Wisteria, Elephants, and Outer Space

        oil on canvas 16 x 20    copyrighted Carrie Waller 2010                                                          
Yay!  It's completed.  This painting took a while.  It was challenging, part of the photograph was focused parts weren't, so I was trying to achieve this affect.  This wisteria vine is in Brian's, Grandma's garden.  It doesn't look like wisteria I've seen so I had to double check that it was actually wisteria.  I was told it is about 35 years old and some years it blooms better than other years.  My mother-in-law told me that  Brian's grandparents had horse that loved to eat this vine, so it has only bloomed since the horse has been gone.

I did second painting for Hayley's birthday this week.  Ian and Hayley turned 15 on the 24th.  I can't believe it!  She jokingly told me that she wanted the elephant painting I did for the Patrick Project, so I painted a hip version.  I"m calling it "The Phunky Phant", Be careful what you ask for:)  I enjoyed painting this little guy:)

   Acrylic on canvas 8 x 1 0

Steven's painting this week is of clouds and the planets in space.  Very imaginative!

 mixed media 11 x 14

Wisteria in progress

Oil on canvas 16 x 20

I'm still working on this one.  It's another long one.  It's kind of like painting a puzzle.  Hopefully I will complete it soon!

My blog is acting crazy, I guess  a lot of blogs on this host are having problems.  I'm hoping they will be resolved soon.  If not I'm going to find a new host.  So in the mean time, if you want to leave a comment, do so on facebook or e-mail me your comments at  roets7@aim.com.  That is my alternate e-mail for those that have my other e-mail address.  I check it also.  So either e-mail will work.  It is very frustrating at the moment, I can't read other blogs or my comments.  I'm pretty attached to my blog so hopefully it will be fixed soon.  If anyone has advice or another blog host that they would recommend please contact me in the above options.

I'll have Steven's painting up soon.  Just seeing if this is actually going to post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Trouble with Blogger

I'm having crazy problems with my blog. I can't ready anyone elses and not mine half of the time. I keep getting error notes. Anyone else having trouble. If you have any suggestions, e-mail me roets7@aim.com, since I can't read any comments.

The Patrick Project is completed!

oil on canvas 8 x 10

oil on canvas 8 x 10

oil on canvas 8 x 10

I have completed my stuffed animal series. Yay! They are cute and cuddly and nursery ready:) The monkey is near and dear to my heart. Steven's first stuffed animal was that monkey. At our house he is named Max monkey, he has a theme song and everything! It was great to paint him. We don't have the elephant, I think maybe Alabama is rubbing off on me, I painted the elephant and put him on a crimson background without even realizing the Crimson Tide connection. So I'm going to affectionately call that painting Big Al. The brown bear is just as cute as he can be. He really pops on his blue background. The blue paintings didn't show up as well in the photos than in real life. These little guys have been fun to paint. I will post a group shot when they dry a little bit.

Steven did another beautiful painting. I love his palette. He did almost a stippling technique on his canvas, very creative!!


acrylic on canvas board 5 x 7

The Patrick Project Part deux

oil on canvas 8 x 10

oil on canvas 8 x 10

oil on canvas 8 x 10

Finally, here are my paintings this week. I did do two, so maybe that makes up for my tardiness:) They are still wet so that is the glare you are seeing. I'm still getting used to the oil paint thing. I'm planning on finishing the rest of this series by next Monday.

The reason I'm so late this week is do to our chaotic lives right now. This has been my life for the last 2 weeks in a nutshell. Tag along on Brian's TDY to Charleston, SC, visit with my Mom and Stepfather, frame pictures at Mom's shop, visit Boone Hall Plantation, visit with friends, celebrate Sam's birthday early, drive home, arrive to no kitchen cabinets (kitchen reno almost done), go to an art fair, go to an airshow, clean the house, clean some more, drive Brian to the airport. . . Again!! Celebrate Sam's birthday, have cabinet doors installed, Brian's parents come in town, pick Brian up from airport, celebrate Sam's birthday again, celebrate Easter, Brian's parents go home, drive Brian to the airport again, get a stomach bug, clean, finish my paintings.etcetera, etcetera, etcetera! As you can see it's been busy. Oh and Sam is a full fledged walker and Steven is reciting the alphabet, with only a few mistakes, he's also singing the ABC song. A Mommy's job is never done!!!


acrylic on canvas 4 x 6

Steven's lovely painting. He was mad at me today because he wants to finish painting the edges of his canvas and I wouldn't let him get the mess out today, he told me "Mommy I'm frusterated with you" Boy that kid has a vocabulary and knows how to use it. "Interesting" has also been a favorite word this week. And he can be heard telling Sam "Absolutely not Sir" on occasion, I wonder where he gets this from:)


daffodils framed

Here is the framed daffodil painting, finished just in time to go home with my Mother-In-Law as her birthday present. Isn't it amazing what a frame and matting can do. My Mom and I framed this at her shop. . . Imperial Framing, Summerville, SC, check her out on facebook.

See you in a few days. Aaaaaaaghhhh!!

The Patrick Project

oil on canvas 8 x 10

Better late than never, right! This week I'm late posting because we were out of town last week. We got the opportunity to go with Brian on a TDY to Charleston. It was a nice excuse to go visit my Mom. We had a great time. I was able to frame a couple of my paintings at my Mom's frame shop. Okay get ready for shameless promotion. My Mom has a terrific frame shop, Imperial Framing in Summerville, South Carolina. She does amazing work and only with the highest quality materials. You can check her out on Facebook, so take a minute and visit and become a fan. Also I thought I would share that the big box stores that do framing send their work out to get it framed and then it is sent back to the individual store. I wouldn't want my original works being mailed back and forth. So support your local frame shops!!!

This week I am starting a gift for Baby Patrick. Ryan, Julie and Rylie are welcoming a baby boy into their family in June, so I wanted to paint them something for their nursery. I decided to paint 6 "still lives" of stuffed animals for the nursery using their color palette. So I'm starting with this cute little puppy. Not only will the paintings be part of the present but the actual stuffed animal will go along with it. This also happened to be my first oil painting. I like it and I don't. I'm used to things drying faster, so that is frustrating, but on the flip-side I can work with it longer. I think this was a good painting to start with.


watercolor 5 x 5

Here is Steven's painting this week. I like his use of color. He was smart and painted several paintings before we left. I think he gets his time management from his Daddy.

See you next week,

Carrie

Sotterley Gardens

Sotterley Gardens 16" x 20" watercolor Copyrighted Carrie Waller 2010

I have completed my painting! Yay! I'm posting a little early because I will be out of pocket for a few days. This painting is of Sotterley Plantation's Gardens. Sotterley Plantation is in Maryland and has a lot of importance for our good friends the Marce's. I was fortunate enough to visit during the summer of 2005. The Marce's invited me along on their family trip while Brian was in Iraq. It was great to go with them because I had heard so much about Sotterley. Melleive's Grandmother was a caretaker of the plantation. Melleive spent her childhood on the grounds of this beautiful house. It was also the where Dave and Melleive got married. The house was gorgeous but I found the grounds to be just as impressive. I took a photograph of the gardens and from that picture comes this weeks painting.

Here is the link to their site if you would like to read more about the plantation http://www.sotterley.com/

I also completed our Master bath. I am so happy to be finished. It was difficult all the way through, from the wallpaper that didn't want to leave it walls to the swiss cheese walls that were an end result, to the patching and sanding, leaving a coat of dust everywhere, to the priming, taping of stripes and finally painting the last coat. I love the end result!! I was hoping that the horizontal stripes would help to make the bathroom a little more cohesive. It is a large bathroom but it is chopped up with a lot of walls. I think it looks great and I do not miss the wallpaper at all. I still LOATHE wallpaper!


bathroom before and after


So happy to be finished:)

Steven's painting this week in my opinion is terrific. I think that he is an artistic genius. He painted a fish jumping out of the water, so I'm calling this one "Fish out of Water". I love the colors, I love the fish, I just love it!!! I'm so proud of him! He's the best! I love my boys.


11 x 14 watercolor