Paintings With Soul

Four of the 22 paintings currently marked down for a quick sale. Did some deep cleaning at the studio, which means there's a flash sale going on over on   my FB page . Nearly 2 dozen paintings are up for grabs at ridiculous prices - these are mostly pieces that graced my booth back when I did art fairs/events. A few of them are from the first couple years of Painting a Dog a Day! Take a peek , purchase via commenting on the image you want. Splurge on something fun for yourself! Thanks as always for supporting my art!

"A Rose Among the Thorns," 15" x 30" x 1", acrylics on a gallery stretched canvas, $649 to the first asking nicely. Inquiries may come directly   to me . Because no matter how stabby life can get, there will eventually be something insanely beautiful that comes from the tangled mess. Special thanks to Cedar Knoll Farm for sharing their marvelous Dexter as inspiration for this painting.

"Battlement," Siren #55, 36" x 24" x 1-1/2", acrylics on cradeled panel, $1599 to the first asking nicely. Yes, I can ship worldwide and yes I will set up a payment plan. Inquiries may come   to me . The summer is nearly over here in Michigan - literally and figuratively. This is The Princess' last one before starting college, and we have tried to make the most of it. She has one full week left before returning to the books and the dance studio. I find myself getting teary unexpectedly - there's so much I still need to teach her. I suppose I will never feel as though I've given any of my kids enough. That bittersweetness of this time spent on the cusp of independance (both hers and perhaps mine as the boys are also making rumblings about moving) is trickling into my paintings. I find that recent sirens are introspective, meditative and asking for clarity. They are teaching me how to navigate things. Speaking of learning, I've got my fa...

Hello hello!! Hope you are having a lovely August - I'm settling into the finishing touches on a number of siren paintings and ramping up for a wonderful fall exhibition schedule. Perhaps I will see you at an opening or two. Meanwhile I've just released my class schedule through the end of the year. There's lots of opportunities for you to come create with me in Lake Orion (Michigan) or via an internet connection. Art Journaling continues to meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month. I have two Pet Portrait sessions scheduled - one in   September , another in   October. . Several still life options, including one focused on   whites , another on   value jumps  (painting ribboned gifts), and a third on   color  using donuts as props. And two installments of the Paint Like classes, one with   Modigliani   styled portraits, another with a   Klimpt-ish   composition. Additional information for each class is available...

Kimberly Kelly Santini   paintings with soul because our world needs more beauty   "Bailey and Charlie," 12" x 12" x 1/22", acrylics on museum quality cradeled panel, commissioned portrait and heading home soon. They no longer flood my various social media feeds, but I do still create one or two pet portraits each month. Because when all is said and done, there is nothing quite like delivering an original image that melds memories and emotions into the perfect summary of my clients' relationship with their special family members. Prices start at $399 for museum quality original paintings. I work from copyright free reference photos and your stories to create a treasured family keepsake. Turnaround is dependent upon my current workload, but averages several months (and can be much longer near the end of the year), so please plan accordingly. Inquiries may come directly   to me .

"Becoming," 36" x 36" x 2", acrylics on a cradeled panel, heading to "Motherhood," a juried exhibition at The Anton Art Center in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Inquiries may come to me. I have been sending almost daily (I know it's not been nearly that regular as of late) newsletters since October of 2006. That's 12 years of regular correspondence. Some of you have been with me through all of this - the   Painting a Dog a Day   journey, raising funds for animal welfare,  the wine label award ,   my book publications , the   Kentucky Derby adventure , a shift in focus to   florals , and finally   the Sirens . I cannot thank you enough for your willingness to continue to look at what I was painting, to hear my thoughts, and to support me via your feedback, encouragement, and even purchases. And for those of you who hopped on partway through this marvelous trip, thank you for sticking around. I know that a big piece of my continued motivation ...

The first of my mini vacation watercolors, this is "Penn State Tree #1," watercolor and metallic inks on a circular piece of watercolor paper, roughly 6" in diameter, $50 (includes s&h inside the US). How is it possible that my last newsletter was June 11th? I'll tell you how - the past few weeks have been spent scrambling with numerous deadlines, commitments, and prepping for a vacation and The Princess's dance nationals. We have been on the road for 6 days now and it's been quite the adventure so far! We toured Penn State's campus, spent time with family, visited Chincoteague and Assatuague Islands, and spent a day at the beach. Along the way, I'm painting small watercolors of our adventures, each of which will be   available for purchase through my Facebook page , starting at $45. This is the only newsletter I plan to send for the next week, so please, if you are interested in grabbing one of these little gems, make a point of   check...

Detail (full painting below, please scroll down), "Wabi Sabii" 24" x 48", acrylics on panel, $1499 to the first asking nicely. Please send them directly   to me . I've been working on a couple of surprise commissions, but in between waiting for my clients' feedback I've been working away on this one. And boy do I love her. Wabi Sabi   is essentially the acceptance of brokenness. A celebration of it, in fact, as in Japanese tradition a broken bowl is repaired with a vein of gold. It remains useful and all the more beautiful because of it's cracks. I embraced that idea with my newest selfie, wrapped in my favorite shawl and bearing my own gold repaired cracks. I'm proud to bear scars - they mean I've lived my life without bubble wrap, and that my heart and head have experience I can lean on as I continue to roll with the punches.

In process "Wabi Sabi Selfie," 24" x 48", acrylics on panel. Not currently for sale, but inquiries are always welcome. Please send them directly   to me . This week I have: submitted a grant application entered two big deal to me juried competitions (that I fully expect to be rejected from, but one never knows and if one never asks, one never knows) taught several classes glazed, wrapped and posted 4 paintings to new homes booked 5 new commissions deep cleaned the studio coordinated the return of work from a show in Pennsylvania (which reminds me I've not gotten shipping confirmation yet, so I should follow up with them on Tuesday) marketed/promoted my summer classes and workshops (although I'm realizing I neglected to do so via this blog, so   here is a link ) researched exhibition opportunities through the fall coordinated the transition to online entry for the Thumb Area Art Exhibition read 2 art books ( One Hundred Hands   and   What I...

Detail of Siren #41, "The Day My Heart Exploded," full painting is 24" square, acrylics on panel. Not currently for sale, but inquiries are always welcome. Please send them directly   to me . This painting is a self portrait - while the likeness is not mine the emotional state most definitely is. This morning there was yet another school shooting. I cannot understand why our children are killing each other.  This siren came from my gut. There's others still in there. I imagine they will show up in the coming days. May your children all come home safely tonite.

So yesterday was one of those days. I came into the studio and looked at my new work and was convinced they all were crappy and self indulgent. Poorly drawn, meaningless, wastes of paint. We all have days like these, don't we? I think mine happen when I'm exhausted - they tend to show up after a long stretch of crazy inspired painting. Days - sometimes weeks - strung together of manic production and very little reflection. And that's when her voice shows up. You know the one. She tells you that you know nothing, you are wasting your time, that nobody will every truly understand your paintings because they are muddled, ugly and trite. So when She shows up (I call her Betka after an elementary school teacher I had multiple run-ins with), I let her rant. I write down what she says in my studio journal. I acknowledge her questions. And then I paint right overtop of them. Preferably with something glittery and fancy. And then I return to the easel, pick up my brushes, ...

At top: Dream, Protect, Oasis; top two are 15" x 30", acrylics on gallery wrapped canvases, each $799. Oasis, 24" x 48", acrylics on panel, $1499. Inquiries may come   to me . After painting upwards of 30 sirens featuring girls and young women, I decided to try the same approach to an equine composition. These pieces were SO hard for me, because I found myself subconsciously returning to that whole literality that I was trying to step away from intitialy. The clouds of color are actually pours of paint with various gels, glazes and mediums added to impact their opacity and texture. I go in with my hands, spatulas, rags, ratty brushes, pretty much any sort of tool I can grab, and push the puddles about. Rubbing, scraping, scratching, pouring - it's a fabulous way to spend the day. The end result is difficult to photograph, the paintings themselves have such a palpable space. I invite you all into my studio to see them. Or visit them in an exhibitio...

From left: "The Guardians" and "Stand Tall", both 24" x 48", acrylics on panel, each $1499 plus s&h. Yes pleases and inquiries may come directly   to me   - thank you!  First off, I have been overwhelmed with your love and support during this week's venture through my Derby Experience in 2015 and how it changed my life. Thank you so much for taking the time to reach out and let me know how my paintings and personal journal have impacted you. You inspire me to continue onwards, and I am humbled. These two paintings were the next logical step from   yesterday's Gentle . I had embraced the horse as my spirit animal, so then I borrowed him as a stand in as protector for the world at large. When these two paintings were done (September 2017), there were mass tragedies and acts of terror happening all over the world. It seemed as if we were incapable of taking care of our neighbors, ourselves, and our Mother Earth. Pops of light became bits of h...

"Do not go gentle into that good night," 14" x 18", acrylics on panel, $599 plus s&h. Inquiries may come directly   to me   - thank you! Three years ago I was the official artist of The Kentucky Derby. I was fully aware that this experience, pretty much the pinnacle of my career to date, gave me permission to move on. I already had been trying to re-brand myself - after doing pet portraits for 15 years, 7 years of daily creating inside that, I had long been ready for a change. And I had been suffering from creative burnout for over a year - I desperately needed to mix things up. But I was clueless where to turn. My daily painting practice involved such an intensive focus on producing, and I hadn't built in much time for introspection. That was the first change - to give myself permission to slow down and stop focusing on the painting count and start focusing on the paintings' integrity. Extensive journaling, both visual and written, ...

Champion, 6" x 8", acrylics on panel, depicting American Pharoah, the Kentucky Derby winner the year I was the Derby artist.   Reproductions available here . We are halfway through Kentucky Derby Week. Three years ago I was the official artist of The Kentucky Derby. And for the first time in 37 years, the Derby winner went on to win the Preakness and Belmont, securing a Triple Crown. And I saw the first leg in person from my seats at the wire. My Grandfather and I shared a passion for horse racing. We watched the Derby together every year, sharing stats and guesses during the prep races. When he and Grandma retired they moved to Arkansas where he quickly became a regular at Oaklawn Park. About that same time, he became a fervent supported of the Arkansas Derby winner, something rather uncommon in the late 80s. Our Derby Week consults were initially letters, then phone calls, then Facebook messages. What I wouldn't give to hash over the morning lin...

Black Rose (on left), Dixie Rose (on right), each panel measures 24" x 48", both are acrylics on panel, $1499 each or adopt the two for $2700. Please   contact me   for detail photos as well as shipping information.   I am celebrating Kentucky Derby Week and reliving my stint as the official artist of The Kentucky Derby in 2015. As you might imagine, I had roses on the brain for quite some time afterwards. Ok, I might still have them. One of my earliest introductions to horse racing (other than my Grandfather, who I'll talk about later this week) was Walter Farley's books. First it was   Man O' War,   then   The Black Stallion series . The school librarian actually forbid me to check my favorite books out because no other students got a chance to read them.   These paintings are titled in the same fashion as all things Black Stallion - every horse ever sired by The Black carried the monikor "Black" in their name. I took this idea and applied i...

David+Austin, 36" x 48", acrylics on panel, $3925 with free shipping, available through   UGallery .  It's Derby Week!! In the past, as the days before The Kentucky Derby approached, I would busy myself with daily paintings of race horses and equines. However, in 2015, my Derby Week experience was the penultimate dream - I spent it in Louisville, being feted as the Official Artist of the Kentucky Derby. The entire year was a marvelous opportunity, from the out-of-the-blue phone call offering me the project, to months of research and painting surreptitiously, to the reveal party at Churchill the November prior, then a presentation at the Kentucky Derby Museum during their birthday gala in April, and finally experiencing Derby Week first hand as a special guest. I will always be grateful to the powers that be for delivering the best project at the best moment in my life - Clare and Pat, you have special spots in my heart. Here's the link to a photo essay of my j...

She who wonders is never lost (Siren #31), 24" x 48", acrylics on panel, $1499 plus s&h. Inquiries may come  to me . Today was a gray and drizzley day, which made photographing her all the more challenging. I will have to have another go at it when the sun decides to show herself. Thanks for following along with my art!

Dream, 15" x 30", acrylics on gallery stretched canvas, $799 plus s&h. Inquiries may come  to me . Another encaustic piece. This time I wanted the horses to melt into the space. Layers of nuanced pours, scrapings, scratching and drawing. Next comes a BIG one. At least I think so.........

Protect, 15" x 30", acrylics on gallery stretched canvas, $799 plus s&h. Inquiries may come  to me . I've been playing with an acrylic based encaustic-like process - basically suspending my pigments in a translucent, pourable medium sharing many of the same properties as melted wax. This allows me to blend, scratch into, layer, suspend, dribble and do all sorts of delightful things with the paint. So much to learn!!