Bouquets 17 and 18

Bouquet #17 - 7.5x11 - acrylic on paper

Bouquet #18 - 7.5x11 - acrylic on paper

Playing post catch-up... I finished #20 today. I'm actively working on 2 larger paintings and there is a stack of bouquets that just need that last little bit. What is that last little bit?  Sometimes I know and sometimes I need to wait for the art gods to send me a tip. :-)

Lemon Squeezy

#16 of 100 bouquets ~ 6x6 on Yupo paper ~ Lemon Squeezy

Happy New Year! I'm a bit behind adding the bouquets to the blog...oops. I'm working on numbers 19 through 23 simultaneously. Two of those are biggies (22x30 and 36x24).

I'll be showing a large number of them at Center Gallery in Glen Arbor, MI during the month of June. The gallery is right across from Cherry Republic (mmmmmm cherries). So if you are lucky enough to be in the Glen Arbor area in June....stop in! You can let me know, and I'll meet you there. :-)

October ~ Bouquet #15

October  Bouquet #15  12x9

Back at the bouquets.... A quick one this evening.

#15 - any occasion

#15 "Any Occasion" - 15x11 Acrylic on paper

It's hard for me to keep up when I'm traveling. This is an iPhone photo. I'll have to re-shoot when I get back to the up north studio. Go ahead.... buy yourself some flowers because it's Friday. Or because it's sunny. Or because you made your bed. Or because your dog loves you. Or because you love your dog. Or.....because.

Bouquet 11.....

Bouquet 11 ~ 9/11 ~ A tough day for us all...

A lily, poppies and forget-me-nots seem like good choices for this bouquet on this day. ....xo

Bouquet #10

Bouquet #10 ~ 7x5 

This is sort of an interesting palette.... a bit patriotic. Number 10 out of 100 in the books.

number 8 ~ succulent bouquet

Bouquet 8 Succulent ~ 7x5 Acrylic on paper $54

I love this one.... :-D  Love the colors.... Might have to do this BIGGER for me. This one is day four of the 30 in 30 challenge over at Leslie Saeta's blog... patting myself on the back.

texture! bouquet 7

Texture and movement bouquet 7 ~ 12x12 acrylic on canvas

I don't often use texture medium... It's not that I don't like it...  I'm just too impatient to wait for it to dry. It was a lot of fun to play with though. (Golden light molding paste) This one is another example that will be up at Crooked Tree Art Center in Petoskey, MI toward the end of the month. I'm teaching Acrylic 101 there next month. Hooray!

bouquet 6 not watercolor

Bouquet 6 ~ 11x14  ~Acrylic on watercolor paper

I'm teaching Acrylic 101 at Crooked Tree Art Center in Petoskey and in Traverse City this fall. The Petoskey location invited instructors to show paintings at the end of the month. Since the class explores acrylic, beginning with really watery applications to thick impasto; I decided to show examples of this versatility. This is the "watercolor-y" example. This certainly reminded me of how impatient I've become.... lots of layers of watery color on this one....cue hairdryer noise.

Collage Bouquet #5

Collage Bouquet #5 ~ 7x5 ~ Acrylic and Collage $54

I have a lot of bouquets going at the same time...but this one hit the finish line first today. I'm a bit partial to the two eyed bloom front and center.
I'm participating in Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days challenge... Not positive that I'll be able to post all 30 days, but it should be close. Care to join me?

100 bouquets

My friend  Kim Santini is painting 100 toys along with her regular (and might I say BEAUTIFUL) animal portraits. She's inspired me to do 100 bouquets. Here are my first 4! 

You can follow along here on the blog... or on my facebook page here.

#1   11x15 Acrylic on paper $249

#2  7x5 acrylic on paper $54

#3 7x5 acrylic on paper $54

#4 7x5 acrylic on paper $54

gifts

I gave a gift... and received a bigger gift.
I painted a watercolor of our daughter-in-law's bridal bouquet for Christmas. She was absolutely delighted, and touched, which in turn delighted and touched me.
A happily tearful, big hug was one of my best gifts Christmas morning. :-)

Cristina's Bouquet ~ 12x12 ~ watercolor

fun raiser

"Fun Raiser" 12x12 acrylic on acrylic paper

Last night was Oliver Art Center's Fun-Raiser. I painted live and donated the painting to the silent auction. I tend to say YES before I realize what I've gotten myself into. Let's just say it's a bit intimidating to be painting in front of a large group...and let's just add on the auction sheet sitting next to you... luckily I didn't have to wait too too long before there was some bidding. Aaaack! I worked on two paintings at a time, and the winner get's to pick their favorite after there are a couple of finishing touches, varnished and framed. This one is the first one dry....I'll post the other one tomorrow, and let you know which one they picked.

circus act

"Circus Act" 12x12 acrylic and oil bar on canvas panel

Repeating a subject pushes you into different places. I'll do anything to escape boredom.

pushing and abstracting

Turns out... I can go pretty far with abstraction... I could go a little bit further to a Rothko-esque place, but I won't. (These are all things I'll be teaching in a new class this summer.)

living and learning

#72 Big Poppies~ 28x18~ Acrylic on Collage
(c) 2013 L. Everett Finn

Now that I've completed this larger piece... (with the wrinkled paper applied to watercolor paper... then painted with watery acrylic...) I think the process lends itself better to the smaller scale. While an interesting texture... it's not enough texture at this size. Living and learning.

(Big Poppies are going to try to get in a show this week... we'll see if the juror agrees with me... hopefully not.)

icelandics

#68 Icelandics~ 7x5~ Acrylic on collage

Still pretending it's spring here in the studio. :-)

Kroger Bouquet

# 67 Kroger Bouquet~ 12x9~ acrylic on Yupo

Yesterday, I intended to drive to a local nursery green house to pick up some potted plants to paint... hoping for flowering plants...Freesia, or something inspiring. I only made it as far as the corner Kroger (our local supermarket). I did this quick (20 minute?) painting at the tail end of my painting day from the bouquet I got there....(I worked most of the day on a large poppy painting that I'm more excited about)
The set up would have liked some more dramatic lighting... a spot light would have been nice. This is what it looks like with flat, even, daylight fluorescents. :-)  I sort of like the color combo though... it's different for me.

poppies squared

#65 ~ Poppies Squared ~ 11x11 ~ acrylic on collaged paper

Another Poppy painting... And I have one more larger one in the works... I'm liking the unpredictability of the crinkly paper and the watery acrylic. It shoots about in somewhat unexpected ways.

Icelandic Poppies 1

#64 Icelandic Poppies... 7x5 ~ acrylic and collage

Having some fun now!