Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year

New Years Cupcake
New Years Cupcake, painting by Delilah Smith

About This Painting:


Happy New Year:


Creativeity can be nurtured and developed. I find ideas around every corner and deliberity make choices about their possibilities. All anyone has to do is look around and really see.


Each New Year we toast the happy moments of the past year and I have had many. Most of us will ring in the new year to the tune of


So tonight I will raise a glass and reflecton my blessings,my accomplichments of 2007 and my hopes for 2008.
Happy New Years from the daily painters. A new years cupcake.12x6 in oil on gallery wrapped cavas.


CHORUS: For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup o' kindness yet, for auld lang syne.And surely you'll buy your pint cup !And surely I'll buy mine !And we'll take a cup o' kindness yet,for auld lang syne.

CHORUS: We two have run about the slopes,and picked the daisies fine ;But we've wandered many a weary foot,since auld lang syne.

CHORUS:We two have paddled in the stream,from morning sun till dine? ;But seas between us broad have roaredsince auld lang syne.

CHORUS: And there's a hand my trusty friend !And give us a hand o' thine !And we'll take a right good-will draught,for auld lang syne. CHORUS ---------m

media: oil
Size: 6 in X 12 in (15.2 cm X 30.5 cm)
Price: $100 USD


How to Purchase:
send me an email

Saturday, December 29, 2007

The start of a series

I hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. I have started to work on a new series that I have been thinking about for about 6 months now. It has taken me that long to get it organized in my mind. The concept is still coming together but I think I will start on a few small paintings and drawings as I work up to the large paintings that I have in mind. The below study is the first of many small paintings that I have do for a much larger work.I am hoping that over the next few months it will all come together as a cohesive body of work that makes the statement I am thinking about.As I start to work out my idea I will post lots of small paintings and drawing here.To get a feeling for the larger project that I want to put on canvas.I want to have a finished series of 12 works that are 20x24 and larger. I will post them as they come off the easel and let you see how each get tweaked,changed or rejected as I work things out. I will also post the final large works.

After the Party
After the Party, painting by Delilah Smith

About This Painting:
Kick your shoes off after the party. 8x10 oil

Media: oil
Size: 10 in X 8 in (25.4 cm X 20.3 cm)
Price: $100 USD

How to Purchase:
send me an email

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The History of the Wreath


History of the Wreath
The wreath has a long history and many religious associations dating back to the ancient cultures of the Persian Empire. Originally, the circlet was called a "diadem" and took the form of fabric headbands which were sometimes adorned with jewels. Beginning in 776 B.C., wreaths made of laurel leaves were used to crown victors of Olympic Games. Later, when the Games began to move to different cities, each host city would award head garlands made of branches of local trees. Exactly when the transition from head ornament to wall decoration occurred is unclear. It is likely that celebration attendees simply hung the leafy headbands on their walls as souvenirs. Today, beautifully decorated wreaths are not only an integral part of the December holidays, but they're popular throughout the year, decorated to fit each season. Perhaps the loveliest use of this symbol is the Advent wreath. Although its true origin is not know, some believe it was inspired by the Swedish Crown of Lights, a candle-bearing crown worn by young Swedish girls on St. Lucia's Day. St. Lucia was a young Christian martyr who gave her entire dowry to the poor

The making of wreaths is an ancient and honored art that began about a thousand years before the birth of Christ. The Christmas Wreath symbolizes the strength of life overcoming the forces of winter. In ancient Rome, people used decorative wreaths as a sign of victory and celebration. the custom of hanging a wreath on the front door of your home probably came from this practice. At Christmas, the wreath is symbolic of Christian immortality. the circle and the sphere are symbols of immortality. The use of evergreens and wreaths as symbols of life was also an ancient custom of the Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews among other people. The use of evergreens for Christmas wreaths and other decorations probably arose in northern Europe, Italy and Spain in the early 19th century. The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red. Green represents the continuance of life through the winter and the Christian belief in eternal life through Christ. Red symbolizes the blood that Jesus shed at his crucifixion. but for most of the 20th century, the word "wreath" conjured up visions of rings of evergreens with red ribbons hung on doors at Christmas. The traditional Christmas wreath is hung anytime from right after Thanksgiving to mid-December and left hanging through the winter months.
Did you Know
In the early days in Europe, people would put wreaths on their doors to identify their home in the same manner that house numbers are used today. Each house would have a different wreath made of quite exotic flowers, most likely grown by the home owner right on their own land. Today, wreaths are a common custom in New England, with a different wreath for each season.



The word wreath
most often invokes thoughts of Christmas, but its roots can be traced back to the ancient cultures of the Persian Empire, where they were originally used as a sign of importance and victory. Originally, the circlet was called a "diadem" and took the form of fabric headbands which were sometimes adorned with jewels.

Beginning around 776 B.C., The Greeks placed wreaths made of laurel on the heads of victorious athletes in the original Olympic Games. Later, when the Games began to move to different cities, each host city would award head garlands made of branches of local trees.

In ancient Rome wreaths were worn on the heads of leaders such as Julius Caesar much like the crown of a king.

Exactly when the transition from head ornament to wall decoration occurred is unclear. It probably came about when a warrior or athlete decided to save his or her award as a memento of victory.

Perhaps the loveliest use of this symbol is the Advent wreath. The origin of the advent wreath is claimed by several groups although it is now thought of as a Catholic custom.

It probably originated in Northern Europe at a time when Pagan customs were practiced. The evergreen circle or wheel was a symbol of the recurring seasons or the “circle of life” and the candles were to symbolize the coming of light, or spring. The candles were lit to ward off the dark and cold of the winter night in anticipation of the light and warmth of the coming season.

The Swedish custom of the wearing of the crown of lights by young girls on St. Lucia’s Day is another popular explanation for the origin of the Advent wreath.

Others claim the custom was started by the German Lutheran’s and taken up by the Catholics in the early 1500’s

Which explanation is the true one will probably never be known, most likely it evolved from all of them into what is known today as the Advent wreath, the circle of greens decorated with four candles to signify the four weeks prior to Christmas as the Advent weeks and the coming of light.

Today, beautifully decorated wreaths are popular throughout the year, having taken on many different meanings plus using many different types of vegetation.

But by far the most popular use is the Christmas wreath made from evergreen boughs which is hung on a wall or door to invoke warm feelings of Christmas cheer.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Leave a Trail


Do not go where the path may lead
Go instead
Where There is no Path
Leave a Trail
Art is not an easy profession to work in but it is a sanctuary, a silence,a place of concentration. My studio is where I create. It is my sanctuary where I travel with out a path.Everyone needs a sanctuary a place of silence a place to creat.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

What Lies Within

Wild Poppies
Oil on Canvas
20x24x1 1/2












What lies behind you
and what lies before you
are tiny matters compared to WHAT LIES WITHIN you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is at the end of the year that we think about our past year of accomplishment's. The goals we set for ourselves. The 5lbs that never got taken off. So we set down and plan for the next year to do better reach higher. The artist in me knows that I must look within to find my artist voice to meet my own challenges and as always to paint on.

Monday, December 03, 2007

Impasto






What is impasto?


Sometimes you will see me using the term heavy impasto to describe the painting technique I use. It is a painting technique of using thick textured paint that is almost three dimensional in appearance.




Using an impasto technique often leaves visible brush strokes in the finished painting. Many times those brush strokes are actually as important as the subject matter itself because the brush work is telling you something about what the artist is thinking while painting.



You could almost say impasto is a type of sculpture—but for painters. My area of concentration was sculpture in art school so sometimes I get carried away with the globs of heavy paint on my canvas.







On my trees by the lake there is heavy impasto.



From the front, impasto paint is highlighted by whatever natural light is in the room (since it sticks out so much) and with heavy impasto you’ll be able to see shadows underneath the paint too.
Impasto really makes a physical statement, it is very expressive. I often call my style expressionist/post-impressionism because of my use of heavy impasto and brush work.


You can see some if it here in my painting circle of friends.

People often say I paint like Van Gogh because I use impasto like he did however my subject and colors are nothing like that great artist and impasto was used long before Van Gogh, artists would build up layers of paint to add realism to their work, making objects appear more three-dimensional.
But Van Gogh was different. He used impasto to gave weight to his brilliant colors, movement to his skies, and emotion to his landscapes.
He could have painted with the exact same colors without the impasto, but what would have happened? There would have been no movement, no feeling in the painting. I don't always use impasto only when the subject or the mood feels right.