Rachel's Studio Blog

Friday, July 09, 2010

Congratulations to Maggie the Pomeranian!!

Congratulations Maggie - your darling photo won. You will receive a free print of your painting. To participate in the next contest, go to Facebook or Yahoo and upload your pictures! Please note that it is allowed to use social networking to get votes and you can vote once a day. The next contest I may just keep the poll open for 24 hours as the ability to vote more than once gets a bit out of hand.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Art of the Penn MaryDel Foxhound - an original painting

"Penn MaryDel Foxhounds"
11" x 14"
Click here to inquire

These are Penn MaryDel Foxhounds with the Camden (South Carolina) Hunt club. They are gorgeous, muscular dogs that have a very professional demeanor - they were all business the day I met them. This is a painting of the dogs in the kennel that got left behind. They were intently listening to the hounds in the field. Another talented artist, Karen Storay, also trains horses and invited me to come and take pictures. Thank you Karen!

Friday, July 02, 2010

Wood Duck Art - Watercolor Painting

I painted this for my dad - he loves wood ducks. He lives on a huge lake (Lake Murray in Lexington SC) and has made it his life mission to create habitat for wood ducks. He has put duck boxes up all over the lake, which is 100s of acres. This summer he was rewarded with a family of babies. Unfortunately they are too shy to get a good picture, but can you imagine how cute a baby wood duck is??? For my painting though, an adult will have to do. They make perfect watercolor subject with their bright colors with sharp contrasts of white.

Prints and the original available
11" x 14"
Click on the image 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

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Hawaii Virtual Paintout

"Kamehameha Highway, Kaaawa Hawaii"
4" x 11"
Click here for purchase info

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!

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

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!

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.