The fox and the snow

Yesterday I woke up to snow. Lots of it, which was perfectly fine with me. I love hanging out in my PJs with nowhere to go. Until I realized I needed to go grocery shopping. Until the toilet clogged and no plunger was to be found. It was time to drive to get supplies. Anyone who has lived with snow is probably well versed in the snow dance. First you bundle up, sweep(literally) the snow off of the car, scrape the windows, warm up the car, all without trying to freeze yourself. So I did that. Then there was the driving part. That was an adventure. No one can see the lines on the road under the snow, so it is kind of a free for all. I also know now, that when the snow is slushy from all the traffic, to drive about 20 miles an hour and that it is ok if everyone passes me. I take comfort in knowing that if I wreck it will not be my doing. I like the cold. The snow is just so new to me. I have lived in Florida for twenty something years and I have always known that I preferred the cold weather to the sticky, sweaty, humid Florida. Although, I do miss all my friends there.

I also did some painting yesterday. This is my second attempt at painting a fox. I didn’t get very far on the first one. It was a very rigid looking fox and looked very forced. It will be gessoed for a future painting. This is the one that I finished



“Fox in the evening”

11inx14in

acrylic on canvas

for sale.

To see what other things I am working on visit my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HollyBroxson.Art

So, I just have to say sometimes life is uncanny or strange or any of those kinds of descriptions. Is there such a thing as fate? Do we really see signs of what is or what is to come? I have no idea. I only know that I got this fortune in my fortune cookie last night. And for a moment I was excited by the idea that it could be true:


I know it is just a factory printed fortune in a factory made cookie, but the odds that I, a self-representing artist, could get that fortune is pretty cool. And a little inspiring.

I also had the pleasure of playing with some pics on my asus memo pad, grand machine that it is.This is one of the ones that I did. A little disturbing, but fun nevertheless.



It is a pic of my face, distorted by a fisheye filter- then painted up like a scary carnival clown. Fun, isn’t it?

Thanksgiving and the Dragon.

I spent most of Thanksgiving resting. Since I am in Colorado and so far from my family, we just had a peaceful day at home. I did work on this, however.

I have sketched dragons in the past, but i have never actually painted one. I think there will be many dragons in my future.

This is a photo of the painting and it is for sale. As soon as I get a good scan, I will have prints available in my Etsy shop. 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/FlutterblissArt

https://www.facebook.com/HollyBroxson.Art

email: flutterbliss@gmail.com

How to get dried paint out of your paintbrushes tutorial

Today I would like to share how I clean and how I have saved some of my brushes. I have seen artists destroy paint bushes just by letting paint dry in the bristles. Some brushes are very inexpensive, but the cost can add up after a while. Some brushes are very expensive and it can be a tragedy when they get ruined by dry paint. What I usually do is clean them right after I use them, but on occasion they need to be deep cleaned or I have let the paint dry on them (shame on me!).

This is what you will need to start- murphy oil soap(available at most dollar, grocery, and big box stores), a clean jar, some cling wrap, and dirty paint brush

1. pour a small amount of the murphy oil soap into the jar.

2. Work the soap into the bristles gently against the bottom of the jar.

Optional: sometimes if there is a lot of dried paint, the brush will need to be wrapped in cling wrap so it can soak and the soap won’t dry. It can be left to soak for 30 minutes up to overnight. a ziplock back can be used if wrap isn’t available

3. Work the brush gently in the palm of your hand. You can use your fingers and nails to loosen stubborn paint.

4. Rinse the brush really well with cool water. If the brush still has dried paint in it. repeat process.

After I get the paint out. I like to follow up with a little ivory bar soap. It is so cheap and does a great job cleaning, conditioning, and shaping brushes.

This method can be used with oil paint and acrylic paint. I have even gotten dried paint out of my clothes with the murphy oil soap. I hope this helps!

Hares are finished!

It was cold and snowing this morning and I had to run errands. I did finish the hares, though. It is still untitled, but I wanna show it anyway. This painting is for sale and I will have prints up on etsy just as soon as I get this baby scanned. 

This photo is a bit truer to the original than the pics in my previous posts. I just found my camera from the move. 

In the new place

I am currently trying out new subject matter in my paintings. I am trying some new work with hamsas, lotus's and trees. Right now, I am working on this:

It is very different for me to paint animals. I really enjoy it and I am not sure why I didn't do it sooner. I have a lot of ideas for near future paintings and I plan on posting them all-well only if they turn out nice. ;)

Here is a peek at my 'studio' which is really just a portable, fold out table. 

For other info and updates about my work: 

https://www.facebook.com/HollyBroxson.Art

to shop(it is new and still be added to):

https://www.etsy.com/shop/FlutterblissArt

the inconsistent artist

I have, for the most part, been an inconsistent blogger. I will try harder.
    I have some new projects going on, right now. First of all I have moved to Colorado. That is a huge move considering I have lived in Florida most of my life. I love it. It is cool(literally) and the culture is different.
    I am also working on a website where I can display my art. There will be links to my etsy store and zazzle store. It has been a slow process, as there has been a bit of a learning curve as I work on everything. I am realizing that I cannot do it all at once. I work on a little and then move on to something else and then go back to the first thing I was working on. I am an artist. All the business/networking bits are new and I think that I should build momentum as I learn all the little things. I guess a regular day job is like that, too. The difference is I have no clock to be on and no one to really train me.  Anyway, I have some fun stuff that I have been working on. I have taken a little break from the watercolor work and have been doing acrylic paintings on canvas.  I find that the planning process is different. If you make a mistake with acrylic, you just paint over it. Brilliant! I will be doing some tutorials in the future along with some time lapse footage of my process.