Jazz Alternative- Dog Memorial Painting

 Recently, I had to let go of my constant companion.  She was almost 13 years old and had been with me  for over 8 years. She was a Black Lab rescue from a local shelter who had been at a puppy factory before I met her.  She ended being a really good sidekick/pal.  It was VERY hard to let her go almost a month ago.  My eyes still tear up as I am typing here.  I did a memorial painting but decided to do it in a bit of unique way.  After all, she was a unique girl to me.  Here's Jazz Alternative....

                                        Jazz Alternative- Acrylic on Wood with sanding on Board- 15" x 18"

It's hard to paint a Black Lab in the best of conditions. I started under painting her and then put black over in some areas but it just didn't seem right.  Next thing I'm doing a bit of sanding and then I'm like wait that's it-- a diamond in the rough and that was just how my Jazz was. Good bye my sweet girl!  Someday, I hope we meet again over that rainbow bridge!  Here's the picture I based the painting on...

Birdhouse Scrabble

 Just a little wordy fun with a birdhouse that features scrabble board with pieces. It's a bit of a rough version I didn't want to get too detailed with it.  I like the unfinished wood around the bird hole.  It ties in well with the wooden scrabble pieces. A spare piece on the roof covers a hole that was in the metal roof.  I wanted to play with a square motif on the roof but wanted it to be loose and simple.  Enjoy and I welcome any feedback you may have!

"Composition C" Birdhouse

 Playing with a bit more of a modern birdhouse this time.  This much more modern birdhouse was loosely based on Piet Mondrian's 1935 Composition C No. 111.  Most fellow Iowans that I have shared photos of this birdhouse have given me mixed reviews.  Most saying "interesting" and leaving it at that...lol

But hopefully someone out there will appreciate this birdhouse. The sides of this birdhouse are leftover derecho debris from a vinyl fence that used to be in my back yard but got blown apart by the storm.  The roof are leftover gutters.  I'm having too much fun with reclaiming storm debris..lol

 Thank you for stopping by and enjoy!

Composition C birdhouse- Front

 

Back and side of Composition C Birdhouse.

Bottom of Composition C birdhouse

Peace and Love to all the little Birdies!

 I started this in February and it carried over into the month of March while I was watching the Ukraine war on TV.  I couldn't help but add the Peac as this birdhouse emerged into being.  The world definitely needs more Love and Peace.  The roof is former gutters that used to be on my house before the 2020 Derecho that hit Eastern Iowa. I decided to go with a bit of a groovy colors and had a bit of fun with it.  I hope you enjoy it and wlecome any feedback you may have.

Front and side view

Back and other side view

Bottom view of Birdhouse

Thank you for stopping by!

Sunny Butterfly Birdhouse

 I had a bit of fun with this one!  I gave this a bit of a 3-dimensional quality. I found some thin wooden butterfly cut outs and glued them to this birdhouse.  Then I painted butterflies to my heart's content; some butterflies are solid and some are painted.  This birdhouse also allows for removing the bottom to clean between nesting seasons.  And topped with a striped piece of gutter that used to be on my house.  I'm very please how this one turned out.

Butterflies are even on the removable bottom of this birdhouse.  Thanks for stopping by!

Daisies on Pink Birdhouse

 Just as I finished up the Paisley Dreams Birdhouse I started this one.  I have opted to have the bottom of the birdhouse be a removable panel after getting feedback from some people.  It makes it easier to clean the birdhouse between nesting seasons.  I thought that daisies me be a fresh new fun idea to have on a birdhouse.  I still had 2 different variations of pink paint left over from a fence mural I did a couple years ago.  I thought it might be a nice contrast with the daisies so I did a bit of paint taping off with a stripe effect and then painted the daisies on top of the stripes and this is what it became.... Enjoy!

Front and side of Daisies on Pink Birdhouse

Oh, and yes the roof again is my former gutters.  I still have about 50 more feet to use...lol  Many a more birdhouses could be on the way.

Back and other side of Daisies on Pink Birdhouse

And here is the removal able bottom- which a fly landed on as I took a picture. Go figure!!

Paisley Dreams Birdhouse

Front and side of the Paisley Dreams Birdhouse.

 

 I had a bit of fun with Paisley designs on this birdhouse.  This is also a well vented house with a bit of quirkiness to it.  The roof is another length of gutters that were on my house before the 2020 Derecho that hit Eastern Iowa.  I did a dot on dot for the roof to finish off and to add to the whole color scheme. Enjoy!

Paisley Dreams Birdhouse the back and other side.

And even the bottom has Paisley!

Cute Swiss Cottage

 This is a petite bird house, and it is a little bit smaller than some of them I have been doing.  I had someone ask me about if I did smaller bird houses and I thought I would give it a try.  This is the first of 2 smaller bird houses that I am making.  The roof on this birdhouse is a piece of siding from my house that blew off in the Derecho we had in August 2020.  This one I call Cute Swiss Cottage.  I still need to put several thin layers of clear coat weather proofing spray on this.

Front and side of Cute Swiss Cottage

Back view of Cute Swiss Cottage

I even did a bit on the bottom and this is a removable panel for cleaning the bird house after nesting season.  Thank you for stopping by.

Bottom of Cute Swiss Cottage with removable bottom.

Sunflower Fields and Argyle Check Blues

 Two more bird houses.  One is called Sunflower Fields that's inspired by the Sunflower fields that can be seen in Iowa in late August to early September.  It's the sunny colors of late summer early Fall which is my favorite time of the year.  The other bird house I'm calling Argyle Check Blues.  I think you'll understand why when you look at it.

These bird houses are made from scratch by me and the roofs are the former gutters that used to be on my house before a Derecho (In-land Hurricane) storm hit the area.

Bird houses in process

I had even more fun with the bottom of the Sunflower Fields one... check this out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Plaid Stained Glass Gothic Bird House

 I'm having a bit of fun with these bird houses.  This color fest I call -"Plaid Stained Glass Gothic ".  It's inspired by the window in the background of Grant Wood' s American Gothic in the shape but I thought I would make it a lot more color. How's this for the ultimate bird house?! It even has stained glass effect on the bottom. Enjoy! 

Windmill Dreams....

 Yes, another bird house.  I call it "Windmill Dreams".  And I'm sure you can see why.  Another roof on the bird house that is re-purposed gutters from my house.  I managed to get new gutters on the house recently and now have over 40feet of gutters I can repurpose...lol  Not sure if I'll use all of the gutters but time will tell.

Oh and did I mention these are all usable art?  There's removable roof parts, and air vents, and drainage holes.  There's also 4 layers of clear coat on them too.  Can you tell I am having fun with these?  Enjoy!

Expanding into Bird Houses- Ode to Corn

I've expanded into bird houses....

Photo: "Ode to Corn" Bird house

 

It's been a long while since I have updated this blog.  Between everyday life and then COVID, this blog kind of fell through the cracks.  After a Derecho storm (An Inland Hurricane) the
first I had ever experienced the almost 140mph winds took out trees, power, part of the roof and almost anything that wasn't bolted into the ground.  It was an eye opener what the weather can do.  

My tree lined street in shambles after a Derecho storm with 140mph winds.

 

I was lucky enough to be home at the time and took shelter but 3 large trees were lost and gutters were ripped from the house as well as shingles.  

It was after this one day while I was cleaning up the yard that I noticed the local birds nesting in my former mangled gutters.  It was then that it hit me! Those poor birds and thus I changed up my artwork and did a bit of "usuable" art but I decided to repupose the mangled gutters and a bit of wood that ended up in my yard mixed with new wood.  And bird houses started to take shape.

This is my first one that I did.  Loosely based on Grant Wood's Ode to Corn...

Enjoy!

Photo- Back of Ode to Corn Bird house.

Ceralean Chevrolet and a Dog Called Henry....

I'm trying to prep up for my Summer  with new paintings. I'm  also exploring new subjects. Dogs with clothing. Here's  a couple of examples from my studio...

" Ceurlean Cheverolet-9"x12"-watercolor and ink on paper.

"A Dog Called Henry"-11"x14" watercolor and ink on paper.

Butterfly & Flowers...

Recently, a co-worker passed away.  It was a shocking thing where they went in for a surgery that is considered by some as an everyday procedure.  Unfortunately, complications occurred and there was preparations for a life flight to another medical facility but the co-worker passed before that could occur.  It's been a sad week at work.  This co-worker loved purple and butterflies.  So I did this painting at the request of another co-worker that thought it might be a nice gift for the family.  I'm not sure if my artwork is worthy of something like that but here it is....

"Purple Butterfly and Flowers in Remembrance"- 11" x 14" Watercolor and Ink on Paper.

A Little Eye Fun....

I did these as a Christmas presents for my bosses at an eye care office clinic where I work part time.  They are now being enjoyed on the walls at the clinic....

Fat Tire and Lab Scruff

Here's my most recent pieces finished.

"Schlick Fat Tire"; Watercolor and Ink on 12" x 12" Paper

"Lab Scruff"; Watercolor and Ink on 8" x 10" Paper

I've got other pieces of art in the works and hope to share them with you soon.  I welcome any feedback or comments!  Thank you for stopping by.

The Lab Blues

I had a bit of fun the other day in my studio and did a Lab in shades of blue.  Here's the result...

"Lab Blues"; watercolor and ink on 8" x 10" paper.
Available for purchase.

I welcome any comment and thanks for stopping by!

Fresh Green Bike and Not All Who Wander

Photo: "Fresh Green Bike"; Poured Watercolor and Ink, 11" x 14"

It's been awhile since I've updated this site.  I had a life change that hit me sideways.  I went into work one day earlier this month and was told that "we were parting ways", and just like that I found myself unemployed.  It was a complete surprise because I LOVED doing the job and thought I was doing it very well.  I'm still trying to get back up and have found that I've had more time to do a little painting now between job searching.

Photo: "Not All Who Wonder...."; Watercolor and Ink, 12" x 12"

"Not All Who Wander..." is one of my favorite sayings.  This I added my one one line at the end to have a bit of fun with it.  I even had a 12" x 12" white frame on hand to finish it off.

Photo: Framed and ready to go... this is available for purchase.

Thank you for stopping by and I welcome any comments you may have!

Farm Themed Commissions....

I recently went to the open house for a local Farm Credit Services where two of my artworks were newly framed and hanging.  One near the front lobby area and another at the end of a hallway.  It was rather fun to be in a business where my artwork was on display.  I was commissioned for these two fun farm inspired pieces....

"CR Barn and Silo"; Watercolor and Ink on 22" x 28" Paper.
Commissioned Piece

Photo of framed CR Barn and Silo.

"Old McDonald's Pig"; Watercolor and Ink on 20" x 20" Paper
Commissioned Piece

Photo of Framed Old McDonald's Pig