Without Wings, Andalusian horse drawing SOLD

'Without Wings' SOLD

5" x 10" graphite on paper

 

 'Horse thou art truly a creature without equal, for thou fliest without wings, and conquerest without sword.'

 

It's been too long since I did a more detailed drawing. I forgot how much I enjoyed that. I had this quote on a poster of a beautiful horse painting by equine artist Kim McElroy when I was a girl. I loved it so much and it's one of the things that made me want to be an artist when I grew up. I think I still have it somewhere. I need to go find it and look at it again. :) Have a great weekend all! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by.

 

Hugs,

Crystal

 

 

Reference photo by venomxbaby on DeviantArt, thank you!

Silent Night SOLD, and why I paint in oils sometimes

'Silent Night' SOLD

5" x 7" watercolor on paper

Reference photo by Elizabeth Ward Sescilla, thank you! 

I wanted to do a Madonna and child type of painting this Christmas, using horses running through the snow, and this is it. I realize this would have to be a very late (or early) foal to be this age and running through the snow, but. . . I thought it was such a lovely, peaceful image that I decided to exercise my artistic license. ;) 

 Here's a pic of the painting in progress. :)

We're knee deep in Christmas preparations around here and I'm so excited!! I love Christmas. I love seeing the magic of this season through my kid's eyes. It's one of the best things ever. 

The boys and I have been making some Christmas crafts including these Santas above. This is what happens when you have all boys. You get one normal, jolly Santa, and then. . . his evil twin brother. Don't ask me, because I don't know how they came up with that idea. 

And Katherine asked if I'd post a pic of our decorated Christmas tree so here it is. :) Most of our ornaments are homemade and all of them are very sentimental and I love it that way. It's not a fancy tree, but our kids think it's magical, and they are in charge of decorating it themselves. Brodie and I just hand out the ornaments.

I also wanted to give a quick shout out to my dear friend Carol Blackburn, who sent me the most lovely little ACEO that I adore. Thank you so much my friend, I treasure it so much! I'll post a pic of it in my next post so you guys can see it. :)

And now, to of why I wanted to paint with oils. I've gotten a little bit of feedback that people are sort of disappointed that I haven't been painting in watercolors so I wanted to let you all know that I will never give up on watercolors. They are a part of my soul and I LOVE painting with them. I suspect that is where I will always feel most at home, but sometimes I just need to try something new. 

I was starting to dread every time I sat down to paint with my watercolors. I don't know why, I think I was just feeling a little bit burned out. I wasn't excited to paint anymore. And I HATE feeling like that. Art is what heals my soul, you know that quote that says art washes away the dust of every day life? That is exactly how I feel. I'd be lost if I couldn't paint every day. Any time I go a few days without painting I start to feel like I'm not myself, I feel restless and anxious. But as soon as I pick up a brush or a pencil I feel whole again. 

So whenever I start to feel burned out I get a little scared. Because painting is something I HAVE to do, and I have to enjoy it. That sounds a little selfish doesn't it? But it's the truth. Also I have just felt drawn to oil paintings lately, they're what I look for in art magazines, what I search out when browsing online. I try to dissect them in my head, mix the colors and visualize how the artist laid down the brushstrokes.

And that's when I started to feel excited about painting again. I LOVE the rich, buttery colors of oils, the visible expressive brushstrokes, and the simplification of details, and I really, really love how quick they are. I want to be an expressive painter, and while I don't think it's always important to paint quickly, right now when painting time is so scarce that's really important to me. 

So that's it in a nutshell of why I like painting in oils. I will still mostly be painting with watercolors, but sometimes I may go on an oil painting binge again, because it's what I have to do to feed my creativity. Does anyone else ever feel like that? I'd love to hear your story too. 

Thanks for reading this epic post. Huzzah my fellow rock stars!! :)

Puppy Kisses

'Puppy Kisses'

6" x 6"

SOLD

A new addition to my Smitten series. And one that I really like. Even though these are Malamutes, they remind me of my dog I had when I was younger. She was a Siberian Husky and she was such a sweet heart. Totally crazy. But a sweetheart. :)

I finished my last oil painting that I plan to paint for a while today (not this one, I'm a little ahead, how weird is that??). So with my next post I plan to talk about why I switched to oils. Because I've been asked a little bit, and because I think I need to put it in to words for myself too.

Tonight we are decorating our Christmas tree, and the little ones are about to burst with excitement. Can you tell?

reference photo by Kelly Bailey, thank you!

No Sunshine SOLD

'No Sunshine'  SOLD

6" x 6" oil on panel

I have been on a mission to paint an oil portrait that I really like. And this time I finally did. I think that's why I've been sticking with the oils so long this time. I felt like I just HAD to paint a portrait that felt like me you know? So. I'm happy with this one. And that's all I have to say. :) 

I'm recovering from a turkey coma today and hanging out with my family. And I'm off to see the Nutcracker tonight with my mom, sister, and nieces!! I'm so excited. I've been wanting to see it for years. 

I love the Christmas season. :)

Hugs to you and yours,

Crystal

 reference photo by the awesome Steve Evans, thank you! 

I'm Not Tired, and I'm Thankful for You

'I'm Not Tired'

6" x 6" oil on panel

click here to bid

Reference photo by Christopher Woo, thank you!

 

You know how right before bed time your kids profess, so ardently, that they're not tired? Yeah. That's the look this dog is giving me. 'But, but, but. . . I'm not tired!!' This dog is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Quite a name, but an absolutely gorgeous dog! My son and I are headed to a dog show this weekend and I plan to get lots more canine mug shots. So far they're my favorite thing to paint with oils. Fur with thick brushstrokes is fun. :)

 

And I just want to tell all of you who read this blog, whether every single post, or just when you have nothing better to do, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. For your support, friendship, kindness, understanding, cheerleading, and yes thank you for buying my paintings too. :) Your feedback, and just knowing you are there motivates me and fuels what I do so much. And I can never thank you enough for that. So. . . thanks. You're all rock stars in my opinion.

 

I'll see everybody next week! Happy Thanksgiving my American friends! My husband has agreed to make my very favorite dessert, creme brulee, so I'll likely need to run about a hundred miles since I plan to eat my weight in the glorious stuff. Heh heh. :)

 

Huzzah for feasting, pilgrims, and gratitude, and not knowing how to spell gratitude but taking a wild guess anyway! Huzzah!

 

Hugs,

Crystal

Princess SOLD

Princess SOLD

6" x 6" oil on panel 

 

“Years rolled on again, and Wendy had a daughter. This ought not to be written in ink but in a golden splash.”
― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan 

I love my three sons. Love them dearly. I never wished for a daughter, but took whatever God gave me with a grateful heart. 

But that doesn't mean that I am immune to the power of pink, and princesses, and sugar and spice. :)

Reference photo by Celynek, thank you!!

 

Keen Sight

'Keen Sight'

6" x 6" oil on panel

click here to purchase

Reference photo by Geoffrey Fairchild

I always think that when my dog looks at me, like staring and studying me, sometimes without blinking, that she sees exactly who I am. . . And she's okay with that. And that is very comforting. :) This isn't my dog, but there's a very keen perception in her gaze that makes me wonder just how intelligent dogs are you know?

Probably more than me. :)

I've been dying to try oil painting again and yesterday I decided why the heck not? So I did, and it was so much fun!! More fun than I've had painting in a long time. Sometimes to keep creatively fired up I just need to let go and do something fun, that I want to do. Even if it is an abysmal failure.

But this time it wasn't. (How bout a Huzzah for that eh?) I really like how this painting turned out. I want to do more of these small close-ups of dogs and other animals, and people too, in oil right away. I'm very excited to do another one, I can't wait to get back to painting, and I just realized today that I had kind of been dreading it for the last few weeks. Not good.

I'm still in the smitten stage with oil paints right now. It's still new, so I don't know all their bad habits yet, like chewing gum with their mouth open and what not. ;)

In other news, I have officially commissioned my very first painting. By this young artist below. 

I asked my son to paint me a large canvas for our family room and here he is hard at work. He was so excited that I asked him. Of all my kids he's the one who LOVES art as much as I do. And that is very cool.

Later my friends!

Tenderness SOLD

'Tenderness' SOLD

6" x 6"

reference photo by RajKumar1220, thank you!

When I was painting this beautiful little girl's portrait I imagined her mother bending in front of her with a clean, damp cloth in her hand. Wiping her child's face with gentle fingers so she would be perfectly clean. I imagined her mother combing her hair and brushing it back away from her face, maybe lingering to cup her sweet child's round cheeks and whisper 'I love you' to her. 

 

Maybe those things really happened. I'm sure they did, at least in some way. And I'm sure that this little girl will never forget the feel of her mother's hands in her hair, or the sound of her voice.

 

Even though this painting is of a sweet child's face, it's also about her mother. At least, that's how it felt to me. :)    

 

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new." Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

 

In other news. . . I'm back from my trip! We had a great time (although I missed my kiddos like crazy), we went to Reno, Nevada to hear one of my husband's favorite musicians, Robert Cray. Here are a few highlights from our trip:

 

 

It's an 8 hour road trip from Salt Lake City to Reno, Nevada. See how happy I am? That's because I chose the audio book we're listening to (The Adoration of Jenna Fox, which was AWESOME), I have a lap full of candy :), and hubby is driving the whole way. Heh heh. 

 

 

Since we don't gamble or drink there was (surprisingly) not a whole lot to do in Reno. So we spent some time trying to hunt down a present for our oldest boy at the outlet malls (which were pretty posh in my opinion). The Yankee Candle store was especially memorable, when Brodie (handsome hubby) picked up a candle called "Whiskers on Kittens" then gave me a sly look and said, "I can guarentee you that's not what that smells like," which made me laugh so hard I nearly dropped the candle I was holding. We got out of there fast. :)

 

 

Brodie asked if I was willing to take this poster out of the display and get it for him. Heck yes, I said. But they had already taken them down before I got a chance to sneak one out. :( Bummer.

 

And the concert was seriously amazing. I'm not much of a blues fan, but I do like Robert Cray (thanks to Brodie). And it was incredible to see him play. His hands moved crazy fast on that guitar and you could just FEEL how passionate he was about his music. It was inspiring and awesome.

 

It was a fun week, and I think we both needed a chance to de-stress, but I sure was glad to get back in Utah and especially to hug and kiss my kids. That's the longest I've ever been away from them and I was a wreck the first day or two!

 

Hope all is well with you guys. :) I missed you!

 

Huzzah!

 

Shimmer - sold

'Shimmer'

4" x 4" colored pencil on paper

sold

 

I never get tired of the endless fascination of little children. I see it in my own boys every day, even now as they get older and are long passed the toddler stage. There is still so much innocence, and wonder in everything they see.

 

Children are my very favorite subjects. Which I'm sure comes as no surprise, but it's only been recently that I've realized it's not only my own children that are my favorite subjects, but all children. I love painting them. I don't know what else I can say other than that. Words seem to fall a little short.

 

I'll be out of town for the rest of the week on a vacation with my husband and won't be back until Sunday. So no paintings will be shipped until Monday November 12. And I won't be answering any emails until then either. :)

 

I'll miss visiting your blogs. :( But I'll catch up with you when I get back. Thanks for stopping by everybody. Huzzah!! Till we meet again!

 

Reference photo by Fennec Cooper, thank you!