Day 9 - "Good Ole Friends Visiting Mr. Wyeth" in progress

"Good Ole Friends Visiting Mr. Wyeth"

in progress

6x8 Oil

Day 9 - Of the 30/30 Challenge.  Still working on but wanted to post for the day.

These ladies are artist friends who I was lucky to go on a little field trip with at 

the National Gallery in D.C.  We went to see the George Bellows exhibit

then of course wandered into all the nooks and crannies of other favorite artists.

Mr. Wyeth's "Looking Out, Looking In",  is just aahhhhh.

Day 8 - "Fruit Tattoo"?

"Fruit Tattoo"?  6x6 Oil

by Renee Brennan

Day 8 - of the 30 Paintings in 30 Day Challenge by Leslie Saeta, 

bares the fruit I started painting awhile back.

I had intentions of doing a silly series of fruits and veggies showing off their "tattoo's".  

A-pear-antly that didn't come to fruition....but I may try picking my brain and attempt a few more.

What I have learned so far:

 The day doesn't alway's go as planned.

My photography skills are terrible.

A good sense of humor is a must!

Day 7 - "Miss Daisy"

"Miss Daisy"  6x8 Oil

by Renee Brennan

Day 7 of the 30/30 Challenge brings My little dog Miss Daisy.  This is painted from a photo when she was just a pup who was rescued by my niece Ashley from a terrible person.  Now she is a sweet, chubby little girl but still cute and a great companion with the rest of the family.

Thank you Ashley!!  (having trouble photographing after revision ugh)

Day 6 - "Winter Bird"

"Winter Bird" 8x6 oil 

by Renee Brennan

SOLD

Day 6 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Day Challenge hosted by Leslie Saeta.

This cute little Winter Bird - a female Cardinal was taken by my friend

Melissa Kangas.  She and her husband Pat are avid nature lovers so they

put a heater in the birdbath for the feathered critters.  

I loved this picture not only because it was a cute bird but the misty quality of the scene.  

Photo by Melissa Kangas Photography

Day 5 - "Who Are You"?

"Who Are You"?  6x6 oil

Renee Brennan
Purchase 

Day 5 of the 30 Paintings and 30 Day started out with a completely different painting that I got  extremely frustrated with.....SO I went to the Daily Paintworks website and looked up one of the many challenges and found this one called 

"The Who Are You Challenge"!!  .  Anyone can enter at anytime.  

 I chose this Great Horned owl because he had nice big yellow eyes and 

looked like he has some attitude.

Did anybody notice that I skipped Day 4?  Guess I can make it up later right?

Day 3 - "Bella"

"Bella" 

8x6 Oil by Renee Brennan

Sold

Day 3 of the 30 Paintings in 30 Day's Challenge is my other Grand cat Bella, who hangs out with 

Finnigan of Day 2.  Bella is a little bit more laid back and such a sweetie!

Bella was definitely more challenging than Finnigan because of her coloring is so varied.

I actually had a whole other pose almost finished and completely wiped it clean as something was just off...and well that just seemed to be the only choice.  Sheesh! 

Day 2 - "Finnigan"

"Finnigan" (Green Eyes)  6x8 Oil by Renee Brennan
Sold

Day 2 of the Challenge presents my very cool grand cat  Finnegan 

who hangs out in his New York apartment all day.  I fell in love with his green eyes.  

Just for the record, this is the first cat ever painted by me...had to control the urge to paint every  single hair so my trick was not to wear my glasses until the very end. 

Day 1 - "Mary, Mother of Mankind"

"Mary, Mother of Mankind"

pencil - Renee Brennan

This is Day 1 of  the 30 Paintings in 30 Day's Challenge hosted by Leslie Saeta.

I started this challenge in pencil with good intentions of a painting afterwords and well shucks... time got away!!  The truth is  I have not been painting lately and hoping  this challenge will give me a little kick in the rear to get going again...And just maybe Mary will be a painting by the end of this!

My family and I visited The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in  Washington DC.  It is a spectacular building with small chapels devoted to several countries around the world.  I love this statue of Mary with her welcoming open arms,  and at her feet are votive candles that you can light with a prayer intention.  

Praying for a peaceful New Year.

Koi Fish - Something Different SOLD

Koi Fish- Wet/Needle Felting

 I seemed to have taken a non intentional time out from oil painting.

After looking at online tutorials I gave it a whirl....only a few blunders err I mean learning curves...which involves needles and a few poked fingers is not so fun BUT

 I love all the different colors of wool, threads and even textured fabrics to create a "textile" painting.

So with this being my first needle felt,  I was very happy when it sold after posting it online.  The best part was that it wasn't advertised as "for sale" yet.  Yay!!

Art Inspiration in NYC

Just a few favorites from
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim & MOMA

 I have not posted in a few months.
I lost my mother on St. Patricks Day.
It has been very hard moving forward and
anything to do with my art has been pushed aside.  
My mom was a fun loving person who was also very creative in different way's
such as sewing, decorating, crafts  and even  few paintings.
She alway's had a cabinet packed full of artsy stuff for  her grandkids to play with & explore.
She was alway's encouraging me to create since I  can remember.
Thanks mom.  :)

So this past week I took a much needed little trip to NYC and met up with a good friend & artist
who I had not seen in 10 years....way too long!!
Needless to say she is one of those kind of friends where you just pick up where we left off.
Not only was it wonderful to catch up, but she was the perfect person to visit all of the best art museums with.

I could go on about everything we saw and did, but that would take forever.
Just know that little spark is still there and I will be getting messy soon.
(don't worry mom, I will clean up my mess!)