Little Wren - AUGUST FEATURED PAINTING!

NEW!  AUGUST FEATURED PAINTING
SOLD

Little Wren,  6x6" Acrylic on canvas
©2011, Helen Read 

 SOLD

Once again this month, I'm offering a small painting at a deep discount as a featured painting!  Last month, it sold within 2 days and was shipped across the country to live on the west coast!  This is an exciting way to put a small original painting in a special place in your home.  These small paintings look great framed on a small wall or sitting on a book shelf!   There are many possibilities!  Of course, they make a wonderful and unique gift as well! 

Only for the month of August, this small painting is being offered at its special featured cost.  It is just off the easel and ready to be shipped to you!    

House Wren

House Wren, 6x6" drawing (colored pencil on gray paper) 

©2011, Helen Read 

This was started a while back - and got put aside.  Today, while cleaning my studio, I got side tracked and finished it up... or, almost finished it up.  I'm not sure if its entirely finished... I may work w/blending the background a bit.  

I don't do bird drawings too much - but this one was fun to work with.  The paper is a gray drawing paper and has some tooth to it, so the application isn't as smooth as I might prefer.   But, overall, I think it has a nice feel to it.

Online Summer Studio Sale! Now through Thurs., July 28th

4 paintings have just gone up for auction!   (I'm cleaning out my studio - and these just came out of the vault, so to speak!)  The starting bids are very low!   I'm hoping to make room for more paintings.
 

Now is a great time to acquire an original oil painting for your kitchen, dining room or any other room.   All are ready to frame.... or put on a small free standing easel. 

Storm clouds on the horizon

After the Storm,  11x14"  Oil on canvas

©2009, Helen Read

Though we have not had a huge storm here today, this is what the sky looks like right now in the east! 
Very large billowy clouds - its a little unusual for our area, but very beautiful. 

This painting has a story!   It actually was a massive storm with tornadoes that I drove through in northern Indiana a couple of years ago.  Only after we had driven through the thick of it, could we look back and see the beauty of the sun on the clouds.  Something of a metaphor for life, I think! 

Also, as we were still driving through it, in near darkness, a bright golden light from the western horizon started seeping underneath the clouds and the storm moved eastward.  After a short time, everything was absolutely bathed in golden light!  It was breath taking. 
And, I was reminded of the biblical verse, "no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."  (I Cor. 2:9)

If such breathtaking moments on earth remind us of these things ...  just imagine how much more awaits those who love God!?   Pretty cool! 

Free Painting!! Drawing on August 15th!

Mini Mum, 3x3" Acrylic on canvas

©2011, Helen Read 

This small painting will be given away!   How could YOU win it? 

Simply being a member of my mailing list.  

On August 15th, I will randomly pick a name from my mailing list to be the 

winner of this small work.
 

If you are not already on my list, please sign up below.  Its very easy and it is a secure list, where your information will not be shared!  By being a member of my list, you will hear from me once in awhile with news, updates, and notices of free gifts, etc.  Your inbox will NOT be inundated; I don't have time to write too often!  But when I do, I try to make it interesting and visual, with an occasional fun thing that may relate to the season or to some kind of an offer or give away!   Please inform your friends ~ in this economy, its nice to do some things just for fun!  

Sign up for our Email Newsletter

New Pathways

New Pathways, 14x8" Acrylic on paper
(attached to foam core)

©2011, Helen Read 

Ready to frame 

I've been working with abstract ideas again.  This one uses the ideas of pathways and circles.  Color of course is very integral to this piece.  There is a structure to this piece which barely shows through behind the painting.     Abstracts continue to challenge me in so many ways.  There must be organization, though it may not at first appear that way.  The elements and principles of art must still be observed, or the piece is simply chaotic and without visual interest.   I always hope to have everything "working" harmoniously! 

New Landscape from the Coast of the Island of Jersey

JULY  FEATURED  PAINTING!
 
Sold

Coastal Road,  5x7" Acrylic on canvas
(La Route de Saint-Cathérine, Saint Martin, United Kingdom)
©2011, Helen Read 

A new small landscape!   Its been awhile since I've done a landscape - so it was fun to go back to this subject matter.  This was part of an online project called Virtual Paintout.   There is a monthly challenge given.  Using Google Maps, street view - artists are invited somewhere new around the world to view the area and find an area to paint.   This painting comes from the Isle of Jersey which is in the English Channel.  See the link below for the exact site from which I painted virtually.  Its along the eastern shore of the island.  Its a fun idea - and something that would have been impossible just a few years ago!  Thanks to the street view from Google we can go places that probably would never happen otherwise!   

Link for original view:  

La Route de Saint-Cathérine, Saint Martin, United Kingdom

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=49.221409,-2.026892&spn=0.006279,0.026522&z=15&layer=c&cbll=49.221409,-2.026887&panoid=gZjkbNGCDYPQ8uMof7mG2Q&cbp=11,145.13,,0,0