I'm inspired by you

One thing an artist needs is to be inspired by other artists.  Some artists are lucky enough to belong to art groups or workshops.  There they will find inspiration and encouragement from other artists.  Many of us often feel that our work is not good enough.  We often need encouragement from other artists.  We need to be able to share our ideas and thoughts and know that we are understood.  I sometimes think that only an artist can understand another artist.  We are all so similar, yet very different.

I don't belong to any form of art workshop or group, but I find my inspiration from my fellow art bloggers.  I read about your painting triumphs, and your battles.  I read your blogs and find myself nodding, going "yes, yes, I've experienced that too".  Every day I come and look at your paintings and drawings.  I feel your pride in your latest piece, and I am inspired.  You are all amazing!  And I thank you!

....~*~....

And to think, all I was going to post today was my new project.  Well here it is so far.

Early morning walk

I enjoy doing small paintings when I want to try out a different style or technique.  For these small paintings I use masonite/hardboard.  Our local Builder's Warehouse sells large sheets of masonite.  I purchase the sheet and tell them what sizes I want it cut to, and they do that at no extra charge. When I paint on these boards I don't worry about making a mess or wasting expensive canvas.  I use the stretched canvas for specific projects.

This little painting was inspired by a photograph I took while visiting St Francis Bay in April of this year.  The weather had been dreadful and on this particular morning the sun came out and there was not a breath of wind.  This was when I spotted the lady in the blue jacket taking a walk.

Early Morning Walk

Acrylic on hardboard

 30 x 25cm

Note:

I had to change the photo, the previous one was taken at night and did not look good at all.  Note to self, always take the photos in daylight.

After the rain

After a long period of drought we were finally blessed with an abundance of rain. This of course caused the landscape to change colour as new growth sprouted from the ground, little flowers popped up everywhere and everything looked so fresh and new.

While driving around the countryside my father and I came across a dairy farm where little yellow flowers turned the lands into a yellow carpet.  

Carpet of Yellow
Acrylic on Canvas Panel
10 x 14"
254 x 356mm

I just have to share this photo with you, this was one of the photographs taken that day.  The farmer told us that some of his Jersey cows provide 40 litres of milk per day.  Isn't she beautiful?

Cloudy day at home

I enjoy photography and often use it as a means of capturing a scene that I might want to paint later on.  Port Elizabeth is known as South Africa's windy city.  The weather can change in a moment and very often the wind will blow dark misty clouds in from the sea. One afternoon I grabbed the camera and took a photo of these dark clouds rolling in over my home.

I did not think I would want to paint this scene, until I looked at the photo.  I finally got to paint it today.

 Cloudy day at home

Acrylic on hardboard

30 x 30cm

Catch of the day!

It doesn't matter where your talent lies, or what you are good at, at some stage somebody is going to look at you and say, "You are so lucky, I wish I could draw!" Or paint, or cook or sew!  The point is that each and every one of us has something that we are good at.  But, we still have to practice.  I haven't painted in a while, so I have to get back into it by messing about and having fun with different styles and textures.

I paged through a travel magazine looking for something to paint and came across a photo of freshly caught fish.  So I thought what the heck, let me paint one.

Here is the result.

Blue Fish

Acrylic on board

30 x 30cm

You can purchase a print of this painting in my Zazzle shop.

Blue Fish by artbyvee

A Fresh Start

My blog has been very quiet over the last few months as has been my painting.  All over body aches and stiffness, blurred vision and extreme exhaustion forced me to lay down my paint brushes.  Fibromyalgia is a very lonely disease, people don't know what to say to you when they see you limping and hear you stuttering and stammering as you battle to make a complete sentence.  Cold weather aggravates the Fibromyalgia aches and pains, so I am very thankful that we are now moving into our warm season here in the Southern hemisphere.

Over the last six weeks I have been taking supplements that have improved my mobility to a degree, so I am preparing to paint once again.

In the mean time I have been looking into ways to sell my artwork on cards, posters, clothing etc.  So I have just opened a Zazzle shop.  It's still new to me so I am still trying to figure out the design and settings.  It would be a nice outlet for my smaller drawings and possibly even some of my digital drawings.

I turned one of my drawings into a mouse pad, I quite like it.  See the link below. 

Wiseman Mouse Pad from Zazzle.com

Wiseman by artbyvee
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Till next time.  Take care.

Vanessa