No, I'm still alive...really.

Yikes, I blame the non posting on the heat. It's down to the manageable 70's here in the desert. Still a little too warm for Thanksgiving but much better than the 100's.

I was productive this summer. Great excuse to stay in the house and paint or GO TO HAWAII. Yep, I spent the month of August on Oahu. While I was there on family business I did have time to get out and paint. I also took a lot of pictures.

Ua Nani O Nuuanu

The picture above was done of Nuuanu Stream near the Queen Liluokalani Gardens.  Ted and I use to live near here when we were first married. 

Kailua Canoe Club 4ft by 4 ft
Private Collection

My friend Rhonda lives close to the beach in Kailua. Well, everybody lives close to the beach. She commissioned this picture because of the sand castle in the background.

Thomas Square

The fountain at Thomas Square was my go to place near the hospital. Not too many crazies.

Stairway to Heaven, Sunset 20 by 24

Sunset gives the best light. What a great way to see Kaneohe and Kualoa. The tail of the lizard.

Souzas

Didn't realize until after it was done that this picture is looking up at the Stairway to Heaven. In fact the highest point on the back ridgeline is where the Stairway picture was photographed from. And, they're both photographed about the same time of day. 

I'm working on a post of other new non-Hawaii pieces and will have that up in a few days.

Baby it's hot outside

Ahhh May in the desert. It's been in the 100's already. This ends our forays into the wild. Not the heat so much as the snakes. I have a healthy respect. OK, it's really a fear.

Last Sunday Ted and I discovered Spring Mountain Park. The old Howard Hughes, Vera Krupp (think big diamond) estate made into a state park. Lake Harriet, the subject of the picture below was the irrigation source for the ranch.

Sunday Afternoon with the kids

While Ted explored, I painted. Have no idea what the name is of the outcropping but it was beautiful. I hauled Brunhilda (my easel) up there and found a bench. Yippee. I was fortified by peanut butter m and m's and water. Was just a landscape study until the momma duck brought her babies out. There must have been 7 or 8 of them. I sat there long enough she wasn't afraid and brought them quite close. They had to be in the picture. Notice dad protecting the flank. There was one straggler (all families have one) that had to be rounded up repeatedly.

"Pick me"  5 by 26 inches oil on board

 I finished my mom's commission. She wanted chickens. My friend Joe has chickens. Exotics (I picture tassels and a pole) to be exact. I tried something new and made prints and cards from this painting. They came out beautiful.  Del, the print guru, at Desert Art Supply walked me through the process.
The prints are 5 by 26 inches with an 1 1/2 inch border. Printed on Rives archival paper. The colors are brilliant.  I have 4 copies and am selling them at $40.00 a piece plus shipping.

"He's the Man"
The cards are details of the original. Broken into 3 different pictures. They measure 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches, blank on the inside, with envelopes. They are $2.00 per card or $5.00 for three. 

 They're on glossy  stock and quite nice. A great way to get your chicken fix.

I'm including two of my cactus pictures. The Engleman's we inherited put on quite a show. Had to take advantage of them.

Cactus oil on board 9 by 12 

I didn't get to see any beaver tail flowers this year. It's been pretty weird weather here. I had never seen the yellow blossoms cover a cactus before and it was quite beautiful. I even liked the dying blossoms. There was so much variation in the colors.

"What makes the desert beautiful"  oil on board 9 by 12  $200.00

I really love this "What makes the desert beautiful". It was a struggle to paint. Thanks to the encouragement and comments of my Tuesday group and some guidance from Gabby it turned out to be one of my favorites. Maybe I'll have to make a set of cactus cards?

I really liked how the colors turned out on this.

Thanks to all the comments, suggestions, pictures and support. As usual you can reach me through this blog or email me at annanorrisfineart@gmail.com.  I'm on Pinterest. Mostly paintings but some other stuff. 

By the way,  do any of you know a good web site designer?

I've had a request to show available art.

Las Vegas Wetlands, oil on reclaimed cupboard door, maple finish. $300.00
approx 13 x 22"

Kooloa Kids, oil on board, gold frame $100.00

Kooloa Kids, oil on gallery canvas, 9 x 9" $75.00

Brunch, oil on board 8x 10", with  gold frame approx "12 by 14" $100.00 

Laenani Beach, oil on board, black frame $100.00

Kailua Beach, unframed $75.00 9 x 12"

Sinavawa Turn Out, Zion, oil on board, whitewashed frame $100.00

The tide pool, oil on reclaimed door, 14 1/2 x 15" $100.00

All paintings come ready to hang. Shipping is included.  

Thanks for looking and as always: you can reach me through this blog, at annanorrisfineart@gmail.com or call me at 808-391-5740.  A

Gone with the wind

I promised to post the finished product of Poppa and Damion and I finally finished it. Thank you for your clear eyes Gabby.

Poppa and Damion, finished

Laenani Beach Park

On the subject of wind.  I am not use to the dust storms here in Las Vegas. We had a doozy of one on Tuesday. Unfortunately I had three pictures sitting on the back seat of my car and had left the back windows open about an inch to help with the drying process. One was Poppa and the other two were from my Hawaii trip.

There are two things that don't go together, or rather go together too well. Sand and wet paint.

Kailua Beach

If you look at the Kailua Beach painting you can see the coating of sand on the picture. Thought it was done but I have a little cleaning to do. Bummer that.

The back seat of the car is coated in dust and there is sand pooled in the inside door handles. Yikes.  Thank goodness Poppa is done in browns.

I will be trying my luck at Etsy again. A very wise Etsy user told me to post things on Friday evenings and she had a formula that worked for her. I will try it. The following address will get you to my stuff, I think.  www.etsy.com/shop/AnnaNorrisFineArt

Don't go there until tonight or tomorrow. I have to figure out which ones I'll put up.

Thanks for looking. Anna

The subject was "Chickens"

What is it about chickens? I don't know but thank goodness people seem to like them.

My chickens of choice are my brother in laws. I believe Clarence is a frustrated farmer. He has some ducks too but they aren't near as inspiring. Back to the chickens.

They are beautiful.  If a chicken could be called that.

They are fat, happy, healthy and queens of all they see. They lay beautiful eggs of light blue and tan.  They are never destined to provide a Sunday dinner but expire from old age and/or being over weight (I think).  I love the way they parade around their domain. I don't know what breeds they are.  I don't think the current ones have names, since Haley's not home to name them. But they are my muses.

Art wise they are made to be done with palette knife. OK, so maybe they're not technically blue, but they could be. I love palette knife painting. Almost everything I'm doing now is with the knife. It lets you do things with the paint that you can't do with a brush.


In Morning Promenade they were on the hunt after just being released from captivity. This is the work in progress. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the finished product

  

Morning Promenade

Poppa and Damion take 1

 I am working on  Poppa and Damion at the moment. It's moments like these that make childhood memories.  Dmaion had just got up and it was a little chilly in Kaneohe. They were watching some cartoon, snuggled under the blanket. Nothing flashy, just very sweet.  Damion's my next shot at getting another artist in the family.

 This  is after a little brush work. The colors are much brighter in the painting. More like the intensity in the 1st pic. I'm taking pics with my phone and it doesn't like the lighting. But it does show the paint texture with the knife. 

Poppa and Damion take 2

I just have to let it dry and set up a bit before I tackle the final touches. Work on Damion's face. Will post after it's done.

I promise to try and keep up with this blog a bit better.  As always if you need to get a hold of me you can reach me at annanorrisfineart@gmail.com, or message me through the blog.  If that doesn't work message each other. Eventually someone will get to me.  

Thanks for looking Anna

Artists in the Light, Saturday January 28th. Come on down

    

     Anna’s           

Excellent art adventure

Ted and Anna Norris pulled up Hawaiian roots and moved to the desert in early 2010. Surprised by the beauty and diversity of the outlying Las Vegas area they decided to experience as much of it as they could and began exploring. Hiking and driving in the desert and mountains of Nevada and Utah inspires them to capture new colors, shapes and experiences in their respective disciplines. Ted through new clays and glazes, Anna through new color palettes and subjects.

                                                                                        

Artists in the Light

Join us for Wine, Cheese, Cake and viewing of many artists work  portraits, landscapes, fantasy, pets, wildlife and gourd art!

Open House

Saturday

January 28th

10 am to 4 pm

Sun Cat Showroom

5965 Harrison Dr. Ste. 3 Las Vegas, NV 89120 Cross streets Patrick and Eastern

Anna has always been interested in art and the artistic process. Starting with an addiction to pen and ink drawing she expanded into paints during college. Though initially hooked on acrylics she has recently added water miscible oils and this has opened her work up to new directions. Another change in direction is the shift in color from the Hawaiian greens and blues to the red rocks, purple mountains and multiple colors of the desert plants.

Happy New Year

As evidenced by the date in which I am posting this. I'm late. Was the entire holiday season.  No cards sent, no cookies delivered. Thank goodness the paint was flowing.

Las Vegas Wetlands
Ted and I went out there on his birthday. Lots more water.

I've decided to do more water this year. That and clouds will get you every time. I could spend hours working on either subject and end up being more confused then when I began. I had to forcibly put the brushes down on this painting and walk away. Didn't help that I was painting in front of people at the market. Nothing puts more indecision in your head than people looking over your shoulder.

I love adding the ripples and reflections on the water's surface.
The wash was full of birds that day. They were off playing in the big ponds.

  My other new year's resolution is to stay current on my blog and get more exposure for my paintings. Going try and get into a few different galleries and maybe try my hand at etsy again. I'm also going to add links to artists and galleries I find interesting. We can all use a little help.

"Hold my hand tight  and don't be afraid"
Commissioned piece

 I've gotten into commission work. I loved these kids. This is a composite of a few different pics. The original one had them dressed in sweatshirts and shorts.  Also did some homes. I found it real challenging. When you have someone with such an emotional connection to the subject it adds extra importance to my interpretation. 

My kids playing at Kualoa Beach.
Makes me miss those times.

 This series of kids is ideas I've had for years.  Kind of fun to see them developing after all these years. The paintings and the kids. 

Kate and Con
Started as a study but I kind of like the impressionistic style.

Study for Katie and Haley Sharing Secrets
Would love to know what those 2 were talking about.
I've always thought this  represented the best of being
cousins.

Stay tuned. Should be an eventful year. I hope to hear from you. I would love to have comments. You  can reach me through this blog, my email: annanorrifineart@gmail.com, facebook or come down to the City of the World Gallery at 1229 S. Casino Center Blvd in beautiful Las Vegas. I'm there First Fridays, The last Friday of the month 6-9 and each and every Thursday afternoon between 1 and 4.