Paintings With Soul

"Dollar Store Dolly I," Toy #26, 6" x 6," acrylics on masonite, depicting a stuffed polar fleece doll. She needs a home (as does her sister ) - and wouldn't they be darling in a child's room? Please connect with me  via email  and we'll get them into your hands! (NOTE: sale pending on both Dolly I and II as of this posting, thank you SO much!) The Welcome Home's Worn Off A constantly hangry child, bickering kids, a dog skunked late at night, a pukey cat, internet connectivity woes, out of control laundry (including wet skunky towels), last minute schedule changes, restless nights and PMS have all connived to make my past two days a little less zen than they might have been.    The perfect antidote? painting cute dolls (props to my friend who gifted me these dolls!) and journaling and homemade cornbread. Don't judge me until you've tried it.   Also, I've been tweaking one painting for a special client a...

You can download the file   directly from my website . I've set up a couple different ways to do this, either via the photo album or a direct link. I am not an expert on operating systems, so if you don't know how to change your desktop wallpaper, please don't email me - I will indubitably steer you wrong. Your computer's help files will be more concise, more knowledgeable and more responsive than I could ever hope to be.    I've sized this to fit a standard screen height of 768 - I realize there are lots of variables that could impact how the file displays on your screen. Let me know if, once you get the file installed, there are display quality issues (keep in mind, too, that options such as "stretching to fit," "tiling" and "cropping" will impact your display, so check those first!). Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Kim

"Poppy Gray," 12" x 16", dog portrait of my favorite little Frenchie, my live painting project from last Friday. Poppy is acrylics on museum quality panel (and he has a lovely home, thank you so very much!). All inquiries may  come to me . What a week I had in Louisiana!  First off, it was four days of herding cats, err, students. They were fantastic at pushing paint and excelled at keeping my strength up (grits and bread pudding and fresh seafood, baby!). I don't think I've ever had a group that bonded immediately and laughed so hard. Then I got a whirlwind introduction to New Orleans courtesy of the real Stella Gray. More extraordinary tastes combined with new friends, live music, a moonlit walk along the Mississippi, and beautiful objects made for an excellent cap to my week. Many many thanks to the Louisiana Art & Artists Guild for hosting the workshop, my students for putting up with me, and the remarkable Diann...

Another demo from the workshop, "Sprout" was an example of my stepping out of my own comfort zone (greens terrify me). After all, if I'm asking my students to face their fears, I'd better walk the walk too, right? He's 9x12 or maybe 11x14 - it's been a long day and my brain is a little soggy - acrylics on masonite. And Sprout is heading to a new home, a home where veggies are loved as much as little green toddlers. But, nevertheless, please send your inquiries to me , and thank you so much. The Bar Has Been Raised I've gotta say that this group of painters has gotten me laughing harder than I have in a long time. And today they made me cry, too, you know those so-happy-I'm-feeling-the-love-too sorta tears? We've got one more day together before we all scatter to the winds. Sigh. And for those of you worried about my calorie intake, today included homemade fudge (DM you are The Best!), grilled oysters, fried drum fis...

A quick little demo after a day spent harping on color and value with the added bonus that there was no heckling or pelting with tomatos. "Curious George," 6" square, acrylics on masonite, depicting everyone's favorite little monkey. In typical George fashion, he's worked his way into one of my students' bags. But I will be painting him again, so by all means, let me know if you are interested. Inquiries may  come to me , and thank you so much. I Won't Go Home Hungry There's something about southern hospitality. I'm getting fed three squares, and plied with Tiger Cake, Apple Cake, homemade chocolates, muffins, skunk cookies, you name it! Plus have gotten cooking tips on how to make the bestest gumbo ever and been given a few secret jambalaya ingredients. And they have this thing in the south called grits. Good God, I don't know how I've lived nearly 50 years without tasting this miracle food, but I am now a...

From day one of our workshop, detail of my demo painting, roughly blocked in, with the focal point quadrant fairly well along. This painting stars/was inspired by Rush, a sweet and silly guy owned by my friend and fellow painter Marilyn Sadler (her website is www.MarilynSadler.com,  but as of this posting it appears to be down). Marilyn was kind enough to host us for a brief visit to Lexington (KY) this spring, and together with Yvonne Todd , also took us on a grand tour of all things equine and artsy. This piece is 10" square, done in acrylics on a museum quality panel. I plan on finishing it once I return to the studio. All inquiries may  come to me . I Have 17 Victims!! More commonly known as students.  They are brave souls, and so far survived day one of my talking nonstop. Lots of drivel about color and harmony and the sorts of painting details that make my heart sing. This was my demo piece, an exercise in breaking a few rules, d...

"Poppy Puppy," 12" x 16", dog portrait of a delightful little Frenchie. Poppy is acrylics on museum quality panel (and he has a lovely home, thank you so very much!). All inquiries may  come to me . Poppy will be traveling with me to Louisiana this weekend. I will lead a fearless group of painters on a 4 day color adventure in Baton Rouge, and then on Friday the show will get moved to New Orleans, where I will paint and mingle with visitors to AKA Stella Gray . And get to meet the inspiration behind the painting, as Poppy is the head honcho at the gallery. Stop by and visit, either in person or on my Facebook page . I'll be posting updates all week long. And if you want to paint with me, my last class of the year is a crash course in color, and it will be in Ann Arbor October 22-23 . Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Warmly, Kim  

Detail of a nearly finished but still in process portrait, "Poppy Puppy," 12" x 16", pet portrait of a delightful little Frenchie. Poppy is acrylics on museum quality panel (and he has a lovely home, thank you so very much!). All inquiries may  come to me . Every day is busy here, but today seemed even more so. Got more prep work done for next week's 4 day painting workshop in Baton Rouge, created new demo pieces and then taught journaling class tonite (I accidentally mailed all my demos for today's class to Baton Rouge as part of the workshop inspiration - DUH!), picked up new glasses (and popped a couple ibuprofin, as my eyes are having a tough time adjusting to the new prescription), did 6 loads of laundry (the kids finally brought towels down from their rooms!), and took The Princess resale shopping/thrifting (no new dolls discovered, but she snagged a super cute lace top for $5!). Thanks, as always, for following along wit...

"Waiting for Eloise," 11" x 14", commissioned pet portrait done specifically for a nursery and depicting a Norwich Terrier, acrylics on museum quality panel (sold, thank you so very much!). In process pics are here  All inquiries may  come to me . While one of my besties welcomed a sweet baby granddaughter this week, I found myself working on a nursery commission for a new collector expecting their first. And it got me reminiscing about The Man Child's nursery. He had the best room, with an A-frame ceiling and exposed beams and a full wall mural with a larger than lifesized Pooh and Christopher Robin. You know, the timeless image of them hanging on the bridge ? Yeah, I was inspired by that. And there was a generously sized antique rocker that housed us both through many a midnight feeding and lots of wonderful stories. Gulp. Nearly 21 years ago. My wish is the same for Baby Eloise. With the exception that I hope t...

"Awe," 8" x 12", acrylics on copper, an orangey-coppery tabby kitten portrait that glows far more than the computer can show. This piece, which truly is exquisite in person - the computer simply cannot capture the way the light moving across this changes the value/reflective quality of the exposed copper - is $849, which includes s&h inside the US. All inquiries may  come to me . Ahh, Copper, You Magical Glittery Surface, You..... I have been researching various copper sources ever since daVinci's last portrait . And today a couple new copper pieces arrived from Hong Kong via ebay, of all places. And all I could do was think about painting on them! I had a million things to do, including addressing college financial aid details, paying studio bills and 3rd quarter paperwork, baking for school lunches, prepping/packing for next week's workshop in Louisiana, wrapping and shipping 5 paintings, a private drawing lesson, and m...

Detail of a page from my vintage file folder journal** (an Ingrid Dijkers class) bearing a fingerpainted and fingerprinted vase of flowers (a lesson from Carla Sonheim's Fingerpaint:Fingerprint class currently ongoing).  This is done in acrylics on various preprinted papers, including free form stitching.  Shortly after I created a fingerpainting exercise for my grownUPs Journal class ** (which is next week, if anyone is interested in coming!), one of my favorite teachers Carla Sonheim announced a bite-sized online fingerpainting class of her own. So of course I had to jump on board and see what techniques she advocated. Today I got to work for a bit on the first lesson - color mixing with my fingers, and "fingerprinting" which involves making marks using one's finger as a gelliplate/monoprint surface. This is the first of three assigned florals. I've got homework of my own tonite.  Thanks, as always, for following along wit...

"Kermie," Toy #25, 6" x 6," acrylics on masonite, depicting a vintage Fisher Price Kermit the Frog puppet (perched on an empty Scrumpies Hard Cider bottle, which you cannot see, but I assure you was delicious!). This painting already has a home (I don't think there's such a thing as a homeless Muppet, is there?) Meanwhile, connect with me  via email  if you are looking for something in particular. I keep doing  the Muppet flail . It's ridiculous, I know. But the kids are happy to be back in school and I'm delighted to be back at the easel during daylight hours. However I think I pulled something in my shoulder whilst flailing.  Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, All my best, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com The 100 Toys Album

"My Little Unicorn," Toy #24, 6" x 6," acrylics on masonite, depicting a My Little Pony figuring. This painting sold about 5 minutes after I shared a snapshot on Facebook this morning. Many thanks to my returning collector, who has just snagged her first holiday gift! Meanwhile, you can always work on your gift giving list - connect with me  via email  and we'll get some original art in your hands! I grabbed this little unicorn last week while school supply shopping with the kids. They loaded the cart with notebooks and binders and postits, and I grabbed a couple plastic ponies and a new box of crayons.  Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, All my best, Kim ksantini@turtledovedesigns.com The 100 Toys Album

You can download the file  directly from my website. I've set up a couple different ways to do this, either via the photo album or a direct link. I am not an expert on operating systems, so if you don't know how to change your desktop wallpaper, please don't email me - I will indubitably steer you wrong. Your computer's help files will be more concise, more knowledgeable and more responsive than I could ever hope to be.  I've sized this to fit a standard screen height of 768 - I realize there are lots of variables that could impact how the file displays on your screen. Let me know if, once you get the file installed, there are display quality issues (keep in mind, too, that options such as "stretching to fit," "tiling" and "cropping" will impact your display, so check those first!). Thanks, as always, for following along with my artwork, Kim

NOTATION 9-5-15:  "Fox Kit" completed after paint dried (this humidity!). There was some sandpaper involved, a few glazes, more sandpaper, and then the painting got scanned. Any digital image suffers in comparison to the original, but the above image is a fair representation of the color, value and texture in this painting. In process, "Fox Kit," 10" x 10", acrylics on panel, a painting a young fox inspired by a photo found on morguefile.com . This piece is nearly finished, but I ran into the challenge of an extended paint drying time due to our hight humidity. This piece has been wet for nearly 4 hours now! I would like to take sandpaper to some areas (so as to soften edges and color transitions), but cannot do that until the paint cures. Meanwhile, this painting and all it's color and delight can be yours for $499, which include s&h inside the US. All inquiries may  come to me . SOLD (THANK YOU!) Please note this is an iPho...

"daVinci," 8" x 10", acrylics on copper, a painting of my devil, err, studio, kitty. daVinci's latest portrait is an exploration of my fascination with copper panels. And, I suppose you could add, a parallel fascination with tabby cats and general feline attitude (I still cannot fathom the appeal of eating the tulle underskirt of a dress, but I guess that's why I hold the paintbrush and he uses the litterbox). This piece, which truly is exquisite in person, is $799, which include s&h inside the US. All inquiries may  come to me . Yesterday one of my students blogged about her sadness that more adults didn't embrace play . That's an idea that resonated with me - so easily we get caught up in seriousness and forget about running in the grass barefoot or lying on our backs looking for shapes in the clouds. It's all about paying bills and getting the laundry done and playing it safe. So my mission today was to find so...

"T-Boy," 5" x 7", acrylics on museum quality panel, a commissioned portrait of a rescued German Shepherd Dog. T-Boy has a home (both the painted and breathing versions, isn't that wonderful!), thank you so much (FYI, he was rescued on his kill day). and if you would like something similar starring your companion animal, please  let me know . Summer is wrapping up at our home. Our town ties things up with a festival surrounding the local legend of a dragon who resides in our lake. The weather wasn't the most cooperative, but the company of friends was thoroughly enjoyed. Choreography week is in full swing at the dance studio - the students are learning their numbers for the next competition season. The Princess danced for 6 hours straight yesterday. Then she came home and cleaned out the fridge. The Caped Crusader is car shopping - he pledged to have his own wheels by the time school started. I believe there will be a test...