Awaiting Christmas
“Gleaming in anticipation one lone bauble awaits its place upon a tree aglow.”
Debbie Lamey-MacDonald
I decided to do an old fashioned draw for my Christmas give away. So I ran off everyone’s name on my Mailing List and placed them in a Christmas Box. Then I shuffled them around and had my husband take a photo of my hand drawing out the winner. Even our cat Marley decided to get in on the action!
I am happy to finally announce the winner. Congratulations goes out to Janet Matheson, the lucky winner!! May “Awaiting Christmas” bring you much cheer and peace over the Christmas Season Janet!
I want to extend a special thank you to everyone who has signed up for my Mailing List. I greatly appreciate your support, kind words and interest in my work!
Wishing Everyone a Wonderful Christmas with Family and Friends
and
A Prosperous New Year in 2011!!
Warmly,
Debbie
P.S. I hope to do more fun draws in the future for different items representing my work! Stay tuned! 
Awaiting Christmas
I am having a fun Christmas Draw for anyone who is on my Mailing List or for those who join! You will be eilgible to WIN this Original Miniature Oil Painting titled: “Awaiting Christmas”, 3x2in. Oil on linen/panel. A reflection is included on the back on laminated card stock.
“Gleaming in anticipation one lone bauble awaits its place upon a tree aglow.”
It was painted alla prima (wet into wet in one session). I loved painting this little miniature and am happy to spread some Christmas Cheer by having one of my subscribers win it. It is my way of expressing my appreciation for your kindness and support of my work!
Many Thanks and Good Luck!!
Warmly,
Debbie
P.S. You can sign up for my Mailing List on the side bar of this page.
If you like this painting you may also enjoy “Baubles and Ribbon” another Miniature Christmas Painting. View it here.
International Artist Day
In recognition of International Artist Day I would like to honour Eric Carle, a beloved and incredible illustrator and writer of young children’s books. He creates illustrations for his books in his own unique style, where he incorporates collage techniques, creating bright and cheerful pictures. Some of his most familiar and loved books are “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Brown Bear, Brown Bear”.
As both an Artist and Grade One Elementary teacher, I love sharing Eric Carle’s books with my young students. We love reading his stories and discussing how he creates his illustrations. With this in mind my students and I embarked on a project where we would employ Carle’s collage techniques creating our own personal illustrations.
We started our journey by reading and observing many of his books. Then over a span of a few weeks groups of students painted large sheets of paper, often adding varying colors and texture. Once we felt we had enough large sheets of painted paper we cut the sheets up into small rectangles so that every student would get a collection of art papers to use in their own creation.
I was amazed at how focused and patient the students were when completing their own personal pages! Many cut small repetitive items such as squares etc. and patiently glued them onto their sheet of heavy card stock. The room was transformed into a wonderful artistic community. Often students shared left over pieces of painted paper or admired their classmates’ creations.
I love viewing children’s artwork!! It is so truthful and free of restrictions. Their work is often bright and cheerful just like Eric Carle’s illustrations. I agree with Eric Carle’s sentiments when he says “I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.” I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project with my young students and was really proud of their efforts and participation. I hope you enjoying viewing their bright and cheerful artwork!
You can visit Eric Carle’s website to learn more about him and his work.
You can find more information about International Artist Day here.
Shining Stars
“With a blue haze and potter’s glaze shining stars are born.”
Debbie Lamey-MacDonald
I have had the desire to paint blue plums for awhile and a couple of weeks ago I picked up a box at the grocery store. Before I could get to paint them they withered! Oh dear, I thought I would not get another chance to paint them for a whole year as their presence is seasonal in our grocery stores. Well you can imagine my delight when I happened to stumble upon them again at a different store! I quickly picked up a box and didn’t waste any time setting up my new still life where a single plum would be eternalized. I even found a box where one plum had a few tiny leaves attached.
Another love of mine is glazed pottery. It occurred to me that a small bowl I owned and one of the blue plums would make good companions. I decided to try something a bit different and crop my still life so only half the bowl would be visible. I really loved painting both the plum and pottery bowl!
In the future I would love to team up with a local potter and paint still life of their treasures!
Featured Artist
I am very happy to be one of the Featured Artists on two online galleries. You can view my feature on Daily Painters International Art Gallery and Artists International Gallery. A big thank you to K. Madison Moore– site administrator and talented artist as well.
Warmly,
Debbie
Hi Everyone,
I thought it would be nice to share photos of my most recent sales on my blog. I hope to add a section for recent sales and collector comments on my website in the near future. I soooo appreciate my collectors and value your support and interest in my work! It means a lot to me to know that my work has resonated with you on a personal level and that it adds upliftment to your personal space. Thanks so much!
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end”. ~Scott Adams
Hi Everyone,
I am adding a New Category to my blog called, “Artists Talk”. Since I have joined the social media scene via Twitter and Facebook I have been very fortunate to meet some terrific Artists and Creatives. Many have been very generous in offering tips and resources, not to mention their support. I am very grateful for both their generous natures and friendships.
Thus, as a way to give back I will be posting any personal tips or resources I come across that I feel would be of interest or helpful to my fellow artists. Please feel free to add your own tips/resources or elaborate on the ones mentioned. Join in the talk with fellow Artists!
I recently came across two Fabulous Artists Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry who are both professional artists who broadcast a weekly talk radio show called “Artists Helping Artists” for free. They discuss ways artists can enhance their business based on their own personal or guests experiences. I love their philosophy of artists helping other artists! Kudos to them both for their kindness and generosity! They now have a new blog for Artists Helping Artists as well. I am so happy I found these two great gals and have benefited from their sharing. I hope you do too!
On another note I would like to share a trick I learned from one of E. John Robinson‘s videos years ago. If you are an oil painter you have probably painted not only your canvas, but your clothes as well. I know I am notorious for getting paint on my face and clothes. Robinson mentioned on his video that oven cleaner works really well in getting paint out of your clothes. So being the adventurous one, I decided to give it a try. Well I was amazed at how well this trick worked, especially when you spray it on freshly painted clothing. I get paint out of my clothes often using this little trick. A new kind of “Spray and Wash” for artists clothes.
Please feel free to add a comment or elaborate on any of the ideas mentioned above. Wishing you much fun in your creative endeavors!
Warmly,
Debbie
New Spring Arrivals!
I would like to share some new work I have been doing that I am really jazzed about! A few weeks ago I started painting miniature paintings ranging in sizes from 3x2in. to 4x4in. They are painted on linen covered archival panels and can be ordered from Art Boards. I discovered that I really love painting on linen and am contemplating painting on linen for larger works as well.
I love the intimacy these small works create. For some reason their personal quality remind me of short lines of poetry. Careful planning is still necessary when setting up these little paintings.There is not a lot of room for error, so I often do a quick thumbnail or gesture sketch before I begin painting my still life.
For awhile I have had small nudges to explore this area of smaller works. I am so happy I finally listened to that little voice. My admiration of some daily painters such as Duane Keiser, Julian Merrow-Smith and Justin Clayton have also inspired me to begin this new painting adventure.
In keeping with my artwork/reflections process, I am accompanying each small painting with a line of prose or poetry. I hope these mini paintings will add a ray of sunshine to your day. I have felt most joyful when painting them.
Happy Spring Everyone!
Warmly,
Debbie
P.S. I have begun adding these to my Etsy Shop. I will also be adding Buy It Now buttons to my blog as well. For your reference, pricing is as follows: 3x2in $50.00 +S/H, 3x3in. $58.00 +S/H and 4x4in. $75.00 +S/H.
P.P.S. You can now sign up for my future Ezine where I will be sharing, paintings, happenings and thoughts about my work. Love to have you! (Sign up is on this page on the side panel.)
By Debbie
|
Also posted in Studio Work
|
Tagged Canadian Artist, daily painters, etsy shop, floral, gold thread, green thread, Miniatures, new work, Nova Scotia, still life, studio
|
Special Announcement!
“Blooms in Winter” is now up for bids on the Haiti Relief Auction sponsored by 140hours. It’s a great way to purchase original art at bargain prices! Come see and join in on the bidding fun. One hundred percent of the money raised is being donated to help the Haitian people!
You can bid on “Blooms in Winter” 5x7in. Original oil painting here.
You can also bid on other original works of art here
This is a wonderful way for everyone to extend their hearts to the Haitian People!
People around the world are coming together for a common purpose to help those in need in Haiti after a devastating earthquake. Visual Artists are one of such groups who have opened their hearts by donating work to be auctioned in 140 Hours Art Auction Benefit for Haiti. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to the humanitarian efforts in Haiti.
I am honored to be part of such a worthy cause and am proud of all the visual artists who donated beautiful works of art. I would also like to congratulate 140 Hours for presenting a platform in which to carry out this event!
If you are an artist and would like to donate work you can do so here.
If you are an art collector and would like to purchase wonderful art please join here. Together we can make a difference!
Warmly,
Debbie
CanArtisan and I recently made connections via Twitter. They have a lovely blog that features and promotes Canadian Artists. They were very complementary of my work and asked if they could feature a selection of work on their Thursday’s Gallery Feature. Of course I was delighted and am very grateful for their nice article. Many thanks to Enthral, who authored the post. You can read the post here. Enjoy!
Artist Statement: Relationships bloom, tweet by tweet. Many tweets later, defenses drop; revealing delicate layers of multifaceted personalities.
Biography: Debbie Lamey-MacDonald is a Nova Scotian artist who works from life to capture the essence of her subject. Musings accompany her paintings.
I am very happy and excited to be a part of an upcoming art show entitled Twitter 140. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets that can be no more than 140 characters. All artists involved in the show are members of Twitter and have completed artwork with a twitter theme in mind. The artists span the globe; thus it is an international showing of interesting artwork! Our Artists Statements and Biography also had to abide by the 140 requirement and the artwork could be no larger than 140 square inches.
The show is being hosted by the Grandon Art Gallery in Flagstaff, Arizona on Sept. 4th, 2009 for the entire month. All the artists and one of their entries can be viewed here. Also, this is what the gallery looks like from the outside. All artwork is either on route or at the gallery now!
Many thanks and praise go to Sheree Rensel for her vision in masterminding this event. She worked very diligently to acquire a gallery that would host our show! Kudos to Sheree!! Special thanks also goes to David Grandon(Gallery owner) for hosting our show.
I have found an amazing community of artists on twitter who are both talented and resourceful. Many wonderful relationships have been developed one tweet at a time. Wishing all the Artists and Grandon Gallery a wonderful opening and show!
