Off They Go (pt 2)

These little guys are also on their way:

They will be displayed at the 16th Annual Miniature Art Show at the West Wind Gallery in Casper, Wyoming through the 31st of August. Wish them well!!

Off they go.....

My Etsy shop is starting to look a little empty. Yesterday I took a bunch of framed and matted ACEOs to be exhibited at the Art Cafe at West Village Provisions. Today I am shipping off three paintings for a miniatures exhibition in Wyoming. Very exciting exposure in both places! Now I need to do a whole lot more painting to fill the empty spaces in my shop!

If you are interested in see all my ACEOs, including those sold and on exhibit, you can check out my ACEO gallery on Flickr. Any of the ACEOs marked "ON EXHIBIT" can be made into a custom Etsy listing once I check to see if they are still available.

Long Legs

 "Chair"

3-1/2 x 2-1/2 inches

acrylic on watercolor paper

SOLD

This new ACEO is in response to the ACEO challenge on the ACEO Challenge blog created byPam of Always Artistic. The challenge is "Long Legs". I decided to steer away from using animals and tried to think of other things with legs. I was laying on the floor, playing with the kids, when I looked up at one of their little chairs and thought about how much longer the legs looked from that perspective. I'm kinda obsessed with chairs anyways, so I decided to paint the chair from that perspective for the challenge. I love the idea of painting chairs....chairs always seem to have a story to tell!

Anyways - check out all the wonderful challenge entries. And see my listing for the ACEO here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52011185/aceo-original-painting-school-chair

Looking Up

"Looking Up"

6 x 4", acrylic on canvas
SOLD

I just realized I hadn't posted this painting yet.

Occasionally I like to take part in the monthly challenges on about.com (Some of them here.) The challenge in June was to make a painting from an unexpected angle. That idea was right up my alley, however I couldn't decide what I wanted to paint. Then one drizzly afternoon, I stood waiting for my husband and sons under a huge gnarly ancient tree. As I stood near the trunk, I looked up at the sky and realized just how interesting the old tree was from that perspective. Hence, "Looking Up". I think I could paint this tree 1,000 times and come up with a very different painting each time......

More Mandalas

Here are a few more of the mandala drawings on ACEOs:





Yes, I've gone a little crazy with them!


It started with an idea in my head, a sharpie and my kids' markers. Someone in my ACEO group mentioned that they look like mandalas. After finding out more about mandalas, I have to agree. And they are definitely meditative to create!

So now I have some better waterproof markers (so I can varnish the cards when I am done - the kids' markers were washable...not so good with varnish!) and I can't stop making them! Actually they are an awesome summer project - I can take them with me when we travel, I can work on them in little spurts of time since the kids are all home and they are relaxing ;-)

I've created a new section in my Etsy shop for all my ACEO drawings:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShirleyArt?section_id=7165660

Now I need to get back to more painting!

Catching Up

I have a lot of catching up to do!

It's been busy with the end of the school year, then the kids getting out of school, then we went away for a week...trying to get caught up with everything now!

I hope to post more tomorrow, but for now I will leave you with the first one of my pattern drawing art cards - a new obsession with me - a type of a mandala which is really enjoyable to create. This ACEO has been sold:

Cottage Window SOLD

Cottage Window, 4 x 4", acrylic on canvas
SOLD

This was a response to an About.com challenge photo. I really wanted to emphasize the angles of the window and its surroundings in my painting as well as the kind of run-down, deserted feeling of the cottage.

It is available on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49239220/cottage-window-small-format-original