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Posts Tagged ‘Virginia Artist’

Jeffie EnhancedFour years ago this past week (January 5th) we made the cold trek (it was during a snow storm) to get our Jed.  He’s the sweetest boy.  So Happy Adoption Day Jed.  We’re so glad we are your people! 

Many of you know that I name my dogs using a presidential theme.  Jed was my first exception to the rule.  He is named for the fictional president, Jed Bartlett from the West Wing.  We loved that show and since he was already being called Jed and answered to it well we just went with it.

Read and see more about Jed here and see a step by step painting of Jed here!  Way to go Jedder Bean!  We love you big boy.

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Art in Bloom at Boston Museum of Art - 2012

Art in Bloom at Boston Museum of Art – 2012

"Dog Bed" - Boston Museum of Fine Art

“Dog Bed” – Boston Museum of Fine Art

This new year I am going to introduce a few different concepts on my blog.  The first is “Tips to Being a Better Painter”.  This is the first one.

When I first became serious about painting I would read and study everything I could find about different styles of painting.  I would go to as many galleries and museums as possible to see art.  And then a good friend who is also a painter (and she studied painting in college) said that her professor used to tell her that for every hour you make art you should spend an hour looking or studying art.  I have made that a habit.

The Souper Dress - Boston Museum of Fine Art

The Souper Dress – Boston Museum of Fine Art

Here are some examples of art that I have studied.  These photos are from my trip last year to the Boston Museum of Fine Art.  I took many pictures and pull them up on my computer and look at them over and over.  Many times the things I “study” are not necessarily paintings as I have shown you here.  I love to see other types of creativity.  I especially love the “Calder Cow”!

The Calder Cow - Boston Museum of Fine Art

The Calder Cow – Boston Museum of Fine Art

For instance, the floral arrangement was a special show the garden clubs in the Boston area were doing on this particular day that I was at the MFA.  They did arrangements that interpreted a painting or work of art.  It was interesting to see because obviously they had to look closely at a work to pull out their interpretation.

So to be a better painter don’t just spend more time painting.  Also  spend more time looking and studying art of all types.  You’ll see a difference in your work.

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thurs kid jan3The Young Artists started off the year with a great winter painting of a cardinal.

Great job everyone! 

If you have a young artist, ages 7-12, that might like to paint with us, contact kwalker@kellywalkerstudios.com to sign them up.  We’d love to paint with them.

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Coloring Book Dogs

Coloring Book Dogs

Several years ago I did this painting I call “Coloring Book Dogs” after I watched a kid at a doctors office coloring in a book there.  He was not at all concerned about the lines as he gleefully put color on every item on the page.  Each item was a different solid color with the color running outside the lines.  That made me think, “Why don’t we all color outside the lines still?  Why are we always so careful when we color/paint?” When I painted this piece with the dogs and a couple of others with other subjects (you can see them here) I had a great time.  It was fun! So this year I am going to attempt to “color outside the lines a little more”.  How about you?

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SAMSUNG 149222_1516353543693_7348484_nThis is Paisley.  She is my niece, Lexie’s, dog although I suspect she is more her  mom’s dog.  I did a silhouette painting of her.  Just a quick and fun format for pets like this.  The canvas was 20″x30″ and I painted it in acrylic.

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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!

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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SAMSUNGThis 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.

SAMSUNGThe 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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Jake and Juneau

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. J & J Painting 2

 

J & J Painting 3

J & J Painting 4

 

J & J Painting 5

 

J & J Painting 6I delivered it yesterday and Jen loved it.  So glad!

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Claras capeRemember 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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Jean's Snow Scene

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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