Random Paintings from travel

This painting is one of my firsts. It is a picture that my sister took when she was in Burma. I have learned a lot since painting this picture, but it was a lot of fun. I completed it in 1996, while at BYU.








This is a picture of a flower that I saw when I was in India. I traveled to India in 10th grade. I remember so vividly taking this picture with my little wind up camera. I took this picture in Calcutta. I remember seeing this flower and just thinking it was so beautiful and such a stark contrast to the rest of Calcutta. Calcutta is an amazing place, but it is just so depressing and heart wrenching. I learned a lot about beauty & happiness on this trip. I have traveled a lot and I don't know that I had ever been to a place that was so poor as Calcutta, but the amazing thing is I had never come across such happy people either. These people literally lived in mud huts and cooked their food in the ground, but life was good. It was a great lesson for me to learn. The real beauty in this city is the amazing people. I guess the flower sort of represented for me the hope and beauty that exists despite what appeared to me, to be very unfortunate circumstances.

Prisma Colors

When I found out I was pregnant with Izzie I promptly stopped oil painting. I instead learned to use prismacolor. I love this medium, there is little clean up and it is easy enough to fix mistakes.
I chose to draw this picture of Max, because when he was about 18 months he was obsessed with his "Thomas" bear and his fireman hat and frequently I would have to fight with him to keep a shirt on. I, also, love the fact that you can see his nubby little toes. It was a lot of fun to draw this picture.

I chose the picture of Syd because she looked so beautiful in her Halloween (04) costume that her aunt Becky made for her. Sydney was and will always be a little princess. She wore this dress so much and still tries to fit into it. I, also, love that I can tell in her expression how much joy she felt that day as she looked at her cousins and contemplated her next move. She's so cute.

Both pictures were completed in 2005, prior to Izzie's arrival.

Precocious Little Syd

The first painting is of a picture I took of Sydney when she was not quite three. I took the picture on the UW campus in Seattle. After 25 years, my dad received his PhD and we went to support him. We are so proud of him. Anyway, I completed this painting at the end of 2004. It took several months, because I am a perfectionist. My art teacher finally told me that I was done. The bottom pic is of Sydney eating an apple when she was almost four. I have yet to complete this picture. I need to lighten her hair and finish her hands. Sydney is such a thoughtful child, you can see it in her eyes. I think this pictures really capture the thoughtfulness that I always see in her eyes. Of course her eyes also tell me, before her giggles, when she is telling a "tall tale."

Baby Max

This is a painting of max when he was about 8 months old. I love the photo because his little smirk reminds me of my Grandpa Wells who passed away when I was pregnant with Max. Wasn't he such a cute baby? He's my wild little man and i love every inch of him.

Refurbished Furniture!

This chest used to be the primary colors. Joseph & I picked it up at a swap meet for $15. I sanded it a little then painted it black and then crackled it with red on top. I don't think the picture really does it justice, but I love it.
Steve is a pack rat, he doesn't like to get rid of anything. Although, Although I have to admit he is getting a lot better. He bought this desk for $10 before we got married, over 9 years ago and has not been able to let go. The above picture is the before shot which is actually the first refurbishing job. When he bought the desk is was an ugly walnut brown color with these gaudy brass handles. I quickly put him to work sanding it and then waxing it which is the above result. It's been almost nine years and I felt like it was either time to get rid of it or give it another make over. Steve, of course opted for the later...

I painted the desk black and added pewter handles. Not bad for a $12 makeover. I wonder if we will still have this desk in 10 years. I never imagined we would have it this long, but we make it work.

My kid's art work

As mentioned on my other blog. Every year I have my kids make poster size finger paints. Here are this year's paintings. Aren't my little artist amazing! What talent! I hang these in the play room.

Almost complete, and by far my favorite

I have really loved painting this picture because it has been so fun to capture the little nuances that make up my kids--Max's perfect posture and strong, but skinny legs and Sydney's flowing beautiful hair and her confident leading way. I love my kids! And I have loved painting with all of these beautiful colors!

Oil paintings completed last summer

These are a few paintings that I completed last summer . The poppies I painted for my sister Becky. It was so fun, I loved working with the bright colors. The second picture I did for my friend Jodi. I believe it is a picture of her families ranch. I hope you guys are enjoying your pictures!, I know I really enjoyed painting them.

Here we go!

I thought since I already had the blog set up I would use this to blog to share my projects/hobbies/art work. This is pretty ambitious of me so we will see how it goes...Enjoy!