A Seal Hello

Here's another of my recent paintings.  Most of these are acrylics on 16" x 20" gallery wrapped canvas.
I must admit this one is not my favorite, but its gotten a lot of really nice feedback.  This one challenged me quite a bit.

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My favorite painting

Here's another painting that I did not to long ago.  This one is the largest I've painted.  It's about 2'x3'.  I've wanted to paint this picture since my first visit to Hawaii over 10 years ago and just did it.  I love Hawaii and am fascinated with sea turtles.  I was fortunate enough to see tons of them and took lots of pictures.  This painting is based from my favorite pic.  I also got to snorkel in a few areas where there were many turtles swimming.  It was incredible!

I love how this turned out and it now hangs over our couch.  I think this is my favorite painting I've ever done and love that I get to see it everyday!

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Manatee

I love manatees.  I had the great pleasure of one surfacing right underneath us while we were sitting on the pier at Mallory Square in Key West.  It was an amazing moment.  I think these gentle creatures are so loving and adorable.  I tried to capture those qualities in this painting.

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My first art show!

I haven't posted in awhile but that doesn't mean I've been idle.  I set a goal for myself this year to get my art  into a shop or a gallery.  I've been painting a lot trying to get together a nice repertoire to present to places.  Today, my work paid off and I am still stunned to say that I will have a month long art show in May of 2013!!!!

It will be held at Pentamere Winery in Tecumseh.  It even includes an artist reception!  I am very excited and encouraged by this acceptance of my art.  I promise I'll update more soon to show the work I've been doing, but just wanted to let any and all of my readers know the good news now!

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Pet Portrait Commission-Dan's cats

This painting was actually done last spring.  I was looking for new ways to help fundraise for my Breast Cancer 3-Day walk and I decided to try to do art and craft commissions in return for donations.  This worked really well for me and helped me bring in quite a bit of money to help in the fight for breast cancer.  This painting was done for my friend and walking buddy Dan.  We walked together in San Diego in Nov. 2010, and again in Boston during July 2011.  We're signed up to walk again in San Francisco in Sept. of this year.  He is a wonderful friend and I enjoy all the time we are able to spend together. 

I found it funny that I was super worried about painting the tiger striped gray cat.  That one went well and just fell into place without much of a struggle.  On the other hand, the black and white one was very hard for me.  I had to redo that one a few times to get it right.  This is an acrylic painting on a 9x12 canvas.  It was a fun project to work on and I learned quite a few things while I was working on this painting.  Here's one of the photos' I was sent to base my painting from:

You can see another pet protrait that I painted here.

I'm still open to doing commission work both for donations, and for profit depending on the situation.  I've got a few things in the works and I can't wait to get started on them.

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A gift to some real life Heros

Our local Volunteer Fire Department has been incredibly supportive of me and my constant fundraising to fight breast cancer.  They allowed me to set up a booth selling tshirts and other breast cancer awareness items during their annual fall festival fundraiser.  They did this not expecting anything back, they were simply helping a neighbor.  Not only did they let me sell, they all bought from me and on the last night of the festival they all wore my shirts around showing incredible support in the fight against breast cancer.  It was a wonderful experience and I am very grateful to have such fun, compassionate, caring people serving our community.

I really wanted to do something special to let them know how much I appreciated their help and support.  They restored the original 1938 fire engine that served our town.  They spent tons of time and energy on this project and it is a spectacular restoration.  Needless to say, they are very proud of the end result and now use it in parades. 

I decided I would try to paint the fire truck.  You need to realize, I've never painted a vehicle before.  I had no idea what I was getting into.  This is the most detailed thing I've ever done, and it took lots of time and effort.  I even had to cut back on my coffee (Oh NO!!) in order to get my hands steady enough for the detail lines!  I really am proud of the way the painting turned out.  I made the firemen dinner and presented the painting to them and their reaction made all of the time I invested on this project worth it. 

They now have it hanging in the office at the fire department and I hope they continue to enjoy it.  They continue to support me and my fundraising adventures and I love them for that, and for all the work they do to help our community.  I think of them and pray for them each time I hear those sirens sound.  It people like these men and women who restore my faith in society.  Please remember to thank those who give their time to help others, especially in such a dangerous manner.
Thanks for stopping by.
Brandy