February Flower #28

And finally.....#28 is here as well. This is an 8" square wood panel, also with lots of texture....and I love how the "staining" turned out.

And this completes the 28 February Flower painting challenge for me. What fun! Selecting a theme and running with it for an entire month really helped me to push myself, using different methods and materials. It got my creative juices flowing. Setting a goal to get 28 done was also great motivation to keep my butt in the chair and keep working, even when I didn't feel like it. Thanks everyone, for following along, and for all of your positive feedback. I appreciate it!

I'll be announcing the Etsy shop sale later today...it will go live tomorrow morning....March 1st!!! XOXO

February Flower #27

Greetings, earthlings!  Flower painting #27 is here!!  This is a highly textured canvas measuring 16x20.  It was FUN to create!  The photo doesn't quite bring across the intensity of the colors.  There's a bit of neon in there.  I love it!!!  Stay tuned for #28!!!

February Flower #26

Hello and happy hump day!!!  How's it going, friends?  We are hanging in there....glad to be almost all the way through February!  Everything around here has an ice crust covering it.  The sidewalks...the streets, even the back yard, making it challenging for the pup.  But we shall press on!  

Here's flower painting #26!  This is a 16x20 stretch canvas that has lots of wonderful texture.  I painted it with acrylics and accented with pastel mark making.  This one is making me think spring too!!!!  Have a lovely day!!!

February Flower #25

Two posts in one day!!  What?!!  Here's #25!!!  This one was a blast. It's a 16x20 canvas, and I created a lot of it with a palette knife, to keep it fresh and loose.  It doesn't really come across in the photo, but those bits of hot pink are actually little touches of neon, which I think play nicely with the neutrals.  It was a productive day in the studio!!!  Now, time to watch some Victoria on PBS!  XOXO!!!

February Flower #24

Hello!!!  Flower painting #24 is here!  This is another skinny canvas, 8" x 24", only this time with a lighter background, which is springy and fun!  I'm really enjoying my oil pastels again for an extra punch of color.  Have a great day, friends!  

February Flower #23

February flower painting #23 is done!  This is a small, chunky canvas measuring 5" x 7".  I used acrylics and pastel, and sealed it in a matte faux beeswax finish.  I'm loving how simple and dreamy this one turned out.  On to the next!  We're almost there, friends!!!!

Collaboration Sneak Peek

Hi guys!  Whoa...the wind is really howling today.  The hubby had to go out for a couple of hours this afternoon, but otherwise, we've been tucked in like bugs in rugs, waiting out the latest deep freeze.  And....we.....are.....over....it.  But!  The good news is I'm staying busy in the studio...lots to do!

I'm interrupting your regularly scheduled flower painting post to give you a little sneak peek at a collaboration project I'm working on with my friend Gae.  I can only show you snippets right now....but the gist of it is I'm applying surface design to the inside of some shadowboxes, and then I pass them on to her, and she responds to my work with her own sculpture/assemblage work.  It's gonna be fun!  We will reveal the whole project in May, where they will be on display in her chocolate shop. Yep, it's cool to have a chocolatier for a friend.  Hee hee!   

I highly recommend trying out a collaboration with an artist you admire.  It's such a fun challenge to play off of each other's strengths, and see what develops.  Give it a try sometime! 

Hope your Sunday evening is a peaceful one.  See you again soon!

-Dori

February Flower #22

Good morning friends!  Here's flower painting #22!  Whoot!  I'm almost there!  This is a 16" x 20" stretch canvas.  I was really thinking spring when I made this one.  Ha!  Can you tell?  Hope you all have a lovely weekend!  

February Flowers #19, #20 and #21

Happy Friday, friends!!  I did 3 mini paintings to get myself caught back up!!  Ha!!!!  Here are paintings #19, #20 and #21.  These are thin wood panels that measure approximately 5" x 6". Small and sweet, they make a perfect little pick me up for a friend, and are easy to mail.  Hope you're doing great!  The sun is shining here, and we'll take it!!!

February Flower #18

Lovely Lily is painting #18!  (Lily is also the name of my daughter!)  This is an 8" x 8" square canvas.  I used pencil, acrylics and pastels to create it.  It was fast and fun!  

February Flower #17

Hi again!!!!  (hand waving frantically at you from under a big pile of snow)  And it's still snowing!  We are beginning to wonder where to put all of it...the driveway is getting harder to maneuver every day!

 Flower #17 is here.  This is mostly acrylics, graphite and oil pastel on a stretch canvas.  This size is 10" x 20", I believe.  I don't always reach for oil pastels...but in this instance, I enjoyed it!  I'm going to seal this one with a beeswax-like finish for some depth, and more softness.  

February Flower #16

Hello from the winter wonderland!!!  We are expecting another 7 to 9 inches of snow tonight.  Oh boy!  It's times like this I'm happy to have my pile of art supplies to keep me sane.  (and a bottle of wine)  I present to you....flower painting #16!  This is a 20" square canvas with lots of layers of collage and paint.  I'm kind of digging the unusual color combo on this one.  Hope you're doing great, friends!  Keep creating!!!

February Flower #15

Happy Monday!!!!  Flower painting #15 is done!  I remain three days behind in my challenge.  I'm hoping to gain some ground this week and finish a couple extra to get caught up.  This is a smaller one....it's an 8" x 8" wooden plaque with an edge around it.  It's mostly scribbles with pastels, and a touch here and there with acrylics.  I'm going to give the frame a glossy finish, and seal the body of the piece with heavy beeswax for depth. 

February Flower #14

Hi guys!  I've completed February flower painting #14!  This is a skinny stretched canvas that measures 8" x 24".  I originally thought I would use a vertical orientation for the canvas...but then settled on the challenge of painting on it horizontally, which turned out to be a lot of fun.  This would be a cute piece to have over a doorway or window....and is just a fun size to fill in a quirky wall space.  I'm loving that navy background too.  

February Flower #13

February Flower painting #13 is done! I'm making friends with the color violet. It's creeping into several things I'm working on these days. And I love it! This is a 9"x12"-ish thin wood panel, with an attached narrow frame around the outside. Baby, it's cold outside, but the sun is shining, so we will carry on another day!!! Cheers and happy Saturday!

February Flower #12

Hi friends!  Happy Friday!  This week flew by!!!  We had a little burst of warm air for a couple of days...but it's dipped back into the single digits again.  So I'm hunkered down in the studio, painting away.  February flower painting #12 is complete!  This one was fun!  I love the corals and pinks!  Makes me happy!  It's a 12" square canvas panel tucked into a painted wooden frame.  Hope you are all doing great!  More to come!  XOXO!!!!

February Flower #11

I told you it was a busy day in the studio....Ha!  This is February flower #11!!  A 12" square canvas panel tucked into a painted wooden frame.  I've been looking at a lot of fun folk art images...and this colorful tulip emerged from that influence.  Mostly acrylics and pastels were used.    

February Flower #10

Happy Tuesday, guys!!!  It was a busy day in the studio today, and I completed February flower painting #10!  This is another old project that never was completed....so I painted over it and created something new.  It's a 20" square canvas, and the white blooms popping off of that orange background just make me smile.  Hope you are staying warm and cozy, friends.  It's another blustery day here in Iowa.  

February Flower #9

Howdy pals!!!  Happy Monday!!!  Here's February Flower #9!  It's a 12" square canvas panel inside a painted wooden frame.  I wish you could see it up close.  There are layers of collage/old book pages peeking through the acrylics and pastel.  I had fun with these little posies.

I am a little behind in my challenge....but it looks like Mother Nature has some more snow and ice in store for us.  I'll be hunkered down in the studio for the next couple of days....so I hope to have more to share with you shortly!  Cheers!!!!

February Flower #8

February flower #8 is here!!!  This is a 12"x12" stretch canvas.  It was an ugly painting that I decided to cover up with a new design. (that's the beauty of this craft...you can just keep layering)

I love me a pop of blue and yellow!!  Can you tell I'm thinking spring?  

February Flower #7

Hello and happy Friday, guys!!!!  Here's #7!  Another mini canvas...only this one is "chunky", with a 1.5" profile.  I'm digging this color palette, and GREEN is on my mind these days.  I'm thinking of greener and sunnier days on the horizon.  SIGH.

February Flower #6

Hi gang!!!  Flower painting number 6 ended up being teeny tiny and makes me so happy!  This is a 4" square canvas.  I love how the design ended up spilling over the sides.  We got some more "ice beads" in the weather last night.  SIGH.  I'm told a little more is to fall today, and then the winds will pick up.  Oh February, you are a cruel mistress....but we shall overcome!

XOXO.  -Dori

February Flower #5

Good morning!  February flower #5 is all done!  This was created with acrylics and pastel on a small wood panel.  The colors were inspired by the cool, grey-ish sky these days.  I love working on wood...the scribbling and scratching is very satisfying.  I'm thinking I'll give this one a soft matte seal for a finish.  Hope you are having a good day, peeps!!!!

February Flower #4

Happy Tuesday afternoon, friends.  As I sit here in my studio with a quilt on my lap, I'm listening to sleet coming down on the rooftop. It's looking like the roads are going to be dicey this evening, and many activities have been cancelled.  I'm glad I've got no where to go.  EEEK.

I'm still chipping away at my February flowers challenge!  Here's #4!!!  This is a highly textured canvas stretch canvas, measuring 18" x 24".  It took some twists and turns, but I'm happy with where we ended up.  The polka dot table top really makes me happy!!!  Onward to #5, coming soon!

Cheers, Dori

Miracle and Wonder - A Collection for Project Art

Today is the day!! Hooray!!!  Hi friends!!!  My latest collection of abstract paintings is going up today in the Project Art Gallery at the University of Iowa Hospital!  I spent the month of January working on this labor of love.  There are ten paintings total, each with their own dizzying array of marks and color combinations.  If you are local, I hope you might stop and take them all in.  Let me know if you do!  I'd love to hear from you!!  

Click HERE for some general info about Project Art.

Over the next few weeks, I'll share snippets of the show, so if you are out of town, you can enjoy it too!!!  

Below, you will find my artist statement for Miracle and Wonder:

While creating this body of work, I thought about the moments that add up to a lifetime.  They are a breathtaking mixture of the magnificent and the ordinary.  The lovely and the plain.  The jubilant and the painful.  There are things to marvel and wonder about.  Tiny miracles are happening all around us and for us.  Many of us barely notice them.  As I move my hands over the canvas, I concentrate on these ideas of manifestation and gratitude.  I believe that a grateful heart is truly a magnet for miracles.  What we recognize as a gift or a blessing will multiply ten-fold, if only we take the time to pay attention and be grateful.

Thanks for your constant encouragement and love, Dori

February Flower #3

Happy Monday, pals!!!  We had a LOVELY, WARM weekend here in Iowa!  Oh my!!  Sweet relief!!!  A lot of our snow has melted....things are muddy and dirty...including the dog.  But we are happy to have a break from the COLD!!!  

Here's flower painting #3!  This is on a canvas board....I think it's 11"x14"-ish.  Lots of texture...layers of collage, etc.  Super loose, super fun to do!!!  I keep dreaming of days when the flowers will be blooming again!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!!!  -Dori

February Flower #2

Happy Sunday, friends!!!  Here's February flower painting number 2!!!  This is acrylics and colored pencil on another recycled book cover!!!  This one really cheers me on such a gray day!

February Flower #1

Hi!  Here's my first February flower painting!!!  As I mentioned in the last post...I'm setting a goal to create one flower painting each day of February.  That'll keep the winter doldrums away!!!  This one is a small recycled book cover.  A really fun, inexpensive substrate to work on.  

Stay tuned....two and three are on their way!!!  

28 Flowers in 28 days - A Creative Challenge

I'm giving myself a little creative challenge to help me get through this thing called February. I'm going to create a new flower painting each day of the month!!!  I originally thought I'd give myself some parameters on size...but I think I'm just gonna paint whatever I feel like painting that day. (yesterday's was on an old book cover, and I'll share that soon)

I'll post them here on the blog, on my Facebook art page, and on instagram. They will be for sale on March 1st in the Etsy shop. I'll announce that when it happens, so you can be in the know! (sorry, I'm not going to hold pieces for folks...that's a bit more than I want to keep track of right now.)

I hope you enjoy seeing some pops of color in your February news feed! Cheers, friends!!! -Dori