I’ve always loved the sound of church bells and handbells. Handbells in particular, when well played, have a clarity about their sound. I tried to capture that element in the clear colours of this painting – today’s Advent give away.

Advent Artist Day 16

Leslie Saeta is today’s advent artists. Leslie is a powerhouse. She paints every day, runs workshops and coaches other artists to help them increase their sales. I joined in Leslie’s 30 Paintings In 30 Days challenge in September which resulted in a lovely big stock pile for Running with Brushes. She’s running another 30 day challenge in January and I’ve signed up for that one – with the same outlet for the paintings in mind. Leslie paints in oils and uses only a palette knife. One day I really want to try that technique. In the meantime I’ll just admire Leslie’s work. She can be found on Facebook too.

 

Today’s Advent Give away is a play on frosty fractals with this little abstract of ice crystals and stars.

 

Advent Artist Day 15

Today I’m highlighting the website of Sea Dean where there’s a Christmas Art Party going on. It’s worth having a look if you want to share your work with other artists, and discover some fabulous new artists over the next couple of weeks.  Her Facebook page is worth a visit too.

I enjoy looking at life from different perspectives. It struck when I was thinking about mistletoe that ideally, we’d quite like to be seeing a bunch of mistletoe from the bottom (as long as the right person is nearby). Today’s little Advent give away is called Look Up.

Advent Artist Day 14

I’ve chosedn Emma Sadler Photography as my artist for today. Emma specialises in high definition close up botanical photographs. Her images are astonishing and very beautiful. Have a look at her gallery for a real treat. She can also be followed on her Facebook Page

The winter grasses along the edges of the pathways are so graceful at this time of year. Lack of any other foliage makes their delicate heads stand out. The tall dramatic fronds of Miscanthus grasses wave like flags in the slightest breeze, or hand gracefully from their tall stalks.  They stand are all along the edges of the pathway that runs along the edge of the fields behind our house, like a fringe obscuring the view. This is my Advent Day 13 Give away painting.

Advent Artist Day 13

Cambridgde Artist, Sue Rapley works in multiple media creating works of art inspired by nature and the sea. Sue’s work can also be seen on her Facebook Page.

Today we went for a walk across to the next village before I got into my studio. It was great to get out in the fresh air and enjoy the scenery. It inspired me to paint this little winter landscape for today’s December give away painting.

Advent Artist for Day 12

I came across the artwork of Jimmy Brunt a couple of weeks ago via the marvellous Bils & Rye. Jimmy’s papercut artwork is astounding in it’s detail and precision. Jimmy’s work can be seen on his Facebook page too .

We’ve had a new front door put in earlier this year. We pretty much had to, as the wood in the old one was splitting and there was a howling gale coming through the gap. The new door has a glass top half which lets the sunlight stream in during the day, and at night, a lovely light glow from the lights inside.  When I was doing the Christmas Fair at the end of November, I noticed some very different door decorations that appealed. I remember my mother making our Christmas wreath for the front door every year when I was a child, but I’m afraid I’m not that accomplished so we’ve just done without, or in some years I’ve bought a fresh one.

These, I found irresistible so I went ahead and bought one which is now adorning the front door. The glass top half makes it very easy to display while protecting it from the weather – so I guess we may have this one for a number of years to come.  Naturally, I had to paint it for the Advent give aways.

Advent Artist for Day 10:

Just has to be the person who created the charming subject for this painting.  Helen at Verdilla Flowers creates arrangements for weddings and special occasions, and she passes on her knowledge in one to one and workshops.

Christmas trees in the wild always appeal to me. I love the sense of remoteness and silence of a forest of pines. This painting isn’t about the detail. It’s all about the feeling of cold, snow, ice and cold. The kind of cold that’s icy but beautiful. This is the December give away for Day 9

Advent Artist for Day 9

Stephie Butler paints wonderful delicate watercolour portraits. I’ve followed Stephie’s work on Facebook as well as her website. She’s also made a YouTube video of one of her portraits being painted. My regular readers will know that I’m working towards painting portraits when I’m feeling braver.  I would love to be able to paint portraits like Stephie’s.

The translucence of watercolour seems to lend itself to painting fragile and delicate subjects. A couple of years ago on a trip to the Waterberg in South Africa, I found a glass decoration which is hollow and contains the most delicate of dandelion seeds. It’s far too beautiful to put away for 11 month of the year so it sits in a bowl on a cabinet in the lounge. A tree decoration was on my list of things to paint so if course, as this is a challenge, I had to pick it as the subject for my Advent Day give away for Day 8.

Day 8 Advent Artist

The artist I’m sharing for Day 8 is Jess Stanley who creates fantastically detailed pictures of animals in coloured pencil. The level of detail in her work is astounding. She captures the character of each animal so well the viewer can almost imagine the figure is about to move.

Today’s December Give Away is a typical Christmas table decoration. The shops are full of pots filled with gloriously vibrant Poinsettia plants.

Advent Artist for Day 7:

My Advent Artist for Day 7 is Dutch artist, Gerard Hendriks. Gerard is a prolific watercolour artist who has an exciting, dynamic style of painting. His style is very loose and dramatic, with wonderful textures in the paintwork. Gerard can also be found on his Facebook page.