Week 2 painting(s)

I actually did two paintings for week two in my painting-a-week challenge to myself, and I've already done one for week three. So here are the week two paintings. I'll post week three's this weekend.

I'm also selling some of them through my Etsy store: the WoodyMart. So check it out if you see any you like. There are also other Woody goodies (prints, cards) in the Etsy store. Just check under "original paintings" to see the weeklies (and some of my ATC's/ACEO's).

So take that Mike Baker, already got a head start! Please do give me a hard time if I slack off!

100% focused

You've got to be 100% focused to charm a snake. I have also been roughly 90% focused this year so far, but I'm 100% focused on meeting my goals/new year's resolutions. One of them is to do a painting a week (and sometimes more if possible!). So to that end, here is the first weeks painting:



Check back each week as I add new paintings, sometimes finished paintings, sometimes small paintings to work out ideas fro larger ones.

Merry Christmas!

Here's hoping you have a great Christmas and take some time to be with the people you love. This is a new Christmas painting I just finished.

This has been quite the year for our household and I am just glad it's almost over. It will be nice to usher in the new year and hopefully a bit of a fresh start. I normally look forward to the Christmas season all year, waiting for that "magical" time of year when you get to be surrounded by those you love and everyone seems to have that frantic busy pace about them. The nights start to get cold and lights sparkle, there is eggnog and cookies, shopping, special events and then finally the time to just chill and take it all in. Hopefully you're taking the time to let it in and reflect. With the craziness of this year, I have looked forward to this time, but more than Christmas, I look forward this year to being able to start next year slowly but solidly.

It's funny how we move through cycles in life, we wake up to a new day with new problems, new challenges, a new start. We go to lunch, then start again. We start the week new, each week. Then each month, and finally each year. All the while several projects, events, chores, goals, and dreams are all started new. It's a good feeling to be able to start something fresh, to have finished something (whether you failed miserably, succeeded, or just peetered out) and have the chance to start over, start something new. God is so gracious in giving us chance after chance to keep starting over.

So next year look forward to some exciting things from the Woody Miller art factory! Hopefully I can get on the ball from the start, and stay on it!

Tribute to Sam...

Sam Miller

1979-2007

Artist, brother, friend, son, lover, musician,
movie maker, skateboarder, trouble maker, creative
spirit, naturalist, cousin, grandson, laugh creator,
peacemaker.

Best of ... Hats!

So when I found out this weeks Illustration Friday was hats, I freaked. I started thinking about what my new picture would look like and how many hats I could fit into one image. So in the mean time I thought I'd post another something of mine with a hat in it.

As it turns out, I LOVE to draw hats! Most specifically, animals with hats. And a lot of Fez's. Since I couldn't pick one picture with a good hat, I thought I would do a "best of - hats" collage. So here is my homage to the head cover, and doesn't even include all of the hats I've drawn!

Be sure to check back within the next week, I'm still working on a new piece with the theme "HATS"!

Double Grow

I've got 2 for grow this week. The first is a new piece, a winding river making it's way through an autumn forest. A forest for me is a continual reminder of birth, growth, death and rebirth. Every fall the leaves die and grow new again in spring. But in dying, they continue to grow, to change. In fact their growth is most extreme in their last stage of life, when the color is most radiant... Plus I'm really into drawing owls lately!

The second is an old picture I titled the tree of life. Many things grow on it and come from it. Also, for those interested, I've just started my own "Etsy" shop! Right now I have 8x10 prints and a set of Christmas cards up there, but I intend to list more items this week. Check it out here (www.WoodyMart.etsy.com).

Extremely Spooky!

Here's a house I did a few weeks back that is "extremely" spooky, also very Halloweenish. It was drawn from a house in Redwood Shores, one of the most mild suburban neighborhoods where nothing like this ever happens... or does it?http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif



Also here is a print I did for the Four Oceans Press print exchange. It's Linoleum cut, 2 blocks. I'm pretty happy with it, the theme is "Autumn", so I'm still on the fence as to whether the colors work for that. I suppose if it was spring the colors would be more pure. Anyway, I call it "Autumn Conference".