Starving Artist Forum

Bring out your creative side this year and make homemade ornaments for your tree like when you were a wide eyed child. Wrapping Paper origami, Pine cones dripping in glitter, Hand tied bows, Flower pics, Hand painted glass bulbs, even make your own topper!

My little tree is basic this year with the main ornament the little bird from Dad's graveside flowers. I wanted it to be simple to light up for the kids but bring back memories for the adults.

What is important to you this year? Bring it out in your tree! We only get to go all out once a year like this, so make it worth while! Get out the paints, the glue gun and go for a creative masterpiece!

Gone with the Wind is one of my all time favorite books made into an epic movie! The story, characters and colors continue to inspire me. So when faced with a landscape challenge I decided to paint my favorite scene.

This was not easy with my 3 year old son peeking over my elbow and insisting it was indeed his turn to paint now. Trying to paint in arm's reach of chubby fingers is a lot harder than it seems! But my painting and sanity survived!

This is the result of my labors. A watercolor base with black acrylic watered down a touch for silhouette. It is remarkably like the original and frame-able at 11X14 inches in size. I will be looking out at Tara with Scarlett and her father for a long to come now that this work is finished.

I was inspired by this cold frozen day, with the warm sun giving up and going to bed. Just about everything was shades of blue and grey except for the bright wash of the sun over the water as it exploded through the branches and over the horizon.

What few geese were still brave enough to swim in the frigid water were making thier way to the shore, and even the sky seemed still. It was tranquil and beautiful.

The harsh contrasts set the shape of this tree off in a lovely relief that I just had to stop and enjoy. I think I shot about a dozen images of the same tree and the sun curtsying behind it. Every few seconds seemingly changing it forever. It was a cold winter day, and becoming colder with the setting of the sun, but increasingly stunning with the angles it created.

I could definitely understand why Monet or any of the greats would spend hours painting the same scene in varying shades with the sun changing everything subtly.

Twilight is truly a magic hour!

These images are now for sale in my artfire store. Let me know what you think by sending me a note on the facebook fan page.