December | 2012 | The Studio

Archive for December, 2012

2012 in Review

Posted in daily painter, Polls, Trivia, tagged daily painter, Virginia Artist, Year in Review on December 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »

My year end report just arrived from WordPress. I am always amazed by the information I receive. Many thanks to my readers for increasing my average daily views. They are up 63%!!! In 2012, there were 298 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 881 posts. There were 702 pictures uploaded. That’s about 2 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was June 20th with 1,142 views. The most popular post that day was About Kelly.

I am amazed that the posts that got the most views on “Life of a Daily Painter” in 2012 are mostly posts from previous years so that means that viewers searching for specific topics find my blog. The good news is that my posts have staying power!

1 Gingerbread House for the Dogs! December 2011
2 Sasha August 2012
3 Van Gogh’s Starry Night by Art Campers August 2011
4 Funny Face Baby Blanket November 2010
5 After Helen April 2010

And even more amazing is the viewers of my blog in 2012 came to it from 132 countries around the world! WOW! Most visitors came from The United States. Canada & The United Kingdom were not far behind.

So thank you to readers of “Life of a Daily Painter”. I plan to make a few changes to the blog in the New Year. I hope they will be something you will all enjoy. Stay tuned.

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More Living With Art

Posted in daily painter, tagged acrylic, daily painter, daily painting, Day Lilies, flowers, impressionism, Landscape, lilies, oil painting, Virginia Artist on December 30, 2012| 1 Comment »

This painting of Day Lilies was a birthday gift for Allen several years ago. They are his favorite so they are a repeated theme in the art at our house.

The Day Lily appears in this smaller painting hanging in the kitchen.

I try to paint things that people like. For instance, the day lilies for Allen and pet portraits for pet lovers and for me. These are the things I like so it makes it easy to hang my work and enjoy it. Difficulty in painting for me comes when I attempt to paint something I don’t particularly care about. Then the painting becomes work and when it’s not fun, it’s really hard to do.

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Living With Art

Posted in daily painter on December 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

One of the most frequent questions I am asked as a full-time artist is, “Do you hang your art at home”? And the answer is sure! I live with my art. I like it. Sometimes I live with pieces to see if there is anything more I want to add or adjust before I varnish them which is the final thing I do to a finished painting. And sometimes I live with them because I painted them specifically for an area in the home. That is what this piece is all about. I painted it for the spot above the TV stand at the Hilton Head house. It shows the water and the marsh. It fits nicely there. And I am lucky that I have a partner who also likes my work and encourages it to be hung in our home. 🙂

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Jake and Juneau

Posted in Dogs, tagged acrylic, daily painter, daily painting, Dogs, impressionism, Rescue dogs, Virginia Artist on December 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Jake and Juneau

This is Jake and Juneau. Their mom, Jennifer, commissioned me to paint their portrait. (Jennifer is also Dixie’s aunt.) I decided to show you the steps in this piece.

I delivered it yesterday and Jen loved it. So glad!

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Big Mama’s Carrot Cake

Posted in Recipes, tagged Carrot Cake, Carrot Cake Recipe on December 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I love cooking for the holidays especially making recipes handed down to me from my grandmothers. I made Carrot Cake for Christmas Dinner dessert. And after I posted a photo on Facebook I got a couple of messages asking for the recipe. So here it is. Enjoy!

Big Mama’s Layered Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups cooking oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten well

2 cups finely grated carrots

Combine oil, sugar and eggs. Beat well. Add dry ingredients to this mixture. Mix and add carrots. Pour into layer pans which have been greased well and floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until done. Cool.

Frosting:

½ cup butter

1 – 8 ounce cream cheese

1 box 10x sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cup chopped pecans

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A Crochet Cape for Clara

Posted in Crochet, tagged cape, Crochet, crocheted cape, Virginia Artist on December 24, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Remember my friend Clara? You can read about her here. She is in town visiting her family and I got to take her to lunch yesterday so we could catch up. We had a wonderful time. And she was thrilled with the Crocheted Shoulder Cape I made for her for Christmas. And she wears it well don’t you think?

Merry Christmas to All!

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Jacob’s Gift

Posted in Art Class on December 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

My young student, Jacob, told me he wanted to paint something for his teacher for Christmas at his lesson last week. His Mom sent me this picture yesterday. I’d say his gift was a big hit. Great job Jacob!

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Huge Sale at Delilah’s

Posted in daily painter, Sale on December 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Delilah’s Sale Rack

We are having a huge sale at Delilah’s. Over 100 pieces of unframed art are on sale for $15 each. There are paintings that were originally up to $245. Some are demonstration paintings from classes. Many subjects and mediums. Stop in and pick up a beautiful piece of original art. It makes a wonderful gift. Delilah’s is at 105 East Main Street in Front Royal and it’s open Thursday – Monday this week. We’ll be open all day on Christmas Eve. Happy Holidays!

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Jean’s Snow Scene

Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, art lessons, Blue Ridge Arts Council, impressionism, Landscape, oil painting, snow, Virginia Artist on December 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Jean’s Snow Scene

Here is Jean with a lovely snow scene that she painted in Wednesday Night class over the last few weeks. I wish you could see it better. It has sweeps of snow cascading down over the tree. It turned out great Jean. Good job! One of the things I love about our adult classes is how everyone encourages and assists everyone else. For this snow painting one of Jean’s classmates, Shelly, brought in some very fine sparkly glitter that Jean sprinkled over the snow fall to make it glimmer. It was perfect.Nice, very nice.

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Charlotte’s Back

Posted in Art Class, tagged acrylic, Art Class, art lessons, daily painter, impressionism, Small Town Life on December 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Charlotte working on her painting.

I especially enjoy the class I teach at The Southerlands on Tuesdays when Charlotte is there. She has been in the hospital the last few weeks so we are really happy that she feels better and she’s back to painting. She is an excellent artist and it’s fun to work with her. Glad you are better Charlotte.

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