Day 30....

Well friends,
All good things must come to an end...sigh.  I am always so in love and inspired by this challenge.  Leslie Saeta has a way of making things amazing...and bringing together artists from all over the world to paint together for 30 days is simply magical to me.

Today is our final day, and having a look at all of the artists work is so inspiring. 
Have a great day, and a creative weekend.
Until next time,
Ophelia

Day 29 of 30 in 30....

Hello Blog Friends!!
I am literally trying to make it to Friday.  This week as been long and grueling. 

Simple colors and lots of marks makes this painting feel right.
Hope that you have a creative day.
Until next time,
Ophelia

Kindness Matters

Good Morning Blog Friends....

Hope that this day finds you all doing well.

Here in the studio, things are cranking along - at quite a high speed, it seems.  Some days I find it hard to keep up, but I keep plugging along here.

I wanted to share this video from my Youtube channel, and hope that you will have a peek.

I truly enjoy playing in my art journal.  Just a way to enjoy experimenting with my supplies.  I find that I simply love the process.

Enjoy the video!!

Questions or comments - just ask!

Day 9 of 30 in 30...

Good Morning, Blog Friends...
We have made it to Friday, and thank goodness.  This week has been long, and I am finding that painting has become my refuge.

8x8 Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.

Nothing else seems to take me away like heading off to my studio and shaking the day off with paint.

I hope that you all have a wonderful, restful weekend.  I plan to.

Until next time,

Ophelia

30 in 30...

Day 8...
Good morning,
Today I am a little tired...so marks are my comfort when I feel as though I get lost and can't figure out what to do next....

Make it a great day!

Until next time,

Ophelia

30 in 30...

Day 7...
Some days I feel like it won't come together in time for me to head out the door for work.

8x8 Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

So, I end up simply going with it...learning to let it all go and just enjoy the process.

Hope you have a great day.

Until next time,

Ophelia

Studio Happenings....

Happy Monday, everyone.
I hope your day is off to a great start!!!  Around here, things are chugging along with goodness.
I am not sure if I have shared with you all before, but, I am having the greatest time ever making these little 4x6 paintings.

I begin with sheet of Mixed Media paper by Strathmore and cut it down to 4x6.

I then begin by simply making marks and just playing....my mark making is done by favorite pencil, the Jerrysartarama Jumbo Jet black pencil

I just love the black line that it gives.  With lots of play in paint and many marks, I get to this.

I attach them to a  5x7 Strathmore Mixed Media greeting card base...

...and this is how I create my hand painted greeting cards that are available in my Etsy shop.

I find that I create them daily and it is a great way to stay in my creative practice.  Especially before I move on to a larger painting.  I offer them for $6.00 each, or in a bundle of 6 cards for $30.  

Head over to my etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/opheliastaton to have a look!!!

They are all blank inside so that you can send with your own greeting, give as a gift, or frame them for your wall.  

I hope you enjoyed a little peek into this process.

Until next time,

Ophelia

30 Paintjngs in 30 Days-Day 5

Tonights mission was to get color down...yes, thats all.  Between a tough day at work, and my daughters basketball game, I did not seek the amazing tonight while working in the studio.  I knew walking in the door at 6:30pm that tonight was not the night to get all fancy.  Working small, and on paper allows me such "no pressure" time in the studio...I love that!

4x6 Acrylic

Greeting Card

I have been loving the idea of scribbles lately...you know, just making random marks.  They make me happy.

I will see you right back here tomorrow for Day 6!

Until next time,

Abstract Boot Camp

Hello blog friends and happy Monday.  I post today...on the road...on my phone.  I headed out this morning, to my parents for a week, but spent an incredible weekend being 100% distracted with paint.

I attended a workshop this weekend at Jerrys, and what an amzing time it was.  The only things that I knew I wanted from the weekend workshop was to be completely distracted from daily life, and to use up some paint....and thats exactly what happened!

I just played around...wanting to use some of the paint that sits on my shelf.

It dawned on my that it has been quite some time since I have actually painted something...not like a demo or teaching a class, but painted for me...for the pure pleasure of painting.

I pulled out my biggest brushes, inks, and anything else that I could get my hands on...and simply lost myself.

And it was GREAT!

Until next time,

Hello 2015 and Goodbye Break!!!

Happy New Year Blog Friends!

I hope that this first few days of 2015 have been good to you all....

Its back to school today for us...and well...sigh....
 

 

After a lot of travel this break for the holidays....my word for

the year--several of them played out in my head until I could get back to my studio to let it out.....

 

There were lots of candidates....maybe I will revisit this word later....but for now...Clarity seems to stick out at the front.  

 



 

I hope that you all have the greatest day ever!!

Until next time,

Back to Reality...

Happy Monday Blog Friends!!

I have to say...back to reality is simply no fun!  I have truly learned that all good things just must come to an end...sigh...

I spent last week at the Pebeo North American Headquarters in Sherbrook, Canada learning their Mixed Media Line of paints...W-O-W!!!

Here is a glimpse of our studio space!!!  Just luscious!!

What an amazing experience!!

I learned to paint with Resins!!!

And had the opportunity to play and experiment for hours on end!

I can not even describe how amazing this was!  Talk about living a dream!!!

On Friday....it was time to say goodbye to the new friends I made...

And head back to reality from my gorgeous, clean and quiet hotel room...

Goodbye beautiful view...

And....back to this great view for a Monday morning...

Ouch....I will be grading for a long time!!!!!

Until next time,

T Minus 24 hours....

In a little over 24 hours, I will finally get to use this little guy!  Tomorrow morning, I leave for Canada to train with Pebeo and their new Mixed Media line... total excitement!!!  Talk about dream life!!!

In the studio, I continue to plug away at the 30 paintings....Maybe a bit more like a painting a week, but, its a whole lot more than I have ever done before!!!

I hope you all have the greatest day ever. I will try to remember to stop, breathe, and get my camera out during my adventure!  Oh, and thank YOU all for being a part!

Until next time,

Day 4...

I am blogging from my phone tonight as I almost let this day slip right by.

I taught a class at Jerrys tonight, and did this piece for the 30 in 30 challenge...

It was again wonderfully nice to let paint fly after a very hectic day at work... And even more wonderful to end the day with a great art journaling class!

Until next time,