The Greenest Place

 

Check out my latest little guy!   

The Greenest Place, a little 4x4 oil painting on gallery canvas.  xox

Thick paint strokes, lovely teal, and major contrast...  where would you put this little one?

I have created a new painting and I'm so excited to share it with you!  It's been far to long since my last painting; but anything longer than a few days feels way to long to me...
“Nearing 143657″ is a 4×4 inch baby painting.  I love painting tiny paintings because they are perfect little pops of artistic expression.  I like to place them on a shelf near a collection of pretty books, or on a mantle by a vase of flowers.  They also look great in groups, or solo in a little area, hanging on the wall.  Well really, they just look great no matter where you put them!  Tiny paintings are also perfect for the art lover without a huge budget.  These babies are priced just right (think, Christmas gift!)

“Nearing 14367″ is so named after the location this painting was inspired by.  My parents live at 14367 CR 37 in a beautiful home out in the country in Northern, Ohio.  Their home has to be one of the most warm, welcoming, comfortable, loving (and yummy!) places on earth.  I took this snapshot while driving down the road on the way “home” one afternoon.  There is so much lush foliage, and warm sunshine in this place…  I incorporated many shades of gold and cheery green, as well as a huge variety of warm blues in the sky.  It hope this painting fills you with that sense of lovely warmth and belonging as well!
There are eight more small paintings coming soon but you can find this one in my fine art shop.
 

Prints!

Exciting news!  I am now offering fine art limited edition reproductions on my shop! 

Check out the new prints that are being offered at an amazing price!  These were four of the most popular paintings from my Painting365 project. 

This print is a Fine Art Limited Edition Print on fine silk paper with the highest quality inks. I painted the original paintings in oil on wooden blocks. The smooth texture of the wood makes these painting ideal for a fine art reproduction.

Each print is signed in the lower right hand corner and is surrounded with a white border, ready to be matted and framed!

Celery Slopes

So, where on earth have I been for the past month!? It has been a crazy, exciting, eventful month full of family (we're talking 21-28 people at one table...), friends, trips, quiet days with my tot, and wonderfully warm weather. I really wasn't intending to leave for such a long time, and I'm sorry!

I'm back now (with just a slight lingering summer laziness left in me) and ready for all the excitement the fall brings. I have a love/hate relationship with fall... I love the crispness, the colorfulness, the freshness in the air, but it means goodbye to warm weather for many months, and I'm just not ok with that. I love little bits of winter, but not months and months. No thank you.
So, needless to say, I'm enjoying these last few weeks of warm, warm weather. In celebration of warm summer days, I painted this oil painting I am endearingly calling "Celery Slopes". It is 5x11 inches, painted on a beautiful piece of wood from my grandfathers wood shop. I love the quilted feel, the general sloping motion, and the warm, cozy, colors.

This painting can be found on my Etsy shop, along with several others, for $50 for only one week! Next Friday, it will go up to $80. I am doing a steal-deal today to keep life active and exciting. ;)
Have a WONDERFUL weekend! I know I will!

Painting #134 Under A Big, Blue Sky

Well, we finally got some rain! After days and days of scorching heat the sky decided it had waited long enough, stored up enough little drops, and finally let them fall. It was wonderful. My daughter, Annalisa, and I went outside when the rain was slowing down. I love watching her experience the world, learning about all the amazing things around her. She held out her little, fat hands and danced whenever a drop hit them. So cute…

I painted this oil painting before the rain began, wishing that the earth would look verdant and moist again. I used blue tined greens, hazy light blue for the sky to give the painting that lush feeling, and oranges, pinks, and purples to represent flowering fields, bushes, and trees. This painting is 12x16 inches on a wooden board with bright red edges. The decorative edges allow you to display this painting unframed if you wish. Otherwise, a simple black or brown wood frame would look perfect, as would a decorative gold frame… I’ll leave that to your artistic eye. However, if you would like me to select a frame that I feel fits this painting perfectly, just send me an email!

You can buy this painting in my shop.  EmilyJeffords.etsy.com

Painting #128 Beautiful On the Insided

And without further ado… I present my latest watercolor painting: Beautiful on the Inside, an 8.5 x 14 painting on fine watercolor paper.


I must admit, this painting took me far longer than any painting has taken so far and it tricked me into biting off way more than I could chew in one day. But the process was so enjoyable, and the subject matter so colorful and charming that I didn’t mind a bit.

As I said before (in the progress post), this is a painting of one of my favorite stores: Anthropologie. I remember the first time I wondered in to Anthropologie. It’s like stepping into a new world where you just never know what lovely thing you might find. It reminds me of a little real-life fairytale world, and I love it…

This painting is not currently framed, but I think it would look stunning with a nice thick white matt, and a modern dark brown or black frame, and, of course, hanging on your wall… Stop by my shop to buy it and to see all the other paintings I have for sale there! EmilyJeffords.etsy.com



Also, if you would like to commission a painting, please send me an email and we can work out all the details. I love creating pieces that are going to be especially meaningful to you, so bring em’ on!

Painting #123 Late Summer Mornings

Wow, what an adventure these past couple weeks have been! God is good, he gives more grace than I could ever hope for! I am pleased to be back, with my paint brushes in hand, ready to jump back into my paintings once again. Thank you all for your patience with me during this time.
I actually painted this acrylic painting last week during the art camps I taught. It was sort of an example/something for me to work on while the teen group was hard at work on their paintings. I really enjoyed painting this painting. I rarely work with acrylic paints because I have a hard time with the slick, sticky quality of the paint as opposed to oil. But, the speedy draying time and the stickiness of the paint was actually a huge advantage in this landscape. It created some fantastic texture effects along the right side of the painting. This large acrylic painting (16x20 inches) can be found in my shop for a low $123!

Come back tomorrow to see the results of my hours of painting!

Painting #110 The Eastern Sunrise

I’m back! I apologize for my inexcusable absence for the last two days! I can’t was that I’ve been enjoying the time away, because I haven’t been doing anything exceptionally fun that would keep me from you. Just life. Lovely, excitingly varied, life. I have been working on a commission watercolor painting. It’s coming along… and I think it will be beautiful when it’s done! I don’t want to post progress photos because watercolors can sometimes look very, very undone, and disjointed until the last moment, when they have that ah-ha moment. I love that. It’s my favorite part of painting. I plan on completing it on Thursday.

Tomorrow I will be out. A dear friend of the family has passed away, so I’ll be traveling to her funeral tomorrow. She was such a wonderful, Godly, encouraging lady. I know her family and many, many friends are going to miss her greatly. But, we know she is singing in heaven right now, not missing us at all.

The painting I did today was a bit of an experiment in texture. I used the back of the masonite board to get those little raised pattern. I enjoyed the variation, but prefer the smooth texture of the traditional masonite. Now I know! This painting was shamelessly inspired by Design Star (HGTV). There was a beautiful room designed using purples, lilacs, pinks, black and white, and it was stunning. Those colors were my inspiration as I painted this 12x16 oil painting.

This painting “The Eastern Sunrise” is for sale in my shop for $110! There are other lovely paintings of all sizes, styles, and prices still listed there, so check it out!
 
 

Painting #103 Quilted Fields

Day 103 and painting 103... see, all is normal despite the slight restructuring I outlined in my last post...  I've been quite busy today!  Along with all the blog posts I posted today, I also designed new business cards (they are super stylish.... photos coming as soon as I get them printed!)  and worked on a few new marketing ideas (top secret stuff).

I really love this painting!!!  The inspiration for it actually came during a church service about a year and a half ago... so I guess it is a divinely inspired painting.  And, yes, I was paying attention.  I start with a crazy, abstract line drawing right on the masonite, then start filling in the shapes with complimentary colors.  I chose various shades of greens and yellows for this one which is why it looks like a landscape.   It reminds me of lovely, lush fields, full of different crops.  I love flying over the mid-west;  such a beautiful quilted painting as far as the eye can see...

This is a 12x16 oil painting and will be in my Etsy Shop first thing in the morning!

Goodnight!

I didn't foresee myself painting a barn this year.  I wasn't actually apposed to it at all!  After all... my family does live in barn paradise...  I just didn't really think about it until, one day, I received this beautiful landscape/barn portrait in my email (along with breathtaking mountain views, and a close up of a wild BEAR! coming soon.)  You may remember a loooooong time ago, that I painted a scene of Montana on a small block of wood.  This painting was meant to coordinate loosely with that painting.  

This painting is much larger (12x16) and is painted on masonite, for easy framing and a sturdy surface.

Since the inspiration photo was emailed to me (which, by the way, YOU are more than welcome to do!) I'm going to give the sender a chance to buy this painting before putting it on my Etsy Shop.  But, there are several lovely painting there if you are feeling the oh-so-common art hunger.    

Check back this evening for a very important announcement!  

Painting #101 Louisiana Sana Oil Sheen

Well. finally...  Painting #101 is making it's appearance.  I'm so sorry about the lag.  I've been fighting off a cold that has made me so tired!  I've actually been painting all the time, but when I sat down to post the painting at night, I just felt so exhausted.  But, here it is!  I painted a scene that I would never really ant to go see...  it's a southern, marshy lake, and I'm sure there's an alligator there.  I hate alligators more than pretty much anything.  But!  I loved the colors, the textures, the lighting, and the mood of the painting.  I used a lot of oil paint to create the very tactile trees and water.  Please, when you receive this painting, feel free to touch it!  Painting are not for eyes only...   

That being said, check out my Etsy page if you would like to feel and see this painting everyday in your house.  EmilyJeffords.etsy.com

Painting #99 Moss

So, Dan and I got back from Atlanta quite late last night.  We had such a great time.  It was odd not having Annalisa (our 9 month old daughter) there with us, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I'll post some photos soon!  

And yes, I did paint in the car!  I didn't finish the painting in the car, but progress was made there...

But first, painting #99 (!) which I loving titled moss.  I love finding little patches of moss growing in the garden.  It's such a beautiful, lush green, and feels like nature's organic velvet.  I love the organic shades along side the geometric shapes in this painting.  It is dramatic, but not harsh.  Warm grey, bright greens, and deep blues are turning into my favorite colors...  I think they sing beautifully together in this painting.  You can buy this 16x12 oil painting for your space on my Etsy Shop: EmilyJeffords.etsy.com

Painting #98 Before the Clouds Dry Out

I'm pretty excited...  tomorrow my husbands and I are celebrating his birthday!  We're taking a day trip to Atlanta, going to the Coke Museum, Ikea, a few design shops and out to eat at the most incredible looking restaurant - Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante!  I hope it tastes as wonderful as it looks (photos below).  We're going to enjoy ourselves.  It will be the first time I've been away from my baby girl, Annalisa, for a whole day.  I'm going to miss her (but enjoy some one-on-one time with my hubby too.)

So... in order to have a day off tomorrow, I've been painting like a crazy person.  However, only one painting got totally done.  But that's ok.  The other painting is a watercolor, so I'll just take it with me in the car!  ...we'll see how that turns out...  

This oil painting is a depicting that eerie moment right before a huge storm.  I just love that energetic calm; as if you know someone is sneaking up on you, but trying to be very quiet.  

In Greenville, it gets very warm, as if the clouds are giving you a warm blanket hug before dumping their contacts on the earth.  I love the colors, the brush strokes, and the drama of the sky.  

This painting is 16x12 inches and would look stunning in a dark wood, black, or even lux gold frame.  It of for sale on my Etsy Shop, and should really not be there... it should be in your home.  Let's be honest, your home needs a little art.  

See you on Sunday!