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

Orange Tree With Purple Leaves

Orange Tree With Purple Leaves
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage on Canvas
18" x 24"

This one is the third tree completed in a set of four I am working on.  The first Two were  posted March 3rd and March 2nd earlier this year.   I'll show them all together once I finish the fourth one, but for now, here is Orange Tree.  She's beautiful to me.  I thought this quote from one of my favorite authors Willa Cather would be the perfect companion for her.  Enjoy!

I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.  ~Willa Cather, 1913

Shining Green Birch Trees

Shining Green Birch
Oil on Canvas
by Cheryl Harris White
12 x 12

This was a fun little oil painting to do inspired by a few lines of poetry I came across.  I used a lot of light shades of greens and yellows which makes the forest seem to shimmer.  Happy to be playing in my oil paint again!

The trees are God's great alphabet;
With them He writes in shining green
Across the world His thoughts serene.
- Leonora Speyer

Memories

Memories
Acrylic and Collage on Canvas
by Cheryl Harris White
3 ft x 3 ft
$200.00
In our yard in Ohio, when I was a child, there was a huge weeping willow tree.  Under it, my little sister and I used to play for hours and have tea parties.  We moved to Texas, when I was 8 years old and I have never returned,  but I remember it like it was yesterday,  and those moments were the inspiration behind this piece.  

Camino Global

Camino Global

by Cheryl Harris White

Acrylic on Canvas

4' x 4'
SOLD

I love how the dance of these bright oranges and reds on this huge square canvas.  This was a painting for the director of Camino Global where Duke works.  It is full of texture and passion.  I loved doing the cross because it reminded me of a path of stepping stones to be followed.  That is what we are all really doing anyway... taking a long journey, one step at a time.  

Being a Part of Something Beautiful

There are a few more days to see this show at the MCL Grand.  More new artwork is coming soon.  

I love participating in art shows.  It's not about selling the art or winning a prize. . . to me, what makes doing this worth while is just being a part of something beautiful.

There 

10,000 hours of painting

I am currently reading an interesting book about success.  One could apply it to business, or sports, or art, or anything you want to be good at really.  The name of the book is Outliers by Malcom Gladwell and it is based on the premise that to be really successful at any one thing, it takes practicing it 10,000 hours.   It's daunting to imagine painting for 10,000 hours.  I often feel robbed of my art time, now that I have to work 40 hours a week.  There was a season in my life when I only worked part time and I had so many more hours in my week to spend painting.  But even working full time, I can still find precious art hours to invest each week.  My plan is to just be thankful for the hours I have already spent painting, and build from there without stressing about it. Even if I start on a canvas and gesso the whole thing over to start again, according to this book, it is time never wasted.  The hours were spent practicing... so they do matter.  They make a difference, and they count.  So I continue to paint. 

“Practice isn't the thing you do when you're good. It's the thing you do that makes you good.” 
― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

Come see "Free Form" March 9-April 27

I love the MCL Grand.  It is a beautiful space right in the heart of Old Town Lewisville.  It's free to go in and open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 1:00PM to 5:00PM.  Enjoy!

Red Tree with Green Leaves

Red Tree with Green Leaves
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage

18" x 24"
$75.00

 I liked the way this cool misty background turned out on this one.  I also like the idea of creating these trees with what ever color bark I choose instead of the same grayish tan bark we see on real trees everyday.  The result was in this piece, the roots ant the bark is what my eye most enjoys looking at.  These colors remind me of summer.

Intended to Grow

This is one of a series of four trees I have been finishing up.  The thing I liked most about doing these pieces, was how they grew as I worked.  Each layer became a platform for the next...until it was full and beautiful.  I just love things that grow.  There is one tree at the corner of our house that the previous owners had topped off and it hasn't grown since.  It is quite an annoyance, just sitting there taking up space, reminding me each day of it's wasted potential.  I think people are a lot like trees.   Some of them grow and it is beautiful to watch... but others are so damaged that they just sit there doing nothing.  We, and trees, were intended to grow,  and that is how I prefer it.  

Green Tree with Blue Leaves
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic Collage
18" x 24"
$75.00

                                                     

Spring Cleaning

Studio
Mixed Media Collage
on Canvas
36" x 12"
UNAVAILABLE

I cleaned my art studio.  Then I decided I needed a colorful sign that said STUDIO and to make it, I messed up my studio.  The sign is finished, but the studio is still a mess.  I love my sign and my mess.  I'm working on a four painting series of trees right now.  Stay tuned for those photos soon. 

My hand shake with 2013

2013 Hand Shake
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
36" x 36"
$200.00


This my handshake with 2013 saying, "Hello, my name is Cheryl. It's nice to meet you."  I'm not greeting 2013 with a list of promises or things I want to change or with the ridiculous mindset that this year will be better than the others, with fewer set backs, less losses, more successes than the years before.  We don't do that with people.  When we first meet them, do we say, "Hello, my name is Cheryl, I'm not that great right now, but soon I'm  going to reduce the amount of time I spend playing video games, be a better person, give more to charity, lower my sodium intake and get really skinny."  Not really.  When I meet a new person, I just like to listen to them, make eye contact and try to find something to like about them, which doesn't usually take very long.  2013 is the same to me.  It's just like any new acquaintance I meet... It's a new door I've never walked through... An interesting new friend I plan on getting to know.

I liked exploring that idea with each square on this painting.  Each empty square was a new beginning.  I stuck with a lot of green and yellow in the color palate but loved adding in some orange and red pops of color.  Each square turned out a little different, but together they make a very interesting visual combination.  

Angel Awards 2012

I just finished coordinating this event.  The purpose was to recognize outstanding volunteer efforts by members of the various arts groups in the greater Lewisville area, many of them were friends and colleagues and an amazing group of talented people.  I am so proud to be a part of the Visual Art League, host of this event for GLAA.  GLAA provides funding for many of the arts groups in the area  . . . and being the project coordinator for this event was a true honor.  Check out their site for how you can be involved and support the arts in our area.

• • The Actors Conservatory Theatre
  • The Colony Playhouse
  • Greater Lewisville Community Theatre
  • LakeCities Ballet Theatre
  • Lakeside Arts Foundation
  • Lewisville Civic Chorale
  • Lewisville Lake Symphony
  • Visual Art League of Lewisville

If you want to stop by the MCL
Grand and see the current show, "Just One Note", the administrative offices and art gallery are open Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m.  My piece in the show is below.  

Miriam's Song
by Cheryl Harris White
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"

Dripping Autumn

Dripping Autumn
Acrylic and Acrylic Collage on Canvas
20" x 24"
by Cheryl Harris White
$75.00

I'm in love with autumn, and since today is officially the first day of fall, I'm celebrating it by posting this new painting.  I used thick, stripes of texture on the background and it reminded me of rain.  I liked placing the tree off center so we could focus on some of the other colors on the horizon and shadow on the ground more.  The tree, dropping some of it's leaves, looks to me like it is dripping with color, so that is how this painting got it's name.  

A Cross for Eve

A Cross for Eve

Acrylic Collage on Canvas

9 x 12 "

SOLD

Oil painting Garden of the gods in Colorado

Garden Of The Gods in Colorado
by Cheryl Harris White
Oil on Canvas 24" x  20"

Art Exhibition at MCL Grande in Lewisville

I have 3 pieces in the art exhibit currently going on at the MCL Grande Gallery in Lewisville.  ENJOY!

The art I have in the show is pictured below.

Hay Doesn't Have to be Just Yellow

I loved painting these three bales of hay. I liked using a photograph of a painting by Jay Moore, and creating my own  version of it.  Looking closely you can see that purple hills are not just purple, and yellow hay is not just yellow.  They are alive with color.  This is what I love so much about painting. . . To me, it isn't about trying to paint a picture exactly like a photograph, the beauty of it is, you get to choose your colors and re create the scene before you in whatever happy, purple and yellow way you choose to do so. It was a fun study to do for practice and I was very happy with my result.

Three Bales of Hay
by
Cheryl Harris White
Oil on Canvas
20" x 16"

Mosaic Forest, Oil on Canvas, 16" x 20"

This month I have been working on a birch woods scene using oils and a palate knife.  The viewer is in the woods about to come out from the shadows into the bright streaming sunlight.  The  trees glowing with color are a joyful door opening to the golden light bathed meadow beyond.

Mosaic Forest
by Cheryl Harris White
Oil on Canvas
16" x 20"

UNAVAILABLE

Harbor Scene

This is the most recent painting finished at the studio.  It took about 3 sessions and was done with oil on a 24" x 24" canvas using a palate knife.  The photos of my progress are below.  Enjoy!

Sketch, done with a brush and thinned purple paint.

Various shades of blue added for sky and water.

Warm tones added to the faces of the buildings

Bright orange and gold added on roof tops

Harbor Scene Study

Oil on Canvas

24 x 24

UNAVAILABLE

Easter Crosses

Four Easter Crosses... Acrylic Collage on Canvas board.

He Is Your Shepherd

Who is it that is your Shepherd? The Lord! Oh, my friends, what a wonderful announcement! The Lord God of heaven and earth, and Almighty Creator of all things, He who holds the universe in His hand as though it were a very little thing. He is your shepherd, and has charged himself with the care and keeping of you, as a shepherd is charged with the care and keeping of his sheep. If your hearts could really take in this thought you would never have a fear or a care again; for with such a Shepherd how could it be possible for you ever to want any good thing?

- Hannah Whitall Smith -

Evolution of a Landscape; Oil and palate knife

This is just a quick video I put together showing the progression of the painting below.  I LOVED doing this one.  My next painting at the studio will be a sea scape and even a bit more challenging.  Stay tuned for more progress!

Landscape with Poppies Study
Oil on Canvas with Palate Knife
by Cheryl Harris White
24" x 20"
UNAVAILABLE
completed at A Touch Of Paris Studio

But the Lord looks at the HEART

But the LORD looks at the HEART

Journal page inspired by I Samuel 16:7

by Cheryl Harris White

For this page I used a black water color wash, and red and orange oil pastels.  Written on the heart, is the Bible Verse from I Samuel 16:7 and around the outside is my prayer.  I dare you to pray it too and just wait and see what happens.

Inside the heart it says... "For the LORD sees not as man sees, For man looks at the outward appearance, But the LORD looks at the HEART." 

I thought today would be an appropriate time to reflect on my list of 1000 gifts.  Each gift on the list records a moment when God showed up in some real way.  What I learned from doing this was, that whether or not I choose to notice or acknowledge God and the good things He does give us every day... He is still there and He is really good.  I've noticed that whenever a horrible catastrophe occurs or and accident happens, people are quick to say, "Where was God when that happened?" or "If God is good, then why this or that?"  or "This isn't fair, why me, I deserve better... etc " I understand this line of thought, because I've been there too, asking the same whining questions, and that thought process lead me to nowhere but pain and anger, depression and frustration.  Writing this list didn't change the bad things that happen in our world.  There was still dying, wars, hunger, tragedies going on, but it changed me.  Instead of focusing on the negatives, it lead me to focus on the many small positive things and grew an attitude of thankfulness inside my heart.  Instead of arguing with God part of the time and doubting He even cared the rest of the time, I was drawn to know Him more.  He does have good things to give us, if we would just quit worrying about what we don't have, and focus on what He is doing and trust Him, we would all see. I learned that God cares and He shows us in a million different ways a day, invisible ways that most people never see.  I've been lucky enough to simply notice 1,000 of them and I feel blessed.  

Sow with Tears, Reap with Joy 1000 Gifts 981 - 1000

Reap with Joy
Journal Page inspired by Psalms 126:5-6
by Cheryl Harris White

I loved how this one turned out.  I found this picture in a magazine and matched the colors from the background with water color.  Then I used black water color and tilted my sketchbook up to let them run.  On the left I listed things that bring tears and on the right listed things that bring Joy. . . 

My List of 1000 Gifts Continued....

981) Watching Caleb's team play baseball with Barbara and Tommy                                                                                 

982) Sunshine on the weekend

983) Courtney's confidence in her decisions

984) Caleb's determination 

985) A comfy reading chair in my art studio

986) A great night of discussion with my book study group
987) More ideas than I have time to paint

988) Courtney's beautiful singing

989) True friends

990) Caleb's high five

991) Learning something new every time I go to art class

992) Flowers growing in our yard

993) Taking a stand for what I believe is right

994) A 30 minute nap at lunch time today

995) Character when faced with a difficult choice

996) Resolve to change for the better

997) Purpose at work

998) Spiritual Direction

999) Significance in Christ

1000) Looking at the life I have and feeling an overwhelming sense of awe, gratefulness, and joy.