Misty Glade Mini Painting

This painting is of a forest on the Pacific coast near the ocean where it is often misty. I love the way moss looks on trees with the sun shining through. Over the years, it has become a common theme in my paintings. This little painting is 2.5 x 3.5 inches, ACEO sized, in Golden Open Acrylics.

What's old Is New Again

Unfinished Landscape

8 x 10 Gouache

While cleaning out my studio, I discovered this little unfinished plein aire painting. I don't remember where or when it was painted, but I do remember that I wasn't happy with it and gave up on it. Ordinarily I would have tightened it up quite a bit before calling it finished. It is interesting to me to see the brush strokes and the roughness of it. I actually like it now, maybe because the negative feelings I had towards it have long since faded and I can just enjoy it for what it is.

Mini Landscape

This little painting is 2.5 x 3.5 inches, ACEO sized in Golden Open Acrylics. I am longing for some weather like this! Soon I hope!

Hummers are back!

The Rufus Hummingbirds have returned from their winter haunts, which means it's Spring! Later, when they are at their peak numbers, we will have over two dozen at the feeders. We go through lots of sugar! Hummers are one of God's most dazzling little miracles, in my opinion!

Percheron Horse Portrait

This painting is part of the breed a week project at wetcanvas.com. The Percheron is a majestic breed of draft horse from France. They are usually grey or black. This piece is in Golden Open Acrylics and is 4.25 x 4.25 inches.

Lake Sunset Mini Painting

This is another little painting resulting from the wetcanvas.com weekly event. It is ACEO sized - 2.5 x 3.5 inches, in Golden Open Acrylics.

Old Barn and Truck Mini Painting

This is a painting done for the WDE at wetcanvas.com. The host of the event asked us to include a crop of the imgae as well. The painting is 2.5 x 3.5 inches (ACEO sized), in Golden Open Acrylics. The crop of the truck is much larger than actual size. Pretty interesting exercise!

Snowy Landscape and Arab Portrait Paintings

The snowy landscape, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, was painted en plein aire during a recent snow storm. The Arab, 4.25 x 4.25 inches, is the result of my participation in A Breed a Week art project on the equine art forum at wetcanvas.com. Both are in Golden Open Acrylics.

Przewalski's Horse

This painting was done for a project at wetcanvas.com. The project is to paint a different horse breed every week for a year. The host of the project names a horse breed each Monday and everyone involved paints and draws and posts their results. This is the first week of the project. I hope to do more breeds as inspiration strikes. This painting is a little over 4 inches square, Golden Open Acrylics on coldpressed ragboard.
The Przewalski's Horse is an endangered species recently reintroduced into the wild after a captive breeding program was set up to save it from extinction. Also known as the Asiatic Wild Horse, this species is the only remaining true wild horse, never having been domesticated. The four hundred in the wild today are living in a nature preserve in Mongolia. It is sad when one of God's creations is gone, and wonderful when one such on the edge of extinction can be saved and appreciated.

ACEO's from Wetcanvas All Media Art Events

Landscape

Seascape


Sunflower Field

The little paintings above are from the All Media Art Events (aka Weekly Drawing Events) at wetcanvas.com, which is a very busy online artist's community. Each Friday, an event host posts 16 photos from which to draw inspiration. After two hours or when the piece is finished, whichever comes first, you post your art. If you aren't quite done yet, you post it as a work-in-progress, and post the finished piece later. It is a great deal of fun and inspiring to see all the different interpretations and styles of art. The three paintings are 2.5 x 3.5 inches using Golden open acrylics.

Vaya Con Dios My Friend

This post is in memory of Ray Butler, family friend and my dad's long-time fishing buddy. Ray worked for a traveling carnival before we knew him and had some pretty interesting stories to tell about that. He enjoyed the outdoors and helped us buck hay for the horses and spent many hours with my dad cutting firewood. He was really good at tying knots. Most of the time Ray looked like in the picture above (he's in the brown shirt, my dad's the other guy), kinda crusty and smelling of fir trees and fish. He would come to Thanksgiving dinner all dressed up in a lemon yellow button up sweater, so neat and clean, we'd hardly recognize him! He was the Rancid Crabtree of my life. We will miss you Ray.

Brown Trout in Gift Shop

It is amazing to me how each brown trout has it's own pattern, individual as a snowflake. This particular one is very beautiful, with many spots and lots of blue. This colorful brown trout is now available on t-shirts, mugs, notecards and more in the gift shop http://www.cafepress.com/sharierickson

Window Flowers

These flowers are from our garden and are displayed in some little bottles that were dug up from where they were buried long ago. Trash then, treasure now! Washing up the pots and pans is much nicer when there are flowers to enjoy - sweet william, campanula, rose, viola, iris, penstemon, ninebark, even some hawkweed. The variety of our Lord's flowers is too awesome to fully comprehend! I keep thinking I will paint some of these bottles with flowers sometime.

New Andalusian Horse Design in Giftshop

This new Andalusian Horse Portrait design is now available on tote bags, mugs, t-shirts, tile boxes, and other gifts at http://www.cafepress.com/sharierickson

Trade with Friend

Lace Knit by Rosemarie

Delphinium and Sara's Orange Tip Butterfly

Once in a great while I'll do a trade. This trade is dear to me as it was with a very special lady who has the biggest heart I know. She is always encouraging and gives countless hours serving our Church, schools and community. She is a master with a pair of knitting needles. This lace piece is very detailed and will make a great pillow. I've shown only a detail of it as it is too large to scan the whole thing. The gouache/colored pencil painting is of flowers in my garden and one of my favorite butterfly species. It is 5 x 7 inches.

New ACEO Paintings

Thayer's Gull ACEO

Red-breasted Nuthatch ACEO

#1 Songbird Series

These two are both painted with Golden's new Open Acrylics on cold-pressed rag board. They are ACEO sized - 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Please e-mail me at shari11@sharierickson.com if you are interested in buying an original or a limited edition print. I am very interested in painting ACEO sized art and have plans for several series. If you purchase the first of a series, you will be given first choice to buy further paintings in that series. I have currently started three series: Spanish Horses, Waterfowl, and songbirds. My ACEO sized originals are available for $100.

Cat Herd expands!

Corazon "Cori"

Marble

Our cat herd now has three new members bringing it up to nine cats! That puts us in the crazy cat people realm for sure! The third new cat, Preacher (black with a vertical white bar on his neck), is still too skittish to have his picture taken. He runs under the nearest furniture when we get too close. (trapping him in the house was a rather tricky venture...) He is getting tamer and tamer though. We are pretty sure these three young cats were abandoned by the people across the road when they moved. By the time they showed up at our place, they were in sorry shape, dehydrated and starving. They are brothers - Preacher and Marble being litter mates and Cori from the next litter, we think. Of course this is a guess on our parts, but looking at them, anyone would come to the same conclusion. It is sad when things like this happen, but these three are luckier than many. Please spread the word about the importance of neutering and spaying!

Andalusian Painting , ACEO Size

Andalusian Horse Portrait ACEO

#1 Spanish Horse Series

This little painting is only 2.5 x 3.5 inches, ACEO size, and is done with Golden's new Open Acrylics. As I continue to get to know these new paints, I am more and more convinced they were developed just for me! They are not like traditional acrylics or oils, but have some attributes of both, setting it apart as a distinctive medium in it's own right. I am so lucky to have a model for this painting in my own pasture - my beloved Andalusian gelding Tico.

First Paintings with Golden's New Open Acrylics

Driveby Sunset 5x7

Cinnamon Teal 2.5 x 3.5 ACEO

#1 Waterfowl Series

I've just discovered a wonderful new paint seemingly made just for me! Golden's Open Acrylics are perfect for my way of working and I look forward to finding out just how versatile they are. I've always loved oil painting but the resulting headaches from the fumes have kept me away. Over the years my opaque works have been primarily in acrylic and gouache with a short stint with casein. I can already see that having worked with all these other types of paint has been of benefit in becoming familiar with the open acrylics. They don't really mimic any of the others but have a combination of qualities which remind me of all the others. They dry slowly and are very blendable. The colors are more luminescent than traditional acrylics ( in my opinion of course). They work up for me much faster than gouache, which can be very fussy to work with. The relative transparency of each pigment seems to follow along the lines of the other types of paint.

The top painting was done outdoors on a hot day to see how the paint does for plein aire, although this painting is from a blurry photo taken from a car window. It is 5x7 inches on gesso board. I found the open acrylics to be wonderful for working outdoors. They truly did stay wet and didn't even begin to thicken up over the several hours they were exposed to 90 degree heat. My biggest problem was remembering not to rest my hand on my wet painting!

The bottom painting is of a female Cinnamon Teal. It is 2.5 x 3.5 inches on ragboard. I am interested in painting miniatures and decided to try one. I also wanted to see if I could get a decent amount of detail with the open acrylics. They are very similar to tradional acrylics in this regard. This tiny little painting is ACEO size. I may do a series of miniatures for ACEO collectors. Let me know if you are interested in purchasing an original or perhaps a limited edition print. I would charge around $100 for this size to cover my time and effort.

Art Gift Shop Now Open!

Tule Chinook Salmon Gouache

"Luna Light, Panther Might" Cougar Acrylic

"Meadow Dance" Andalusian Horse Gouache

"Broken Feather' Red-Tailed Hawk Casein

"Alsea Springer" Spring Chinook Salmon Gouache

"Baroque" Andalusian Horse Oil

"Fantasma" Andalusian Horse Oil

Deer Fawn Oil

Northern Leopard Frog Watercolor

I recently opened a Gift shop at http://www.cafepress.com/sharierickson All the designs above are available there on mugs, t-shirts, buttons, cards, tile boxes, etc.