Painting on Fence Board

Old fence board makes fun seasonal art. I made A & M snowmen, Christmas trees, and a dozen or more trees. 

I like this so well that I'm making a permanent arrangement, at least until Julie asks me to hand them over! 

Tree Fascination

I like trees. The ever-changing colors, the varied shapes,  the shadows cast. This painting was fun to do.  Some paintings take no time and are pure joy to put on canvas. This was one of those. 

My river paintings are a royal pain, a labor of love, an attempt to recreate favorite places.  

My people painting is worse than that. It's agony and repainting and trying to portray something other than wooden dolls or stick figures. 

Tree painting is child's play. 

Christmas Memories

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 I started painting, and I couldn't stop.  I thought of snow and sledding, building snowmen, walking the upper field with my family in fields of fresh moonlit snow.

We had this super sled riding path when I was a kid. We lived near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The path started on the Hanuska's hill, dipped down and across our yard, into the Walsh's and on to the Weiss'. It sharply turned and headed down to the creek.

When an ice storm hit, the path was especially slick.  I remember one Sunday when there was no chance of going to church. We took our sleds out back and gave the path a whirl.  After a while, unexpectedly, our parents called us in. "It's too icy. We've been watching through the window, and you guys might hit a tree."  But wow, it was like flying.

Here is what they look like all together.  Yes, that's my really large family photo and my tall son peeking over Christmas Mountain. 

Another nostalgic sledding memory:  One Saturday, the path was packed and fast.  We had even put boards across the little stream so we could continue the sled ride into the woods.  It takes some time to pack the path to that degree of sled-ability; if the snow if fluffy and soft, it takes cooperation and work.  We usually took the silver metal coasters down, pulling a smaller kid to get it packed.  Slowly, we'd perfect it with sled runners. 

       Everyone had his personal sled.  We had more sleds than bikes.  Anyway, on this particular day we were all sailing down the path.  My brother Mark went ahead of me.  He slightly dislodged the boards, which I didn't notice until "Pow!" it caught me in the right cheekbone, right below the eye.  I can still feel the sting 45 years later.  My eyes were watering and my brother walked me up to the house. 

       Dad looked at me and grinned. "Well, Bethie, you're sure going to have a shiner!" And I did.  It was the best story.  It stayed black long enough that I had to tell it at school on Monday.  Thanks to my dad, I regarded it as a battle symbol worth a little bragging. 

I'm also working on deer in addition to trying to develop lifelike figures.  (See my pinterest collections: Faces and Figures Paintable) 

Copies of these paintings can be purchased at: 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/snowy-night-beth-waltman.html

See more Christmas art by many artists:

Christmas Art

http://fineartamerica.com/art/all/christmas/all

Odd Trees

Some of the trees here are different because of the climate, such as these pines:

Others, like the kapok, used in Indonesia to make everything from furniture to insulation, are exotics. 

http://www.stjohnbeachguide.com/kapok.htm

The strangler fig is also a distinct tree that reminds me of jungles, ruins, and the futility of trying to slow nature down. 

Winter trees

Krystal would like some glitter on this, which will make it look like a giant Christmas card. We'll try it! What can it hurt?

I usually paint the lightest colors in first.  For this one, I used dark gesso, then slowly added lighter shades.  The photo that inspires me shows a sinking sun that causes deep shadows. There are all shades of pink and tenders pastel yellow right between the clouds and the retreating sun.  I'll add those in over several days so I can thin with glaze.  

Moody blues

I got this too dark at first, but was able to lighten and brighten.

I watched a youtube video to learn techniques:Video from GagnonStudio-clouds at night

I learn something new with every attempt.  I will keep working on this painting and on a couple others I started that don't yet seem complete. 

There's soup in the pot.  A tribute to my German roots--all cabbage and beef and rice.  It's a chilly day, good for reading and painting and little household chores.