Holly and Susan!!!  Congratulations you two!!  I chose the winners this afternoon using random.org.  I had 53 comments listed in order from the comments here and on Facebook and I had the number generator pick two numbers between 1 and 53 (14 and 31).  I enjoyed this draw!!  I get great joy from the act of giving!

I will likely do this again next holiday season or maybe sooner if I have other things to celebrate!!  So don't be disappointed if you didn't win this time!  There will be more chances in the future!

And it was great to hear from everyone as well!  I love getting your comments!

The poor geese above are confused....it certainly warmed up this week, but it's still winter!!  If I were them, I'd be flying to much warmer climates...Like Texas or Mexico or farther!  I hope where ever you are, you have a great week!!

I thought I would post a collage of some snow fun we did this past weekend.   The High Rim Trail is a short 20 minute drive up a mountain road just east of our house.  We had fun, snow angels and all!

I'm working on a poppy painting for a dear friend in Texas.  I met Angie when I was searching schooling options in Texas for the boys and she ran a part-time school for elementary age kids.  We immediately loved her and she was my oldest son's teacher for the 3 years we lived there.  Her 2 boys are the same age as mine so we spent a bit a time together!!  I was delighted when she asked me to commission her a poppy painting!  Oh and she is also the proud owner of my sunflower painting Bowing with the Sun!

Angie wants the painting to be on a 16X20 inch gallery wrapped canvas about 2" thick.  I'll paint all the way around the sides too.  

I like to start my paintings with a bright underpainting.  Here I used Cadmium Orange with a bit of Cadmium Red Light and then the impressions of the shadowed grasses/leaves was painted in with Pthalo Blue, and Pthalo Green.

I'm using a big brush here,( I like Liquitex or Windsor Newton brand brushes) and painting loose.  My palette is a Masterson Sta-wet Palette, great for painting in acrylics.  I also use Windsor Newton Artist's Acrylics because they have no colour shift when they dry (most acrylics become darker when they dry).  

This step shows my loosely placed poppies  and stems.   Here it is important I get the main idea for my composition.  The joy with acrylics is that  I can let it dry and if I don't like it, I can paint over it! 

 I kind of like this very loose transparent stage...I will see how this evolves and confer with Angie to make sure I get it right. 

 I'll be adding a bluish sky around the poppies, rendering the poppies with thicker paint, and adding the correct values on the leaves and petals.

I hope more people will leave some comments on Facebook on my personal page or my fan page and/or here on my blog!  My draw for the two little paintings is this Sunday in the afternoon. 

 I will be listing all the entries in order they were received and getting a total number of entries.  Then using random.org number generator I'll ask it to pick 2 numbers between 1 and the number of entries.  Those names that fall on those numbers will be my winners!  I may post another blog entry on Saturday too so there is still time to leave a comment!

Winter hit us well the last couple of days...so well, that I had these feelings of deja vu....Wasn't I JUST doing this not too long ago??...This being walking back and forth across the driveway, in a cold induced trance, clearing away the white stuff??  Of course it's not THAT cold...in fact I like getting my exercise and fresh air...just not THIS way!

I did have a helpful offer from one of my neighbour's daughters the first day...she wanted to shovel the driveway for me (she's 8), but it was not to be because of this:

I had a free offer of hard labour thwarted by its arrival!  Well at least I don't have to drive the boys to school in the white stuff anymore....they get to take the school bus!!

And the youngest cat, Wiley, is really wondering what the heck happened...well she can be excused for this...She is from Texas after all!  I think she forgot about winter last year...I think I did too!!

The Under 100 Art Show and Sale has an Open House this Saturday, November 19 from 11:00 to 3:00.   I have 10 pieces of art (see picture above) and some note cards for sale and display.  And many of the participating artist's works are also on display and for sale in the Lake Country Coffee House connected to the gallery http://lakecountrycoffee.com/ .  Come out and support our local art gallery and coffee house - have some fine coffee and tea and snacks.  For more info check here:  http://lakecountryartgallery.blogspot.com/

I wanted to say a warm thanks to all who have left me comments about my artwork.  I really appreciate your words.   Keep your comments coming!  One more week before I make the draw on November 27th!

Whatever your season, winter or summer, I hope the weather stays fine (yes, snow CAN be fine...at least that's what I must tell myself!).

Remember Teddy?  I previously showed the steps to create the horse portrait of my friend's lovely old Belgian, Teddy, at Arion Therapeutic Farm.  This portrait is now finished, ready to be varnished and framed and will be a donation to Arion's Winter Wonderland fundraiser Dec. 3 & 4 http://www.arionfarm.org/news--events.html for a raffle or silent auction.  Check the link for time and details and come out for winter fun!!

The Lake Country Art Gallery is holding its annual Under 100 Show and Sale from November 19 to December 21  http://lakecountryartgallery.blogspot.com/.  This is a juried show and my work has been selected again for this event.  It was very successful for me last year and I hope it will be the same this year.  There will be a variety of small beautiful original art to view and purchase.  Please support our local artists for the gift giving season!  Below is a collage of the pieces that I've offered for sale!

Remember to post a comment here, on my facebook profile page or my fan page OR email me, to enter my draw for a free original painting!  Good luck!

I love gift giving, and the season for it is coming close!   To generate more interest in my art, my blog, and my facebook fan page, I've decided to give away one small original painting each, to two lucky people!!

 All you need to do is leave a comment on my blog,  OR leave a comment on my facebook fan page or facebook page whenever I post a new blog comment.  I promise to post once a week this month (maybe more).  I will draw the winners based on a combination of the posts entered on all of the above and using a random number generator from random.org.  I will draw the winners on November 27th.   

The paintings I'm giving away are shown below.  They will be unframed to keep mailing costs to a minimum and wrapped well.  I'll be happy to suggest framing ideas.  Below I have a couple examples I've "photoshopped".   

Good luck to you!  Don't forget to leave comments this month.  And if you'd like to subscribe to my blog, you can do that on the right!

This painting is called Wait With Me By the Sea, acrylic on canvas panel 6X8 in., unframed.  

During Artwalk in September, I set up my small Guerilla Painter pochade box  (purchased from Delta Art Supplies) and I painted while I chatted with people. When I started I really didn't know what to paint as I sat there, so I decided to just do something I was familiar with!  This painting is the result of that effort!

The first winner drawn will receive this painting! 

On the second day of Artwalk. I wasn't sure what to paint.   Lately,  I had been admiring the works of Canadian artist Neil Patterson, and American artists Robert Moore and Jennifer Vranes and I had 2 aspen paintings of my own in Artwalk.

 Again I decided to stick with something familiar.  Doing that made it less stressful for me as I painted on the spot!   And easier to know where I was when I was interrupted with conversation!

The 2nd winner from the draw will receive this painting,  Autumn Grove acrylic on canvas panel 5X7 in.