Illustration Friday~blue

My Blue Heaven
9x12, acrylic on canvas
©the enchanted easel

Phew...almost missed the midnight cutoff to IF's promo, blue. Haven't gotten the chance to contribute to Illustration Friday in quite a while so I couldn't pass this up...especially with the title being "My Blue Heaven".

Prints here and pendant necklace here. I love blue poppies. And am so looking forward to seeing them again this March on display at Longwood Gardens. They are breathtaking.

my blue heaven....

my blue heaven
acrylic on canvas
©the enchanted easel 2017

surrounded by what else? a plethora of himalayan blue poppies. be still my heart.

i loved every second of every brush stroke of every blue poppy on this canvas. forever in love with them...

PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE. 

also, i have added a SUMMER CLEARANCE SECTION to my etsy shop. 50% OFF some older original paintings. trying to make room for some new items coming this fall. shop around and take a painting (or two...or more) off my hands. out with old and in with the new.

{did i mention how much i throughly enjoyed painting these blue poppies...? :)}

painting, poppies and piano....

been spending the last couple of weeks finishing up my recent painting. here are some small video clips of the process featuring the music from one of my FAVORITE pianists, mr. jon schmidt from the piano guys. while i appreciate the group as a whole, it's really only schmidt i need. ;) piano girl for life.

flesh tones today....

foliage, flowers...and a really talented pianist.

pencil before paint...

painting, poppies and piano. bliss.

and just because i'm a little obsessed with him...i mean c'mon, this guy is magic on those keys. 

{heart melt}

bad blogger....

{hangs head in shame. :( }

i have not been a good blogger these last few weeks. been working on multiple things at once and dealing with some osteoarthritis flare ups in my painting arm and hand. this humid weather is my kryptonite for sure. however if you know me personally-well, you know i keep chugging along. my drive and determination....ALWAYS bigger than my pain and my size. :)

now to the good stuff....HIMALAYAN BLUE POPPIES!! 

i. am. obsessed.  i mean look at these GORGEOUS blooms!! every year, i anxiously await the display at Longwood Gardens and they do not disappoint. although they only bloom for a very short time (10-14 days-MAX), if you're lucky enough to get to see them in their prime-you will be very pleasantly surprised. they are stunning and my photos sure don't do them justice. they range from deep cobalt blues to opulent turquoise shades to violets and purples that will take your breath away. can you tell i'm a bit obsessed?! 

ok, i swear this is going somewhere and it's not just a plug for Longwood Gardens and blue poppies (not that that would be such a terrible thing)....

it's going straight to my easel and the painting i'm currently working on based on (wait for it, wait for it...) the HIMALAYAN BLUE POPPY! after being surrounded by those gorgeous blue spectacles, well i was inspired to do yet another blue poppy painting. the first one can be purchased as a print here and a pendant necklace here.

some pics of the new painting in progress....

loving every second of beautiful blue bliss on this one.

{wow, that was a long blog post. almost made up for the couple weeks of being MIA....}

rare beauties

few and far between
4x12, acrylic on canvas
©the enchanted easel 2016

inspired by my love of blue poppies and red heads..."few and far between". my latest painting.

i truly loved painting this one. the 4"x12" was an interesting size for me and one on which i had never before painted. also, the color scheme will go down as one of my favorites. i've always loved red heads. as a little girl, i remember always wanting to have red hair and green eyes (umm, yeah. that might have passed me by, being 110% italian....). ok, back to the painting....

blue poppies. another favorite. last year, on a trip to longwood gardens, i completely fell in love with these rare beauties. talk about GORGEOUS. just made to be painted. my original thought was a watercolor but then my creative little brain thought i'd merge two of my loves into one painting. "few and far between" was born.

PRINTS AVAILABLE HERE. also, coming in a few weeks to my shop will be PENDANT NECKLACES. crafted with my own two little hands. every single one of them. this beauty will be included in those. it's going to be good....:)

busy little bee....

these last couple of weeks. working on multiple paintings at once. and that's just the way i like it. :)

for starters, i finally got around to finishing up this little red head beauty. along with some blue poppies, this is one of my favorites. i worked on a 4"x12" canvas...an odd size for me but i wanted to challenge myself, combustion wise. really liking the way it turned out. plus, it included two of my favorite things...red heads and blue poppies. rare beauties, indeed. i'll be sharing the finished piece next week. prints will be available then as well.

also, i've been thinking about doing a small series of mixed media animals for quite a bit. i have SO many art supplies in my home/studio well, it's like Michael's, AC Moore and Dick Blick in on humble little abode. from scrapbook papers to every kind of pencil/paint/pastel known to man....i figured it was time to stop staring at all of them and DO SOMETHING with them. below are some sneak peeks....

hopefully, emerging from all this creative chaos will be a cute series of fall themed animals. stay tuned....