New Piano Keys ACEOs

This is the third set of Piano Keys ACEOs that I've made.

I do the background differently each time, but the concept and the process has been the same.

They are fun to make and people like to collect them, so I made another set last weekend.

Keys 1

If you aren't sure what an ACEO is look at this earlier post What to Do with an ACEO

Keys 2

You can find them in my Etsy shop. My Bear Hollow Creations Shop 

I'll be putting all six of them up there over the next few days.

(My Internet is rather slow at home since I have DISH satelite as my provider.)

The Road to Emmaus

"Just paint it yourself!" (Keep reading to see how you can get a print of this painting.)

The title of this year's Passion Play was "The Road to Emmaus." It's the story of two men traveling from Jerusalem to a town seven miles away called Emmaus on the day of Christ's resurrection. As they are traveling Jesus joins them and the three of them walk to Emmaus.

My Administrative Assistant at church and our Publications Assistant spent a lot of time before our Passion Play looking for just the right graphic to use for advertising and for our program cover. I looked at some of the art sites too.

One of the pictures that we liked was a painting. It was close, but not quite what I wanted. So Donna, my Administrative Assistant said, "Just paint it yourself."

So I took an idea from the painting and then chnged it up to how I wanted it to look. Here's what I ended up with. It is a 9x12 acrylic painting on archival quality canvas.

As the men came to Emmaus it was getting close to time for the evening meal. The painting shows this not only from the setting sun, but from them men almost stepping off the edge of the paintint. They are almost to their destination.

For centuries painters Jesus Christ and then also "saints" were with a halo around them so you could tell who was who. (Or is that who was whom?)

Anyway, I didn't want to paint an actual halo, but you see how the sun light is shining around the head of the man in the middle - who is Jesus.

Julie did a great job turning it into tickets, advertising posters and the cover of the program. (She always does a fantastic job.)

The picture is hanging up in my office.

One of the ladies in the choir told me that I should make prints and sign and number them. Several others said they wanted a print too, so this next week we are going to print some on a nice heavy paper and I will sign and number them.

I may put one of the prints up in my Etsy shop. For our church members and my facebook fans I'm not going to set a price. I am just going to ask for a donation to our music/worship ministry. We'll use the money to go toward fancy new lights or other equipment we might need or want for next year's Passion Play.

Leave me a message on my facebook art page (or see me in choir Wednesday night) if you'd like one of the prints. If you're not already a fan notice the link right over there on the rightof this page and click on it to become a fan. How easy is that?

Trying Out Ebay

I've noticed how many of the fine people who sell things on Etsy (http://www.bearhollowcreations.etsy.com/) call Ebay "fee-bay." Ebay charges for everything. They charge to list, charge to add an extra line in the title, charge for all kinds of things.

I also know that some people do very well selling things on Ebay. I'm not sure art is one of those "hot" categories where the bidding is wild and crazy and people are making tons of money.

I noticed that Ebay now lets you list - hmmm, I think - five items a month without a fee. Of course there is a fee if you sell your item and it is a higher fee than Etsy. But I thought it might be fun to put a painting on Ebay and to advertise it through Twitter and Facebook.

So I put this painting I did for the First Annual Autumn Challenge on Facebook.

It is designed to fit in a 11x14 mat, but it larger than that if someone wanted to make a custom mat that was larger. It is watercolor on 300 lb. paper.

It is an original painting - not a print.

The soft muted water colors bring a gentle reminder of the beauty of Autumn leaves. I'm selling it without a mat or frame so you can coordinate them with your homes decor. This picture has it framed in a 11x14 mat.

Here is a close up of my signature. You can see a little more of the detail here.

The bidding on Ebay ends Friday, so if you like it you better go bid. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220511942158&_trkparms=tab%3DSelling

Cows Don't Like their Picture Taken

Every evening – an hour or so before sunset – the cows come down the hill, drawn by some unseen force to eat grass that perhaps looks a little more delicious in the late afternoon hours.

“Ah! A great photo opportunity” I thought to myself.

I first took a picture from my upstairs window. I didn’t like the pole in it and the camera wasn’t sure how to take the screen into account when it was trying to focus. So I slipped on my shoes and headed out to get closer to the cows.

I first tried my zoom lens. With the sun getting lower in the sky the light wasn’t very good for a zoom. So back to the house I went and traded out the lens.

Now it was getting a little darker and with the shorter lens I had to get closer to the cows. They didn’t seem to mind and were probably wondering what I was doing. They watched as I got closer – curious as to why a stranger would find them interesting.

By now the sun was even lower so I hurried closer to get a couple of pictures. The cows tried to act uninterested, but when I got close they all had to look. Maybe they thought I would have a lump of sugar in my pocket. Oh wait. That’s horses. (This is all new stuff for a city boy.)

So I got all focused and ready to take the picture. Well… my camera decided it was dark and the flash popped up.

Click.
FLASH!
Mooooooo!

You can tell they are looking right at me with the flash in their eyes.

And off they ran. I don’t think cows like camera flashes. I thought I had started a stampede! Oh no! They’re going to crash through the fence and trample women and children and cause widespread ruin and destruction!

That’s what I feared anyway. Notice how far away they are in this picture taken just a few moments after the first picture.

For all of you who live in the country or who love the country I have a new watercolor ACEO you might be interested in. It is the standard 2.5” x 3.5” painted on 140 lb. cold press watercolor paper. It is mounted on a playing card to make it nice a sturdy. You can find it in my Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29793753

Mountain Lake

Here is another original watercolor ACEO that I painted after my trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. It's titled "Mountain Lake."

Mountain Lake

After spending a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina I had to do some painting.

This water color ACEO captures the beauty and the vastness of the mountains in a tiny space.At 2.5" x 3.5" this miniature painting is the standard ACEO size. It is painted on acid free, professional grade 140 lb. cold press water color paper. It was mounted on a playing card for sturdiness.

Initialled on the front and signed on the back, this original painting will be a great addition to your miniature painting collection (or a great start to the fun of collecting ACEOs).

You can find it in my Etsy shop.

Mountain Lake

http://www.bearhollowcreations.etsy.com/

The Blue Ridge Mountains

I spent a week recently - well, OK, it was last week, but I was trying to sound all fancy. Anyway, last week I was in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I was there for the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference. It was a wonderfully inspiring week.

I wished all week that I would have had some paints and canvas with me. The scenery is breathtaking.

Now that I'm home, I've painted the first (of probably several) paintings of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a watercolor ACEO. It's in my Etsy shop.

http://tinyurl.com/ppzjdw

If you attended the BRMCWC and need this lovely little painting as a souvenir, mention the BRMCWC in your Etsy convo and I'll take 15% off of the price.

Take the Quiz

Here's a little art quiz for you. How are these two paintings alike? There are ten points possible. You get points for each correct guess, so think of several ways that they are alike.

Treble Clef

Untitled (so far) Suggestions?

Here are some of the answers I thought of and how many points you get for each.

Someone said, "What do you get if you win?"

Glory. That's always worth something.

If you said:

They are both by Lyndel Littleton you get 1 pt for guessing something probably obvious (since it is my art blog).

They are both beautiful - 2 pts for brown nosing and also being correct. :)

They are both abstract - only 1 pt for guessing something reallly obvious.

They are both painted with acrylic paint - 2 pts since the top one looks like it could be water color.

They are both painted with brushes - you lose 2 pts. The bottom one was painted with a pallete knife.

They are both in Lyndel's Etsy shop www.bearhollowcreations.etsy.com - zero points. They aren't there now but will probably end up there.

They were painted with the same paints - 4 pts! Good call. Here are the paints I used for both paintings. Go back and look again. Cool, huh? You can spend a ton of money buying all kinds of tubes of paint to get lots of different colors, or you can just get the basic primary colors plus white and mix your own!

Basics by Liquitex - Cadmium Red Deep Hue, Cobalt Blue Hue, Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue, Hooker's Green Hue Permanent, and Titanium White. I really like this paint. It's nice and thick and creamy and mixes beautifully.

Now go to the poll over there on the side and enter how many points you got. You can leave a comment if you want to share your opinion about the quiz or the answers and points. You may have thought of something else and want to get credit.

Painting Abstracts

I'm trying something new!

I bought a book called "Painting Abstracts - ideas, projects and techniques" by Rolina van Vliet (C) Search Press 2008. I really like it. I'm sure I will mostly paint "realistic" paintings, but I think the concepts and the freedom of expression found in abstract painting will enhance my other paintings as I incorporate them into new works.

I called my lovely wife and said, "I'm reading my new book and trying out the suggested exercises. The book said not to worry about making art - that we are practicing, not producing art yet."

To which my wife replied, "how will you know when you've made art?"

"I don't know!" was my answer.

Here's my first exercise. It is acrylic paint on Canva-paper put on with a palette knife rather than brushes.

Is it art? Hmmmm, maybe. Feel free to leave a comment and give me your thoughts.

Oh, here's what the back cover of the book says,

"Clear, challenging and inspiring, this book contains instructions for 65 abstract painting that you can get to wok on straightaway, with no previous experience. All the basic information relating to picture elements, composition, theme and design is provided at the start of the book, together with an exploration of the meaning of abstract painting, and its importance as a means of self-expression and creativity.

Rather than providing step-by-step instructions, each of the exercises consists of information on method, materials, technique, composition, imagery and structure, which will direct you to the finished piece while at the same time encouraging your creativity."

That's a lot ot promise, but it looks like it will deliver.

Two Fish ACEO

I finally did a little painting. It's been a long time. I'm really enjoying painting ACEOs right now because I can paint one when I don't have much time - which seems to be ALWAYS right now.

I painted two. The first one is a prize. I offered a prize for the 20,000th hit on my worship blog (which happened months ago) and since I knew that the lady who was my 20,000th person liked art - she bought one of my ACEOs - I decided her prize would be a painting.

Since it was hit 20,000 I tried to think of something with that number and the old show 20,000 leagues under the sea came to mind, so I painted this little ACEO.


Notice the 20,000 near the bottom.

I liked it so much I painted another and now it is in my Etsy shop.


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20419815

America ACEOs Continued

Here are two more ACEOs from my new series

America the Beautiful.

If you missed the first two you can see them here

http://bearhollowcreations.blogspot.com/2008/09/america-beautiful.html

An explanation of ACEOs can be found here

ACEOs

Amber Waves of Grain

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15426880

Shining Sea

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15427189

You can find them in my Etsy shop

http://www.bearhollowcreations.etsy.com/

Feel free to collect the whole set. :-)

We won't think you're being selfish.

America the Beautiful

I've started a series of ACEOs ACEOs explained here called America the Beautiful.

I'll end up with an ACEO for each phrase of the first verse (at least), but I wanted to go ahead and post the first two that I have finished.

O beautiful for spacious skies...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15392365

For purple mountain majesties...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15392626

These original miniature paintings are the standard 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 ACEO size. They were painted with acrylic paint on Canva-Paper then mounted to a playing card.

You can click on the link just below each picture to see it in my shop,

or you can go directly to my Etsy shop by clicking here: www.bearhollowcreations.etsy.com

Sycamore Art

Bear Hollow is filled with trees: tulip poplar, redbuds, oaks, maples, elms, black walnuts... and giant beautiful sycamores. In late July through August the sycamore trees shed their bark. It peels off in beautiful shapes.

I've always wanted to do something - art wise - with these beautiful pieces of bark.

I have a few old planks of barn wood out next to my pole barn. I decided that the rustic wood would make a great backdrop for the sycamore bark. I had thought of mounting the bark on canvas, but it is very strong and tries to curl back up as it dries. I don't think it would stay on the canvas, or would curl and pucker the canvas.

So I took a plank, laid the piece of bark on it that I wanted to use (to know how long to cut the board) and took out the trusty circular saw. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I used water color for my paint. I wanted it to just color the wood - not really cover it. I ended up needing to use a lot and I didn't use much water on later layers because when it was watery it just soaked into the wood and didn't leave much color behind.

Here's my first piece using a piece of sycamore bark. I called it Sycamore Lightning. You can see it in my Etsy shop here - http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15203409

Stress cracks from the bark trying to curl back up the way it was on a branch and the grain of the barn wood give a rustic feel while the contemporary abstract background lends a sophistication that will compliment any decor.

The piece is approximately 32 1/4" x 9 1/2". (It curves a little making the top a little smaller. It is old barn wood after all.) The edges are painted black to give a framed look. It is finished with a clear coat of varnish to protect the paint and the wood.

Watercolor Autumn Leaves

Summer was crazy on Bear Hollow, so I didn't create much art - just music. I finally was able to take some time to paint. I've really missed putting a brush to paper or canvas. I didn't really do something totally new to what I have done before, I have painted watercolor leaves before - and have several ACEOs that are watercolor leaves. I really enjoy painting them. The watercolor is so fun to work with because the mix of colors is sort of in your control and a lot not in your control. So the final result is a little bit of a surprise. You can also see it on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6938263
The matt isn't really blue. I'll take another picture tomorrow and replace this one (if it doesn't look blue again).

Fall Leaves Watercolor

I don't do a lot of watercolor paintings. I usually like to have thick oil paint. However, I love painting leaves in watercolor. I like the way the watercolor runs and blends together. this painting also has some "secret ingredients" to add some interest. (I know I need to retake this picture ans try to reduce the glare.)

(close up)

Feeling Blue? - Think Hydrangeas!

Nothing beats the blues better than a cheerful painting, and the bright colors in these paintings will pick you up quickly. Thanks to Jill for suggesting I show these to you.
10" x 10" (25.4 cm) oil on stretched canvas with a 1.5" gallery finished side (no frame needed).
I love to paint hydrangeas! For one thing. I get to use my favorite blues. I like putting them against the orange and yellow background because it really makes the blue shine! I also like the texture I can use. Lots of thick oil paint gives them such a neat texture. (a closeup so you can see the texture)
The painting with just hydrangeas is in my Etsy shop.
http://www.bearhollowcreations.etsy.com/

This one with my violin in it is hanging in my office. It is 18x24 oil on stretched canvas.
18x24 oil on stretched canvas

These flowers are hanging in my lovely wife's office. She loves purple flowers, I love the blue hydranges and the red roses are for love. How sweet is that?

(This entry copied from the EtsyLux blog - www.etsylux.blogspot.com )