Painting Sale!

You read that right!! The Oil and Acrylic paintings in my shop are on sale - 25% off or more!! Now's the perfect time to get some new colour into your house - just in time for all those summer and spring parties!

Just go to my shop: http://jellybeans.etsy.com, and go to the 'Original Paintings on Sale' section - they are all there, and all ready for new homes!

Winter Field

Winter Field - Oil on 12x12" gallery canvas

Here is the latest oil painting that I completed. I unfortunately did not get any progress photos - I was just so engaged in creating this piece that I worked and worked until it was done. It's currently listed for sale on Etsy.

I got to do some knife painting in this piece to get some wonderful texture, here's a detailed shot:


My autumn tree piece is still sitting on the side, where I left it - I temporarily lost inspiration for it, so I will let it sit until I'm in the mood for it again (no use trying to paint something when the heart isn't in it!).

Golden Forest

I have started my large painting. I am planning this one out quite a bit - I'm not used to all the planning, but after seeing how well it turned out with my Bleeding Hearts painting, I thought that it was a good idea.


And then, I've started with the background, going around all the lines. It's a long process, but I think it will turn out well. I opted for a blue background instead of the green in my 'mock painting', because I think it will let the yellow leaves shine through more.

A little painting

Things have been getting busy getting ready for my trip - we leave o the 12th to the Dominican Republic for a friends wedding. I'm super excited!

Golden Leaves - 5x7" oil on canvas board.

I've recently picked up some larger canvas sizes - a couple 20x24" and 16x16". I am going to tackle my first large scale painting. It's going to be a 20x24" painting, based on a picture I took of the autumn leaves a while back at my parent's place in the country (Northern Ontario).


I made this little 5x7" painting to try and plan the colours I want to use and to see what works and what needs to be changed, in an effort to try and prevent these mistakes on the larger scale - which will take more time and supplies to correct.

This little gem is for sale in my shop. These little paintings are perfect gifts, and are totally affordable. The size, 5x7" is perfect as well, to just pop into any frame that will hold that size - no need for custom framing :)

I will be updating with the larger one soon.

Harvest Storm (Sunset) Part 4

Harvest Storm - Original Oil painting, 10x10" on wood

I am all done this lovely painting. And it turned out well. The sunset bit didn't go over so well, so now it's a storm, but I still kept a little bit of the yellow - so it looks like a sun peaking out.

I am thrilled at how the texture turned out. It is so beautiful I think, and a lovely contrast to the clouds.

This painting is available for sale on my Etsy shop, or you can email me.

Harvest Sunset Part 3

I started on the field portion now. I want to make sure that I capture the texture, and not hide it. I will be adding some glazes on top I think. I've also controlled the yellow a bit more and got rid of some of that muckiness.

Here is a detail shot:

Harvest Sunset Part 2

I've begun to work the sky. I wanted to incorporate some yellow. It didn't go too well when mixed closely with the purple-blue (obviously, because that combination just makes colour mush). I'm hoping I can clean it up after I let it dry and add more white highlights.

I think the white portion at the top right I will build up quite a bit.

Harvest Sunset Part 1

I've been wanting to experiment with some texture. And since acrylic can go under oil paint, I used some gel medium to create a textured field. This will allow me to be more liberal / free with my brush work and texture in the sky. I hope. We will just have to see how this experiment turns out.

This piece is 8 x 8" on wood, with .75" sides. I'm trying to keep the sides clean, so that I can leave them unpainted and have the wood shine on this project.

Here is a close up of the texture in the field:

Bleeding Hearts Part 6

This painting is officially all done! It was a lot of fun creating this piece, and I cannot believe how quickly it went - I guess I just loved painting it so much. Quite honestly, I never thought that I would be able to capture a bleeding heart, because of their complicated white part - but I did!


I'm super excited to get a nice scan of it. Right now it'll have to sit for a long while to dry up before I can get some print-quality pictures of it. During that time, I'll decide whether I want to put it up for sale or not - I won't list it until it's dry and ready to go.

I'm also trying to decide whether to paint the side black or not. What do you all think? With the black it won't need a frame, but the sides aren't that 'dirty' with paint marks. And if it gets framed, then it's insignificant that it was painted or not. Hrm...I'll have to ponder, but I'm definitely interested in what you think.

Here's a nice compilation of the whole process :) Gotta love mosaic maker...

You can read about the whole process by clicking here, or the label below.

Pink Trio Part 5

I've painted that little leaf in the top right that wasn't done (no real reason that I didn't paint it, just was more occupied with the blossoms I suppose).

I've started the white bits, and now I have to wait for them to dry at least a little bit. I can't put white highlights on them until they are dry, or else it's just been turning into a mush of colour. I added a little bit more shading to the heart parts - just some green in an effort to try and tie things together.

Almost there! :D

Bleeding Hearts Part 4

I've added some more definition to the pink parts of the flowers. I'm almost done. Just a bit more shading to them. The white bits are up next...and I am not looking forward to it. Well, sort of looking forward to it, since I'm looking forward to the completed piece :)

Little pink hearts part 3

I've begun to paint the actual blossoms of the flowers now. I had initially had a brighter pink in the plan, but I think this slightly muted pink works better with the greens, and doesn't over power too much.

I think the white bits that hang are going to be my greatest challenge. They have to be a sort of off-white so that they don't stand out too much amoung the rest of the composition.

Out on a Limb Part 2

I'm almost done all the foliage for my piece now. Just one more little leave on the right, and then some tweaking throughout (but after I'm done the blossoms), just to make sure its balanced. The fragile heart blossoms will be my biggest challenge in this piece, and hence - like everything else that it hard - I leave it for last.

I'm not 100% sold on the pink that I have mixed up so far, but I will let it rest for a day or so and look back at it to see if I'm going to change it or not.

For those who might be interested, this is my palate for this piece:

• Zinc White
• Cadium Yellow
• Alizarin Red
• Phthalo Blue
• Cerulean Blue

It is quite a limited palate (for my experience, where I use so many different colours in my acrylics and watercolours at times). But the oil colours are just so vibrant and really shine through.

For more posts on this piece, click here.

Hearts Hung Out Part 1

It's the beginning of a new year, and this is my first oil painting! It's from a picture that I told in my Mom's garden one summer of her bleeding heart flowers (also know as: Venus' car, Dutchman's trousers or Lady in a bath). I've always loved playing with this flowers as a kid, and thought they would make a perfect subject.

I was initially inspired by a Vincent van Gogh painting, Irises:

It was the heavier outlines within the painting that prompted me to try some sort of style of the like, but with my own twist. The heavier lines and simplified imagery is a bit more modern.

Here's a close up: (You can click it to make it a lot bigger :)

My other 'in progress' paintings have somewhat hit dead-ends. I know I will continue them again soon. But, I have been intensely occupied with studying for my provincial certification exam - in one week! Eek! - as well as packing up holiday orders, and completing new watercolor commission pieces. That being said, I've been very engaged and motivated with this piece, so I feel that it will be completed shortly. :)