Tuesday, April 15, 2014

New Website!!!

I have a new website! Feel free to check it out but make sure to come back here to see the cutest little chipmunk that's been perched on a pumpkin in our back yard!

www.shellydowell.com

Are you back?  It really feels great to have the site done and live! I felt that I really needed to put together a professional website since interest in my art has been picking up. I also felt it was a must if I'm going to seriously pursue licensing/publishing my images. Something I'm still looking into but if I see something that interests me I suppose it's better to be prepared.  OK on to that chipmunk.


 
 































How cute is that?! I was taking the photo from inside the screen door so I was a far away hence the fuzziness but I still think it's so cute! It may be my next painting. Speaking of paintings....Here is the little wren in my "D" that I told you I was going to do.






































If you can't tell these plants are completely made up. That's one of the things I love about painting, you can make up whatever you want! Not that mother nature doesn't do a perfect job on her own, but there are no rules in this realm so why not? On to my next painting where I'm breaking all the rules! haha. (Let's hope sarcasm is detectable.)  ;-)
































































I'm painting a little Holstein calf with a chickadee perched on it's head holding a clover in it's beak. Have you ever seen a chickadee with a clover perch on a cow? I bet not...see totally breakin the rules! It's getting crazy around here. I'm really looking forward to working on this one through the week. But first things first, I'll be on pinterest for I'm sure what will be wayyyy too long today. I need to find a dessert to take to our family gathering Easter Sunday. There are so many amazing ideas it will be hard to choose what to do! Will you be celebrating Easter? I'm really looking forward to it this year as I will finally get to see my cousins two little ones for the first time! My family is so spread out so it's always a treat when we get to see one another!

Hope you have a wonderful day, it's very chilly here today. The weatherman said something about flurries. I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear him!


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Spring Smells like Heaven

The Hyacinth are in bloom as well as the peach tree!
 

























They are so beautiful and I love that our yard is full of girly pink flowers! Hopefully the pink
dogwood will not be far behind.






































I also have to mention that the smell of peach tree blossoms are absolutely amazing! One of my favorite things and one of the things I miss the most about living in Arizona (have I mentioned I used to live in Arizona?) was the smell of the orange blossoms. They completely permeated the air. Of course my one little peach tree does not permeate the air, but it still smells incredible. Maybe I should plant a peach orchard for full effect!! :-)

I'm still working on new paintings and will share as soon as I'm done. I'm also building a new website. I'll update you as soon as it goes live. It will be my "professional" artist site. I'm so excited to get it up and running!!!

Have a wonderful day and I'll talk to you soon!

-Shelly 

Friday, April 4, 2014

Rainy Morning

We're going on our second day of continuous rain. We're talking buckets of rain, loads of thunder, and even a mudslides! Thankfully they are very minor mudslides but for this area that's not usual. One even covered part of the interstate.

What's a better thing to do on a rainy morning than paint a watercolor? As long you don't do it outside it's just about perfect. ;-) The rain on the roof lends itself to a little mindless relaxation and my little bouquet of pink ranunculus remind me that all this rain will bring green grass as beautiful blooms.



























I'm thinking of doing a series of monograms. If I don't get bored with it, as I do tend to want to move on to something different relatively quickly. A little wren will be perched inside the "D". We have a wren who nests on our front porch in a window box, so this will be for her.


 
 
 
This is my water cup. I always used an old jelly jar or something I could just throw away when I was done but one day I just thought, why am I looking at this ugly jelly jar with a half peeled label. It was time for something pretty. This is a little teacup that I never used. Mostly because I drink more tea than what this holds. It also was too pretty to leave in a cupboard where it was never seen.
 
 
They may be on their last legs, but I've had them for an entire week. Not bad for grocery store flowers. I once bought a bouquet of pink carnations and they lasted 3 weeks! I love ranunculus, they look like a rose made of poppy petals.  
 
Thanks for sharing my morning, now it's off to the shower and time to get ready for my real job. Hope you all have a wonderful day!
 
Shelly 
 



Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A new calander day and turning the page never felt so good.



























Is it finally over? Winter that is. I don't recall a winter this long ever. I know everyone is saying this but I'm so very happy to see flowers and little patches of green grass.

It appears my orchid is sick of it too and ready to bloom. I usually keep the café curtains in the kitchen closed during the winter and honestly it a terrible thing to do because I forget to water the plants that live there during the cold months. Well, this morning when I pulled the curtain back instead of a half dead plant (like the jade next to Miss Orchid) there were little buds stretching out ready to say hello spring! It feels good to see this, it also feels amazing to turn my calendar to April 1st!

Hope you don't get pranked today. Hope mother nature does not prank us, it appears to be the start of a beautiful day!