Rose of Sharon No. 12 Handpainted cigar box

Here is the finished Rose of Sharon No. 12 twilight cigar box.

The sun has been hidden for a few days now. Which is good for me to get caught up on business paperwork and chasing my chores as well as getting into a routine with our kids back in school.
I am going to be starting a plein air inspired series of Black Eyed Susans tomorrow I'm happy to move on to a new color theme. And have learned much from The Rose of Sharon Series.

I have some great pictures to work from in the studio well actually on my easel outdoors :) and Although I wish I were onsite for these, I have loved these flowers for a long time and can recall the emotions involved.

All the best,
~Rebecca
www.RebeccaGrantham.com
www.PleinAirCafe.com Artful gifts
Rose of Sharon Series Artful gifts are now available, Large Framed Prints, coffee mugs and more, click here to visit my artful gift site.

This piece is unavailable but do contact me if you are interested in cigar box paintings.

What is this site? What is a Blog? Online Journal?

I have been thinking recently that although I have been blogging for over a year now, everyday new people are going online and searching for things and are coming to my site not knowing what a blog, or online journal is and what kind of art site this is.

If you are looking for more information either about this site or about blogs and blogging as well as blogging resources for artists then this post is for you !

First of all, a blog simply put is an online journal. Just like a person would write with pen on paper, millions of people have put their thoughts, opinions and more into an online blog for others to read and comment on.

If you can think of it, there is a blog for it. Everything from a day in the life of a pet to personal political opinions and everything in between.

Q? How is a blog different from a website?
A. One difference between websites and blogs are the update frequency. A blog can be updated more than once in a day, daily, semi-weekly, weekly, monthly etc. While some websites may only be updated monthly give or take.
This blog updates weekly and sometimes more.

Q? How do I navigate a/this blog?
A. Like a journal a blog is arranged by post dates that can be archived weekly or monthly. So if you stumble upon a blog there will be a list in the side bar of previous links depending on where you land. I have made mine easier to look through and find the most recent posts by placing a link to the homepage directly in the side bar where you see what is happening most recently. And you can browse through previous posts of art and news.

Q? Why blog?
A. This online journal is a free open way for me to post new paintings, career happenings and a format to have a more personal relationship with viewers. A companion to my website RebeccaGrantham.com and Pleinaircafe.com. I enjoy meeting new people and have made some great friends through this blog and looking through others.

Q? How do I stay in touch with a blog I like?
A. Many blogs offer an email subscription service like I do, where new posts are emailed directly to you. As well as rss or other subscription services.

I hope this little post helps those who visit my site here understand what a blog is and how to

I'm not going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to links and all the information available if you want to blog, so here is a short list of information.

For Artists: I began a blogging resource thread at wetcanvas, that has become a sticky.
If you would like to read through the entire thread that lists a lot of valuable information from and by other artists Q&A's please click here.
You would need to register to comment or post any questions.


Art blog directories:
Artblogs4U
Art Bloggin Directory

~Rebecca

Rebecca Grantham.Com,
Modern Art Gifts Plein Air Cafe

Hand painted Rose Cigar Box

Just a little post today, this is a section of my finished hand painted rose cigar box. I'll post the entire piece tomorrow.

Rose No. 11 Daily Plein Air Painting

12" x 12" original oil on gallery wrap canvas.

The sky was kind and offered a similar scheme to yesterday unintentionally creating a wonderful pair to Rose No. 10.

This painting is now available on a wide selection of artful gift items click here to see them through my site plein air cafe.


Please my website for availability of originals.
~Rebecca
Rebecca Grantham.Com,
Modern Art Gifts Plein Air Cafe

Rose 10 Daily Plein Air Painting

Rose No. 10 daily plein air oil painting on 12" x 12" gallery wrap canvas


Please visit my website for more information on purchasing this original painting.
You can now find me on myspace, come on over.

This painting is now available on a wide selection of artful gift items click here to see them through my gift shop www.pleinaircafe.com.


I'm working on the second Carnival painting and gearing up for a joyfuly busy month of September painting plein air.
~Rebecca

Rebecca Grantham.Com,
Modern Art Gifts Plein Air Cafe

Rose No. 9 & Mrs. Paint Brush - Miss Palette Knife

Fresh Off the easel!

Detail picture

Rose No.9 original plein air painting on 12" x 12" Gallery Wrap canvas,

Please visit my wesbite to purchase.

This painting is now available on a wide selection of artful gift items click here to see them.

I have two more of this size of which I thought I would be creating a triptych but creativity can't always be planned, I mean the sunset was too amazing to pass by.

Follow up news - I have had this thought and a few others that won't leave my mind so I'm posting them here.

The first is a split artist personality I am trying to marry.

There is Mrs. Paint brush who loves the gobs of paint and mushing her brush onto her palette and into the paint. Swirling, mixing and laying it down. Enjoying the paint for paints sake and then there is Miss palette Knife who aggressively carves out geometric shapes inspired by her natural environment. Who likes instant blocks of color but is peeking over her shoulder at Mrs. Paint brushes techniques of mixing.

separate from themselves two distinct styles emerge that are detracting from my voice.

The question is what happens when harmony is reached from using the strengths of each together in one painting?

From now on I'll be using both, the above painting is the first example.

Be sure to subscribe to see the new works as they're created.

~Rebecca


Rebecca Grantham.Com,

Modern Art Gifts Plein Air Cafe

Plein Fishing

Wrapping the summer up with good ol fashioned fishing.

Things have been so busy and hectic getting three ready for school tomorrow.

Time is flying by.


We took our crew fishing at Spencer Lake the weekend of the perseid meteor shower and got there just in time for our oldest to catch his first large mouth bass.

He caught his first bullhead after sunset too skunking the rest of us.

It was living a dream for me to be there seeing the meteor shower, something I haven't done in a very long time. We traveled just under an hour away to get completely away from city glare. My kids didn't believe me that when I told them that when night would come there would be more stars than they could count.I was right ;) and what's wonderful about where we were was that when we laid on our backs all you could see was deep, dark sky sprinkled with millions of stars with the tree line out of view. We were greeted with many shooting stars above us and twinkles in the eyes of all 5 our children.

Rose of Sharon - Lucy No. 8

18" x 24"
Original Plein Air Oil on canvas panel

Rose No. 8

Detail Pictures




Please visit my website for purchase information.
This painting is now available on a wide selection of artful gift items click here to see them.

~Rebecca
www.RebeccaGrantham.com
www.PleinAirCafe.com

Rose of Sharon No. 7

Here is Rose of Sharon No. 7,
Original oil painting
18 x 24 canvas panel.
click for larger image

and here are a couple details pictures.



While certainly not abstract as I had thought I had hoped for, it is a step towards the shapes I enjoy. I learned a painting can take a life and course of it's own, and you have to do what's best for the piece.

The shapes of the colors up close are abstract to me and will be a gentle inspiration for the next painting.

I had so much fun painting this piece. Every color was mouth watering to paint, it has been a while where I felt my eyes consuming the colors I was painting, like a visual dessert.

Here is a close up of one bloom on the Rose of Sharon - Lucy.
They are a gorgeous color with their ruffled layers.


This is a general inspiration for the completed painting above.
The day I began it, it was not overcast like here, but that is part of plein air, ~remembering your inspiration until the piece is completed.
Enjoy
~All the best
Rebecca

For More information about this painting and to purchase please visit my wesbite.

This painting is now available on a wide selection of artful gift items click here to see them through www.pleinaircafe.com .

Rose of Sharon -Series

I am so glad that the local parade of deer through our yard doesn't like our flowering Rose of Sharon. (which I just found out is a Lucy, Hibiscus Syriacus ) It reaches high at about Ten Feet or so.
Although the deer ate all the blooms off my Red & Pink Peace Rose, they have left this large flowering Rose of Sharon alone, untouched begging to be painted over and over until all the blooms fade.
The flowers are very unique and special with their ruffled edges. And I love how the entire bloom cycle is present.
There are buds, opening blooms, full blooms and fading blossoms everywhere. With each different stage there are different colors. From deep red, to hot pink and cool lavender.

Sold
I am going to keep painting and exploring this series until I feel it's temporarily exhausted.
My goal is to work more quickly, completely and at the same time exploring some ideas I have.

Sold
There is an itch deep inside me that I am trying to get out visually.
It feels like a balanced combination of realism- I love and admire a great representational piece, impressionism- ~nough said I love Monet and his glittering luscious colors and abstract/ print making-I love flat shapes of color and the shapes that are created when colors meet.

You'll see what I mean when I post the large 18" x 24"
canvas panel I'm working on.


Until next time,
~Rebecca

the thumbnails are clickable ~

Rebecca Grantham.Com,

Modern Art Gifts from Plein Air Cafe