New House Portrait

I'm still doing house portraits and donating a percent of my earnings to the Exeter Historical Society.  This one is the most recent.  It's a beautiful property in Exeter, lovingly and carefully built over the course of thirty years by the property owner's and their children, who are now grown with families of their own.

These two photos show the start and finish of the project.  Prior to beginning the drawing and painting phase there is a whole lot of photography and consultation with the client.  The biggest decision to be made beforehand is composition and I want the client to be fully involved in that.

In this case, the client wanted to show more of the property: a barn with horses, an expansive meadow which goes well beyond what is shown in the painting, and a large pond.  All of these features have been very important to the family throughout the years.

In order to create a composition that had all of
the above without shrinking the house, we did a little cutting and pasting.  I removed a chunk of the barn that was in the shadows and not an important feature of the barn, allowing the barn to move closer to the house.

We also wanted to capture the tallness of the mature trees that surround the home.  A clear blue sky with passing clouds is something else that was mentioned during consultation.

Go to my Facebook page to see more photos showing the progress of this painting.   http://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/pages/Birchtree-Studio/212049277860

Now is a good time to consider a house portrait as a holiday gift.  Depending on a number of variables, a painting like this can take anywhere from two weeks to two or three months.  Mainly, people's schedules have the largest influence on the turn-around time.  Start your project by contacting me to discuss your ideas or just ask questions....no obligation.

Bidding is Open!

Bidding has opened on the adirondack chairs for New Outlook Teen Center's summer fund raiser!  So far, one bid has been made on my chair.  Don't delay.....go to www.biddingforgood.com/newoutlookchairs
to place your bid!  There are 14 unique chairs to choose from in a wide range of styles and talents.

My Saw Whet Owl chair is located at Exeter Lumber on Portsmouth Ave. in Exeter, near the Stop & Shop plaza.  You can stop by any time of the day or week to check it out.

To learn more about the New Outlook Teen Center click on the link to the right.  Good luck New Outlook Teen Center!  I hope this is a huge success for you! 

Saw Whet Owl Chair

 My adirondack chair is finished!  What a task this was, too.  Approximately 15 hours of work brought me to this end.  And I still need to apply a couple coats of poly.

Composition was the toughest part.  Having a separation between slats made it tough to decide where to put the owl.  I didn't want him cut up.  So I was limited to the widest slat, which is the middle.  Therefore, I decided to put him to one side within that slat, so that he's not dead-center.  I made the same decision for the top of Mt. Washington in the background.

I can see this gracing someone's cabin porch or a beautiful woodland garden.

Once I know the location where this will be displayed, I'll post the information here and on Facebook & Twitter.  You do not need to be a local to place a bid.  Bids will be done one line through the New Outlook Teen Center's website (www.newoutlookteencenter.org).

New Outlook Teen Center fundraiser...Adirondack Chairs!

I am one of 14 artists painting an adirondack chair to be part of a fundraiser.  This isn't just painiting a chair in a pretty color.  It's a canvas for the artist to create a work of art.  The chairs will be displayed in various downtown locations for the public to bid on.  The coolest part of this is that a bunch of teen girls built the chairs under the direction of "Girls at Work", a NH non-profit dedicated to empowering girls through woodworking and carpentry.  My daughter was one of those teens.
I have in mind an owl and mountain/foresty scene.  After my husband painted two coats of Kilz, I painted two coats of gesso.  I'm now ready to begin the real painting....always an exciting yet frightening stage!
Stay tuned for an update at the end of the weekend!

New Website is Underway!

Once again, my website is going through some changes.  I'm very excited!  It will be more efficient and more sophisticated and will have a few new FUN features.  If you want to be notified when it's complete, sign up to the left for notification via email.  I'll also send an announcement via Constant Contact in May.


Can't wait to share!!

February Show Round Up

These six images are the paintings that were sold during my show at the Exeter Hospital in February.  The group of images includes the two that were stolen.  I consider them "sold" because someone who liked them took them; my loss was covered by the hospital.  Therefore, I was compensated.  Not the way one likes to be compensated, but from a business perspective, it fits.

There is still time to make a purchase that will raise 20% for the Beyond the Rainbow fund.  I am offereing to continue donating through the month of March, even though I have no obligation to do so.  Go to my Facebook page and check out the remaining images.  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Birchtree-Studio/212049277860

January Journal

I'm doing this backwards.  January should have been posted first.  Oh well!  Here's my January journal painting.  I'm doing one of these each month as part of my watercolor studies.  I'll be creating March this week so look for that one to be posted pretty soon, too.  Enjoy!