A View of Paris painting by Jen Kalz

Date night at home with the hubby drinking wine and painting themes about Paris. I've never had the chance to visit this amazing city (another bucket item on my list) but I am always mesmerized at some the photographs I see. Tonight's painting was inspired by one of the photographs I saw.

A View of Paris

As I spent the night painting this scene I kept thinking of the Gertrude Stein's quote "America is my country but Paris is my hometown". I think when I do get the chance to visit Paris that I will probably feel the same way.

African Sunrise painting by Jen Kalz

I have always had a fascination with  Africa and its wildlife. The images you find on the web of the bright orange or red sunrises and sunsets are just amazingly beautiful to me. Those images served as last nights inspiration.

African Sunrise

I love the idea of a tree in the middle of nowhere providing protection to wildlife. I imagine a pack of lions lounging under the tree relaxing.

Street Fountain painting by Jen Kalz

I recently was in Tulsa, OK on a business trip. While there over a weekend I had the chance to walk around downtown on my way to meet some co-workers for drinks and dinner. On my way to the restaurant I passed a roundabout intersection with a fountain in the middle. The site of it was so unique and unexpected that of course I took a picture. That fountain was the inspiration for the following painting.

Street Fountain

I completed this painting a couple of nights ago. The building in the background is unique as downtown Tulsa has more office buildings and not a lot of greenery.

Bromeliads painting by Jen Kalz

Today I thought I would do something different from my usual genre. My husband bought a plant for my art studio when he put it together hoping it would be inspiration for a piece at some point. I am not usually one to paint still life images but today I guess I took a walk on the wild side...

Bromeliads

It's not my favorite piece but for a first time painting something like this I think it turned out pretty well.

Daily Painting: Sunday Original - Wolf's Tree

After a relaxing weekend in Door County for a company retreat we made it home. The item on my list to knock off was a picture my son drew me that he wanted a painting of. His version has different colors but overall the concept is the same.

Wolf's Tree

This isn't the final version. After I took the picture and showed him the result he asked for a light snow to be added to the painting. Once I added the snow it went to his room right away.

Sunrise on the Ocean painting by Jen Kalz

This morning I spent a couple of hours painting after finishing up with some morning mertings. A friend sent me a picture of the morning sunrise in Florida that became my inspiration for today's painting.

Sunrise on the Ocean

I love painting the water, being a Cancer sign I naturally gravitate to it. There is something very calming about the sound and ryepetition of the ocean. Bucket list item: move to the beach and wake up to something like this every morning.

Middle of Nowhere painting by Jen Kalz

I started tonight's piece yesterday before heading to bed. When I got home from work this evening I stared at the canvas to figure out what else should be added. After digging through images online I finally settled in the sand dune with the palm trees.

Middle of Nowhere

This painting is also on an 8x10 canvas completed with acrylic. My oldest son calls this the "Bikini Bottom" painting. I simply chuckle every time he does. 

Floating in the Clouds painting by Jen Kalz

Tonight I wanted to paint a couple of originals. While I started backgrounds for three paintings I only completed one and started another. My inspirations tonight was the clouds. But as I was painting I could hear my youngest son's voice in my head saying "balloon". Hopefully one of these years I'll have the courage take a hit air balloon ride.

Floating in the Clouds

This original was completed on 8 x 11 canvas. 

I always love painting landscapes, especially mountains. I'm sure this won't be the last one with a landscape like this.

The Art Studio South Wall

Yes tonight was a busy night. At first I wasn't planning on finishing two of the frames on the south wall of the art studio but once I got going I couldn't stop. The inspiration tonight came from a photo I took six and half years ago off the coast of St. Petersburg, FL.

 

 

Sailing at Sunset (Original Photograph)

 

This is actually one of my favorite photographs that I have taken over the years. Since it is a favorite I thought it would be perfect to use as inspiration on the south wall and create this:

Sailing at Sunset

 

Just a few more frames to go on the walls in the new art studio.

Daily Painting: A couple of originals

After getting home from the hair salon this evening my little guy and I decided to paint in the studio. He immediately pushed out two original artworks while I roamed through images of Bavarian castles. After finally settling on an image of Hohenschwangau Castle I completed this 8 x 11 original piece:

Hohenschwangau Castle

This original is for my husband who spent a great amount of time and energy revamping our library/office into an art studio. I very much appreciate the support he has shown in letting me explore my creative side.

Tonight I didn't stop at Hohenschwangau Castle, I also completed an 8 x 11 original I started a few weeks back:

Burning Aurora

This original will soon be up on my Etsy site priced at $75.00, if you're interested please contact me via email.

But of course those who know me would say at times I'm an overachiever. Tonight felt like one of those nights. See my update on the south wall of the art studio.

The Art Studio: West Wall Continues

Today was an early morning of painting. Two more frames completed on the west wall of the studio. Today's inspiration: me and my boys a la zodiac constellations in one of the frames.

Summer Zodiac

For those who are not versed in the Zodiac Constellations, in order from left to right: Gemini Twins (May 21 to June 20) for Thatcher, Cancer the Crab (June 21 to July 22) for Me, and Leo the Lion (July 23 to August 22) for Wolfgang.

My afternoon project required a little more inspiration. I knew I wanted to paint a lit street lamp and had a picture in my head; however, I was having a hard time with the perspective. I spent some time looking through Bing images of street lamp from all over. I finally found an image with lamps lining a street in front of a residential neighborhood. After playing a while I ended up with the following:

Glimmer of Light

One more frame left on the west wall of the Art Studio. Have something in mind along with the first two frames of the south wall of the studio. More to come this week until the finale.

The Art Studio Continues...

Another day of working in the new studio. Continuing the west wall today. I finished two more frames based on inspiration from paintings offered in Pinot's Pallette classes.

Moonlit Waterfront

This one is only a portion of the painting. The top half which I didn't paint in this frame has lamp posts and moon. I love the hint of the lights in the water.

Popping Corks in Paris

My version has a darker background and I used a paper towel to blend the light to the dark in the background. This one turned out better than I expected. One day I'll make it to Paris to see The Eiffel Tower in person but in the mean time I'll have this to keep me occupied.

The Art Studio begins

Now that I am getting back into the swing of painting on a regular basis the office in my house is being converted into an art studio. While I was out of town on work my husband changed out the burgundy carpeting for hardwood floor and painted all the walls neutral. now that the walls are bare I will be slowly adding my touch over the next couple of weeks. Last night was the start of this with a little inspiration from Van Gogh:

Starry Night on the North Wall

I am so glad glad the studio is now getting a touch of me. More to come over the next couple of weeks.

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

As part of my exploration back into painting I decided to work on something for my dad's birthday this year. Since he's a New Year's baby it is often hard to find something for him right after the holidays. This year was also a milestone for him turning the big 60.

My inspiration for this one, my dad's love of penguins :)

Just Chillin

My favorite part of this painting is the mist coming off the ice on the right.

Getting Back into Painting

Over the recent Christmas Holiday I started getting back into painting after a number of years. My inspiration: a little bundle of joy. Normally I make baby quilts but this time for my dear friend and co-worker I decided to complete a work of art for her baby's bedroom. She was originally due January 15th (Capricorn Zodiac Sign) and so I painted the following:

May the Stars Shine Down on you Capricorn

But of course I didn't listen to my friend's motherly instincts that told her she was going to be overdue. So once the 19th rolled around and no baby arrived I made some modifications to the painting:

May the Stars Shine Down on you Aquarius

Now we have an Aquarius :) Like Mother, Like Daughter. For the lovely Raina Rebecca: May the Stars Always Shine Down on You Little Aquarius.