COLD DAY IN PARK

Several years ago I was sketching the trees in the park. It was a cold day. There were still patches of snow on the ground.  I love to ketch the trees when they are bare of their leaves. As you sketch them you can see exactly how they grow. When I was about to leave the park this girl came walking out from among the trees. It was such a mysterious sight and I knew I had to quickly sketch her. She was dressed all in black. Her coat, boots, gloves and beret were black and her hair blond, quite a contrast against the black.She was walking two dogs I painted this scene in oil and I still am not quite satisfied that it is finished.

The Musical Mousetronauts

"The Musical Mousetronauts" is the third children's book in a series that I illustrated for author  Deneen Kirsch Gambrell. In this book the musical mice  journey through space to the moon.Children will enjoy  reading about the many adventures the mice have when they land on the moon.  The first book in the series is "No Music for Mouseville" and the second book is "The Musical Mice and Their Great Adventure". All 3 book can be purchased at Amazon. com

Angel of Love - 1 Corinthians 13

Merry Christmas to all my friends who visit my blog. Frohliche Weihnachten, God jul, joyeux Noel. Mele kalikimaka, buon Natale. feliz navidad

Rusty plays Santa

Here is Rusty my muse again. This time he is making amends for his anti-social behavior. He is going down the chimney with lots of goodies and toys for all little girls and boys.Two more days and Christmas Day will be here. We will be celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Frohliche Weihnachten

Frohliche Weihnachten  - My little Santa greets you in my foyer wishing you a Merry
Christmas!

Decorating the Christmas tree

Rusty my muse is at it again. Here we are decorating the Christmas tree. It is difficult trying to keep Rusty out of the tree. He would love to climb it but here he gets tangled in the tree lights. Rusty is available in note cards.

Tyler Roses

Several years ago when we first moved to Texas I was in my car and stopped  at a traffic light when I saw this little boy selling roses near the sidewalk. It was a very hot day in Texas perhaps 100 or more degrees. This sight excited me and I thought it would be a good painting. So at home I grabbed a canvas and my son who was about the little boy's age and hurried outdoors. I did not want to lose the enthusiasm and memory of that scene. My son use to me with my art challenges sat under the umbrella and waited patiently for me to get my sketch started. The rest of the painting was from memory and I threw the dog in from my imagination. I thought he completed the picture. My son was a good model. What children will  do for artist Moms.

pointsettias

we are preparing for our Christmas celebration. As I have not been working very much on art projects I am posting 2 sketches from my sketch book. This was done in 2007 with pencil and colored pencils. This is my 4th day at home because we are still feeling the effects of the ice storm that came through our area.

roses

We are having a very cold December. Today was probably 18 degrees and there has been ice outside in our yard, driveway and street. An ice storm went through our area 3 days ago and we are still experiencing the results. This is the time we are preparing for our Christmas celebration so I have not been painting and probably will not until after the New Year. I decided to post an old painting I did last Spring when the roses were blooming.I like to paint flowers as they look on the bush.

Its a Rusty Christmas

Well the last time you saw Rusty he was celebrating Thanksgiving. Now he is getting ready for Christmas, helping to decorate the Christmas tree. Mischievous and arrogant Rusty is my muse and we have ventured together through many celebrations and events. So you will probably be seeing more of Rusty in months to come.It is that time of year when most people are very busy and I am no  exception. I doubt that I will be at my easel until after  the first of January. In the meantime you will be viewing older paintings. Thank you for understanding.

Orchids

I have been working on this painting for several months. I have not been satisfied with its progress.. This is of a sketch I did several years ago. Our friend Fred had 2 green houses of orchids and when he died his mother wanted to publish a book of some of Fred's favorite orchids and receipes  of his favorite foods. Fred's wife helped me as I worked sketching the flowers she chose.The plant was actually  growing in this small pot. I love  the way the stems grow twisting and turning and  the roots growing out of the top of the pot. Fred's mother died before she could gather all the information she needed for the book. I did get some wonderful pencil drawing of Fred's orchids.  

Happy Thanksgiving

    Together with my muse Rusty I wish you a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day. I should introduce you to Rusty. As a tiny kitty he was abandoned in a church yard. He was rescued  and lived with my daughter and her husband until he died a few years ago. Rusty was an arrogant and proud kitty and could be down right mean. Occasionally he decided he did not like strangers and would hiss and swipe a paw at them. I noticed all Rusty's antics and decided to do a series of paintings and note cards honoring him. He became my muse and I painted him celebrating special events such as Christmas, New Years, Mardi Gras, Halloween and more. It was a sad day when Rusty died and I have not been able to continue with Rusty's various adventures. Maybe someday he will return and be my inspiration again. In this painting Rusty is thankful for the blessing he received from a good family. And I am thankful too for the blessings of family, friends, art, health, my country and many, many more blessings. .

St. Michael's Tree

                                            Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas
                                                    12" X 12"
This tree is beautiful in all seasons but especially during the Fall season. I drive past this tree  several times a week and always look at it. Last fall I drove into the parking lot of St. Michael's Catholic Church to sketch it. This  year I felt determined to paint it so back into the parking lot for more sketches and to soak up a lot of inspiration.

snowy day

It was said that today we would have an ice storm. Well so far it has not happened. But it is terribly cold. So I thought of this painting I started a few years ago. I was sketching the trees on a cold gray day in our park. Just as I was about to leave this girl dressed all in black came walking through the trees. It was a very mysterious looking scene  and I quickly sketched her with her dogs and was able to include her in the painting.

You will be protected and take your rest in safety. Job 11.18

I haven't been posting recently. For some reason or other there is something always going on. I am a little off focus as my roses were blooming. They are so beautiful. Our summer damaged the buds that would  appear. The heat was too much for them. Now they are blooming and our weather is getting cold. . In the 30's today. And I have  been concentrating  on the fall colors in the trees. They are so beautiful this year. So I am torn between painting the roses or the trees. So I posted a sketch I did some time ago when we were watching t. v. in the evening. I had a very good model. He kept very still.

PANSIES

My pansies painted a few years ago. It is time to  to replace  the petunias with pansies.

from my sketchbook

I neglected to cut a few of my roses this evening. Since the weather got cooler the roses have been blooming beautifully. I have been busy with other art projects  and keep looking outdoors at the roses. I planned to paint a few. Well we are going  to have a change in our weather tonight. The temperatures will be in the 20's. Hopefully when I look  out the door tomorrow morning  my roses will still be as beautiful as they were today.But I have looked into my sketch book and am showing one page of many that I did of sketches several years ago. I love to sketch and paint from life.

Turnips

Oil on Masonite. This was painted in the 70's. I found it today among some old art work and thought, "I like this." even though it was painted so long ago.  I think I will have to paint some more turnips to go with the series of veggies I have been working on. Back to the store hoping they have turnips with greens. I am still working or more or less staring at the 3 unfinished paintings I hope to complete on 1st. Corinthians 13. It is quite a challenge.

Peppers and Onion

                                                        Acrylic on Canvas
                                                             10" X 8"
                                                                 $75.00

Cactus and Wrens

                                                      Oil on Canvas -18" X 14"
                                                             $200.00
I saw this cactus plant  blooming in the Spring in a nearby park. The flowers appear fragile and really pretty.  The wrens are a favorite of mine as they visit our little courtyard searching in and out of the fern baskets for insects. Sometimes when I am outdoors they get a little angry with me and chatter with loud noises letting me know I have no business being in their territory. I think it is fun to observe them especially when the male builds a nest in the ferns. His female partner comes and checks out the nest and then turns up her beak and rejects it. She flies away and he  goes about finding a new place and tries to please her with a new nest. Birds and animals are fascinating creatures to watch.

Just Because

This is the third painting in a series I am doing using the colors orange and turquoise. It could be a triptych  

Why oh Why??

Finally of all the 5 paintings unfinished on my easel I decided that maybe this one is finished.. Who knows? Maybe I will go back some day and change it all around. But I have been playing with 3 paintings using the colors of turquois and orange. The other painting "Jumping through Hoops" I posted several weeks ago.
I have also been painting vegetables, 2 paintings I have already  posted here. My dear husband loves the veggie paintings and has been suggesting veggies that are good color combinations to paint. While I was away one day he ventured out to the store and looked over the vegetable section. When I arrived home I was surprised to learn I have  radishes to paint. Well aren't I a lucky girl? He is very supportive of my work  and I am thankful that he is. I am enjoying painting the radishes and will post them when finished.
So far I have had a lot of painting  ideas but am still  looking for that one painting that will be different.Right  now I seem to be working on my skill. I am really not focused and it may be because I have spent about 2 years working on children's books. Maybe what I mean is I miss the MICE!!!!! They were a lot of fun and a challenge to my imagination.The 3rd book I illustrated will be coming out this November and will be available on Amazon.  

Mother and Child

As I am working on new paintings I will post an old one I did years ago. Currently I have 5 paintings on my easel and maybe I should focus on finishing one. Again this one is one in a series I did inspired by the book of Solomon in the Old Testament. Song of Solomon 2:11, 12. "Behold , The winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth, the time for singing has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."

5 minus 3 equals ???

On my easel painting of  2 tomatoes left from the original 5.Could not resist painting these this afternoon. Love the smell of the vine the 5 were on before cutting 3 of them for salad. This was a quick study using a painting knife. Love the feel of the painting knife smearing the thick paint around. Great fun!

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angelou

on my easel roses

The weather is getting cooler and my roses are starting to bloom again. The 100 degree plus temperatures during the summer were  not favorable to the growth of these beautiful fragrant flowers. This is a painting of the roses that was painted outdoors. I love to paint flowers the way they grow.

The Musical Mousetronauts

The children's book I illustrated is off to the publisher and should be available in November.
This is the third book illustrating the adventures of some musical mice. In  this book the mice journey to the moon. I am very thankful to author Deneen Kirsch Gambrell for giving me this opportunity to expand my artistic talents,  painting these musical mice through many  exciting fantasy journeys. The book will be available on Amazon. When published signed copies will be available on this blog.

                                                        Renaissance Madonna

Years ago while studying Northern Renaissance art I decided to paint a modern day  Madonna, a
young girl, no doubt an artist. She is carrying her satchel with brushes, a Renaissance art book and probably many more art supplies in the bottom of her bag. Besides being a loving  mother she is pursuing her passion ART!

Santos and Bird of Paradise

This painting was completed some time ago and decided to post it as I continue to work on more current canvases. As I am not good at photography you can see I tried to take the photo outdoors and some of the grass shows. The wood carved figure or Santos came from the Philippines. I found it in a Sears store in a box among others that the ad claimed  were dug up there I dug through the box and settled on this fellow. . It  is  probably a religious figure but I thought of it as a piece of art. I liked the lines of the figure, the hat he wears and the fact he looked like a man of prayer. I like the colors in the painting and that it appears a little impressionistic.

SUNSHINE

                                                         SUNSHINE
                                                       Oil on Canvas  12" X 12"
                                                             $200.00

Sunflowers are a favorite of many people  including me. At our anniversary party we had vases of sunflowers on all the tables. We gave away sunflowers and we brought dozens of them home. For several days I painted sunflowers, ending up with 7 canvases filled with bright yellow flowers of varying compositions.

The quote below is a favorite of mine and  was credited to Helen Keller:
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows. That's what sunflowers do"
If anyone is interested in obtaining this painting contact me at grummerb@gmail.com

PREPARING TO DANCE

While attending a Native American event at the Arlington Convention Center a few years ago I photographed these young girls waiting their turn to dance. They were discussing their routine.There were many dancers in colorful costumes.        
It was a wonderful  event to attend. Beside the dancing there  were many artists selling beautiful  jewelry they had made and many well known artists selling their paintings.

memory sketch

Often I will see a subject I would like to sketch. While waiting my turn at the hair dresser's I observed this lady seated  under lights getting her hair high lighted or streaked, what ever the current name trend. I did not have a sketchbook or pencil with me. That will teach me. I should have it with me at all times. Yet I don't like to sketch people without their consent as I think of it as intrusive .It matters not who she is or her name. I thought it was an interesting composition of weird objects hovering over her and attempted to memorize her position so that when I returned home I would do a memory sketch. Memory  sketches can be a challenge and I enjoy doing them. I was able to watch her as she was working on  her cell phone and really not moving around much. It is just a simple sketch of pencil and acrylics. I have concluded it would be fun to do a series of hair dresser sketches.

Iris

                                                        White Iris - Oil on Canvas


                   This was a painting I did  years ago and I no longer have it. But recently I have started a new iris painting  as irises are a favorite of mine and grow in my backyard. Currently I have 4 paintings on my easel. When I get bored with one painting I move on to another. Three of my paintings are themes I have chosen from 1 Corinthians 13. This chapter in the Bible is very beautiful. I am painting on all 3 canvases trying to tie them together or unify them.

JUMPING THRU HOOPS

                                                        

    JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS

            Acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

                    Just having fun today. This  painting is absolutely about nothing, I love the colors 

                        and I just played layering color over color. I have so many ideas running through my

                         mind but I just decided to forget all that and play with something totally different. 

                          I wish I understood this computer as much as I do painting.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

paintings on display at bedford library

These are the paintings currently on display at the Bedford Library This photo is courtesy of my daughter Cynthia.

TRAVELING ART SHOW

I have been preparing 3 paintings to place in the Bedford Library, Bedford Texas. They are now on view with several other artists works.,  all members of the Trinity  Art Guild. The library in Bedford is a beautiful new facility. The building in itself is treat to visit.

                                                    ALLELUIA ! ! ! ALLELUIA ! ! !

Whenever I am feeling happy about something I go to this little bird and post him  as to me he is happy and  praising God. I have completed the illustrations for book 3 of Deneen Kirsch Gambrell's book "King Rob and the Musical Mousetronauts" It has been a fun filled journey for me using my imagination as the musical mice enter a space ship and fly to the moon. Next step is to get the illustrations to Deneen and she will deliver them to the publisher. The book should be available  sometime in October.

ANTHURIUMS

 On My Easel

Well another busy day with appointments and getting ready for them. Painted a little on my illustrations but not enough. Tomorrow is another day, perhaps a slow one. I drew these anthuriums years ago when we had a lot of them left over from my daughter's wedding. This is the flower she chose for the bouquets and Church altar flowers. The pottery with the painted fish we found in an Oklahoma flea market. For some reason I thought the flowers and pottery look pretty good together.After so many years I finally got around to putting the flowers and pottery together and painting them.And for a little quirkiness I added a picture which I cut out of a magazine. of a guy playing a saxophone. . Why? I don't know! It was just a last minute idea as I was looking through a  magazine..

                                               Long Horns in Stockyard

I have been posting photos of paintings I have done in the past. Hopefully you enjoy seeing them as I do not have current paintings due to my work on illustrating children's books. This is a painting of long horn cattle in the historic Ft. Worth Stockyards. I was working in a studio gallery located in Rodeo Plaza in the heart of the stockyards. Every day to the delight of the tourists there was a long horn cattle drive down Exchange St. I didn't like to be out there when the cattle walked by. I guess being a city girl I was a little frightened of them. The men  in charge of the drive seemed to have the animals under control and I managed to stay out  there after I got use to this everyday occurrence .. It must seem strange that someone like me who had been in mobs of people at Mardi Gras parades should be afraid of being in the presence of these animals that appeared so  docile.

                                                     Girl in Garden


This is a painting I did as part of a series of women in gardens, I was inspired by the verses in The Song of Solomon in the Old Testament of the Bible. "for behold the winter is past; the rain is over and gone : the flowers appear on the earth the time of singing has come and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. Chapter 2, verse 11, 12 .I think these are beautiful verses and in the Spring when I see all the new flowers bursting forth from the earth these verses come to my mind.

                                                   Wild Sunflowers

         This is the time of year when these wild sunflowers are blooming in large fields along the highways. They suffer through the heat and drought but always come back looking as beautiful as God planted them to be. I love to paint them as they appear swaying in the breeze, some buds, some of the blooms deteriorating but always celebrating their life glorifying God in their humble existence.But recently I noticed  that a field of sunflowers I always looked forward to seeing  has been replaced by a multitude of houses.  The highway has been replanted with a formal landscape of cedar trees and plantings from a nursery. It is beautiful and very clean looking but I am still looking around  in other locations for my wild sunflowers.

As I am trying to conclude the work on my third book for Deneen I haven't had much new  art work to post. This insert is a picture of the cover on the 2nd book, titled "The Musical Mice and their Great Adventure". I thought I would use this week end to finish up on the third book but I was tempted to leave the studio on Saturday  and have lunch at the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth. It was a much needed escape for me and I certainly enjoyed the time away. The Kimbell is preparing for a big show from the Art Institute of Chicago. It is a great show to look forward to as there will be nearly 100 works of art from Picasso, Matisse and other art masters. Well tomorrow is another day and I hope to work the whole day, perhaps concluding the third book. No promises!

Zinnias

Zinnias grow well in Texas in spite of the dry hot weather we are having. This is a simple little painting 8" x 10" in oil on stretched canvas. The blooms are very simple yet colorful and sturdy.

Ball and Jacks

As a child I would play jacks with my friends. Thinking about these fun  times I  recently  came up with the idea of doing a series of paintings with the  theme of ball and jacks. I listed several ideas in my sketchbook and came up with Jack of Hearts, Jack of all trades. Jack in the Box, etc. Below are images of  2 of the paintings, done in an abstract way.

Ft. Worth Nature Center

It is always fun to go to the nature center, an outdoor wild life area. I particularly like to observe the buffalo or bison roaming around a large area looking  for food. There are areas where they are fed. The area is so large sometimes you do not see an animal.The buffalo is such a majestic looking animal.  There is also a pond in that area where I have seen deer drinking water. There are trails to hike on, a boardwalk to walk on near water, birds and wild flowers. I have sketched  the buffalo and painted water lilies. One of my paintings of the buffalo is shown below.

I was noticing shoes my daughter wore on different occasions and thought they would make a great series. I called them "Shoes I kidnapped from Cynthia's closet". It was fun painting her shoes and putting  imitation gem stones, ribbons and anything I thought would make a good composition. I ended up with 7 paintings of shoes.

for behold the winter is past; the rain is over and gone;  the flowers appear on the earth , and the time for singing has come.  - The Song of Solomon - 2:11-12

I always loved these verses from the book of Solomon and several years ago I was inspired by theses verses  to paint a series  of women in gardens.. Some of the paintings were women with children. They were done in an impressionistic style. This painting  was sold.

Today I started on the last page of the current children's book I am illustrating. Soon I will be able to go back through the pages to see if they need corrections or maybe additions.

                                                   Kyrie Eleison

I love to feed the cardinals and doves that come into the courtyard. So I throw a little bird seed out the door every day and I can watch  them as I am in my studio painting. The busy little chattering wrens scurry through the ferns and plants to find a bug or two. I have watched parent birds building nests in my ferns.. Usually in the Spring I get to see little ones learning  to fly. The painting above came from my imagination as I could see the birds flying into the ferns with twigs and leaves building their nest, then gradually bringing insects and food to the little ones. Yet I could never see the little ones until they came out of the nest to fly. I have printed note cards of the painting and the following is the explanation on the back of the card.

"Outside the artist's window was a mother bird going in and out of a hanging fern basket. Apparently she was feeding little ones. Inspired by this sight, Kyrie Eleison evolved on the artist's canvas. The little birds seem to be crying out to be fed. "Kyrie Eleison" or "Lord have mercy," a refrain of an ancient litany."

Grackle Antics

It is that time of year when these birds are seen everywhere in our town. There are hundreds of them in open fields, parking lots and on electric wires along the highways. I enjoy observing them in the parking lot at the high school while waiting for my Grandson at school closing time. They are a nuisance to business owners but I love  watching them as they beg for food near parked cars, splash in puddles of water after a rain and how they interact with each other.Yes they are a nuisance and  nasty
yet fun to watch and inspire  me to paint them.