Poppies All Around!

sold

These beautiful poppies are blooming in many gardens all around town. They don't last long so I've captured them in paint! I lost some of the variations in the reds in this photo so I'll try to get a better photos a little later.

I drove to the nearest big town yesterday to buy ink and food and had to make a detour at the rest stop, after waiting for almost 40 minutes for road construction! It's a two lane highway, over the mountain, and they've been working on the road, straightening out some of the switch back turns, so that big rigs can drive back and forth from the coast. I didn't mind the turns and they say it's only going to cut the time by 10 minutes. All was calm, though, after I stopped and took in this beautiful view of Whiskeytown Lake. It looks different every time I see it, and is always spectacular! It would be nice to live on the lake and paint it everyday with the changing light. The views are best as you drive by at 60 mph...I can't figure out how to stop and get a good shot without risking my life on that dangerous highway! This will have to do.

Have a great weekend! 

What will you be doing to kick off the summer?

There's a giveaway going on!

available as a print

For a chance to win any 8x10 print from my Etsy shop just pop over to Melissa's blog, So About What I Said...! Melissa was so kind to host this for me! I hope you find her blog as much fun as I do and that you continue to follow her interesting, heartfelt posts. Please enter for a chance to win by commenting on her blog! Thank you for your support!

Pink Roses and Peach...

sold

Here's my latest palette knife floral painting. It's been a while since I've done one of these. I love these colors! It's filled with pink roses and hydrangeas in peaches and creams.
I always take shots of my paintings as I work on them.
It really helps me see how they're working. I can get a sense of
how the composition is working and can see if something need more or less
emphasis. I don't ever post these because they're just for my reference
but today I'm sharing them with you because it's one of the 30 day challenges
by Leslie Saeta.

I usually tone my canvas with a warm color first but sometimes I just can't wait to start!

In this photo you can almost see the pencil marks where I roughed in my drawing.

I don't get very detailed in that stage. I also like to work all around the painting

not concentrating on any certain area. This helps me with color harmony and balance.

Just filling in more color and a little unsure how it's going at this point. The flower in the upper

right just didn't want to emerge yet.

It almost finished in this one, just needs a few details and a signature!

and it's finished!

I want to invite you to my Facebook page, J Beaudet Studios if you haven't seen it yet. I've been posting my paintings there first, before anywhere else. I also haven't painted lilacs in a few years and there blooming now! I've done a few of lilacs and lemons. I love the combo of the purples and yellows. Have a great weekend!:)

Always learning...

As a self representing artist I where many hats and am always learning new things! You may already know how, but I just learned how to make a photo collage from Leslie Saeta's 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days using ipiccy! It's never boring around here. I think I could work from morning til night and never run out of things do to! But that wouldn't be too much fun...I sometimes have to turn of all the machines, lay down the brushes, and just relax...[insert photo of me on a beach on Kauai]

Irises in my backyard...

Iris Study
Sold

Iris Garden
sold

Sold

This is a painting of one of my favorite places in Redondo Beach, where I grew up. It's a popular restaurant that has proven to be a popular subject as well. This painting sold in about 2 seconds after I posted it! I'm definitely going to paint more of this area.

My Muse...

in private collection

I've found my muse and she was right in front of me all this time! My daughter was nice enough 

to pose for me in this beautiful red kimono I borrowed from my mom. I have a few more pieces I'd like to do for this series. Hopefully I don't get sidetracked! I still have the spring blossoms I promised earlier. I haven't found a nice place to paint yet. I'm waiting for the dogwoods to bloom! 

I was going to post the progression of this piece and somehow the photos are stuck on my phone. I've transferred them before so I don't know why I can't this time. I'm hoping to get them posted. 

Enjoy your beautiful spring day! 

In my garden:)

I have endless inspiration around me right now! These little beauties are going to be on canvas soon! 

And now I just discovered some beautiful deep purple irises starting to bloom. 

A few changes...

going to be revised

Kapalua Memories

being revised

This painting was done from a reference photo I took on my Maui trip last year. It was a perfect day for strolling along the path. We walked all the way to the end and saw the most majestically powerful waves, crashing on the rocky lava coast. Such great memories. We weren't staying at the butterfly place (see link above) but we did get to stay at the Westin Kaanapali Villas, which is now my favorite resort. It's sits on the perfect beach for sunbathing, snorkeling, and of course...sunsets. 

Aloha! and Mahalo!

Sunflower Study...

Sunflower Study 3
sold

I picked these happy sunflowers up at Trader Joe's this week. They have so many beautiful flowers right now! These actually lasted long enough for me to capture them in paint, 

so now they'll last forever. 

If you'd like to purchase these for your home just click on the title in the first photo and it will take you to Etsy. From there you can purchase it throughout Pay Pal. You can also click on the link to my Etsy shop to the right.

I had a wonderful, but super fast, week with my daughter, who was home from college for a week. She had to leave before Easter, so we had a family Easter dinner yesterday, which was really Good Friday. If I remember correctly you're only supposed to eat fish...well, we had ham. But to us, it really was Easter. It's so nice to get together with family.

While we were at my mom's I had my daughter pose for me in a beautiful red kimono. I think I managed to get a few photos that I'll be able to use for references. She's such a trooper! It was actually pretty funny and she had a hard time keeping a straight face through all the poses. 

I'm still working on a large Hawaii piece of Maui, it's slowly coming along. It's hard to keep working when my daughter is home. I just want to go play! So now it's time to get busy! One good thing about working from home is you can take time off whenever you want...that can also be a bad thing. I always need to keep disciplined or I'd never get any painting done. And there's so much more to being a working artist than just painting. Not complaining though...I love it!

Gifts From the Heart

sold

Sometimes it's hard to find the perfect gift for someone who has everything. But they could just have many materials things that they've bought themselves, and would never think to have a painting specially made for them. It's a personal gift of love that comes form the heart and will always be cherished and used (or seen, I should say). I mentioned in my earlier post that I have done a few commissions over the years and this is one of them. I was commissioned by a gentleman to paint this portrait of his father, as a gift to his mother. His father had past away not long before. Handsome man, don't you think? The gift was received with great love and I was told how visitors often admire the painting. I think this has been my most special painting to date. 

Here's another commissioned piece I did. This one was for someone who wanted to remember a beautiful place she had once lived. Beautiful place indeed! I was just noticing this one reminds me of my latest piece. This one was 11x14 though and my latest is only an 8x8. I think I prefer the larger size. 

sold

If you are interested in having a special piece done, just email me at jbboutique at yahoo.com and we can chat. I just received a new commission I'm excited about. 

It's of someone's young son and his friend and should be fun to paint! 

Black Rock View Maui...

sold

This painting is another one from my enormous collection of photos I took last year. I hope I'm not boring you all with my Hawaii dreaming! I have one more large piece to do of this photo below.

I'm not sure if you know so thought I'd mention, I do commissions! 

If you have a favorite spot and have a semi good photo of it I can bring it to life and create a memorable keepsake for you or it would make a great wedding gift or realtor house warming gift! I will post some that I've done in the past some time soon. I hope everyone had a great weekend! I had a nice one with a visit to my mom's house. She and her husband just got back from their winter in Mexico! 

They were gone for about three months and it's sure good to have them back in town again! 

Happy sunshine day with spring so close!

Dreaming of Hawaii...

sold

If you've been following my blog over the years, you know just how much I love Hawaii. I really can't choose a favorite island, although, I have yet to stay on Oahu. I've flown in there and have seen the busy freeways, so that has always detoured me, but I'm sure it has it's unique characteristics just as each island has. This particular painting came from a photo I took on my last trip to Maui. I can't believe it's almost been a year since we were there! I need to put it out there that it's time to go again. Maybe the next time we'll be searching for our new home, or at least dreaming about it. I would really even live in a hut if I could live there! 

I find the idea of growing my own food and picking fruit of the trees, collecting water from rain, and maybe having chickens, so cool. 

This painting is of the upcountry in Maui. There are quiet meandering roads up there and they're lined with jacaranda trees. This is one of my favorites so far. I hope you all like it as much as I do! Sometimes it happens that the paintings that I'm the most please with aren't the most popular but I usually have a pretty good idea about it. 

I have so many paintings in my mind and just can't get them done fast enough! I love painting! I love bringing the ideas in my head to canvas and coming up with a finished piece that will be

around forever. It's such a feeling of accomplishment. And if somebody decides they want to live with it forever, well. that's even better! This is the best job ever!

A little bit of purple...

being revised 

This was a little different for me because of the odd size of canvas. It's 18x36 inches so it's pretty long. It's hard to see the details here so I've added some close ups on my Etsy listing here. I used a palette knife for most of it and a brush to fill in small areas and soften a few things. The grass in the foreground is showing up the wrong color. It's a little more yellow green instead of that brown color. This one is definitely for a purple lover! 

Bather

sold

I just finished this painting for the weekly challenge on DPW. Carol Marine supplied this wonderful photograph which has inspired me to do some more like this. I found out that my mom has a wash bowl and pitcher very similar to this one. I'm going to have my mom and my daughter pose for me. My daughter is coming home on Spring break soon so hopefully I can get her to do that for me. 

I'm working on a large 18x36 canvas right now and it's coming along ok. I'm not use to this large so I have to remind myself that it takes time to finish something of this size. It's lavender fields, which I love. 

Have a great week!

Jennifer:)

Spring Botanical

sold

This just says Spring to me! I traveled down the mountain the other day and on my way back up, noticed a tree starting to blossom!

 I was so happy to see that and since then we've been enjoying beautiful weather and walks on the trails just about everyday. 

My puppy dog is sure happy too! 

The Luck of the...

It's a little early for St Patrick's Day but I wanted to share some of my luck. I hope I don't jinx it! I am grateful for all the abundance in my life! This is just one of them and I will be posting more to come.

A few months back I commented on Diana Mieczan's Express-o. You can see her blog here. I've been following her blog for years now and always enjoy her posts about fashion, movies and the simple little things in life. She has such a positive outlook on life and her blog reflex this. As soon as I saw the giveaway I knew it would be perfect for my daughter. The shop is called I Adorn U by Mary Beth Heishman and she's on Etsy too!

I had just talked with my daughter about how she liked all the geometric influence in fashion lately. So when I received an email from Diana telling me I won I was so excited and new instantly this would be going under the tree for Christmas. I finally got the photo of it so I could share it with you. You know how busy a college girl can be... She absolutely loves it and wears it almost every day! It fits her dainty wrist perfectly and the coral color is just perfect! The quality is wonderful and the packaging was so nice. I would definitely recommend this shop for anyone looking for cutting edge fashion. And believe me, my daughter is cutting edge. She's the girl that likes a band before anyone has ever heard of them and I don't know how she does it but she knows what's going to be in style well before any of the stores do. I keep telling her she needs to have a blog but she's so busy getting A's! Ok, yes, I'm a proud mom...but it's true; she's amazing!

Thank you so much Diana and Mary Beth for a wonderful surprise!

Another lucky thing that happened to me was a few years back now. I don't think I ever blogged about it so I'm doing it now. I was so happy and surprised when Simone from Beach Vintage bought one of my paintings and if that wasn't enough she showed it off in her blog here.

It might seem like a small thing to you but it meant a lot to me.