Category: Color

Glorious Messenger

Glorious Messenger is a Christmas painting inspired by Luke 2:8-10 I just finished.

In the passage, the shepherd’s encounter with an angel from the Lord is recorded and leaves the reader with a sense of awe and wonder. It made me curious. The only description we have is that the angel is described as suddenly appearing to them and because the glory of the Lord filled the area with light, they were terrified. What would that look like? What would it have felt like to witness this? This painting is not intended to answer these questions definitively but is my exploration of the wonder and unknown surrounding the story.

I love following The Chosen productions about the life of Christ. Check out their piece called The Shepherd here which really began it all. Spoiler alert, the video does not attempt to show us what the angel looked like but it does a wonderful job of capturing the fear and awe the encounter would have inspired.

Of course, there is no way of knowing what the Angel messengers looked like when they announced the birth of Jesus that night to the shepherds. I don’t claim to know either, but the story and my interpretation of a Glorious Messenger inspire this painting. This was done with layers of oil paint and a palette knife with a light-filled bold color palette. The strokes were intended to capture the energy and drama of the moment when the and, along with the angel’s, proclaims, “Don’t be afraid! I have good news for you, a message that will fill everyone with joy. 11 Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David’s city. 12 This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”

This is indeed good news! Praying your Christmas season is a celebration of great joy as well.”

For more about purchasing this piece or any art, see the Art For Sale Page.

Sea Turtle Progression

How painting a Sea Turtle showed me the value of mid-tones. This was a commission from a friend who absolutely loves Sea Turtles. I love them too but this was not a subject I would have chosen because of the detail involved but I dove into the challenge.

As the painting progressed I focused on the darkest and lightest values during the entire process. At the suggestion of my wonderful artist friends in Art Kula, I finally added the mid-tones at the end.

The video below shows the Sea Turtle progression from start to finish. You will notice how heavy the turtle looks until the final frame and how the background seems dull. This is an excellent example of why dark, light, and middle values are all necessary for a piece of art. As soon as the highlights of pink and lighter purple are added the entire painting pops and the background looks brighter. and the turtle actually looks like He is swimming free, which is the name of this painting.

Swimming Free, Acrylic on Canvas, 16″ x 20″, SOLD

I can’t say I am eager to do another sea turtle or any reptile with scales any time soon, but it is quite rewarding to see the finished turtle swimming free.

A Wave On the Sand

Waves of water in motion

Powerful, gentle, rolling, crashing, sweet, salty waves engaged my heart for hours on a beach in Roatan last month. The waves that day moved within the ocean’s space and the tide’s rhythm contently. They were safe to swim in. I considered how the constant motion of the ocean is contained when waves on the sand reach their natural limits. Watching the beautiful conflict of rolling water breaking with a crash, and melting back soothingly into the ocean was mesmerizing. The movement stilled me with a calm rhythm that healed.

Sand is the stuff of the beach

A soft landing pad for the waves, sand sticks to my wet skin when I walk in it making warm and soft cradles for my footprints. The soles of my feet do not know that the sand is actually hard rock, brittle shells, and sharp coral broken into small fragments called grains. Walking barefoot on coral and rock would normally bring pain. My husband found this out when he stepped on a sharp coral while we were in Belize and needed three stitches on the bottom of his foot. It is still healing and we were both surprised at how large a cut he had from the encounter. But, here, on this sandy beach, on this beautiful day, the grains of hard rock and sharp shells and coral, broken so small they are soft to step on, welcome bare-footed travelers without malice. The sand supported me.

I don’t like math much so I didn’t waste any time considering how many grains of sand there are on all the beaches of the world. If you like math, I found a wild estimate by asking Alexa.

Earth’s beaches contain roughly 5,000 billion billion-aka, 5 sextillion-grains of sand. We’ve now estimated that there are about 8,000,000,000 equal to 8×10^9 grains of sand per cubic meter of beach, and that the Earth contains roughly 700,000,000,000 equal to 7×10^11 cubic meters of beach.

Alexa

That does not even include the sand in deserts or on the bottom of the ocean. It’s mind-boggling, and some may find that stuff interesting, but I’m an artist and would much rather tell you how all that wonderful sand inspired this painting.

Oil, Beach, Wave, Sand, Ocean, Cheryl White, Artist, Blogger, Paintonmywalls,
A Wave On the Sand by Cheryl Harris White

A Wave On the Sand Painting

Considering the breaking waves, and the broken pieces of hard rock made into soft sand, I also observed how the blues in front of me were also separated into sky and water, deep and shallow. How the light reflected differently on the wet sand and the water along the horizon or next to a boat also seemed broken into dazzling pieces of color and diamonds. The sand in shadow is almost blue and purple, while the sand in the sun is dazzling white. Sand magnified under a microscope reveals even more colors and a stunning array of shapes and forms. I wanted to put the ” knowing” of that into the painting as well with broken brush strokes loaded with color.

The life-giving light and the broken beauty of the ocean inspired me to paint this piece. I loved it all and wanted to capture how a place that was broken to pieces actually made me feel so whole and connected to something bigger than myself.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour,

From Auguries of Innocence by William Blake

William Blake wrote what my heart spoke to me that day. The beauty, power, and delicacy of the waves and the sand drew me to consider the Creator of it all with curiosity and wonder. That is what I wanted to explore as I created this painting.

If you have been to the beach lately, I would love you to share what about your experience there that you connected with most. I am planning on painting more pieces within this theme and would love to hear from you. Check out more art that is available for sale here.

Beach Therapy for An Artist’s Soul

Beach Therapy

Beach therapy happens when you step out of the stress and pressure of your daily life and plunge yourself into days of rest at the shore of the ocean. Beach Therapy for an Artis’s soul happened by allowing myself to embrace the actual Creator of this beauty and explore more deeply what He is like. Looking at the expanse of the horizon and the power of the ocean, I encountered God in a posture of wonder and awe. The entire experience was a gift.

Ocean Inspiration

There is so much to love about the ocean. The rhythm of the waves and tide, breathing in the sweet clean air, the banquet of varied blues which is a feast for the eyes. As I soaked my body in the healing salt water, inflammation and pain melted away bringing refreshment to my aching joints and tired muscles. A one-hour massage on the beach also helped. In the midst of the needed rest, I found my mind was swirling with inspiration to paint the nature and beauty rolling out in front of me.

Three Birds on the Beach

Launching from this fresh inspiration, I am posting the first of several beach paintings I am planning to do now that I am back home. This one is done in acrylic on a large 36″ x 24″ canvas and titled Three Birds on the Beach. The spots of color randomly sprinkled through the piece remind me of confetti, the rays of the sun, and the sparkles of light on the water. It’s a celebration of the color, light, and life that soaked deep into my soul on each day of my beach therapy.

Three Birds on Beach, oil on canvas 30x40 inches 500.00
Three Birds on Beach, oil on canvas 30×40 inches 500.00

Therapy for my Soul

The photos, memories, and little bit of sand I brought home with me were beautiful and did nourish and replenish me. However, the true therapy happened as I considered God and how mighty and loving He must be to have made such as thing as the ocean. The time I spent soaking it all in showed me more about who God is and what He must be like. John Piper explains this way better than I can so if you are curious about how being at the ocean reflects the character of God check out this powerful video.

What must God be like?

Have you ever done a search about how many references to the ocean and waves there are in scripture? It’s amazing. What must God be like is a question we could spend a lifetime trying to answer. That’s an invitation friend!

When we look at oceans or mountains, whales or bears, fields or deserts, God wants us to see the beauty, power, and wisdom in his creation and think, “What must God be like!” He wants us to ride the waves he has made into worship, and climb the mountains he built to see more of him.

John Piper

I can’t answer the question of what God must be like for you here in one blog post or a single painting, but next time you are at the ocean, soak it in and relish in the wonder. Be curious and explore and if you can’t get to the ocean soon, just ask Him the question where you are. He is always listening and He will find a way to show you.

A Spring Tree for my friend

A friend messaged me on Facebook asking for a painting of one of my trees. It’s always a joy when someone I knew quite a long time ago reaches out and we can reconnect. I remembered her as an inspirational woman who loved God and her family well. She served and blessed others with her encouragement and humility and patient strength. I worked to create a piece that included teals and reds that she likes with a calm, serene feel.

Tree for Ginny progression! Enjoy!

As spring unfolded around me, the tree also came to life on my canvas. The background is acrylic laid on in layers. Most of the bark of the tree is dried acrylic paint that I affixed to the canvas with modge podge. As the branches thinned and reached for the edge of the canvas, I used mostly blue paint and applied most of the leaves with a palette knife. Here is how it all unfolded.

Contact me if you are interested in a similar piece or check out my Art For Sale page.

Mixed Media Collage Roosters for Spring!

Collage is one of my favorite mixed media techniques to use when making these fun spring roosters. Using fun spring colors and various materials make their strutting attitude pop and grab your interest.

Creating these fun fancy spring roosters does take a lot of time and layers of materials, but they are well worth it and one of my best sellers at art sales and shows. Some of the materials used are hymn book pages, colored scrapbook acid-free paper scraps, or any other interesting torn paper and dried acrylic paint that I peal up off of a palette. This is my favorite thing to use for the feathers because the torn dried paint lends itself perfectly to that shape and it is never just one color. The pieces are assembled and glued to the canvas using Matte Modge Podge.

Meet some of my mixed media rooster stars.

Top Left: Clarence Top Center: Daisy Top Right Farah

Bottom Left: Florence Bottom Center: Gwendolyn Bottom Right: Spurgeon (SOLD)

Some of these are still available for sale. Check out the art for sale page and contact me if interested.

Gladiolas

Gladiolas are one of my favorite flowers. They have always seemed very brave flowers to me and I like that their name has the word glad in it because that’s how I felt when I finished this painting. This one was done with oil paint and a palette knife with very quick strokes and thick paint. Since none of these are blooming where I live now, I thought this was a perfect time to post it. Enjoy!

Gladiolas, October 2021, Oil on Canvas with palette knife, 15″ x 30 ” $200.00

This one is available for sale should you need some gladiolas in your home before Spring. More paintings for sale can be found here.

Come and See A Beautiful Star!

A Beautiful Star is what lead the shepherds to come and see, Jesus, born in a manger. It had to be astounding, glorious, unlike anything they had ever seen. I don’t know if it looked anything like this, but printing this star felt like Christmas splashing onto a canvas. This painting won Best in Show at the Premiere Gallery Local Artists Show, Flower Mound, TX November 15, 2008. You are invited to come and see it at my upcoming Art Show.

Vintage Wares and Original Art Collective Saturday Market! December 4th,2021
Beautiful Star Acrylic on Canvas 24×48

You can come and see this one in person at our upcoming Vintage Wares and Original Art show December 4th, 2021. 1021 Bolivar in Denton between 8AM to 5PM. There will be handmade items, Christmas items, knitting, quilts, crochet, vintage accessories and furniture, original art, fresh roasted coffee and pecans.

Come and See!

So just like the shepherds followed the original beautiful star in Luke 2:8-20 to the treasure of Jesus, God in flesh, born in a manger to dwell amongst us, I am inviting you to follow this start as well. Come and see us at our next Vintage Wares and Original Art show! We can’t wait to meet you. 1021 Bolivar St. Denton TX 8AM to 5PM December 4th, 2021.

Mixed Media Butterflies

Mixed Media Butterflies

Mixed Media Butterflies bursting with delightful color and texture are all over my art studio right now. Mixed media in visual art means that more than one medium was used to create the piece of artwork. These butterflies are part collage, ink, india ink, and acrylic paint. As I painted them, I thought about the scales that cover their wings and wanted to reflect that in the art. These were created with layers of ink and diluted acrylic paint building on top of each other. I named them Become, Transform, and Metamorphos.

Mixed Media, Butterflies, Cheryl White, Artist, Blogger, Paintonmywalls,
Become 20″x20″ $200.00 Transform 20″x20″ $200.00 Metamorphose 20″x20″ $200.00

Butterfly Inspiration

I have had a very special connection with butterflies lately. They seem to find me and when they do, they minister to my soul. They remind me that change is possible and it can be good. When I see one fluttering nearby, I rejoice because it is doing exactly what it was made to do. They don’t really fly actually if you watch them…they flutter. I prefer calling them ” butterflutters ” for that reason. I think they like it which may be why they seem to be so attentive to me.

Butterfly Invitation

Whatever you call them, they are just lovely and they inspired these three mixed media butterfly paintings which will be gathered together soon at my upcoming Original Art and Vintage Wares Collective November 5th, 6th, 19th and 20th from 8AM to 4PM to be held at 1021 Bolivar in Denton. I hope you flutter by and see me! For a sneak peak of art for the sale, go to the art for sale page.

Multi Media Butterflies

P.S. Have you ever heard of multimedia art? In this type of art, the artist would combine visual art (these beautiful butterfly pieces) with non-visual elements, such as music or sound, performed dance or drama or literature. So I did. The video below showing the process of how they were created is multimedia. Enjoy!

Multi Media Butterflies, Become, Transform, Metamorphos!

Saturday market, Art Sale,Cheryl White, Artist, Blogger, Paintonmywalls,
Hope to see you soon !

Look At The Birds Of The Air

Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 

A CoWorker commissioned these two paintings of bluebirds from her home country because they reminded her of her mother who also loved them. I was thrilled to paint them. Another sweet bird painting is here.

Blue Birds for a friend.  Sold, Oil on Canvas, 12 x 12" each
Blue Birds for a friend. Sold, Oil on Canvas, 12 x 12″ each

Birds remind me of God as provider and sustainer. They seem to understand that fact so much better than we do, don’t they? Matthew 6:26-34 tells us not to worry because the same God who cares for them, cares for us. Look at them… Learn from them… They have something to tell us.

This message is a great reminder that God made, we are able to rest in the life He gave us without worry, without angst, and in complete rest and peace. This is something CoVid taught me was sorely missing in my life and now that we are as back to normal as possible, I’m not so sure I want to return to the same previous level of commitments and work.

The world we live in is full of fear and reasons to be anxious. Can we do this friends? Can we rest in the hands of the One who created the world and loves us? And can we do it the whole while singing as they do? I want to try. These paintings are my song to the One who knows my every need before I ask.