"Toddler with Pretzel"10" x 8"
Click painting to inquire
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Original Oil Painting - Toddler with Pretzel
I saw this precious little girl on a trip through Switzerland and just couldn't resist painting her - that pretzel is just about as big as she is! This is my one my first forays into oil painting, and I'm really excited about it. Thanks to Karin Jurick, I discovered masonite boards, and they are so much more fun to paint on than canvas. I've got several more oils coming!
"Toddler with Pretzel"
10" x 8"
Click painting to inquire
"Toddler with Pretzel"10" x 8"
Click painting to inquire
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Hawaii Virtual Paintout
A few summers back I went on a trip alone to Hawaii. If you've never traveled alone, you should try it! It can be a very meditative and interesting experience. When you are by yourself, people 'adopt' you, and I was hardly ever by myself unless I wanted to be.
Anyway, this picture is actually from google maps, not from my trip, but it brings back wonderful memories. I had a couple free hours this morning and was looking on the virtual paintout website and couldn't resist this month's challenge. Here is the link on google maps if you'd like to enjoy the scenery too http://tinyurl.com/2g3rm33 You will need to wait a moment to let the imagery load before you see the picture. You can then click on the yellow line to move through the map just like you would if you were driving. Click and drag to turn around. Totally addicting for armchair travelers!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Original "A Street in Rome"
I just finished this painting last night. A few summers back I went on the most wonderful trip to Europe, and exploring the back streets of Rome was a highlight. It seems like no matter where you go, there is something old and gorgeous. On this particular street, this old cathedral glowed like gold. I tried to capture that in this painting, along with the gorgeous light on the passersby. If anyone knows what street this is, I'd LOVE to know! I was too much in a hurry to get the name of the street. (Typical)
The print, original and Giclée are available on www.rachelsstudio.com. Click on the picture to see it on my website!
The print, original and Giclée are available on www.rachelsstudio.com. Click on the picture to see it on my website!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Winner of the photo contest...
Congratulations Simone - your adorable picture won! I'll be painting a picture of your darlings and send you a free print.
For the rest of you, get your photos in - the contest will start again in two weeks! The winner will get a free print of the painting and first dibs at the original. Enter photos on flickr, Facebook, or Yahoo.
If you'd also like a chance to win an ORIGINAL, donate to my at-risk children's fund. The button is at the top right of this blog. For every $5 you donate, your name will be in the drawing for a week.
Original "Matisse Reverie"
A few years back I visited the National Gallery in Washington DC. I went there on a trip by myself to take my mind off a disintegrating relationship. Art heals! (Especially a light-hearted Matisse) I just finished this today...
"Matisse Reverie"
8" x 10"
Click on the picture to view the original
"Matisse Reverie"8" x 10"
Click on the picture to view the original
A little background - as Matisse got older, he was confined to his bed much of the time. But his creative energy was still strong, so he cut out shapes from colorful paper, and 'painted' in a whole new way!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
New Yorky Puppy Painting
Here's the winner of the drawing for a free painting. Isn't this one precious?? If you'd like a chance to win, donate to my at-risk fund. For every $5 you donate, your name will be in the drawing for a week! I do the drawing every Friday. The donate button is in the top right hand corner of this blog. Thank you SO much to all of you who have already donated!
Come see me Fourth of July!
Need something fun to do 4rth of July weekend? Come see me at Cat's Meow Polish Pottery in Pine Mountain GA July 2 and 3 from 10 am - 6 pm!
For directions visit catsmeowpolishpottery.com or on facebook.com
For directions visit catsmeowpolishpottery.com or on facebook.com
Vote for Rachel's next painting!
Vote for Rachel's next painting! The winner will get a free print of the painting and first dibs at the original. If you'd like to enter the next contest in two weeks, enter photos on flickr, Facebook, or Yahoo.
Hints for getting a photo juried into the poll: Don't use a flash, take the picture in natural light, and get down on your subjects's level, if you're submitting a photo of a pet or person. These make for much more paintable pictures.
Hints for getting a photo juried into the poll: Don't use a flash, take the picture in natural light, and get down on your subjects's level, if you're submitting a photo of a pet or person. These make for much more paintable pictures.
Friday, June 11, 2010
New Painting - Enter for your chance to win tonight!
This cute was last week's winner for a free painting. If you'd like to enter, donate with the paypal button in the upper right corner. For every $5 you donate, you'll be in the drawing for one week. I choose a winner every Friday night!
Monday, June 07, 2010
New Siamese Art - A Watercolor Painting!
I know it's a nasty habit, but I just NEED to paint a Siamese cat once in a while!! Here's "Lorenzo's Reverie". Hey, if it weren't for these cats, I may have not seen Florence, Rome, and Zurich! I met this guy's owner online through her photos, we struck up a friendship, and I went a couple of summers ago to visit her and her lovely cats in Zurich. More of the story is posted earlier in this blog. Thank you Karin, at http://community.webshots.com/user/karin_from_zurich for your gorgeous pictures AND friendship.
To view purchase info, click on the picture.
To view purchase info, click on the picture.Sunday, June 06, 2010
Brinkley complete!
I finally finished the winner of the last poll - Brinkley! His mom, Carol, also won the drawing for the free painting last week and so she'll get this painting for free. Thank you for donating Carol! If you'd like to donate to my at-risk kids and have a chance to win a free painting (new drawing each Friday), click donate in the upper right hand corner of the blog! For each $5 you donate, your name will be placed in the drawing one week. So if you donate $10, your name is in the drawing twice the first week after you give, once the second week, and none after that.
I've started my summer reading too - right now it's Jerry Saltz's "Seeing Out Louder" He's an art critic and was nominated twice for the Pulitzer. I'm about half way through and so far he's been a great advocate for women artists, at times very annoyed with the commercialism of the art fairs (ie Art Basel), and down right disgusted with art auctions like Christie's. ("Auctions are like stripteases: they rely on people being enticed by what's just out of reach"). But hey, he does like Jeff Koons. Sometimes.
I've started my summer reading too - right now it's Jerry Saltz's "Seeing Out Louder" He's an art critic and was nominated twice for the Pulitzer. I'm about half way through and so far he's been a great advocate for women artists, at times very annoyed with the commercialism of the art fairs (ie Art Basel), and down right disgusted with art auctions like Christie's. ("Auctions are like stripteases: they rely on people being enticed by what's just out of reach"). But hey, he does like Jeff Koons. Sometimes.
Thursday, June 03, 2010
Eiffel Tower Painting...Finished!
Here's a little painting I did of the Eiffel Tower - I got the picture off of Google Street View! Click here to see the original image. Just let it load when google comes up, it will take a minute to switch to the picture from the map.
For those of you interested, in French it's "La Tour Eiffel". How the heck do you pronounce that you may ask? Well, I was curious too and did a little search on yahoo answers. Here is what user 'la lah' has to say... tour- same as the word "tour" in English but the R should sound sort of like a gargling sound. Eiffel is pronounced like you are saying the letter F + the word "fell" but put the stress on the "fell" because French stresses the last syllable in the word.
I can never get that gurgling sound quite right.
For those of you interested, in French it's "La Tour Eiffel". How the heck do you pronounce that you may ask? Well, I was curious too and did a little search on yahoo answers. Here is what user 'la lah' has to say... tour- same as the word "tour" in English but the R should sound sort of like a gargling sound. Eiffel is pronounced like you are saying the letter F + the word "fell" but put the stress on the "fell" because French stresses the last syllable in the word.
I can never get that gurgling sound quite right.
Painting of a Chihuahua - Starla of "Million Dollar Listing"!
This is Starla, the chihuahua that always stole the show on Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing. I asked Chad Rogers permission on Twitter and he was kind enough to let me. Personally, I just couldn't resist those ears!!! (I mean Starla's ears) ; )
The drawing for a free painting is tomorrow night so everyone get their $5 in at www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com For every $5 you donate, your name goes into a drawing. Each $5 lasts a week, so if you donate $10 you'll be in the drawing two weeks (and so on). $ -> my at-risk students.
The drawing for a free painting is tomorrow night so everyone get their $5 in at www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com For every $5 you donate, your name goes into a drawing. Each $5 lasts a week, so if you donate $10 you'll be in the drawing two weeks (and so on). $ -> my at-risk students.