happy halloween!

1031ac3
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

in the misty morn

119ac1
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

"I saw old Autumn in the misty morn
Stand, shadowless like Silence, listening
To Silence."
- Thomas Hood

falling leaves

1029tree2
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

here is a little bit of autumn for you, something i painted a few years ago. i would probably paint autumnal pictures all year long but i try to wait until it is seasonal. this looks like stathmore paper and maybe winsor and newton watercolors. I usually use Daniel Smith watercolors now and I recently switched to Arches Cold press watercolor paper. But I will sometimes just grab whatever comes to hand - I am afraid I have a bit of a paper hoard.

Between the season of falling leaves and sad news in the world I am feeling melancholy. the internet suggest this state is caused by having too much "black bile" - do they mean coffee?

well anyway, i hope for a quiet weekend.

red bird

red bird
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

here is another little red bird. i am feeling blue, myself. sometimes it seems like there is just so much suffering and so many sad things in the world. lots of people i see lately. so i am thinking good thoughts for y'all, which is sometimes all one can really do. and painting my little birds, which i guess to me represent some sort of faith or hope.

pygmy owl

pygmy owl
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this is my latest little painting. well, not SO little, it's 8 x 8" and i am so happy with how it came out. such a cunning little fellow, all surrounded by leaves and autumn colors.

with fall winter can't be far behind so i have started doing a little holiday shopping. i love shopping on line and supporting artists! This is where I've been shopping so far this year:
Etsy
Boy Girl Party
Papaya Art

next up I think might be Jill Bliss

I will also be giving books and CDs! Some of my favorite places to shop for those are:
CD Baby
and
Powells

I will let you know about more favorites in days to come!

the little owl is available in my Etsy Shop.

little bird

little bird
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

I have so many art ideas now and not enough time! though I guess that is better than the opposite. Here is how I finished up the little bird I posted when it was in progress.

Most of my pieces seem to have a mind of their own - to a certain degree. and I guess it's my job to get out of the way and maybe not over think things. My friend Kathy said she thinks that is why I like to listen to audio books while I paint - to shut my little whirring brain off, or at least slow it down. distract it. I like the idea of being a vessel for art.

I started an 8 x 8" painting last night that I thought was going to be blue, purple, and brown, but it immediately insisted on being green and brown, and when you're going with watercolor instead of oil or acrylic you can't just do EVERYTHING over, so i needed to sort of coax the purple into getting alone with the green.

i think it's going to be an art weekend, we'll see what I get done.

Rose and Redbird

Rose and Redbird
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this little creature is on etsy.

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”

--Rabindranath Tagore

more watercolors

more watercolors
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

this little bird is my new favorite thing ever! but it's not done yet. I am fighting a nasty cold so I may not get any art time today. I just wanted to share an in-progress picture! i think this is the start of a new series.

watercolors in progress

watercolors in progress
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

i can't sleep so you get another blog post. not that i have much to say! i am still working with blues and brilliant warm colors but yesterday i threw some vibrant spring greens into the mix. and then last night - you don't get to see this yet - i was working in brown and grey and blue and am still excited about the results.
current things inspiring me:

birds
leaves
autumn
peterson's field guilds to birds
insect art of christpher marley

and some blue..

IMG_0785
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

well, i've been using a lot of warm colors lately, magenta, fuchsia, scarlet, orange, and warm purples. but i've also been using blues, greens, and cool purples. i love how this cobalt pops against magenta!


and a quote:

“I am as curious about color as one would be visiting a new country, because I have never concentrated so closely on color expression. Up to now I have waited at the gates of the temple.”

Henri Matisse

Enchanted Glade

Enchanted Glade
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

i finished this painting! it took me a week - and i was painting most of the time i was awake and not at work. i am happy with this, but the things i am working on now are not as bright. i've switched over to a cooler color scheme - blues, greens, and browns mostly. well, so far. it is quite possible some more colors will creep in there when i am not looking!

autumn tumbles down

autumn tumbles down
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains, a torch flung to the trees.
Faith Baldwin

I listed these 2 autumn paintings, acrylic paint on gallery canvas, on Etsy.

every day of afternoon sunshine I just want to enjoy it as much as possible, and every afternoon of rain i am afraid it will rain for 6-months straight. (this is Seattle. that could happen.) but i think there are a few more days of sunshine, at least. if i ever move it will absolutely be to a place that gets more sunny days a year than Seattle. though Seattle is quite nice in summer - not too hot.

mouse in her nest

mouse in her nest
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

here we have a little mouse, and her nest. i was thinking of making a little hut for her to put her nest in. keeps off the rain. i might work on that tonight. it will probably be made of felt. or i might start a new painting. i am thinking of doing a 10w x 20h painting of a tree in blues, browns, and greens. i might add some purple too but that is a little up in the air now.

what color do you think trees should be?
and what other animals need little huts? bonus points if their bodies are more or less shaped like fat little walnuts because those are easy to crochet.

watercolor

watercolor
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

lick on this image to go to flickr and see things bigger. or smaller! or from different angles. well, some angels anyway.

i worked yesterday so today feels like tuesday, which it is clearly not! but at least there is a little late autumn sunlight, i went to the park at lunch and lay in the sun and read. oh, how i miss the park in winter. i still go for short visits but it isn't the same!

i have been painting a lot. the larger painting here will be 10 x 20" when it is done. i wish i could paint all day long!

i have been reading a couple series by Cherie Priest, and I just love her books. I read two of her Eden Moore Books and have the 3rd reserved at the library. I started Bone Shaker last night and I love it too. For anyone interested in steam punk, Seattle, Seattle history, and / or underground Seattle i recommend!!

and here is her website:
Cherie Priest.

heart of the cobalt rose

heart of the cobalt rose
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

Here is my nod to blue. Or one of them anyway, I love this pure cobalt blue. I suspect I will be using it more in days to come. this particular drawing is watercolor, ink, and colored pencil on watercolor paper. It's available on Etsy.

and a quote for you from Eleonora Duse :
"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive."

It has been a kind of rough week. I am working Sunday, but am glad to have Saturday off. I can't decide if I am going to do some art or just do some nothing!

beaded angel

beaded angel
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."
~George Elliot

i listed 2 new angels on Etsy.

beaded autumn angel

beaded angel
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

it is certainly feeling like autumn in the northwest. it's getting nipper and foggier and there has been more rain in the forecast (plus much more to come.) i am sitting at my desk eating chicken soup with rice. (canned, i am afraid. My stepfather would blanch at the sodium content. Fortunately I have low-normal blood pressure and my doctor actually told me to eat a little more salt.)

This angel is something I was working on last week. I have not been feeling very well but have still done some art as I am able mostly little projects i can do curled up in bed, leaning against my headboard.

i've also been listening to audio books, most recently Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, which is wonderful. A wonderful book and the reader really adds a lot to my appreciation and understanding. It's both an excellent magical realism novel and an exposure to the history of India and Pakistan.Definitely a different perspective than my earliest exposure to the history of that time period - through the film Ghandi which I think I saw twice in the 6th or 7th grade.

I have some new watercolors too that I need to scan - I'll see how much energy I have when I go home tonight!

Demeter

Demeter
Originally uploaded by megan_n_smith_99

Happy October!
This is a little drawing I finished a couple of days ago, and it seems appropriate for today. Demeter was the greek goddess of the harvest and fertility.

" I begin to sing of Demeter, the holy goddess with the beautiful hair." -- that is one thing Homor said about her, and quite a bit more, if you would care to learn more about her. When I was little, one of the first books I ever bought with my own money was D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, which I still have today. I always loved the photos.

Anyway this is my idea of Demeter, probably as a younger goddess, she does not look old enough here to be the mother of Persephone. She is on Etsy.