Abstract Colorful Original Paintings from Playing with Colors in New Art Shop of K. Joann Russell

Celebrate! This blog which began in order to share my adventures in color explorations for paintings has a new Etsy shop, PlayingWithColorsArt!  

 Artistic Journal Entry 3/29/2013 to Celebrate New Shop

5 x 9" acrylic/ink

For a few years I've shared my color explorations from playing with colors in my artistic journal. I was surprised by the response to my postings.

To share my small colorful abstract paintings posted on this blog, I developed one-of-a-kind greeting cards with an original painting (not a print) suitable for framing. Again I was humbled by the response to the unique cards and how collectors were using them, including giving them to cancer patients as encouragement through chemo treatments.

Finally the time came to open a shop exclusively for my abstract colorful paintings and original greeting cards. My other shop, Sunflower Studio Art, continues for my colorful original paintings and signed prints of rural landscapes, sunflowers, and more in an impressionistic painterly style.

I'll save for another day the back story for the shop name  PlayingWithColorsArt

River Landscape Colorful Daily Painting by K. Joann Russell

"Flowing River"

5 x 7" original painting

Available  

Today's painting is one of my latest daily paintings of colorful landscapes of remote areas.

"Flowing River", a colorful original landscape painting, shows impressionistic views of a river flowing into another river in the mountains of southern Oregon. I painted this small colorful painting from memories of my visits to the Rogue Valley area of southern Oregon.

Evergreen trees dominate the landscape colors and contrast with the softer colors of the high mountains. Trout rest in the cold waters along the steep banks of rocks. Fishermen appreciate these remote streams for the wonderful fish they find there.

"Flowing River" is an acrylic painting on archivally prepared mat board. It is 5 x 7" and ready to place in a standard size frame.

The underpainting was a red, the complement of green, which peaks through in the evergreen trees adding to vibrant colors.

Find more colorful small paintings to view.

Red Poppies Abstract Painting Daily Sketch by K. Joann Russell

"Red Poppies Abstract Painting Sketch"
5 x 9" Acrylic on paper
More Abstract Paintings Available

Looking out my studio to the garden spot for red poppies on a rainy gray day seemed to inspire my daily painting sketch today. It's nearly February and I'm wishing for sunshine and flowers growing in my garden.

Click on the image above to see the lovely textures and many, many variations of colors from only three colors. As you can see, I used a yellow, red, and green to play with colors. I have film cartridges in which I've stored the remains from tubes of paints that were punctured and/or drying too fast. I don't label them so I can only guess that these are a cadmium yellow light, a scarlet red, and a sap green.

My abstract art celebrates limited palettes and playing with color combinations. Have you seen the original greeting cards I paint which are ready for standard size frames? Perfect gifts for special friends and outstanding events. The cards and other colorful abstract paintings in larger sizes are available in my Etsy shop. Please take a look at the beautiful colors.

Colorful Original Landscape Painting Mountain Vista by K. Joann Russell

"Mountain Vista"

5 x 7" original painting
Available

While experimenting with a different palette of warm and cool colors of yellow, red, and blue I painted this small colorful painting thinking of the wide open spaces I so enjoy. This turned out an impressionistic style as I responded to memories and color relationships. 

"Mountain Vista" is painted with acrylics on gessoed 5 x 7" mat board. It is ready for a standard size frame with or without a mat.

Although I've been working on the larger sunflower painting mentioned in the last post, this painting is the official first completed painting of 2013. It's a great feeling to be back at work!

My Inspiration from Lisa Daria's Painting "Fading, Staying, Leaning"

 

"Fading, Staying, Leaning"

by Lisa Daria  

6 x 6" acrylic painting

Lisa Daria, one of my favorite painters, posted this exquisite colorful small painting on her blog this week. She's a bona fide daily painter. By comparison I'm more of a wannabee because I allow too many other things to take precedence to my daily painting. 

Artists find inspiration from a myriad of sources and they hope that their work is an inspiration to others. Lisa Daria uses colors and shapes to express the simple things in life. Read more about her life and art on her blog, Lisa Daria's Painting a Day. 

This colorful painting and its poignant title caught my eye because it summarizes in paint what happened when my blog posts stopped in late October. My heart has been painting in my usual bright colors as I've looked at the unfinished sunflower oil painting in my studio through the haze of multiple medication side effects. 

There have been moments I've felt the "fading" question of am I going to come out of this sudden health challenge.  I've definitely done the "leaning" part as I've had to rely on others, notably my daughter who lives nearby, for so many daily life things I normally jump in my car and go do on my own.   

The best part is the "staying" determination where I am presently regardless of the next on the list of "procedures". Doesn't that seem to be a sanitizing word that takes health "protocols" out of the realm of real, live people living in bodies that scream "king's X, those are non-natural foreign agents"?

Yesterday I squeezed out the oil paints, picked up my brushes and painted on that sunflower painting that has been waiting patiently for me. Yes, I am staying at my painting. 

When we're in staying mode the non-essentials fall away. But isn't that what we traditionally do at this time of the year in our lives and businesses? 

Merry Christmas to all my collectors and followers! Thanks for a truly remarkable year.

I believe the best is yet to come for all of us so enjoy a Blessed New Year!  

Visit with Fellow Online Artist Lynn Cummings of the Jeweled Caress

 In the rain and wind artist Lynn Cummings and her partner Michael welcomed me yesterday with tea and pumpkin bread in their Victorian house/studio in the historic district of Tacoma, WA. Do you have any idea what happens when online artists get together to share their creativity in art and business? Well, we talked and shared all afternoon and didn't cover every topic! Imagine that!

Let me introduce you to the work of Lynn and Michael showcased on their recently established Facebook page, The Jeweled Caress. Their page describes their work "as a treasure-trove of unique and decorative adornments...as well as the occasional "something different", collected throughout the years. Our own artisan jewelry designs lean towards the tastefully extravagant, fanciful, or even whimsical. Most of the findings and components used in our creations are antique or vintage bits and baubles that originate from every corner of the globe. This can include "new old stock" from the late 19th century through the 1960s, which languished nearly forgotten in warehouses...and even newer pieces stamped from vintage tooling."

Dragonfly Sky and Garden Rhinestone Cuff

The Jeweled Caress Shop  

 

 Already they are enjoying international interest in their unique jewelry. Please check their shop for more pieces beyond the one I've included above. And do give them a "congratulations" by "liking" their Facebook page. While there look at the many photos of previously sold work, a gallery of fine jewelry art. 

 

Reminder to myself:  visit other online artists nearby in addition to those I meet on trips. Anyone else in Puget Sound region wanting to spend the time to share art and business one-on-one?

 

Oregon Vineyards Landscape Oil Painting Small Art by K. Joann Russell

"Spring Vineyards"
5 x 7" oil painting 
Purchase  

This rural landscape oil painting reminds me of the many vineyards among the hills and mountains of Oregon in the spring. I painted this 5 x 7 inch small painting in an impressionistic style somewhat like my quick glances driving down Interstate 5 to the southern part of the state. As a child I have fond memories of the vineyard on my family's acreage in California.

Small daily paintings like this one demand a simplicity in composition, colors, and brush strokes. I find them very helpful to balance a tendency toward sharp focus realism. The challenge is to say what you have to say as quickly as possible which is the essence of en plein air painting.

Enjoy the warm sunshine and peacefulness of the spacious vista of this small painting. Start to celebrate your originality with a one of a kind small painting which is not a print.

"Spring Vineyards", original oil painting 5 x 7" on archivally prepared mat board, is varnished and ready to place in a standard size frame. The painting comes to you unframed.