It's a huge juried show.    Every year they  ask me to come up to see it and every year other matters have kept me from going..  I'm  so looking  forward to it and will keep you all posted with photos and other art related 'stuff' ' . Stay tuned, it should be fun.   

A Quiet Place in my Mind

Just a small  painting to put me in a more quiet frame of mind.. photo is from   Ralph  an artist and  blogger, but I've taken artistic license and simplified it..  Yes, right now  I have a simple mind LOL !   I thank all of you who have contacted me for the address of a fellow artist in need.. you may still do so .. from the post below this one.

A learning process.

When I first started painting in oils I learned  ( tried)  by copying the Masters and other artists. It was the only way I could . This is just such a painting, and by now who knows where it is, could be  in someones' garage, the Goodwill store .. don't know.. But I'm sure that just by doing it I learned something ... just like life,, we have to experience it .. do it,  and we always come away knowing one more thing .. 

Getting Back

Leaving the city of Savannah intact except for one  quite significant brick....
Long story.  !!

Savannah .. Alert the Media.

Yes, lock the windows and  bolt the doors,  I'll be in Savannah for a few days with my good friend.. The Professor and the Artist.   Come on now...you know who is who..Savannah is a beautiful old Southern city.    I hope  to see it all and  get lots of pictures for painting reference and if they're nice to us we'll leave the city intact. See you  all when I get back.   

A Re-post !

Just posting  a few pieces that I did a while back .. I think , in fact I know it's somewhere in the blog,.. but since I'm not painting  for a few days .. thought you might like to see some past work.  Thanks for all your words and prayers . It  helps get through some  of the more difficult days of this past week.

Not About Art Today

You need not read this.. it's neither about  art or  joyful or a fun post today, but one that I want to write.  It's  about my son that I lost quite some years ago, on the 28th of Sept.,  but still sits like a hard rock inside of my heart.  He was a very young man and I had little time to say goodbye.  Time does not heal All wounds.  I wrote the following words just a few weeks after he died... Sometime later I joined a group called The Compassionate Friends, a national organization that counsels parents who have lost a child. They published  my poem  and I write it just as it was written there.  He was just 26 years old.
____________________________________________________________
     " The following is a poem written by a member Barbra Araneo, two weeks after her son was killed on his  motorcycle . She expresses  the love for her son, every Moms feelings. Barbra is now a resident of Tampa and is working hard on her recovery road. She is a lady with a tremendous abundance of courage."

     To my son  Louis,
You were my heart from the very start
and now  I'll not know why.... until I die we had to part.
Just like a bird that is born free, you lived your life,
and when you left thats how I had to let you be.

You were taken from this world much too soon,
and I ask myself...... Why?... was there no room?
There are no words that can be said
To help me stop the tears I shed.

This pain in my heart will only know joy
when once again I see my boy
Until that day comes.... I'll not be free
For you were my heart and always will be.
                                        Mom
I think I need to add this... He was a part of this world, our world,  a big part of my life, he loved  nature, all animals, watersports, a fantastic mechanic, and artistic in his work customizing vans  and  loved life. He made me cry, he made me laugh, and most of all he  made me love.  I wanted you all to know him just because I did.

Sophistication / Pencil....again

Most of you know this is my own personal favorite pencil piece, and  my first serious large drawing..  Again, nothing more than pencils, paper and kneaded eraser and the desire to do it...I still like it as much now as the day I finished it... just my two cents worth.!

I have days where I have to put something on paper, this was one of those days.

Not one of mine though I do have three and have painted them already.....

Undersea study

Looking Out For You

I finished this pencil piece this week, and have posted my WIP and the finished  drawing.. this was taken from the copyright- free site ... Wet Canvas.  Beauty is not always in smooth skin, beautiful eyes, it's more of an inner feeling you get,  rather than a visual sight. I've drawn beautiful women, gorgeous eyes, and  also saw something beautiful in this old womans wrinkled skin.... BJ

Barbra Joan

Thought it was time to post a recent photo so you all can see just who it is your writing to.  Sure a few years have passed, more than a few life experiences, but I'm still trying to travel that road gracefully..  lets just say as long as I don't fall and can't get up!!! 

My Mind is Scattered!! Really?

No, your not missing anything, there is no post of a painting, drawing, even a doodle. My mind the past few days is scattered, lack of concentration , motivation, inspiration..We all go through it, I know , and think it will never pass. I've had these times where it lasted for weeks,months and one time for 3 years. ... I think maybe tomorrow I'll paint a poppy, that always puts me in a good frame of mind and maybe the beginning of something .. We'll see..     

The Quilter -Pencil

I was bitten by the quilting bug during the '90's... and I did this pencil drawing a few years ago . I might have posted it somewhere ...maybe Flickr? .

A gift for my 100th Follower

My Logo

How nice!! I've just reached 100 followers and have written that person for an address as I would like to send a small original watercolor. So I hope Anu will get my message. I see she is from India.  I thank all of you for following and commenting on my blog. We know how that can be so uplifting and inspires us to go forward , do better. Posting on this blog has  kept me going, sometimes when I really felt like putting something on the back burner. Thanks to all of you.   

Love Reaches Deep /Pencil

This is more about the  roots than the tree. I'll call it finished and you can see the photo of this on Ralphs blog, under the title Love Reaches Deep.  How true, Thanks Ralph for allowing me to use the photo.. I didn't want to put in every detail, I came close but decided to leave a little room for thought at the bottom.    

Native American Dancer #2

Your right I did this once before, but wanted to do another.. soooo I did!  This pencil on paper, from a photo on Wet Canvas. 

Untitled ' Pencil

A piece I've been  working on for a few days now... I'd call it finished , but you know me.  I sometimes will go back and do hair. !  

It's a 'REAL' Watercolor!

I was working on this yesterday, sprayed some water on it and put it outside to dry.  Forgot all about it and we had our afternoon downpour.  When I finally got around to go outside I saw this piece of paper on my neighbors lawn and after drying it this is what it looked like ... I think one more layer  , some darks in the right places and I'll call it finished.  I think I'll do that again.!!! 

Not exactly my favorite, but playing with lots of color this morning, and this is was what came of it... It's more of an Iris that I grew in my head... uh--- oh!!  and since this was posted I've gotten so many comments.. the special thing about it was, that when I painted it I felt so good, so alive and so happy that I now feel it showed through.... thank you all so very much. 

And Again

I'm on a Roll!

There are days, no weeks when I just cannot get that 'thing going ' and then there are the weeks like this  where I can't stop... doesn't matter if they're good or not so good... I'm doin' thats what counts. 

 I know , I know ,  and yet another poppy good grief, but so be it, and then the hummingbird is maybeeee a work in progress (WIP) but something says just work on that left wing a little and call it finished! 

Time for a little color

Pencil Drawing

Picasso had his "Blue Period' . I have my Pencil Period. Last year I gave a little insight as to what I use and do for my drawings. A full range of Staedtler or Derwent drawing pencils, I use mostly Bristol (smooth) paper for good detail.. Some papers have a little more 'tooth' meaning rough,  I prefer  the smooth.
Once an intial drawing is done it's all about the light and dark.  If your using a color photo for reference it's still about the light
and dark. You have to completely block the color  from your brain, then it's a lot of shading and blending . Sometimes a tortillion or stump may be used for the blending and sometimes it's just my finger. An important part of pencil drawing , you must have dark to show the light. You can see in my drawings where the dark and light meet.

Click on any photo for a detailed look.

 Lights are lifted with a kneaded eraser, a  MUST  for drawing in graphite.  You can pinch a kneaded eraser to a fine edge and use it for hair, fur, etc. At the very last stages you can use a mechanical pencil for very fine lines, dots, and extreme detail. Just when I think I'm finished I go in again and maybe again.. darkening, and lightening. I keep bringing it closer and closer to reality.

   My pencil drawings are not sketches but rather completed and detailed works. At least that's what I strive for. It lacks the color but it is a totally different drumbeat, I like to march to that tune once in a while.... Some of these have been sold, and some have been ribbon winners.    All art in this post is copyrighted, do not reproduce any of it without the permission of the artist. Any questions please email me at:
bjoan1024@yahoo.com   Barbra Joan 

Iris

An iris that I painted today. Even though they look easy to paint, I find them a little difficult.. As you know from my recent whining I'm without my own computer. It's in the hospital and hope it survives the surgery. !!

Native American Dancer / Pencil

This is the latest pencil work that I've done. Since I don't travel much I use Wet Canvas site for inspiration. Great photos sent in by people and copyright free for artists to do 'their thing" . So I did mine with pencil, even though this was a very colorful photo I felt that need to do every detail and I'm pretty pleased with it.

Happiness Is --

How something this small can make me this happy! Oh yes, I wanted a Bijou Box for years, a teeny weeny palette box that you can take with you ... Even discounted they are about $75. then I found this one on Wet Paint for under $14-. There was a small problem in my order at first but the people there were great to deal with. Fast too.!! It's small , usable and has a thumb ring, baked enamel.. and it's adorable. !!. I'll be filling it with wonderful color . What more could you ask for????

It's Spring?

For this one my attempts at 'loose' went out the window. But I like it anyway. I have African Violets on my window and did this from one of them. The weather here (Florida) today is just awful.. Dreary, rainy, and just plain miserable. These violets are the only thing that has any color and lifted my spirits a little.

Italy Series

My 'Italy series' is helping me to move in the direction that I've wanted to go. More color, looser washes . Now it may not look that way to others who've already reached that goal, but this is a big step forward for me.

Scenes from Italy

I've been working on a series of scenes from Italy the birthplace of my grandparents. Buildings and landscapes are not my usual faire but I'm enjoying trying. Not easy for me as I literally can't draw a straight line. Wiggly or curves ones are fine, just not --- STRAIGHT---- ones. Thats very visible in these shutters!

When All Else Fails---Crop!

My mothers favorite flower was the Tiger Lily. There were a few more blooms in here .. how did they disappear ? Crop! Crop! Crop! I'll give it another try .

The Pumpkin Patch -

I know your saying "what's she doing painting Pumpkins! " Well, I took this phtoto in a little town I lived in called Lake Alfred. (Fl) and I don't live far from there now. Every fall they would do this to sell pumpkins. I loved that big old house. Pumpkin time, Spring time, anytime . I'ts a very small painting. 4" x 6. "

I posted this Cardinal on my other blog and Flickr and made a lot of people happy so I thought I'd spread that happiness around a little. Just a little bright spot in the day. Even here in Florida it's cold, dreary and we need the sunshine. ! Oh, and I painted this with my new water filled travel brush. They're great! You can see them on my Art Hearts Journey

My neighbors Place.. Florida is not all palm trees and beach as you can see.

Sanibel /Captiva Island

Desperation has driven me to post some from another lifetime! Well, one is my neighbors place.. . What you don't see is the many surrounding acres, cows and other assorted critters. . The other is of Sanibel Island , used to go there all the time, and one of my rare still life paintings.

Virtual Paintout -San Francisco

This is the second in my Virtual Paintout .. I'm working on sizing my photos and hopefully I can do this one as I like it better than the first . It's not very good but trust me, landscapes have never been my 'thing'. But I like the challenge, it forces me to do them and I really would like to be better at it. Thanks to my blogging friends who offered help in sizing my photos. You people are great!