Angels Watching Over Me, Thursday, October 16, 2014

I have been doodling and drawing in some form most of my life.  I am a self-taught artist, as much as any of us can be self-taught.  I studied the work of other artists and read their books and their directions and did my best to mimic them UNTIL I could develop my own style and what I liked.

I quit doing craft shows before the primitive style became popular in my area of the county.   I have to admit, it has been TOUGH for me to adapt my painting to this style...I joke with my friends that no matter HOW much I try to paint in the primitive style, it comes out with bright colors and happy images.  I kid my friend, Kathy, that I just CAN'T join her on the DARK SIDE, so I'm doing my best to just bring her over to my HAPPY SIDE.  

AND let's face it, It has been DIFFICULT for me to paint a  GIANT PEAR that is bigger than a house and trying to put windows into Saltbox houses DRIVES me crazy because I can't get them EVEN...BUT look at anyone's saltbox house and tell me THEIR windows are even or structurally correct...I KNOW, but it's MY uneven windows...sigh...HOW in the WORLD did an ounce of perfectionism get into MY life??  It must have not had GPS!!!

Since being on Facebook, I have been introduced to the New England Folk Artist, John Sliney, and I have searched high and low to buy as many of his out of print books that I can find.  When I saw THIS project in his book, I KNEW that it would be on my WISH LIST to paint one day, so I filed it in my brain for a future project.

I recently had a customer on etsy, whom I now consider a friend,  who contacted me recently about doing an order for her mother's birthday.  She explained to me a little about her mother and said that she trusted me to "work my magic"...I laughed, but INSTANTLY thought of this project with wings and I got out my John Sliney books and found these other projects that I liked and thought they would work PERFECTLY.  

My FIRST thought was to simply place the Angel Wings in the  middle of a 8x 24 x 1 piece of Poplar, much like they are on this stool, with ANGELS WATCHING OVER ME at the top and angels around the wings...it was going to be sweet...I got ready to start painting....WHEN...

 

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 I WONDERED What would happen if I cut out WINGS and worked the sitting angel into the design...I really didn't like the idea of having the wings of the sitting angel sticking out of the wings BECAUSE little pieces tend to get BROKEN in shipping or through time...BUT ALL of a sudden, I thought about putting a boarder around them...SCORE!!

I am SO blessed to be able to cut my own wood...SO I drew off the wings first onto a piece of 11x17 paper folded in half and VERY QUICKLY sketched out the design...it came to life in NO TIME.

 

I painted the wings in DecoArt Americana.  I have used this brand of paint for YEARS and now am honored to be a Helping Artist with DecoArt.  The products are made in the USA!  They are ALWAYS the same with each bottle I open...they offer good coverage...and the colors available are current. 
  
I sketched the outline for the grass and the sky so I could paint them first.

I added the setting angel and transferred the next angel using Chalk.  At this point, I was already loving how this was turning out...

I finished the angel and quickly transferred the next Angel...I couldn't WAIT to get it finished...I just KNEW what was in my head was going to transfer to the surface...I added the church next...then the red house (the mother likes RED and I thought this was a great opportunity to put her favorite color into this project).  It was off balanced, so I added the trees to the right of the design...I LOVE the shading that happened just by chance because I had some brown in my green from painting over the tree trunk while it was still wet...I use a LOT of dirty-brush painting because that is how I got shading/highlights into my projects when I first started to paint!  I think SOMETIMES we PROUDLY take credit for those unexpected little HAPPIES that happen... ;)

This is the finished project and I LOVE it...I guess that sounds vain, but sometimes inspiration just hits and I am THANKFUL for that.

 I KNOW from WHOM my talents come.  I am not a naturally-gifted artist who can paint realistic paintings JUST by picking up a brush.  I have gotten better BECAUSE I took the little bit of talent that I was GIFTED and I worked to develop it...I don't PRETEND to paint a style that everyone likes, but I paint WHAT I LIKE and I have been blessed to find encouragement from so many along my journey...

This painting is VERY meaningful to me.  While it is NOT my own design, it has my own personal twists to it!  I am so GLAD that I have discovered John Sliney's designs and I look forward to working on putting MY STYLE to more of HIS designs...

Thank you, Erica, for trusting me to do this project for you...I HOPE your Mother will continue to feel Angels around her, guiding her and protecting her.  You have been an ANGEL in my life for the encouragement you have given to me and I am THANKFUL!

I BELIEVE that WHEN we want to do something, we have the tools to find a way to accomplish the task...DON'T stop trying to do WHAT you wish to DO...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥