Post Christmas Pre New Years

Had a wonderful Christmas with the family, but my photos are a bust!  While I've got some great video footage, my family would hunt me down if I posted it for all the world to see!  It took me some time to restore order to my home and the loft, everything goes slower when you have fibromyalgia.  But it's put together enough for me to get back to painting.   I've got to make some modifications to a large table I use, lengthen the legs and add rollers.  I like to paint standing up because the nature of how I work requires a lot of moving around, tilting the canvas this way and that.  Speaking of which get a load of this amazing windmill easel, it tilts, lays flat, takes a 60" canvas...someday maybe, a girl can dream!

I've been able to start on a new commissioned piece for my daughter.  I had painted a triptych that was to serve as a headboard for her queen size bed.  Though she loves the piece, we decided the depth was not substantial enough so I'm doing a new one that is 24 x 48".  This will be a great warm up to another commissioned headboard I'll be doing, 30 x 60".

My work is still on display at Bistro 610, (formerly called Fusion) and I am delighted to say pieces continue to sell. What an amazing experience all of this has been.

NOTE: To those who are interested, I created a little video trailer of our Christmas morning and posted it on my facebook page, and yes I am currently in hiding, my family are hunting me down as we speak! But it was worth it :-)

Cherish The Fun!

Xmas @ The Farm

Just put the final coat of varnish on the last commissioned piece for the holidays.  It has been an amazing journey and I have enjoyed it fully, even though my head has not fully wrapped around it all just yet.

Because my commissioned pieces are meant for Christmas gifts I've not been able to share them here on my blog, but I am hoping to have some happy people on Christmas morning!

Xmas Eve @ our house 2009

So now I'm clearing away the big table of it's art supplies and getting it ready for gift wrapping.  It's time to turn the studio into Santa's workshop for a few days!  I can hardly believe we are in the home stretch for Christmas!  In no time, my younger sisters will be home and the marathon of family gatherings will begin.  I love it.  I am blessed with a family that I adore. We enjoy and cherish one another and although we are all very unique individuals we love and laugh and call one another, best friends. It doesn't get any better than that!

To all of you I wish you all the wonders of the Christmas Season and a belly full of good food and laughter!

Bren

"Expanse" and Fun

'Expanse' 3 panel 12 x16"

Just dressing it up a little before I call it complete.  I really like the look of this one, the size is nice and I enjoy the look of the three panels.  My lighting sucked for the detailed shot, so the colours are a little more blue and the design is in a pewter silver.

'Expanse' Detail

Blogging/Artist friend Diane Salter is hosting a wonderful give away, do check it out and put your name in the hat to win one of her wonderful pieces of art. She is also having a sale, got to love it!

Time to clear the loft a little, so it can become Santa's workshop for Christmas wrapping!  A quick shot of our tree after daughter & Hubby, Olivia & Jean trimmed it, done in silver and blue, it hits the ceiling! Hope everyone has been enjoying themselves with all that comes with the Season.

Messes Come In Multiples!

Wow!  How do you know if it's fatigue making you feel looping, or just the fumes from the varnish?  As you can see I've been making a mess in the loft, there's stuff everywhere with 4 projects on the go.  I've lost the light so the pictures are not accurate as far a colour, but you can see a little of what I've been up to in the last little while.

This is a little closer to the actual colours, blues with some teal and lush purple.  In the photo above I've added some Pewter Silver but it looks like bronze in the photo.  I'll see if I can get better shots tomorrow instead of the fading light of evening.

Busy, but so enjoying it all.  This piece will go on display at Fusion this weekend.

On the family fun side, my daughter Olivia and her Dad, went foraging for our Christmas trees.  They got them big!  Griswall big!

Yup, that's her tree, short a few feet of course, but she lives in a small apartment!  What can I say, my girl loves Christmas and goes all in!  I'll share some pics once she has it decorated, right now it's taking up an entire wall and her TV is in the kitchen!  She makes me laugh, but there's no one more fun to be with at Christmas.

Flourishing With 'Flourish'

Just put the final coat of varnish on this new piece, is on display at Fusion Cafe and Bistro.

I love the details on this one.  Some of the paint effects give it such a great old world feel.
Click on images to see larger versions)

It also is very versatile and can be hung in a number of ways depending on your preference.

I've added this to my 'Art Gallery' page as well (check out the tab at the top of my blog)

"Sit with what you already have, and dream with it in a new way."  Shaun McNiff