Landscapes: Iceland

Icelandic Landscape
original watercolor 11x14"

Weekends are wonderful, aren't they? Two free days to sit and watch the birds fly through a soft cloud of giant snowflakes, to drink an entire pot of French Press, to journal and dream, to eat chili and hold babies.  My weekends are quiet and loud then quiet again.  And slow.  Is that how your weekends are?

They are easy to fill with plans and food and friends and work and church.  I’ve decided to replace the work aspect of my weekends with more play.  This new painting Icelandic Landscape is a result of just that.  I want to play and dream and explore new lands with my free two days of the week.  All "work" painting will end for two days every Friday.

Each Saturday morning I sit at our open kitchen counter and think, “If I could do/paint anything today, what would I really want to do/paint?”  And then I pull out my studies from the week, decide where I’d like to travel to, lay out a brand new piece of paper, wet my palette and begin.  No thinking, not very much planning.  Just-for-fun paintings.

It makes me very happy and content.  Slow and quiet and dreamy.

snowy winter cards

Custom Painting for Bethel College
8x10" Mixed Media

My artwork on Bethel's Christmas Card
Designed by Katherine Ross

Peifer Family House Portrait
8x10" Mixed Media

My artwork and design for the Peifer's Christmas card

 It's starting with nothing (a blank sheet of paper), envisioning a finished product (a Christmas card), committing to the goal, adjusting along the way, putting it all together, and admiring the final product.  That's the process I love so much, that brings me a heart of satisfaction.  Last year I happily accepted an invitation to help create two different custom Christmas cards, and now I can happily share them both with you!

The first is a painting for the Bethel College president's Christmas card.  It's a vignette of a little spot on campus complete with the president and his wife on a stroll and lots of trees and snow and wildlife.  From what I gathered the campus is quaint and beautiful, so painting it under a soft blanket of snow seemed the appropriate thing to do.  The people, wildlife, and warmer tones helped to make the campus look active and inviting even through the winter months.

The Peifer's Christmas postcard gave me a chance to see my house portrait in action.  Margaret wanted her and her husband's portrait on the back with a few important dates from the year.  I was so pleased when I picked all 250 postcards & envelopes up from the printers!  The glossy finish and heavy cardstock made the cards feel finished and professional.  After I delivered them to her house, all Margaret had to do was address and stamp, and the cards were out the door the very next day!

What do you think?

the last one

This weekend marks my final outdoor art event of the year: the Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival.  Lincoln, IL is where I was born and raised, which means this particular show will be more fun and comfortable for me in so many ways, not the least of which will be all the familiar faces.  I'll have quite a bit more work this time around than last including this painting of my dream home- a cabin in a pine forest.  Can you even imagine how amazing it would smell in your home all year round to, not only live among the aromatic pines, but to have a pine wood fire blazing inside?  I could also imagine some sheep and a few horses outside my window, grazing in the tall grass.  And maybe some chickens out back for fresh eggs every morning...

Come and see this painting- in its entirety- at the show if you can!  I'd love to see you.

New prints!

High He Rode
6x12" Print
$25.00

Queen Alexandra's Birdwing Butterfly
6x6" Print
$12.50

New prints in the shop today!

See more here.