Snow Bound - Day 23 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Snow Bound" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Flooding Waters - Day 18 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Flooding Waters" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Land Slide - Day 17 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Land Slide" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

Misty Night - Day 15 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Misty Night" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

The challenge is halfway over and overall I'm delighted with this new series!  As you know I've been working furiously to keep ahead so I'm not overwhelmed with trying to paint every single day.  This means some days I'll do several paintings and other days I'll concentrate on marketing and cleaning my house which has become a hot mess thanks to paint, supplies and half-finished paintings taking up space on my tables and counter tops.  

I've been diligent on uploading my new pieces to my various online galleries including:  Artfinder; Saatchi Art and my newly updated ETSY store.  Eventually I'll add them to my Fine Art America site where you can order prints and other printed items including pillows; shower curtains; etc. but that may not happen until after the challenge is over.

I've found the constant uploading to various sites has increased my stats considerably, and in my heart I know it's what needs to be done on a consistent basis in order to keep the algorithm robots happy. But the reality is it takes a lot of time and a lot of work, and I'm starting to hate sitting in front of my computer for hours on end.  

I'd love to find a student intern this year to help with the marketing and will look into this at the nearby high school and university to see if they have a work experience program.  In the meantime I'll keep doing everything myself and am looking forward to getting the next 15 paintings cranked out so I can clean my dining room and start seeing my counters again!

Back and Forth - Day 11 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Back and Forth" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 includes free shipping

This little number has lots of lines and loads of visual texture, in addition to layers upon layers of paint, gesso and mediums.  The random mark making with the masking fluid lends a final finish to the many designs, and for me adds an element of movement to the piece.  In other words, my eyes keep moving back and forth - hence the name :-)

I have to admit I'm enjoying working on paper much more than I ever thought I would.  I'm using a 140# cold press watercolor paper by Canson which is a quality yet inexpensive (compared to Arches!) product made in France.  I was hesitant to use this larger product since I wasn't sure if it could hold up to the torture I put my paintings through, but I am impressed.  I love the feel and the weight of the finished paintings, and can't wait to see what happens when I add an additional two coats of my UV protective varnish with a satin finish.  I think I'm going to want to run my hands all over it!!

Denim Skies - Day 8 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I wanted to do something a little different today so opted to mix up a fabulous denim blue color to add a "shibori-like" appearance to my painting.  I masked off the small "x's" and singular "o" with a liquid masking solution from Daniel Smith, then painted over the dried designs with the paint and a gel medium.  After the paint dried I removed the masking solution with a rubber cement eraser which exposed the original surface. I wanted some visual texture to show through the designs and am happy with the results.  I'm looking forward to doing more of these mark making pieces for the challenge in rich earthy tones!

Here's "Denim Skies" - my 8th offering for the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge and my "The Wisdom of Winter" series.

"Denim Skies" - 18" x 24" acrylic on paper - $295 incl. free shipping

Starting Over Again - Day 6 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

"Starting Over Again" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 incl. free shipping

The Journey Ahead - Day 2 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge"

"The Journey Ahead" - 24" x 18" acrylic on paper - $295 inc. free shipping

Challenge Complete - Here's the 30/30 Collage for January, 2016

January, 2016 - Collage of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

I am ecstatic to have completed my sixth (6th) "30 Paintings in 30 Days" challenge time and am happy to report two of these paintings have sold to good homes.  In the past challenges, I always worked "small" - usually 4" x 6" up to 12" x 12" but this challenge was comprised of larger canvases that were in need of a makeover.  The series was called "Reflections" and were all done on canvases/panels that had previous paintings of mine on them (some done from the late 1980's!!)

Part of my own personal challenge was creating something that corresponded with the title from the original painting.  This wasn't always easy, I assure you!  But at the end of the day, I was happy with the new work and didn't regret letting go of the old paintings one single bit.

The next step will be finishing these paintings so I can begin the marketing process.  I didn't focus on sales this time - mainly because there simply wasn't time.  Painting larger also means painting longer, and this challenge had me putting in some long studio hours. 

I'm excited to take these new works and upload them to my website in addition to marketing them to my group of designers and consultants.  Many of them will also hit an on-line shop or two, and a couple of them will remain in my personal collection until I'm ready to let them go.

Thank you again for following along - there were a lot of things going on during this challenge, but I managed to finish and for that, I'm proud of my accomplishment.  I'm also thrilled to report I wasn't alone this time - we managed to get a group of 15+ artists from the Sacramento area involved in the challenge, which means one heck of a lot of new art was made in our Capital city this month!

The next challenge begins in September, 2016 - I can't wait to do it all over again!

Day 28 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Did You Realize?"

"Did You Realize?" - 48" x 24" acrylic on 1.5" canvas

Someone told me today my art looked like "New Age" art.  She said it was ethereal and peaceful, and looked like a dream.

I'll take that!  There's also something very fulfilling about sticking my little paws in the paint when I'm almost finished and letting my fingers dance over the canvas.....

I'm almost caught up (just two more to go and I've completed my sixth 30/30 challenge!) and am already salivating at my next project - four 36" x 36" canvases along with four 36" x 18" canvases for a show I'm doing at ArtHouse Gallery in Sacramento this coming June.  I'm excited about this show because I'm doing it with my talented artist friend Michelle Andres, and I'm writing poetry/haiku for the show too!!  Somehow I'm going to be incorporating the poetry/words into the paintings - not quite sure how that's happening but I'll figure it out.

Until then, I need to concentrate on finishing two more paintings; completing each and every one of them (signing; finishing the sides; wiring; adding them to my inventory list; photographing; and varnishing).  The finish work can sometimes take as long as making the painting itself!  It's the least sexy part of an artist's job, in my opinion......but a necessary one.

Day 18 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Building Dreams"

"Building Dreams" - 36" x 24" acrylic and graphite on 1.5" canvas

With a strong background in the real estate industry, I have a love for buildings; houses; and dwellings in general.  They house our spirits day and night, and I've always been able to "feel" their soul.  When I was developing commercial real estate, each building or project that I worked on felt like a child to me, and I would always get excited when the new tenant or owner moved in.  True, I had built the structure but the people who moved in were what ultimately made the building come alive.

Inside these structures, the occupants build their dreams.  Doesn't matter if it's a home or a building - it's where the creativity begins and life actions take place.  It's almost spiritual, hence the desire I had to add the liquid metallic gold at the lower left part of the painting. 

Another fun makeover piece - and it can be hung either horizontally (as shown) or vertically with the black circles on the bottom. 

Day 6 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "The One That Got Away"

"The One That Got Away" - mixed media on 8" x 8" x 1.5" canvas

No matter how I tried, I couldn't get a good photograph of this piece.  I used some torn paint samples and a tiny piece of a Gelly print along with some torn cardboard for texture.  On top of all that, I used my white Jelly pens; Golden metallic gold paint and added an area of sgraffito adjacent to the area with the 3 dots.

Day 5 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge - "Wherever the Wind Takes Me"

"Wherever the Wind Takes Me" - 7" x 5" acrylic & graphite on MDF panel

Many folks do not understand abstract art and think it's just the result of some crazy artist gone wild with some brushes and paint.  And some artists may very well work like that, but I find the abstract genre to be like an intricate puzzle, waiting to be solved. 

This challenge, I'm working on doing more abstracts and am painting over/reworking old paintings.  It's been ages since I've painted abstracts and I've really missed the "problem-solving" that needs to happen in order to make a successful work.

For example: I have to pay attention to shapes; colors; form and line in addition to keeping a balanced ratio of lights to darks; warm colors to cools; brights to neutrals and more.  And let's not forget composition!  Some pieces are easy to figure out while others are like those 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzles that take FOREVER to finish.   

I got a head start on this challenge by prepping 15 canvases before it started.  Right now I'm working on seven pieces but they aren't coming together quite like I'm wanting them to.  Analyzing each piece takes a long time, and I'm getting a bit stressed thinking I won't get all 30 paintings done by the end of January. 

Failure is not my strong point, so I do plan on finishing the challenge and completing 30 new abstract paintings.  Will they all be successful pieces?  Undoubtedly no.  I'm striving for 80% though and we'll see if I can finish this challenge with a passing grade.