Girl In Red Dress on La Rambla

I went to Spain once.  I loved the culture, the people and the paella! I came back with a paella pan, which is awesome by the way, and a lot of photos. My husband and I soaked in a lot of culture, art, architecture and history while we were  there, but my favorite days were when we walked down La Rambla.  The leaves on the trees danced with the pale blue sky and their shadows on the patterned walk way below and washed everything in shady, sparkling, dappled light.  My favorite spot for people watching and my inspiration for the oil painting posted here; Girl In Red Dress on La Rambla

Girl In Red Dress on La Rambla by Cheryl Harris White

Oil on canvas

24" X 36"
$300.00

New York City Collage

This one was for my daughter Courtney.  She has been to New York several times and LOVES Broadway.  Some of the scraps from theater flyers and maps from her trips were used in this collage as well as magazine articles and paper scraps.  Combining them with the paint really captures the excitement of the city.  More like this to come. Enjoy!

New York City
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage on Canvas
24" x 36"

Four Square Birch Oil Paintings

These 4 oil paintings remind me of confetti.  The trees seem happy to me, like they are having a party in the woods to celebrate the coming of spring.

Oil on canvas board
Framed in Black
8"x8" each
$40.00 each

Top Left  is Square Birch I,
Top Right is Square Birch II,
Bottom Left is Square Birch III,
Bottom Right is Square Birch IV,

Spontaneous II - Three Artist Show at MCL Grand in Lewisville throughout May, 2014

Left to Right:  Myself, Cheryl Harris White,  Scott Kilgore, Vanessa Lee
Spontaneous II Artists

“Spontaneous II” by the Visual Art League of Lewisville
April 19 – May 24
A collaboration of the member artists of the Visual Art League of Lewisville will be on display in the North Wing Gallery of the MCL Grand from Saturday, April 19 – Saturday, May 24.  The exhibit will feature art work from Cheryl White, Vanessa Lee White and Scott A. Kilgore.  Cheryl White is a versatile artist who uses acrylic, oil, mixed media and collage. Vanessa Lee White is a photographer working in abstract and sculptural photography and Scott A. Kilgore is a photographer with an eclectic mix of photography from nature to sports cars. For more information on the Visual Art League of Lewisville visit VisualArtLeague.org.
Photo credit: Vanessa Lee White, Cheryl White, Scott A. Kilgore

Spontaneous Trees I and II on display now at the MCL Grand in Lewisville

Theses two bright square paintings were a successful experiment I did with india inks. The tree shapes and blue background were done by covering the canvas with water and india inks and allowing them to become whatever shapes they wanted.  After it was dry, I saw trees... and developed their forms with acrylic paint.  I like the abstract look of the branches and trunks in front of the tree shape instead of up inside the trees, partially hidden.  They are the star of the show.  These are currently on display in the the north wind of the MCL Grand in Lewisville.  Enjoy!

Spontaneous Trees II
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic and India Ink
20" x 20"
$150.00

Spontaneous Trees I
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic and India Ink
20" x 20"
$150.00

First Place Asel Award Winner

I was honored to win recognition for one of my Posey paintings this month at the Visual Art League of Lewisville Monthly Meeting.   It is a group of such talented and varied artists whom I have had the privilege of learning and working with.  Many of them have realized amazing artistic achievements and I just LOVE the inspiration that comes from coversations I have had with each of them.  

This piece was done with acrylic and collage.  I actually tore up a hymn book for some of the flowers and glued them to the surface with mixed media adhesive.  I really liked how the old hymnal pages soaked up the paint.  

This was a mixed media technique I actually learned from Misty Oliver's Art Journaling workshop and I just tried applying it on a canvas board on a whim.  It turned out beautifully.

This painting along with 10 others are currently on display in Spontaneous II - A Three Person show in the North wing of the MCL Grand.  Free to the public and open Tuesday through Saturdays, 1-5PM from now through May 24th.  

Posies in a Pot I
First Place Asel Award Winner
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage
11" x 13"
$75.00

Posies in a Pot II
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage
11" x 13"
$75.00

Easter Crosses, Glorious Reminders of Life and Love

Easter to me is the most precious day of the year. It’s the day the first believers discovered the tomb was empty, after Jesus had suffered and died on the cross and had been put inside it three days earlier.  Easter is a day to thank God, who had enough love for us to allow his son to be executed to cover our sins.  It was the only price great enough to allow us, imperfect people to connect with God, Holy, Perfect, Loving, All Knowing God.  Depending on the pain and experiences humans have had during their trek through life here on earth, the cross can symbolize different things, some of them negative, especially if one only knows part of the story.  I know the end of the story.  The same resurrection power that raised Christ from the depths of the tomb  is waiting for me when my journey here on earth ends.  So, to me, the cross is not a symbol of death or pain, it is a glorious reminder of life and love.  I celebrate that here with these colorful Easter crosses.   

Acrylic Collage Easter Crosses
Various sizes, between 8" and 16" tall

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NASB

 The crosses are all made of wood.  To make them I painted the back's black and on some of them had to attach a nail hanger.  The fronts are done with a collage of actual dried acrylic paint that I peeled off my palates and saved.  The palate paint would have other wise just been thrown away and wasted, but instead, I have given it new life.  I used Mixed Media adhesive as the medium which is very messy, but the end result is a smooth shiney finish that really makes the colors pop.  Enjoy!

Thinking Pink Art Journal Page

Thinking PINK

 "Almost all words do have color, and nothing is more pleasant than to utter a pink word and see someone's eyes light up and know it is a pink word for him or her too." --Gladys Taber.

Since this blog is a celebration of color, light and life, the idea of a color belonging to a word or words was interesting to me.  It caused me to make a list of pink words. I began with the obvious ones to get rolling; lipstick, bubble gum, cotton candy, blush, roses and lips. Then I branched out a bit, which worked much better.  My top PINK words were; Joy, Lily, Sensing, Intuition, Inspired, Beauty and Lovely.  So share a PINK word with someone you love today and have beautiful, inspired day.  

Thinking Pink Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Java Mama, Cup of Joe

Here is another page I finished at the art journaling workshop at Misty Oliver Foster's Art Studio in Frisco last weekend.  I loved this old fashioned pair of ladies sipping coffee from their dainty china cups and silver tea service.  They seem so far removed from our current coffee shop culture; where we get to decide between Venti, Grand or Tall sizes of Mocha's, Frappes, Frappuccinos, Macchiato's, Latte's, Iced Coffee's and more.  Not to mention the choices of cream, soy, whip and other flavors.  The image of these two gals chatting over plain black coffee reminds me of a simpler time.  They are the focus of the page and to make them stand out, I painted over their images in grey tones, and used black and white pen to outline them. This contrast from the green page with red accents is what makes these two Java Mama's stand out and be noticed.

Java Mama, Cup of Joe
Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Be, Live, Bloom

Last weekend I went to an art journaling workshop at Misty Oliver Foster's Art Studio in Frisco.  She is a very talented artist as well as an excellent teacher.  I highly recommend taking her workshops if you ever have an opportunity to do so and included a link to her site above.  Check her out.

Below is one example of an art journal page I completed while I was there.  I included a quote I just love from Charles Dickens as well... " Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of it's own."  I loved this because even though there were seasons of my childhood when I DID NOT believe red hair and freckles were beautiful, that all eventually changed.  As I grew, I realized that not only is it beautiful, it's what makes me shine.  That's what made me bloom.

Be, Live, Bloom
Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Art At The Speed of Life Lesson 25

In Lesson 25 in Pam Carrker's book  Creating Art At The Speed of Life, we are challenged to create  tag using the artistic component of LINE.  I love lines, so this was a favorite of mine.  Lines connect objects and give our eye a path to follow as it explores the page.  We were to create a tag using our own signature or initials. If you look closely you can see mine  C H W.  I liked using my lines to also create some figures of people.  You have to look closely to see them, but there are 4 of them.  3 of them have blue and green heads and being connected with the main lines in the composition symbolizing their close relationship with each other.  One of them is purple and red in the lower corner and disconnected from the others and almost turned inside out, alone.  The line simply comes onto the page and travels back off again with out connecting with the others.

CHW
Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Celebrating my blog birthday! Lesson 23 Art At The Speed of Life

Today is my blog's THIRD birthday.  February 11th! Still exploring the art element of form, Lesson 23 is called Make Your Mark.  Pam Carriker's book Creating Art At the Speed of Life gave us a chance to look back on previous art pages for marks, doodles, patterns used frequently.  I used a February Calendar page and set aside 2/11/13 to wish Paint On My Walls a Happy Birthday.  All the other squares are filled with line patterns.  I really enjoyed combining zen tangle patterns with color .  This was a very relaxing page and one of the most enjoyable so far.

Happy Third Birthday Paint On My Walls 2/11/14
Make Your Mark Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Art At The Speed of Life Lesson 22

Lesson 22 from Pam Carriker's book was an exercise in form to create a mask.  I loved creating the greyish pale face on the opposite page representing my somber self.  On my face are cool tones and collage images and dots.  The message on the face reminds me the beginning is always today.  This face is confronting real life.  The mask shows the dreamy, hopeful, life giving self, nurturing my soul with love and hope.  I liked the happy yellow and green color palate and whimsical collage and stamping elements.

Un-Masked
Art Journal page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Art At The Speed of Life Lesson 16

Positively Negative was the title of Lesson 16 in Creating Art At The Speed of Life by Pam Carriker.  I created an original drawing of a face on two colors of paper I painted myself and cut them out.  Using positive and negative space added so much interest to the design and takes your eyes on a dance around the page.

Positively Negative Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Art At The Speed of Life Lesson 15

Arcimboldo-Style Self-Portrait

I LOVED this exercise. I included images from art and history to compose my self portrait.  I call it my Art Queen Arcimboldo-Style Self-Portrait.  I found a flower scrap that said "She most heartily enjoyed pursuing life" and thought it appropriate.  Then I thought about the times in the past when I most thoroughly enjoyed life, and it always involved some application of creativity.  Next I created an explosion of art and art supplies bursting forth from my head like ideas just popping out all over the page.  I used magazine scraps of a quilt for the hair and some of the other accents.  My favorite thing about this page is my crown. A crown for an Art Queen.

Art Queen Arcimboldo-Style
Self-Portrait
by Cheryl Harris White
Art Journal Page
Mixed Media

Art At The Speed of Life Lesson 13

Open Windows symbolize an openness in relationships to me.  This is a strong theme in all of my art and very important.  The shutters on the window actually open all the way up to show the art on the page behind it. Come back tomorrow and you shall see what it is.

Open Up Window
Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Mixed Media

Art At The Speed of Life Lesson 9

In Lesson 9 of Pam Carriker's book Creating Art At the Speed of Life, we were to use the end of a pencil to create dots of color on the page with acrylic paint.  In this chapter she included a quote from Claude Monet which I love and have to repeat it here...

  People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary to understand, when it's simply necessary to love. ”
- Claude Monet
If that is the test, then I guess this attempt was a success, because I LOVE this pretty impressionistic girl.  She is lovely.  I mixed my own colors and was very happy with how they worked together.  I also really liked how slowly the image came to life, one dot at a time.  It was the most fun I've ever had with the eraser of a pencil.  I will try more like this on canvas later.

First Impressionism
Art Journal Page
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic

Give Thanks for Messy

I made this Thanksgiving Wreath for a fundraiser benefit and it sold for $75.00!  I loved using some non traditional fall colors like pale yellowish greens and purples in this wreath and creating the messy raffia bow.  It reminds me that our lives don't follow the expected pattern sometimes and can be very messy, but in the midst of that mess, we are to give thanks.  I posted it today because it reminds me to count my blessings.  I am truly thankful for the gift of creativity and the chance to share it with people I love.  Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving close to the loved ones who make your lives messy. 

Colors set to music: Stained Glass by Keith Green

I grew up listening to Keith Green's amazing music and much of it has inspired my painting. I am thankful for every note.  Enjoy!

Red Tree With Blue Leaves By the River

Red Tree With Blue Leaves By the River
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage on Canvas

18" x 24"

The fourth piece in my tree series is the most whimsical of them all. There are fish making up it's roots, birds at the river and hearts carved into it's trunk.  It is happily accompanied here by the perfect quote from William Shakespeare...

And this, our life, exempt from public haunt, finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything.  ~William Shakespeare