A Painting a Day - Day 21

The first day of fall is this Tuesday.  I drove down to my dad's house today.  The leaves are mostly still green, but here and there are bursts of orange and red.  The soybean fields are beginning to look ready for harvest and the corn has begun to turn.  Autumn is upon us.

I painted this squirrel with fall in mind.  The ripe cob of corn and the orange tree speak to that.  I had seen a squirrel like this one sitting on a fence, taking a moment before he bolted away across the yard.  I know the squirrels are getting ready for the seasonal change as are all the animals. Even my dog is shedding less despite the fact she won't be outside to endure the changes.

This is the 21st day of my challenge.  I have been doing this for three weeks! I am really proud of my commitment and for how much growth this is causing to happen in me as an artist.  Someone posted a comment that 100 paintings would make one a level 2 artist.  I'm not sure what that means, but I do know I will have learned a lot about my craft. I hope I will continue to improve and grow.

As this is day 21, this painting, which is a 5 x 7 watercolor, is available for sale for $21.  If you would like to purchase it, please send me and email at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com.  The first person I hear from can buy it.  Thanks so much for following my art.  I have spoken to several people who are following along and they wait to see what I am going to post for each day.  I love hearing that.  I love that I am not on this journey alone.  I appreciate all the encouragement so much! Hope you can visit again tomorrow!

A Painting a Day - Day 20

Day 20 and I am a fifth of the way there!  This has been a challenging week.  I have felt tempted to give this up pretty much every day of this past week.  Life can bee overwhelming sometimes.  Sometimes you need a sense of humor just to face it all.

This handsome fellow is my little stab at humor.  I had sketched this a year ago and found it back tonight and thought it would work in my animal theme.  Most of my pictures are straight forward.  This one is just for fun.  And don't we all enjoy a pun from time to time.?

As this is the 20th painting, it is available for purchase for $20.  If you are interested in it, please email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com. This gentleman mouse would make a great gift for someone or for yourself.  And if you know someone who might like it, please share this post with them.

Grateful that you came to look at my art.  Hope to see you again tomorrow for a new painting!

A Painting a Day - Day 19

When I was a little girl, there were always cats and kittens on our family farm.  I remember a picture my mom took of my dad walking to the barn followed by a whole troop of cats.  I bet there were thirty or more.  I would look forward to spring because there would be kittens.  And when one of my kittens died, I would begin wishing for spring because a new kitten would ease the loss of my pet.  I have had a lot of cats over my life time.  Farm life is hard on cats.  There is disease and trucks, cars and tractors.  There are other cats and sometimes dogs to beware of.  I would enjoy them as long as I could which might be for a few years.  Then they would disappear.  I would then hope for a new kitten.  Sounds kind of heartless now since I have house pets who live at least 10 years.  And I love my cats, but a new kitten melts my heart and the crazy cat lady says, "We could take him home!"  Then I say, "Shush crazy cat lady! Two cats, a dog, two kids and a husband are MORE than enough!" So I snuggle the kitten for a minute and put him down.  Someone else will love him too.

This little kitten needs a home.  And because he is so cute, I put him in a poke-a-dot apron pocket.  He is available for $19 as this is day 19 of my 100 day challenge to paint 100 paintings in 100 days.  If you would like to give him a home, you can email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com.  The first person I hear from can buy him.

Thanks again for following my art journey.  I can't believe I have done this for 19 days straight!  81 more to go!!  Hope you can check in again tomorrow!

A Painting a Day - Day 18

Sometimes if feels like the day just runs away from us.  That was the day for me.  I kept trying to grab hold and accomplish something, but the day got away. The only tasks I finished were the dishes and today's painting.  Everything else is only half done.  Not being able to complete a task is so frustrating.

I think that is why I chose the setting of this painting to be a misty beach.  The horizon is a dim line and the sky and sea are gray and without edges.  The unexpected thing was how much I enjoyed painting the gray sea and the damp beach.  The horse seems like a ghost, ready to disappear into the mist.

Today's painting, which is on 5 x 7 watercolor paper is available for sale for $18.  If you are interested in purchasing it, please email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com.  The first person I hear from can buy it.

Thank you for following my art.  The days really seem to by slipping by so quickly.  It seems like the day starts and I am full of ambition, then by 2 pm I am realizing I don't have a sketch done for today's painting yet because I am so busy.  But really it's a good thing. I am busy making art and that is what I have always wanted to do.

Hope you can make it by again tomorrow!

A Painting a Day - Day 17

I am LATE!  I did not even make the midnight cut off for the official end of the 17th of September! So I am frustrated, but I did make a piece of art.  It is done, it is just tardy.

I have created a goldfinch for day 17.  When I was around the age of 12 or 13 (a painfully awkward season in my life, when I was embarrassed about everything) my family took a trip westward.  Now when my dad took a trip back then, he would pick a general direction, figure up how much money he had to spend, drive in the decided direction and when he was half way through the money, he would turn around and come home.  Now there may have been more planning involved than that but that was the way he described his trip planning to his preteen daughter.

On our journey we traveled through Iowa.  I don't recall much of Iowa.  Lots of corn fields.  But we did stop in a little town that had a gift store that was full of corn souvenirs and Iowa themed knickknacks.  I picked out a necklace with a pewter pendant which had an enamel goldfinch on it.  I had decided sometime before that goldfinches were my favorite birds.  Probably because of an art kit I had received for Christmas which had been a paint-able goldfinch model.  Anyway, I knew that the goldfinch was the state bird of Iowa but for some reason when I was discussing the necklace with my parents I called it the state bird of Ohio. Now Ohio and Indiana have their state birds in common.  They both chose the cardinal.  Not that this matters.  My twelve year old brain managed to get the words Iowa and Ohio mixed up.  Never the less, my dad got such a kick out of my mistake that he teased me about it all the way to Nebraska and back to Indiana.  And even to this day, if you ask him about goldfinches, he will tell you they are the state bird of Ohio and get this silly grin on his face.

Well, this little goldfinch is not the state bird of Ohio.  But it is for sale for $17.  If you would like to buy it, please email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com. The first person I hear from can purchase it.  Thanks so much for following me as I create this series.  Your comments are also welcome.

A Painting a Day - Day 16

When I see pictures of elephants, I feel sad.  This goes along with what I talked about yesterday and thinking about what the purpose of my art is, which I want it to be about creating beauty.  Elephants are beautiful in a wild, awe inspiring way.  They are strange in their form, not familiar like animals that look like deer or horses or cats or dog.  Those kinds of animals are relate-able  So if I see a gazelle, it reminds me of a deer which are familiar to me.  But when I see an elephant it is almost other worldly, exotic and strange.  And so beautiful when they are in action, moving swifter than their bulky forms would hint they were capable of.

So why am I sad? Elephants are disappearing.  I read an article in Smithsonian Magazine a couple months ago and it made me realize there really could be a day when Africa is empty of this majestic and iconic animal.  And it is all because of the evil and greed of man. That is why I am sad. Because the elephant should be an image of God's creativity and majesty.  Instead it is a symbol of the depravity of which people are capable.

I painted a picture of this elephant family, that even though it makes me sad, represents love, which I believe elephants feel. God did make them and He gave them a capacity for affection, joy and grief which is so close to human beings it stirs our hearts and minds.  This elephant picture represents the love of a parent and child and it represents God's love which is all around us.

This painting is available for $16.  It is 5 x 7 on watercolor paper.  If you are interested in it please email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com.

Thanks again for following my art.  Today I was cutting it close as it is 10 til Midnight as I write these words. But I made it.  And if you know anyone who might enjoy this picture, please share it with them!

A Painting a Day - Day 15

I've been thinking a lot about this project. In fact, I think about it all day long.  What is the purpose of it? Does it have a message?  What am I trying to say?  I know there are artists that use their art to protest an injustice or to challenge social mores or to comment on an injustice or a pervasive mentality. I wonder if my art should carry that kind of weight. But I can't help myself. I like to make pretty pictures.  I had a professor say tell me I was really good at making pretty pictures very quickly. Then he said I need to work some more on my paintings.  That really perplexed me.  Wasn't it enough to make something beautiful? Apparently he wanted me to wrestle with the painting.  I felt like I had already won.

As I was thinking on all of this I recalled a Bible verse "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."  Philippians 4:8.I want to think about the beautiful things in life. There are injustices and dark and terrible deeds perpetrated by human beings on each other and other living things.  And it makes my heart freeze.  But to only know about these things is not enough. I have to be strong enough to face them and push against them. The only way I can is if I have hope.  Beauty can create hope in our hearts. It gives us a reason to fight. It is beauty that causes us to see the injustice and darkness for what it is - a twisting of what we were meant to be.  Beauty reminds us of all the good that can be and should be.

So I will paint pretty pictures of kittens and children and horses and birds because they are beautiful and they remind me to have hope.

This painting, #15, is for sale for $15.  It is 5 x 7 and ready for framing.  If you would like to buy it, please email me at lauraparkhurstillustrator@gmail.com.  Thank you so much for coming to see my art.  And please share it with someone who needs to see something pretty.