Expression 22"x30" acrylic on watercolor paper

This is for the Girls Just wanna Paint challenge- the theme is "expression"
It was fun to paint big ( ish) after all the little 6"x6" 's....
See all the paintings by clicking above....

This was fun to paint! Sort of meditative...this is for the four corners of the alphabet. Hope to have it done tomorrow- I am tweaking a few of the paintings. lightening, etc...

I'm so glad to have done this series. Thank you Leslie Saeta for hosting  these kick butt challenges- its fun to see what others do too!

Z is for Zebra!

Tomorrow I will finish this challenge by painting some sort of rosette to put in the 4 corners of my 30 paintings in 30 days grid. I will make a poster and put it up for sale-I might try Etsy for that. Possibly a book too!
It has been a challenge but mostly fun and I really love getting up early and doing the daily painting-  now I plan to work on bigger pieces.
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions guys!

Y is for Yak

Keeping warm in winter is all about the outfit!

X is for X Ray tetra

You really can see through these fish... 

Almost done with this challenge- two more letters!

W is for Walrus

I had a lot more fun painting this one- yesterdays vulture was a the hardest one yet- but a kind reader  pointed out that with out that bird think of all the roadkill we would be stuck with!
Okay- tomorrow is another dreaded day- X

V is for Vulture

I will not lie- I felt yucky painting this one. Theres not much cuteness to this carrion eating creature. But it still is a being!

U is for Unicorn

I believe in Magic!

T is for Turtle

I have a thing for turtles. My Dad and I saw one in the road in Hingham when I was a little girl-  he later gave me a ceramic one that I still have and cherish. Recently on a visit to his home in Hawaii I had an unforgettable experience with turtles one morning- I was taking pictures of rocks in the water and one was right there- I didn't see him until he slowly swam by me. 

They beach themselves during the day and look like they are, well, dead. But they aren't!

S is for Seagull and the finished pole!

Back to the Alphabet!

I finished the pole. It was amazing to be in such a busy public spot and yet I was able to focus. Day one was tough- designing and drawing it- the top of the pole gave me grief because there was no way of making it look domed at the top without it looking very odd from certain vantage points- so I made it grey .. still not totally satisfied but people seem to like it. I received so many kind worlds from people stopped at the light- some simply said "thank you".

I snuck something in at the access panel... of course...

My view from the top of my ladder- imagining Marshfield roads 100 years ago...

Guess who?

I put the dandelion  there for Molly Fitzgerald. I wore my Molly Walk shirt as I was painting and kept thinking of Molly. 

Here's the finished pole! This photo was the best I could do from the car...

Lighthouses and Fairy houses!

My daily paintings have lapsed a bit- I'm still painting however ( it's truly my addiction!)
Yesterday was a  very busy day. Seaside Homes Reaty hired m to paint a utility pole in Marshfield on 3A by the Veterans Park. I had to wait for the weekend to do it as it's such a busy intersection. I got the first coat on the pole- and right after that I went to work at the Art Complex making fairy houses with kids and their parents. I'm back there today for the opening reception. In the evening I attended a fantastic art opening in Duxbury for my friend Lucy. I am up early today and plan on finishing the lighthouse. Madeline MacDonald of Seaside Homes obtained permission to do all this and she is having sand installed with a few big rocks to "seaside up" the traffic island.

My photoshopped plan for the lighthouse! There's Madeline walking over to tend the flowers. She is there every weekend. You can't see the other bigger island she adopt but its' beautiful and filled with perennial flowers.

My fairy house  moss collection helper Winnie.

The adorable kids and their magical fairy houses! 

Lucy Hutchinson and Judy Vose at the art opening.What a day!

R is for Rabbit

Every evening at dusk there are bunnies in my yard. I had a couple as pets when the kids were little- but it didn't last. I don't do well with things in cages...

Alden House Paint night!

Last night I taught a "paint along night" at the Alden house in Duxbury. Such fun! 

Below is the original photo I used for the painting...

And the painting I did 

                                       Here are a couple happy participants- notice John and Priscilla behind them- from the wax museum- they sort of scared me ....

Hard at work- no fun here! ( notice wine glasses)

               Matt- the Alden house director on the left- and his sister on the right- they were fun!

Look at the awesome results of the evening!

This gal likes the xerox cut out tracer so much she glued it right on! Mixed media!

This one had her own unique vision- we had to stop her from overdoing!

It was a fantastic evening! We hope to do more.

Q is for Quail 6"x6" acrylic

Back to the alphabet! Luckily there are only 26 letters and this is a 30 day challenge.

Rowboats 12"x12" acrylic - Day 17 of the 30 in 30 challenge

I taught a class last night and used this photo prom the website "paint my photo". I printed it out in black and white with a grid on it and they drew with chalk on the toned canvas. Then we just painted!

Their results were awesome!

Back to the alphabet tomorrow- no time for "q" today!

P is for Penguin

Absolutely one of my favorite creatures on earth. Recently we visited the New England Aquarium and the little guys hang out all day in there. SO cute!
In other news- My grandfather, John Hale Chipman, of Norwell, is being featured in a daily blog form Dartmouth College in New Hampshire where he was an alum. He kept extensive diaries during his time in the military. This was a surprise to me and and siblings and we are thrilled that the people at the college are doing this. You can see the blog  here. Today is day 2, so if you want to start at the beginning you'll have to go back a page.

O is for Otter

I fell in love with otters when I visited the Trailside Museum at the Blue Hills as a kid. So playful!

"N is for Newt"

Surprisingly few animals begin with the letter "N"!
This is a newt at night. They live on the west coast- mainly in California- and are toxic.

"M is for Monkey"

Had a lot of coffee this morning!

"K is for Kangaroo"

We were in St. Loius a long time ago visiting the awesome zoo there- and my youngest daughter Maddie, who was about 5 at the time, was so excited she leaned too far over the fence and fell into the kangaroo pen! Luckily it wasn't hard to extract her-and the kangaroos were not close enough to reach her- but man as I was painting this guys claws I said a little prayer. Phew!