Happy 2013!!!

As the year draws to a close, I'd like to say thank you for all your words of encouragement, enthusiasm and support.  It's been a bang up busy year with many shows, events, a new Happy Camper, and another 100 painting sale. Phew! I'm taking the last days of the year off and then I'll be back at the easel--with lots of plans for new series and events.

Wishing you and yours a happy & productive 2013!

100 Painting wrap up

The 3rd annual 100 Paintings for $100 or Less project was a success. I managed to get to my goal and exceed it this year--I think the final count was 112 paintings.  The toughest challenge was my 12 paintings on 12/12/12 that I set for myself. I seem to like to work under pressure!


The sale continues through the end of the year so if you didn't get a chance to order before Christmas there is still time.


Here's a selection of paintings that are still available.  You can view the paintings on my website HERE.

big sky, oil on canvas, 5x5 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

big sky, oil on canvas, 5x5 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

birches, oil on canvas, 12x6 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

trio of songbirds, oil on canvas, 6x18 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

luna, oil on canvas, 6x6  inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

cupcake trio, oil on canvas, 5x15 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

owl in winter, oil on canvas, 6x6 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

pansies, oil on canvas, 6x6 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

purple field, oil on canvas, 5x15 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

woodland trio, oil on canvas, 5x15 inches.  ©2012 Kristina Wentzell

26 acts of Kindness

In honor of the 26 victims at the Sandy Hook School, my family is doing 26 acts of kindness.  Starting today, and through the holiday break I, along with my husband and children (ages 10 and 13) will look for small acts of kindness that we can do like writing letters to soldiers and far away friends and family, giving away some of our backyard chicken eggs, shoveling snow for neighbors (if it ever snows) and whatever else that comes along.

Act #2  I will be giving away one of my paintings from the 100 painting collection.  If you would like a painting, please leave a comment with some kindness act ideas of your own.  I will choose a winner at random at the end of the day on Friday, December 21, 2012.

Read more about 26 acts of Kindness.

Follow this on my facebook page.

Twelve Paintings for 12/12/12

Yesterday in honor of the date 12/12/12, in a fit of craziness inspiration, I decided to attempt 12 (yes TWELVE) paintings in one day.  These twelve paintings would wrap up my 100 Paintings for $100 or Less project and it seemed fitting.

your truly in my studio at the beginning of the day

I started at about 8am and was off to a good start, getting all the paintings sketched out on canvas and the underpaintings done by mid morning.  Then I hit a couple of roadblocks--I had to pick up a sick kiddo from school, chase down a runaway chicken, and a couple of other unexpected emergencies.  By about 7pm I was about done in--but I soldiered on and finished by about 9pm. (both kiddo and chicken are reported as fine today)

The end result is a trio of songbirds, a wintery owl, some cupcake confections (very fun!), four forest scenes with lovely violet shadows and my favorite--a landscape with a field of purple lupines.

There is still time to get a painting for Christmas. Go HERE to see what is available.

If you want to see the paintings in person, they are on display in the Happy Camper Mobile Art Gallery in Keene, NH though December 25th.

sketching out compostions

songbirds

underpaintings

my kitty helpers

How to make origami holiday lights

Continuing in my how-to theme of magical holiday decorations: I present origami holiday lights. 

These are so lovely on a tree (or really anywhere for that matter--I had them strung in my studio year round for a long time). They are a huge family favorite at our house.  We even gave them as gifts one year and made them assembly line style with kids and grown ups folding away.  Once you get the hang of the folding process, it will go quickly. We got it down to folding a box in about a minute.

Origami Holiday Lights

You will need:

origami paper- the pastels prints look the best. Here is a good source.

string of mini-white lights - we have a string of 100-lights on our tree. You might want to do less if you are making them as gifts

You will need the pattern for the origami water balloon or water bomb.  This page has very clear directions.


Fold your papers in the water balloon shape--blow them up per instructions and insert each balloon over a white light (there is a small hole that will fit over the light).  You might find it easier to put the white lights on the tree and then put the balloons over the lights. If they get squashed, just blow them up again and smooth out the creases. We've had ours for 6 years or more and they're still going.

What holiday decorations are a favorite at your house?

100 Paintings- a year of Mt Monadnock

I painted this little series- 4 seasons of Mt Monadnock for my 100 painting sale. It sold right away, but I can paint another set if you'd like one. This mountain is beloved by many in our area--it would make a great gift!  Contact me here.

How to make a magical, twiggy ceiling for the holidays

Many of you have asked me over on my facebook page how I created this twiggy ceiling for the holidays--so here goes.  It is not hard, but it would be helpful to have two people, at least on the cross braces. I did the rest by myself.

If you make one, please send me a photo and I will post them! You can email it or post on my facebook page.