Good Morning!

Well, we are down to the last two weeks of the show! It really has gone by so fast and with a quick trip to Salt Lake for Art and Soup during the last week, I'll be home before I can blink. I'm still working on a few paintings down here and I'll be doing a little plein air Monday and Tuesday with friends. I sure thought I would do more of that while I was here, but seven days a week 8-10 hours a day is tough stuff!

I'm so excited to get my garden going at home! I'm going to bring a few indoor plants home with me too from here in Arizona - JASMINE! Does anyone know if it can be grown indoors? Utah is much too cold to grow it outside, but that smell just mesmerizes me. I have to have some. Can't wait for the Lilly's to come out and maybe a few daffodil bulbs survived the barbs of the tiller last year. I'm going to build a small flower garden for painting a few still life's this summer.

Focus - Shanna - focus! Quit daydreaming about a month from now and get back to the present! Up and at it and back to the tent to get things done. This is the first day of a two week show and it's time to make opportunity happen :) Have a nice day everyone!

Winter Whispers

Winter Whispers

24x36 oil on canvas

Framing Conversations!

I've had quite a few discussions lately with clients about frames. The final presentation is so important - you can say to the world that you are proud of your work, that it has value or you can throw on a cheap frame to get the painting out the door. When putting together a show of a dozen pieces, it's a tough pill to swallow to fork out a few grand for a nice frame. Haven't we all been through this pain before! Consider it an investment in your business, not unlike good tires on a vehicle. Yes, you can buy retread or used, but if you want the best investment with sustainability - get the best that you can reasonably afford! Look for a frame that does not compete with the painting, lines or pattern that bring out the subtleties in a piece. I use a handmade, hand leafed finished corner frame from Rocky Mountain Frames out of Kaysville UT.

We chose to float the piece to give it more weight and pull the painting away from the edge just a bit. It is a metal leaf, rubbed to look like Karat Gold. We also went with a thinner moulder with clean lines to make it a transitional frame - one that would work in a contemporary or traditional setting! I think Tony does a marvelous job and he will design any style to fit an artists look and needs. Check him out when you get a few extra minutes Rocky Mountain Frames.

Newly Revised Autumn Shore

Sometimes, a painting that previously seemed finished, calls out for something more. Autumn Shore is just that piece! The more I lived with it, the more it called for more mood, more nuances. Here is the piece in it's final state. I am so happy with this version!

Workshop Paintings!

Well, here they are! Cacti :) Inside joke around here about me painting Cactus - Marco's been trying to get me to do them forever and the only way I knew I would like it was if I was plein-air painting. So the workshop with Matt Smith was the best option and I had a ball! Especially with my newfound friend, sister from another mother Liz. I am going to get out and do a few more while I'm here, especially when things really start getting green. Until then.......