Appreciating It All

Chickadee
3.5" square Water Soluble Oils on Canvas
©BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

With the Fourth of July weekend of celebrations just a few days away, it is undeniably summer. 

No room for chickadees in this part of the world. For now.

After a particularly brutal winter, it's easy to appreciate the warmth, even at it's humid peak. 

Appreciation is hard to hold in place. It's so very easy to let the negative overwhelm the good in our lives. Whether it is our gratitude for our own lives and loves, or being valued by others in our world, appreciation can simply become nonexistent.

Over the last month or two, I've been feeling appreciated in pleasant, unexpected ways. It's my turn, now, to remind all of you how much I appreciate you. Even if it seems that our visits are often sparse, you are never far from my heart and mind.

All of you!

Appreciating it all: winter & summer, chickadees & bluebirds, special & mundane, friends & family, work & leisure.

Keep life wonderful! Have a great holiday!

Poppies: Just In Time for Spring!

Poppies
8x8 Water Soluble Oils on Stretched Canvas
©2014 BEDeuel

Okay, so this presentation is a little bit reversed... but we are very ready for spring to come and stay!!

Normally, vanity would stop me from posting all the steps that it took to get to the final painting, but I wanted to share some of the problems that were encountered while creating the painting.

A nice start...

   

Composition is working, so far...

Something is starting to take over... 

Uh-oh! Need an outline to find the flowers...

Finally! The painting emerges!

White paint to the rescue!

Sometimes, I feel like I just want to chuck a canvas, but, with determination, the painting will evolve. That's the beauty of creating!

Bird Squares Continued

Progress, so far:

Sketch on Paper Copy of Painted Background

Tracing the Sketch

Applying Charcoal to the Back of the Tracing

Transferred Sketches to the Canvases

The Painting!

One down; 3 to go!