I'm still here!!!

 



Long time no see, huh?

 

I have been out of pocket...visiting my sister in the Pacific Northwest with my other sister and taking care of my elderly mother. Lots going on with family, so I've been a little preoccupied. It's been hard finding time to get back into the studio, and boy, do I miss it!! Feel like it's where I'm supposed to be, yet finding time to get in there has been a challenge.

 

I played around in there a little today. I found a picture of the Sea of Galilee. This is not a photo I took when we went to Israeal a few years ago, but a photo I found on the internet. Sure wish I knew the name of the church in the picture. Do you happen to know?

 

I'm playing with values of light and dark here, blocking in some color.

 

 

A little more detail here with the church. Still playing with the trees and their colors in light and dark. Love the way the water looks for real. So hard to capture all the beautiful colors and nuances with a photo.

Hoping to finish up the painting tomorrow night after my younger son's basketball tournament. When you work with a palette knife, time is of the essence!

On Fire!

 

Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Years have all had me pretty busy, as I'm sure they have had you. Now that all the holidays are over, I'm hoping to get some regular time back in the studio.

 

Here is a progression of a painting I worked on some last week.

 

Started out with some great colors.......

 

 

 

 

Starting to work their way into a pattern.....but what?

 

 

 

Maybe a psychedelic "S" for Superman?

 

 

Decided to turn those colors into flames!

Looking forward to a new year of creativity!

Letting go....

I'm letting go of this painting...meaning I'm not going to finish it. And as much as it bugs the heck out of me to let it go, I'm doing just that.

Have you ever had to let go? (Don't worry.....I'm going to put this all in perspective.....)

I started this painting Sunday afternoon when I found a small sliver of time to paint. Since I began painting again about 5 months ago, I have been searching for time to fit this creativity that I love dearly into my life, which is no easy task since a I work full time and have a family.

Yesterday I knew I couldn't paint because I had a basketball game to attend after work. I was looking forward to painting today when I got off work, but it's a very busy time of year where I work and I didn't even walk out of there until 6:00 pm tonight. By then it was dark and there was no good light for painting.

And now this painting has been sitting here a couple of days and by this time, the paint is beginning to dry a little and can't be blended easily and worked with.

All this was very frustrating to me....and then I had a little revelation of perspective.

So I had to let go of a painting.

It could be much worse.

I had to let go of a parent to death.

I am letting go of a parent to Alzheimer's.

I let go of my oldest son as he left home and went to college this year.

I have let go of dreams I had that will likely never become reality.

I have let go of my life as I have known it many times to move to totally different places where I know no one.

I am letting go of some things I wish not to discuss on this blog.

I ask you again......Have you ever had to let go?

I don't have answers for what to do when you have to let go of something. Many times it's hard to understand why it's happening to you....like when you lose a parent to death or disease. However, sometimes you let go, like when you leave the familiar to move to the unknown, and you find you make the best of friends that you would never have known otherwise.

I guess it's just a natural part of life. And in light of recent events in our country and this wonderful time of year, I think a little perspective is in order.

So if you find yourself like me at this glorious time of year of the birth of our Savior getting frustrated with things, finding less and less time, having more and more demands and you have to let go of some things, remember to keep it in perspective.

An Evening in Venice

 

 

Evening in Venice

 

16 x 20

oil applied with knife on canvas board

 

Please contact me at bethlendermanfineart@gmail.com if you are interested in this original.

 

 

 

Taking you on a journey of photos as this painting progresses......

 

 

You can see in the above painting but more vibrant below that I'm bringing in some really cool colors in the background buildings.

 

 

Adding some color and interest to the building in the foreground.

 

 



 

Starting to bring in some light from a light source that will be added eventually.

 

 

Added the light and the reflection of light in the water. Looks really cool!

 

Now back to the top for the finished painting. Hope you enjoyed the progress!!

A progression towards Christmas!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. I enjoyed the time with mine. I have so much to be thankful for!

 

I created this painting a while back but didn't want to post it until closer to Christmas. It's another progression painting from random strokes of color. Hope you enjoy!

 

I apologize in advance for the lighting on these photographs. They were taken at night with my iPhone, so not the best of quality. If you are interested in the painting, inbox me at bethlendermanfineart@gmail.com and I can send you a better photo. I will also make it available as a print on Fine Art America.

 

 

 

Started with some color. Hmmmm......looks like a fish maybe??

 

 

 

 

What could this possibly turn into?

 

 

 

 

 

It became a horn...which reminds me of Christmas

 and all the beautiful music that is part of this wonderful time of the year.

Abstract

ABSTRACT

12 x 16

oil on canvas board

 

 

I usually enjoy painting with bright, vibrant colors but I wanted to experiment with some more muted tones and I thought back to my childhood when I took oil painting lessons in the 5th grade at the Sherwood, Arkansas Rec Center next to the public library where my mom worked part-time. I knew nothing about painting with a knife back then, so I had my trusty brushes and started off with tried and true colors, some of which I used in this painting: yellow ochre, prussian blue, white, and alizarin crimson.

 

As I began applying the paint, I liked the idea of a calming horizontal. When I placed these colors on the canvas, I turned it a couple of times but I was very pleased with the painting as an abstract.

 

Hope you enjoy it too!

Another Abstract Progression

Began painting with some interesting color combinations......and then sort of chopped up and blended the paint. Turned the painting every angle to see if I could see anything at all in the colors, which I thought were pretty cool and actually considered leaving abstract.

I had recently seen a photograph of a cemetery at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky where Jim went to seminary.

 

 



So I decided to turn my abstract colors into a representation of the above photograph. Voila!

 



 

8 x 10 oil with palette knife on canvas board.

 

 Please email me at bethlendermanfineart@gmail.com if interested in purchasing this painting.