Good Morning!

New piece fresh out of the studio! Lots of texture in this "Good Morning" bouquet measuring 30x30" acrylic on canvas. Contact me for purchase details at: kirstenreed@yahoo.com.

Hope you have good morning!

Come Pick Daisies with Me!

Today I show you how to make two small canvases featuring the unassuming daisy. Come over and join me on StencilGirl Talk blog!

Hope to see you there! :)

When Things Go Wrong on Your Canvas

When you are sitting at your art table, do you ever just think..."this is NOT where I want this painting to go" or "this is crap"? Well, some days are just like that.  I put paint down but don't like the direction.

I had a vision for this painting, it was going to be so spring-like in color and form with lots of abstract flowers and layers.  I kept putting paint down, but honestly just hated what I was seeing.  I didn't like the composition at all.  I didn't like the way the colors tied together. It just wasn't my vision.

I pulled out an old hotel room key and spread the wet paint all over the canvas in different directions.

I was actually please with the result. I briefly thought of leaving it like this but once it dried, I was back at work and came up with a very loose, not completely abstract bouquet of spring goodness.

 Here is a second picture.  The above is outdoor lighting.  The one below is indoor lighting. It's amazing how much they change.

This piece will be available for purchase soon!

Share in the comments below what you do when a piece isn't going your way.

Thanks for stopping by!

Making It Last

After a spring break visit to Florida, I was inspired to paint several "beachy" pieces.  The weather on the gulf coast was spectacular, beautiful scenery and SUNSHINE.  ahhhh...such a reprieve from winter! I wanted to make it last and painting was one way to do that.

I thought I would share with you a few of the pieces... one of which has already sold and been moved to a beach cottage on the Florida Gulf Coast!

What is your favorite place to regroup? :)

Bursts of color with Ken Oliver and StencilGirl!

Have you ever heard of Color Burst before?  I hadn't until I was introduced to these bottles of powdery pigmented color fun by Ken Oliver.  Once you activate with water, they turn into beautiful BURSTS of color!

I began by playing around with watercolor paper  and a wash of plain water.  I then began experiment and "squirting" powder on to the paper.

Gorgeous, luscious color ~ or what??!!

I then began laying down stencils - the Doodle It FlowerTornado stencil and the Doodle It Layered Circles stencils by Maria McGuire from StencilGirl and squirting different colors into the stencils.

After I got some beautiful designs and color and let everything dry, I drew out some flowers in vase and painted a bit with my brush to "bring out" what I saw.

I used Ken Oliver ink in this nifty little container to rub the edge of my painting.

I finished it off with writing the word "be" in cursive.

Want to know more about Color Bursts?  Carolyn Dube has done a short video showing you a little more about the product here. Want to buy some Color Bursts?  Click here.

I am not the only artist playing with Color Bursts... It's a week long blog hop of Color Bursts!  Prizes and inspiration await.  Each team has fantastic giveaways.  Leave a comment to be entered to win a $50 gift certificate from StencilGirl!  Head over to Ken's blog to find out about team's prizes!

Giveaway will end March 29th at 11:59 p.m. CST.

Keep on hopping along and check out these great posts to see other ideas and have more chances to win the giveaway!

StencilGirl Talk

Stephanie Hamen

Kirsten Reed - you are here now :)

Maria McGuire

Feeling a little Loose

Been painting visions of spring lately and that usually includes some florals.  I usually love my florals that are loose in nature and just come together very organically. Here is progression of one recent piece.

I created a background of vintage ledger sheets, maps, wallpaper and molding paste using StencilGirl's Art Nouveau stencil by Lizzy Mayne.

I then drew out my floral and began loosely painting in and around, adding in more charcoal and pen as I went until I was finished.

Here are some close ups.

Here is the final piece.

If you would like to hop over to my Facebook Page or Instagram and say hello I'd love to see you!

Have a Heart

Come join me today on StencilGirl Talk where I will show you how I made this non-traditional heart art!