Namaste - Yoga Art

"Painting is stronger than me, it makes me do its bidding." Pablo Picasso

This painting titled, "Namaste" sold recently. I enjoy creating paintings that have to do with one of my favorite past times- Yoga.  This abstract figure sits in lotus pose and his hands come together in a prayer.  Yoga is for anyone that  wants to focus on becoming more spiritually connected.  Ironically, you do this by slowing down and becoming more aware of your physical body. You can read much more about this concept in the book titled "Power of Now" which I recently devoured.
Whether it be through books, art, or music, living in the present moment is something we all need to be reminded of.

To see more of my work please visit  ETSY

Awoke to Good News!

I found out today that I won  featured artist 

on the Glade site! 

http://www.facebook.com/Glade

"Congrats, Serena! Your stunning "Hawaiian Dream" painting is up on our page and your this week's featured artist. Incredible work -- you've got serious talent!"

Thank you Glade, it's always nice to be appreciated!

Hope

Its Friday morning and there is no sun in sight yet. However, I did see this cool church steeple rising above the murkiness of Main street, and it gives me hope that we may have a few more weeks of summer in store for us yet.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Inspiration

I took this landscape photo today of a nearby gas station. I love how the rain droplets on my window almost outline the tree itself. Just goes to show you, you never really know where you'll find beauty unless you remember to take a minute to stop and look around (even at a red light.)
Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

Inspiration

It is amazing the inspiration you can find even on a gray, rainy, day. I found three dying trees enveloped in new growth against the back drop of golden fields today when I was rushing around.
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Sunday

Afternoon mist
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Winter Wonderland

One of my favorite spots nearby

I drive past this magical tree lined road almost everyday and have never turned down it until today.    The tress themselves must be almost 100 years old and it looks as if  they separate two adjoining farms.  I find places like these most inspiring to my artistic endeavors.   There is something about the beauty in nature that speaks to that same part that is looming to come out when I am in my studio at work.   I wish my house were lined with great, big, old trees this way, but being less than five years old,  I am just going to have settle for stopping and admiring them on my outings.

Commissions and Inspirations

 

I just completed this huge commission for a wonderful couple. Commissions are good for the artist's mind.  You have to find a way to be true to your art,while still fitting it in the confines of the customer's requests.  For example, I was told what size, color and composition they desired for their setting- then I was given total freedom.  I liked the challenge of being "inspired" while keeping within the "lines."

Art is like that, sometimes you do it for yourself and others like it. Sometimes you do it for others and it ends up being for yourself!

Pug Print Blocks

I woke this morning to ICE all around. I hear the trucks coming to salt, but I have a feeling they may do no good until the temperature actually drops. My goal is to list some new print blocks today. I love seeing my art on something you can collect/ stand up and decorate with. I even have a hard time deciding what wall to hang my art. These let you change your mind a lot, and everyone has the right to change their minds, even when it comes to art.

 Print Blocks

Snow Snow All Around!

There's more and more snow these days. The good thing is that it's keeping me from going out too much. Now I can stay inside and do what I love most - paint! Isn't it funny how we can procrastinate even when it comes do doing what we love most? It's time to get on a good schedule of early morning yoga and then blogging with my coffee. fingers crossed, here we go!

Artist Workspace

 
It's always hard to find a good spot to work. I need enough light. I need to be close to the coffee and close to the phone. Maybe having too many choices is the issue.

I recently rediscovered the 70's hit show The Brady Bunch. Owning the dvds and watching them without commercials really is a dream come true for some of us. I was so excited to find a site where the Brady's iconic staircase was recreated using CAD. I got to thinking how cool it would be to see my paintings hanging on such a famous wall.
We'll see if i get permission.

The Magic Starts to Happen

Artist Diary # 3 "Nothing Comes Between Me and My Paints"
To See PANTINGS FOR SALE PLEASE VISIT HERE!

Artist Diary 2 "Crack the Whip" - Serena Paints

CLICK HERE TO SEE PAINTINGS FOR SALE

TO VIEW MY PAINTINGS FOR SALE CLICK HERE

Where does inspiration come from I wonder? I hope it's a feeling you've all felt on occasion, but for me, it's necessary I have the feeling on a daily basis. Is it possible to conjure it up? Or does it just come to you in a flash?

Last night I had a beautiful dream all about that inspirational feeling. It was a silly scene. I was given an opportunity to have my art on the cover of a major magazine. In the dream I saw this photo they wanted to shoot for the cover, just a blank spot. Immediately I had this overwhelming feeling of excitement and I knew at once that I would be able to provide the art they wanted. It was a flash of "knowing" and inspiration that came upon me. The feeling that I COULD easily do that! Perhaps inspiration is just an immediate realization that you CAN do something and you NEED to act NOW!

I don't know, I think I'll go with the more mysterious version of inspiration coming from some "special" place in the universe. One where we are merely the messenger, harnessing the uplifting energy for the power to create something. Well whatever it is, I do know that it's a real high to experience.

To see more artwork please click here!

Staying Motivated

I just spent an amazing hour in my studio. Greens and yellows, blacks and reds - all swirling together to make beautiful art! I am so lucky to have the space to spread out while I listen to Green Day's American Idiot. I just received an early Valentine's gift of Julia Child's book-My Life in France! I loved the movie Julie and Julia with Meryl Streep, but I have to admit, my favorite scenes were of Julia in France- what a time in her life! She was finished working for the government, she had all day to experience Paris first hand! This is one of the best times of her life, she writes. Seems to me, it was the place where she became the Julia Child we knew and loved. And isn't it funny that that process took years! First the experimental years of classes in all the wrong things, then her cooking classes that didn't go quite as planned. Even then, it took many more years of writing her beloved French recipes to finally get published. You know, we all hear of the great story only after one has reached great success. We aren't privy to the happenings while they are chipping away at their craft for years, all the time probably wondering if anyone will even notice. Talk about having blind faith in yourself! She had to keep going even before she ever knew she'd be the queen of cooking! Now that's a lesson for all of us to remember.

Ok, time to enjoy the Winter Olympics some, eat scallops, pasta, and curl up with Julia's, My Life in France. I love that reading a non-fiction book is like having the author right there with you, whispering to you in your ear. I seem to not be able to get enough and I just devour this genre!

I will post my latest paintings soon,
To see more of my work click here!

I think I've made a personal breakthrough with this painting titled, "Torrent." At 2 feet x 3 feet, it's much larger than I usually work. And I know that in a room, an Abstract painting works best as the focal piece. That's not to say that smaller abstracts don't have their rightful place in your home. It's just that there is nothing like walking into a room and seeing a huge piece of art that immediately catches your attention and "speaks" to you.

I painted this piece on a hard canvas panel. I tend to work so rough, fast, and messy, I feel these harder panels take my beatings I give them much better than a delicately stretched and stapled canvas. Besides, they are so easy to just pop into any standard sized frame - with or without glass or matting. Ahh, but framing for me as an artist is one of my least favorite tasks. And because of this, I have so few of my own paintings hanging on my own walls. I can never decide where to put it or how to hang it. I am going to work on changing that this year. My goal - to fill my house with displayed artwork on every wall. Unfortunately, we creatives can get so enraptured in the "making", we fall short when it comes to dislpaying and enjoying our own work. And that is why collectors play such an important roll in our lives। They can validate all our hard work, just by carefully framing it placing it on their wall. Your "mini art galleries" are a stark contrast to my artwork stacked around my house and that definitely motivates me to keep working! To see more pieces click here!

Tuscany is one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. Driving through- your senses are captured by fields of poppies, lavender, and sunflowers. It's been a few years since I've been, but these images are always in my mind. Pictures can rarely capture the true impression, so I painted an abstract version of those fields. The best thing about painting, is that it allows you to take what you remember or have seen and make it your own! See more of my work here!

Finished another work. This is called "Desire." Desire can be a beautiful thing, or a monster! I finished it before the sun came up, it's the only way I can get anything done. I listen to Lady GaGa when I work and to Prince - true artists themselves! The paint just seems to ooze out of my soul and I don't try to control it, the more I try to control it, the tighter my work looks. However, there is a fine line between letting go too much, you have to come back and refine your work at the end, still without holding on too tight.

SerenaPaints.com

So here I begin finally, my journey on line, blogging about my painting. I have been meaning to start a blog for the past few years , but it just never seemed the right time, until now! I am ready!
So join me as I wake up in the early morning hours - to paint, to dream and to share with you that creative part inside of me that is always itching to come out!

To see more work of mine click here!