1000 Gifts 41-60

An Artists List of 1000 Gifts continued...

41. An entire day with nothing on my calendar
42. Easter morning Sunrise Service at CBC
43. Rain
44. Art enthusiasts putting wind in my sails
45. Frames for my crosses feel like giving them a home
46. A daughter's friend
47. A son's heart
48. Husband 's steadfast faith
49. and a frap date
50. and his home roasted coffee beans!
51. April
52. the color green
53. frequent phone chats with Dad far away
54. Visits with friends close
55. Conversations I leave feeling glad I've had
56. Caleb's hair cut day
57. An art workshop helper
58.  A job offer extended that I didn't accept
59. Art show invitation that I did accept
60. And a pretty good day at work

Orignal Works Art Show May 6th and 7th

Time	Friday, May 6 at 10:30am - May 7 at 5:00pm
Location	Premier Gallery 1681 Justin Road ste 200 Flower Mound, Texas
Created By	Cheryl Harris White
More Info	Premier Gallery Art Shows May 6-7 Local Artists - Originals Only Come see the beautiful Artworks of the Local Venue Richard Cimino Cheryl White Linda Bourgault Whitney Hack Joyce Tremethick Mary Ellen Wehrli and many more! www.premiergalleries.com

Rainy Monday

8 Birch
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
11"x 14"

It's been raining today.  I love the rain.  It makes everything green look fresh when it's over and washed clean. This painting was inspired by the freshness in the woods after the rain.  

1000 Gifts 21-40

Continuing An Artist's List of 1000 Gifts...

Friday 4/22/11

21. Paw Paw and Caleb playing catch

22. Five cousins round a table

23. Family meals at Grandparent's house

24. Viper baseball

25. Reunions 

26. Swinging 

27. Morning Coffee

28. Time to paint

29. The perfect nap

30. Encouraging words
31. Heart to Heart with teen daughter
32. Love of son
33. Chat with Friend
34. Courtney's song
35. Two restful days
36. A friend's burden's shared
37. Trusting hearts
38. Tears tender
39. Car ride conversation 
40. Resolve 

Ohio Fall

  I grew up in Elyria, Ohio until about the 4th grade.  Every season there was absolutely beautiful to me.  But if I were ever to plan a visit back there, I would probably choose to go in the fall. The colors were amazing. There was a huge maple tree by our house that would just catch a fire with color every fall.  I've never seen anything like it since moving to Texas.  I found this photo of fall colored trees and was inspired to do my own painting of illustrating my memory of fall in Ohio.  I did it on two canvases which hang side by side.  Here's a photo...

and Here are my paintings...

Ohio Fall I
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
11" x 14"

Ohio Fall II
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
11" x 14"

An Artist's List of One Thousand Gifts

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp is a wonderful book, I highly recommend. It's about loss and thankfulness and it is absolutely beautiful.  It has challenged me to create my own list of 1000 gifts


I'm just getting started with my list, but I plan on dedicating at least one blog entry per week to my gift list.  The whole list will be on the 1000 Gifts page.  

Friday 4/15/11

1. Paint On My Walls
2. My Creator
3. His Creation
4. Colors dancing on my canvas
5. The PIT that taught me
6. The love that bought me
7. The hand that lead me into light
8. Sunlight piercing stained glass window
9. Eyes that listen
10. Colors that speak 
11. "Made In His Image" flowing through me
12. Dripping love off the brush
13. Parable Paint
14. Finished Pictures
15. Stories in Paint
16. Following Friends
17. Freckled Faces
18. Smiling Braces
19. Small Hands
20. Big Hearts

Listening to the COLORS

"I Am Enough"
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
48" x 36"

I was preparing this canvas for a large forest painting.  You can see where I was going to put the sky and the darkest colors below which would be the forest floor.  I got this far and left it to dry before adding the trees.... I kept putting off adding the trees to this one and kept just looking at it for a few days.  Somehow, I just couldn't bring myself to paint more on it.  It felt like the colors were crying out saying, "I am enough... I am enough."  I wrestled with adding more to the painting for a another day and  then I decided to listen.  I left it this way and  hung it up in my living room.   I'm so glad I listened to the colors.... I think they were right... They really are enough.

Trees on Blue and Red

Trees on Red and Blue
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
4 x 6

On this one I decided to try Red and Blue for the the background on this tree painting. 


I LOVE IT!!!! 


It really looks cute in a frame and is one of my favorite little paintings. 


Whenever I paint anything from nature... trees, flowers, water... I get so much satisfaction out of just creating a picture of something God made.... and then I think, how much satisfaction did God have when he created a real tree, or a real flower?  He created each thing and then spoke, "It is good" .  How perfect His creation is.  I am so thankful for each and every piece of it.  

Creating and Naming

     In this one, I set up where I would have darks at the bottom right corner to anchor the painting and lights above.


    In the 2nd photo I know I am creating a forest with lots of color, but I don't have a name in mind yet.  I just concentrated on adding in more color... especially the streaming lines of buttery yellows going diagonally from right to left and top to bottom to represent sunlight filtering down through the tree tops.  You can also see how I filled in the bottom white spaces with darker warm tones and the upper half with cools.



    This 3rd photo shows how I anchored the trees into the ground of the painting...using a palate knife and lots of white paint.  I left it like this on my easel for about a week.  I kept walking by it thinking it needed more...something...but more of what?  
    
    Another day or so an then I did this (below). Five more trees and lots of branches pointing up, and more leaves on the ground. It felt done and I was satisfied. I called this painting "Color Trees".  This process of creating and naming is what makes painting fulfilling to me.  

Color Trees
by Cheryl Harris White
24" x 18"
Acrylic on Canvas

Six Birch Trees

Birch Trees

by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas

18" x 18"

This is a different painting from yesterday, same style. The smaller picture above  is phase one.  I put the leaves where I thought trees might look good basically. You can kind of see where the leaves of the foremost tree were going on the left side there. ...Then on the large photo, you see the finished painting.  I used a palate knife loaded with thick white paint to add the trees.  I let some color show on the white bark of the birch trees just for fun. I also liked grounding the trees this time, showing where they sprout from the ground.  I loved the result. I'm definitely going to do more like this!

Round Lake Woods in Progress

    

Phase 1 of Round Lake Woods

Round Lake, Minnesota is a place I've been visiting all my life.  My mother camped there as a child, and took us back often when we were growing up.  When my mom's cancer became terminal, that is where she wanted to spend the rest of her days, and that is exactly what my parents did.   My folks bought property on the lake and we went there often as adults to visit and I started bringing my own kids there.  My mom is now buried at the Round Lake Cemetery and the home they had there has been sold, but Round Lake is still there.

Round Lake Woods
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on canvas
18" x 16"

The lake is spring fed and almost perfectly round and has a sandy bottom.  The water is so cold and pure and all around the lake are small cottages and lake houses surrounded by tall pines and birch trees.   I'm going to be posting some art this week celebrating  the memories I have of that place.

This is really one painting.  I did phase one first and just painted the leaves and sky above and woodsy floor below.  The 2nd photo is  the finished painting and it shows the trees I added with a palate knife.  This is my first attempt so I've hung this one in my guest bathroom to be revisited later.  More to come.

Poppies for Millie

Poppies for Millie
by Cheryl Harris White
Acrylic on Canvas
24" x 18"

Here's some more lovely poppies to start of April.  I loved putting some of the blue and red from the sky and poppies into the grass.  I used a lot of thick paint for the sky and grass and the same color scheme as the Rowen Trees from earlier.

This painting is for Millie.  She's an amazing woman who has dedicated her life to serving God and inspiring others to do the same.  I met her the summer between my Junior and Senior year of college when I was on a summer mission project with Campus Crusade for Christ.   It is amazing to me to even try to fathom the seeds she has planted in the lives of young college students over the years.  She had a huge impact on me and others as well and  I  am so thankful to have had her in my life.   

Nine Crosses

Ta Daaaa!!!  Here is a nice arrangement of the crosses from the last two weeks.  I LOVE IT!  Isn't color amazing?   It is such  a gift to have and be able to play with.    I didn't even really plan this, but as I was working on this I was moving them around a bit and when I was done, I realized I had created this pattern without even trying.  I noticed the cool colors are on the corners and the warms are forming a cross shape with my favorite one in the middle!  Which is your favorite?


I'll be back Monday with more paintings and thoughts... Have a great weekend!  Cheryl