Painting Process From Start to Finish

I just finished a fun little commission painting of two ravens. My client works from home and for the past year two playful ravens have been keeping her company sitting on the railing outside the window. She wanted a painting of the two birds that depicted the Native American belief of Ravens symbolizing the "bringer of light." This is my interpretation along few progress shots.

This is the first rough layout showing where the lights and darks will be.

Next I removed, scraped and wiped most of the first layer of paint from the trees because they seemed too bold and competed with the birds which I further defined the ravens' shapes.

Here is the finished painting, an 11X14" stretched canvas painted with acrylic paints.

This piece is sold but there are more original paintings available in the Blenda Studio Shop. Stop by to see if one just might look great on your wall.

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In the Studio

Last week while in the studio doing a little photo shoot of some of my latest paintings, J. Quincy, our new kitten since January, really got into the act of "helping" me out....having just a little too much fun! And I've got the photos to show you!

This is the finished photo that I was shooting for, to be used in a listing in my shop. But here's what went on behind the scenes:

 Quincy thought it was nothing more than a big game we were playing and at the first opportunity took a flying leap in front of the camera.

You can see him in this photo right behind the terrarium planning his next move.

Since that last little setup didn't work out I decided to try a different spot to prop the artwork on but look what happen again!

It's the amazing Quincy kitty! Good thing I'm a patient gal and have a thing for furry pets!

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Who could possibly resist a sweet innocent face like this!

Blenda Studio on Facebook

We've been having a good time over on Facebook lately. And I've been updating my Blenda Studio Page, there changing things around a little, adding new photos, etc. Thought you might want to take a peek for yourself. Stop in and say "hi" and I'd be honored if you "Like" my page.

Here is the Facebook Page for Victorhill Farm our family farm in the Pacific Northwest where we grow sustainable cut flowers in the summer and U Cut Christmas trees for winter holiday time.

Spring Original Art Sale is Live

The Spring Collection of original paintings is now live at the Blenda Studio Shop where you will find all things spring; trees with blossoms, birds, and a landscape painting...8 unique works in all. There are 2 more pieces still in the painting process to come later next week or so. Some pieces just listed are fresh off the easel while a few others were painted in 2011 and now available in the online shop for the very first time.

The next originals sale will be on Sunday June 24nd. Watch for the Summer Collection Sale.

The weather was just plain gorgeous today so we couldn't resist going outside to photograph the art work. Not every shot turned out perfectly. This pretty blossom branch kept getting in the way.

The new cover photo for the Blenda Studio Facebook Page. Speaking of FB, connect with me there if you can. Also, come see me on that crazy wonderful Pinterest site. Have you been pinning yet? If not it's loads of fun, never too late to start designing your own style boards of everything you like or want around the web.

Enjoy the rest of the your weekend....please tell me the sun is shining where you live. Tomorrow is promising to be another perfect spring day here! You truly appreciate the sunshine when you live in a rain forest like we do in the Pacific Northwest! Everything comes to a stand still when the sun peers out from behind the clouds. It's all we can do is to soak up those luscious rays while we can. See you soon...

New Art Work for Saturday Sale

Here are few more paintings for the April 21th Saturday Online beginning at 9PM. As promised paintings will be available right here in the Blenda Studio Shop. I will be adding 8-10 new paintings. Here are a few more for you to preview before the sale:

"Pattern Sky Tree" Original Painting on Canvas by Blenda Tyvoll

"Bloom Tree" Original Canvas Painting By Blenda Tyvoll

Three Robins Original Canvas Painting by Blenda TyvollI hope you enjoy these and stop back by tomorrow evening when all the new pieces, proper photos and prices will be set up in the Studio Shop and ready for a new home.

Have a great weekend! I'm so excited...it's forecast for sunshine both Saturday and Sunday and in the 70s! Hoorah! We've had more than our share of cold rainy weather...time for a change.

Trilliums + New Art Work

In time for the weekend, a little bouquet of fresh flowers for you to enjoy! These are trilliums from our garden. They grow like crazy on the north side of the house where there are plenty of ferns, moss and tons of shade. In the background you can also see two of the paintings that I'm currently working on for the upcoming sale beginning Saturday April 21 at 9PM Pacific right here online. I'll be listing 10+ New Original Paintings.

 These two pieces are still in progress paintings but I thought you might like to see them anyway before they are completely finished.

Happy weekend! Hopefully you won't be too bogged down working on your US tax returns. If you are lucky you are all finished filing and all that's left now is to wait for the refund!

Specially Priced Gallery Wrapped Canvas Prints

For a limited time I'm offering 2 of my most popular prints 11X14" at a special price of $44 each or 50% off the regular listing. (Please note these are not original paintings. They are prints of an original)

Click on the Image

Click on Image

Are You Ready for a Spring 2012 Art Sale?

Get ready for the annual spring art sale of my original paintings. Sale begins April 21th 9PM. I've been painting every day for this online only sale. Most pieces will be on gallery wrapped canvas. I'll be posting at least 10 or more new paintings. They will only be available for purchase through the Blenda Studio Shop.

In the meantime there are signed prints of my most popular work available in the Blenda Studio Shop and also in the Etsy Shop.

Over the next few days you can preview the artwork here on the blog for a peek before the sale. For starters here are two tree paintings that will be in the sale:

"Visions of the Past" left and "Poe Tree" on right.

Can't wait for you to see everything!

A Walk in the Woods

The crazy spring snow all melted away and finally left us with a few days of nice weather. Yesterday, because it felt so good to be outdoors, we went for a walk in our woods down by the creek.

It's been a month now since my Zippy is has been gone. It's still too painful to think about him for very long and not let my eyes swell up with tears....I miss his silky soft ears and big wet nose. Oh, how he would have loved our little walk--wagging around sniffing forest smells, wearing that big smile on his face with his tongue hanging out going ha ha ha ha.

And so we carried on without him, trapped through the woods to the creek. We named wild animal tracks in the mud of the creek bank. The usual suspects, deer, racoon, beaver and nutria.

Then we played on a log that beavers gnawed down. It just happened to fall in the right place to make a bridge over the creek. Close enough to the water so that if you lay on your belly you can touch the cold rushing water with the tips of your fingers.

All around us as we walked branches were on the verge of bursting with new leaves and blooms and things. Spring is in the air, but not quite there.

Some of us, more than others, practiced our tree hugging skills and did cart wheels in the grassy meadow on the way home.

March Snowfall

March snowfall is so unusual for us. Normally it's one or two days of snow in December or January, if we're lucky, that lasts for a day or two...that's it!.... But Tuesday morning we woke to a blanket of the fluffy white stuff covering everything. Here is how our yard looked for one brief 24 hour period.

 We felt so sorry for the sad little daffodils falling over from the winter weather that we just had to bring them inside to enjoy.  Then it was too irresistible not to take a few photos.

photo by E Hanson - Bird print available in Shop

photo by E Hanson Photo by E Hanson - Bird print available in Shop - Click on image