Crown Of Glory Journal

Proverbs 16:31 A hoary head is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.

Okay I didn't know what hoary meant either, the dictionary definition is "grayish white".

This little journal is filled with all the inspiring, encouraging and comforting Bible verses I could find on the subject of aging.  In this journal I seek to illuminate God's Word using verses of comfort and encouragement for those who struggle with aging; these verses have been particularly helpful for my journey. What will happen with this little journal?  Maybe a stepping stone in a new direction. 

Oil painting has been put on hold for a while as I work on some mixed media projects, this little journal is one of them.  Sometimes you need to experiment and try new things to get inspired and jump start the creative juices and figure out what you will do when you grow up.  

Crown Of Glory

Click Here To Buy It Now - $150, oil on gessobord, 6x8 inches

Every time I see a lovely older lady with gray or white hair I think of Proverbs 16:31 which says a gray (or hoary) head is a crown of glory.  As I look in the mirror that Bible verse helps me through the day.

I camped out at the Minneapolis Conservatory (a wonderful glass building full of tropical plants and toasty temperatures) one day in the middle of winter in a hall way with windows all down one side.  The sunlight was perfect shining through on all the people walking the hallway.  I wish more photos would have turned out, even this one was flawed, as I snapped the photo a child popped into the left corner obscuring the young woman's feet.  Artistic license allows for making things up if you want or need to and I needed to paint this lovely white haired lady.  She reminds me so much of my Mom in the last years before she passed.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Pair Of Pumpkins

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I love pumpkin stems, I think the charm of the pumpkin is in it's stem; all the great turns, twists and wonderful texture.  Why would you even buy a pumpkin without it's stem?  I think the produce people are getting smarter at Walmart because almost all the pumpkins had these great long stems this year so I had lots to choose from.  Next year I will try more pumpkin stem paintings unless another idea grabs my attention.

One thing about the orange and red colors, they don't translate well in photos or at least I have a hard time when editing them.  In this original painting the dark orange colors faded out a bit, with that being said -

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Piggyback Pumpkins

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

Trick or Treat!  The little guy looks like he is more in the mood for some tricks.  Thought I would try some more pumpkins this year, last years pumpkin series was pretty fun.  I really enjoyed painting just the top of this pumpkin especially when it had such an interesting stem shape.  I may have to experiment with this idea some more.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Sidewalk Lunch

Click Here To Buy It Now - $125, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I should have named this my upside down painting because I painted it from a photo turned upside down.  I've been hearing that it's a good exercise to paint an image upside down as it frees you from over thinking the image and you look at shapes vs subject matter if that makes sense.  I loved the exercise and I made it all the way to the end without peaking although it was really hard not to cheat. There were also nice surprises when I turned it right side, number one - the people looked like people and all their parts were in the right places, number two - I never saw the baseball cap the girl was wearing until turned right side up.  Great fun, I recommend trying an upside down painting at least once.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

California Trek

NFS:  oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

Hiking in California with my daughter and grandson we came across these hikers.  They really look like serious hikers with their backpacks and go for it strides.  Since it's very dry in California in the summer the grasses are usually golden colored and in this case there was a lot of orange as well which is beautiful against the blue sky.  I'm also experimenting again with a very loose unfinished paint style and I'm really liking the affect.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

A Closer Look

Click Here To Buy It Now - $200, oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

I had fun taking photos of people looking at paintings in the Minnesota State Fair art exhibit this past August.  I was trying to catch someone looking at my piece but it wasn't worth the wait, LOL.  Anyway I wanted to try this one because the limited palette of colors posed a challenge.  I'm particularly fond of the way the lady's shirt turned out, it's my favorite part of the painting.  I have one more art admirer to paint plus some other photos from the fair.....lots to do!

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Violas

Click Here To Buy It Now - $75, oil on gessobord, 5x7 inches

I love my Violas, I've heard them called Johnny Jump Ups also.  They come up everywhere in my gardens and most the time I just let them be, I haven't the heart to pull them.  Such sweet faces and colors who can resist!  I found some photos I took in the spring, cropped it, painted some areas with the scribbly scratchy technique (background mostly) and love the way it turned out.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Casey

Sold - oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

I loved the photo of this little dog but the background was really busy so I tried to down play the background leaving enough visual interest to suggest the scene.  I'm happy with the results. 

Sidewalk Sunshine

Sold - oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

I promised to give an update on this painting that was accepted in the 2015 Minnesota State Fair, well life got busy but I have great news.  The painting received an Honorable Mention, a Ron Merchant Award (local artist, check out his website) and it was sold.  I was so honored and encouraged by the recognition I received for this painting.  A huge thank you to Ron Merchant for his award to support and encourage a fellow oil painter.  He also sent me a copy of his book "Born By The River, People Of The Mississippi River Towns".  I'm still flying a little high but excited to get painting again.

Show Off

Click Here To Buy It Now - $50, oil on canvas panel, 6x8 inches

I believe this hen was more interested in food than showing off her beautiful speckled feathers.  In fact I doubt that she is even aware of her appearance but what do I know about the chicken world.  I am just imagining that she is strutting her stuff because she is a stand out in the hen house.  Does she attract more attention from the other hens or just from the humans?  It's just some idle pondering on my part.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Shadow Hunters

Click Here To Buy It Now - $75, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I had a call out on Facebook asking for the opportunity to photo chickens.  One kind friend set up a time for me to go photo chickens at her brothers home.  I learned a little about chickens and raising them; there are laying hens and meat chickens, these are hens.  I had no idea.  Most of the hens were very friendly until they realized I was not going to feed them but I did get some good photos before they ran to the shadows.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Purple Cone Assembly

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

I actually painted these Purple Cones before my last posted painting "Purple Cone Display".  It was a fun exercise and would look nice hanging next to "Purple Cone Display".

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Purple Cone Display

Click Here To Buy It Now - $125, oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

Purple Cone flowers are wonderful to paint because they last forever and have interesting shapes and sizes.  The older the flower the larger the center or cone becomes.  I have another cone painting that would look nice hanging with this one, I will post it soon.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

(C) Deborah A. Kirkeeide

Sidewalk Sunshine

Oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

I'm excited to report that "Sidewalk Sunshine" was accepted in the 2015 Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition which opens August 27th and continues through September 7th.  It's truly an honor to be accepted as they only choose a few hundred out of thousands, so I'm feeling honored.  If your in town check out the show and enjoy the Minnesota State Fair, it's an event! 

The painting will be for sale at the MN State Fair and if no one takes it home I will post it for sale on Daily Paintworks.  

(C) Deborah Ann Kirkeeide

Possibilities

If you follow my blog I posted that I was exploring mixed media and had put my oils aside for awhile.  Here is a sample of a mixed media piece I completed in a mixed media class this past spring.  In order to grow as an artist I need to explore other creative options especially when inspiration is needed.  Mixed media for me is so freeing, there are no limitations, it's open to everything and I particularly love being able to include words or quotes.  I've been experimenting with acrylics, paper, markers, photos, stamps, inks and stencils.  The list continues to grow, so many possibilities!  Someday I may have some for sale, I'm thinking prints, another new avenue to explore.

I will continue to paint in oils (there's nothing like the beauty of oil paint), I may include some oil in my mixed media pieces someday following the fat on lean rule so you have no problems with paint falling off the painting surface.  And I have a few new oils to share soon, I just need to photo them.  Oh, and I just entered an oil painting in the MN State Fair; I should know by next week if it's accepted.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Peaches

Not For Sale - oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

My friends kitty recently passed, what I remember about her was her cute little rounded ears.  When she was a kitten, before coming to live with my friend, the tops of her ears had become badly frostbitten and she ended up losing just the tops of her ears.  It gave her a very unique look.   

This is the last of my oil paintings for awhile, until I get inspired again.  Right now I'm having way to much fun creating mixed media pieces.

Cartoon Dog

Not For Sale - oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

This is our dog Hattie, but she is really still a puppy being only a little over a year old.  We were traveling with her last winter and met some other dog owners one of who dubbed her "Cartoon Dog", a perfect name since she is so animated.  I believe I captured some of that happy, crazy let's play puppy character in her eyes.  She is a happy little girl who loves to play, travel, socialize and is very fun to paint.

Pretty Birdie

Not For Sale - oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I have an animal lover friend, besides cats and dogs she has birds, not little birds either.  This Parrot is pretty good sized, beautiful to look at but I wouldn't trust him with any of my fingers.  She has had this bird for around 26 years, they are good friends.  She agreed to some photos and this one captured some of his personality......he was daring me to come closer for a little finger snack I believe.  

Single Peony

Click Here To Buy It Now - $50, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

Bloom time for Peonies is so short, I wanted to do another peony painting before they were finished for the season.  Even though the bloom time is short it's well worth having them in the gardens.  Maybe next year I will paint my hot pink peony which is gorgeous but hidden around the side of the house.  I really need to move her to a better location.  The peonies are done and so is Spring but I'm enjoying Summer time!

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

Peony Bouquet

Click Here To Buy It Now - $75, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I don't normally cut my garden flowers and bring them in simply because I love to walk in my gardens and enjoy the flowers there.  But I had some friends over and wanted a bouquet for my table and thought it would be a wasted opportunity not to paint them afterwards.  So these peonies were well enjoyed, they did double duty.  Maybe I should have named them Double Duty Bouquet.  What do you think?

I took a short break for needed inspiration and tried some mixed media paintings.  I love mixed media!!  Soon I will be posting some mixed media pieces.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

Flower Power

Sold - oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

You can tell I'm a product of the 60's with a name like Flower Power.  I wanted to try painting flowers up close and thought it would be a very simple painting to do.  For me, it was like trying to paint an abstract, something I never do but maybe it would be a good practice tool.  This was a humbling experience, my hats off to all those who paint beautiful flowers up close and personal. 

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

The Flower Tree

Click Here To Buy It Now - $50, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I have no idea what these trees are so I've dubbed them Flower Trees.  This is a photo from another early morning walk in California when visiting my daughter.  The neighborhood boulevards are lined with these beautiful trees, it's like having huge flower arrangements in front of your home.  And the tree shadows in the early morning light are amazing.  This is another painting where I had fun pumping the colors, which seems to be the trick when working from photos.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

Visit My New Page

Please visit my new blog page in the tabs above titled "Illustration Work".  I was a free lance illustrator for 13 years working for companies such as Augsburg Fortress Publishers, Concordia Publishing, Color clings, Judy Instructo and Shining Star/TS Denison.  I had my old portfolio out the other day, walking down memory lane and thought maybe others would enjoy seeing some of my older work.  The page shows samples of the variety of work I created during those years:  holiday window cling decorations, books, cards, teaching materials and 3D figurines.  If you worked for any of these companies and remember my illustrations, please contact me, it would be fun to catch up.

Mission Color

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, oil on gessobord, 8x8 inches

I decided to experiment pumping color, in some cases using color straight from the tube so the title is a play on words.  After my Mom passed I stumbled across this photo of hers, she was also a painter and took photos for reference.  I don't believe she ever painted this scene so in tribute to Mom here is my effort (love ya Mom).  I don't think you can ever go wrong painting these old missions, it would be great to take a trip just to paint and photo missions out west.  And it would be a lot cheaper than a trip to Europe, although I would love to do that.

Due to the limitations and inconsistencies of various display monitors, the colors you see on your screen may not be a totally accurate reproduction of the actual painting but I work to get the best likeness possible.

Oranges One Cut

Click Here To Buy It Now - $50, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I wasn't completely happy with my first orange painting so I wanted to paint it again, cutting the one orange changed it up a bit.  It also made me realize that my first orange painting wasn't so bad after all.  Its funny, there are paintings I dislike after I paint them but see in a totally different light after a few days or weeks.  Is it because I have a different image in my head of what I'm trying to achieve?  I don't know and does it really matter?  Just my pondering, my hubby tells me I think about it too much.

Oranges Uncut

Click Here To Buy It Now -  $50, oil on gessobord, 6x6 inches

I felt the need to paint some still life again and I love stripes!  I also painted this same subject but with a cut orange, I will post that soon.

Living in Minnesota I have to wait for a good day to photo my paintings since I do that outside.  So there are sometimes long intervals between posts and then I will post one everyday for awhile.   Life in my world. 

Mancos Bakery

Click Here To Buy It Now - $350, oil on gessobord, 9x12 inches

This painting was a real challenge for me, people are always a challenge then you have the store front and it's larger than I normally work, but I'm happy with the results.  This bakery is one of my favorite places to eat when I visit my brother in the little town of Mancos Colorado.  They have some gluten free baked items, the food is good and there are shelves of books you can read while eating.  I bought a book there titled, "Monet's Table" which talks about Monet's life and the food/entertaining in his life, just another view of this wonderful artist.  

The Privy

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, 6x8 inches, oil on canvas board

On our travels to Arizona this past winter we stopped at a ghost town where I saw this little privy.  It was a real true old west ghost town but unfortunately closed at the time we arrived.  It had so many cool buildings that I wanted to photo but couldn't get close enough or the right angle from the protective fence.  But the privy was close enough to photo and had such character.  I love the wood, the only thing missing is the moon on the door but I never thought about adding it.  What can I say, I thought it would be fun to paint and so I did.

Lakeside Read

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100, oil on gessobord, 8x10 inches

I live in Minnesota and instead of oceans we have a lot of lakes and the people here make good use of them.  It was one of those indian summer days last fall and everyone was scrambling to get to a lake and enjoy some sunshine before our harsh winter begins.  I saw this lady on the beach and loved how the light was hitting her shoulders and reading material.  I wonder if she was doing some school homework or possibly something from work but no matter, just like many Minnesotan's she was squeezing in one more day before the big freeze.

Morning Glories And Friend

Click Here To Buy It Now - $100,  oil on gessobord, 12x12 inches

This painting has a funny story.  I was trying to capture bees on flowers in my gardens; for some reason I really wanted to paint a bee sitting on a flower.  Those darn bees are so fast, as I was ready to click the photo it would either flit off or go down inside the flower.  I ended up taking a bunch of photos of flowers and no bees or bee butts sticking out of flower centers.  However as I loaded the photos this little tree frog, who was hiding among the flowers, showed up sitting on a leaf.  I never saw him at all so it was a happy surprise.  Who cares about the darn bees, I probably need a way better camera to capture them anyway.

Bike Time

Click Here To Buy It Now - Sold, oil on gesso board, 6x6 inches

I was following this guy on one of my early morning walks in California last summer.  The light was so great, the colors, the dog; I couldn't have asked for better subject matter.  This is another painting where I've been experimenting with different size and styles of brushes and also that scribbly/scratchy technique which is very fun.

Lady In Blue

Click Here To Buy It Now - $200, oil on gesso board, 8x10 inches

I photographed these ladies at a local art festival last summer.  I take a lot of photos in hopes of using a few for paintings, it always feels like Christmas when I load my photos and find one that inspires me like this one did.  These ladies were actually in the background and I cropped everything else out.  I also started experimenting with new painting techniques learned in a workshop this past winter and I'm having fun with scribbly scratchy brush work.

I need to note that the bright foreground sidewalk color is a tad more yellow than the photo shows but this was the best I could adjust the colors.

Back From Arizona

I just returned from Arizona where I attended a painting workshop with artist Derek Penix (check out his website).  He was teaching how to paint loose, I learned many valuable tips such as the use of complimentary colors but most important of all was learning not to be afraid, to try new things, different brushes and brush work and mess things up ON PURPOSE!  It was very freeing and I can't wait to get back to painting. I love watching other artist's work, how they hold their brush, mix paint, their thinking process, their fears or no fears....it's an education.

Top left photo is Derek during a demonstration, yours truly on the upper right and two of my paintings from the workshop on the bottom row.