Winter Grandeur

COMING in JANUARY!

 A Tiny Give Away Painting! 

Winter Splendor,  original painting!  Acrylic on a rigid canvas surface.
Just the thing to brighten our winter doldrums!  

In the first week of January, you'll get a colorful newsy note in your inbox with all the details about how to enter to win this little painting. 
It has a magnetic backing, so it can be attached to anything metal.  Or, it can be placed on a tiny easel (available at art supply and craft stores) to sit on a desk or shelf!  

If you haven't signed up for my 1x a month news note, it's easy to do! 
Every month I bring you a colorful look into my studio and what I'm working on.  You also get exclusive discounts, contests, and free art I make just for my friends.  It's all good fun and it's a great way to stay in touch and find out the latest from my side of the easel. 

Use the button below and you're signed up! 
(In the meantime until my January note is sent,
you'll get a welcome note from me with a FREE gift inside!) 

UPDATE:  This little painting has just winged its way to Georgia!

 

Yes! Let's Stay in Touch

For Email Newsletters you can trust.

Site Wide Sale!

 

Just through Monday 11/28! 10% off all paintings and prints. https://HelenCRead.com Use the checkout code FRIDAY2022 at checkout! You'll receive beautiful art (domestic shipping is included), you'll be supporting a small business, and giving hope to trafficked girls (a percentage of all profits will be donated to that worthy cause!)

Sold & Framed!

 

It's always delightful to send off a painting to it's new home.  And the framing just makes it that much more exciting!  I love the gold and black frame for this 10x10" painting.  It gives it a touch of Tuscany, I think!   I hope it brings colorful joy to its new home! 

October Blaze, Completed

 

 

October Blaze, 16x20" oil on canvas

Finished and dry. The beauty of fiery color against the prairie grasses and background trees not yet having turned their colors intrigued my artist's eye. Bring the brilliant colors of autumn into your home year round! 
It is painted around the sides, perfect for a floating frame. Visit here to find out more!  

October Blaze

 October Came in a Blaze of Color! 

I've had a larger painting on my easel this month.  I'd like to say it just flowed off my brush, but honestly it didn't.  I know why... I've been pushing myself out of my comfort zone and it has been challenging.
I've been searching for new color harmonies, and new ways of applying the medium.  New expression, so this painting has been something of a journey. 

It's still drying, but this is a glimpse of how it has come to be. 

Preparations with sketches, thinking about colors with colored pencil. I did a small watercolor to get a sense of the colors I can envision. Is it pleasing? What am I trying to express?  Do these colors, though not exactly natural, read? 

 I like the juxtaposition of lavenders and golds with orange.  What colors do I need to use in oils?

Here, I'm deciding on a color palette (which, as it turns out, needed adjustment). 

A toned canvas and oil sketching large shapes
Then, I began laying in layers of color. 

 

Is this working?  I don't know - I'm having lots of second thoughts.  Again, being in uncharted territory (growth!), I find myself doubting everything. 

So, I am rethinking the palette - am I using the right colors that truly harmonize?  Do I need to make changes?  I did a quick and small oil study on canvas paper using some new colors - particularly changing my blue.  I think a few palette changes are going to be a good idea.  This tells me that what I'm envisioning IS possible.

This is the point when I have to just persevere. It feels like it may never come together.  

 I've decided to use a palette knife to create texture, and
I've worked on the foreground - using a smaller brush to create a sense of motion
 

 

I also realize I need to work on values (and color) in the tree. 

 

This shows more work on the foreground
and some changes in the sky

The sky is too monochromatic.  It needs to show some kind of value change, and I think at this point, a temperature adjustment near the tree line. 

So, I'll go a little toward green nearer the horizon and a little toward violet at the top of the canvas. I will also not blend it completely, allowing a hint of my brush work to show.

This is my stopping place as I wait for it to dry.  It has helped to take photos along the way, keep notes, and yes - I've prayed for direction and for understanding as I've proceeded into the unknown!

October Blaze, 16x20" oil on canvas
 

Sunflower Hedge

Sunflower Hedge, 6x12" oil on gesso panel 

©2022  Helen Read 

In September, Sunflowers adorn the edge of the woods - dancing and nodding in the breeze, 

turning their faces to the sunshine. 

This painting explores the use of warm colors placed next to cool colors.  

Find out more about it here! 

 

Shown with a frame

Framed or unframed, domestic shipping is included!

Wayside Wonders

 

 

Wayside Wonders
7.5 x 5.5" watercolor on paper
©2022 Helen Read 

There are so many things to be seen and that inspire wonder...
Along the sidewalk, these wildflowers were waiting to be seen!
Phlox, oak, goldenrod, and more!

Matted in white for an 8x10" frame
More on this painting can be found here 

 

 

 

 

From the Garden

 Garden Party, 9 x 12" oil on panel 

SOLD
These lovely coneflowers  were growing in my neighborhood. I've been wanting to paint them for several years.  Yesterday (and today) was the day! 

This painting has sold and is now in its new home in China! 

A Little Glimpse

 "Playing" in the studio is important... and I so easily forget to spend time doing just that.  Trying new things ~ no expectations.  Just seeing what might occur. 

It's good for the artist's spirit.  It's a way to subtly build skills. And it's a way to listen to the inaudible directives of art making. 

I'm not sure where this leads me - but watching colors mix and how they play off each other, watching the fluidity of the watercolor... it is captivating to my imagination.  

Lilies and Lace

 

Lilies and Lace,  8x8" oil on cradled panel
Painted around sides, so framing is optional.
© Helen Read 

This is exactly what is blooming in August along the sidewalk near my house... such a study in contrasts! Daylilies in their bright orange clothing next to the lacy details of Queen Anne's Lace. See more details here: https://www.helencread.com/workszoom/4784950/lilies-and-lace#/

Beautiful Chaos ~ abstraction from nature

 

Beautiful Chaos, 
30x22" acrylic on watercolor paper
(matted in white for a 36x28" frame)
©HelenCRead
Ready to frame 

An abstracted view of spring just as it begins to flourish with new growth and life. 

One of my favorite times of year - after the long siege of winter grays, new color and new life bursts forth, almost as if it is singing a song of joy!  

For all the information, click here!

Coming in August! A tiny painting give away.

 

Do you love to receive gifts?  Who doesn't?? 

I also love to give gifts! 
In my next newsy note that will come out in early August,
this little painting will be a give away to someone from my group.
Blanket Flowers,  3x3" oil painting,
painted on a rigid panel with a canvas surface and magnetic backing.

This little painting has been awarded to it's winner in
Australia! 

But there will be another give away in the near future! 
So, be sure to hit the JOIN button below so you'll get the details!

It's not too late to join us!  When you do, you'll get a fun, colorful message in your inbox once each month.  You'll see what new things I've been working on, I include a variety of great things like: discounts and pre-debut special pricing, give away contests, and free art downloads. You'll get an insider's view of what's going on in my studio and what's currently on my easel. 

When there's something new, you'll get all the details and fun suprises! 
Be an "insider"!  It's easy - it's free - it's fun - and you won't be overrun by inbox stuff! 

This is how you can join!

 

Yes! Sign Me Up!

For Email Marketing you can trust.

Here's this month's gift!

 

I love giving gifts of art to my friends!  Every month I have something for you - it could be a free print that you can print (such as the bluebird above), or a discount, or a contest for a free original mini-painting plus always a friendly news update on art, my studio and life!  

Art lovers get one very visual friendly email a month.  It's a great way to stay in touch and to let you know what's happening from my end.  I always love it when you reply and I get to know what's going on with you too!  

It's easy to sign up!  Just click the link which will take you to a short form to fill out.  I use a secure email server, so you info is protected and never shared.  Then, you'll receive an email from me on the first Tuesday of the month with fun surprises!  :) 

Yes! Sign Me Up!

For Email Marketing you can trust.

Beauty on the Wing!

 What better time to feature the beauty of birds than mid-summer?!

 

Spring Song and Bright Plumage,
when sold together and shipped to the same address
4x4" oil on panel
Ready to frame
$145.00
Click here for a purchase link!

Special pricing is applied when both are purchased together
and shipped to the same address.

Bright Plumage,
4x4" oil on panel - Ready to frame
$80.00
Click here for a purchase link

Spring Song,
4x4" Oil on panel
Ready to Frame
$80.00
Click here for a purchase link

Delphinium Watercolor

 Delphinium, 
7.5 x 5.5" watercolor on paper
matted in white to fit an 8x10" frame
© Helen Read 

A few years ago, the most beautiful delphinium bloomed (unexpectedly) in my yard!  It was a deep, rich purple color and almost took my breath away!  Sadly, the following year, it did not return.  But I found a ragged little delphinium at the end of the season plant sale and brought it home, wondering if it would survive our rather severe winter temperatures.  The following spring, it bloomed... but not with the deep purple color I was expecting.  It was a lovely lavender that leaned toward light blue but also with some rosy tones.  Several years later, it has now spread and sent up multiple blooms of this soft lavender-blue!  Of course, that was an invitation to paint it's portrait!  

It's ready to send to its new home!  Find out all the details here! 

This lovely painting will bring a spot of calm color to a bedroom, office, or living room... well, just about anywhere!  A framed option is also available.  See the details at the link above.

 

Charmed by Lilacs

 

Lilac Charm, 
10x8" oil on gessoed panel
©Helen Read 

I love lilacs and am so happy each spring when it's time for them to bloom.
Their sweet scent and lovely color is gone all too soon, though... then we wait another year until they return!  The great thing about a painting is that it never fades or wilts!  The colors are vibrant and beautiful year round!  

This lovely painting is available unframed or framed (see below).
All the details are found at my website:
click here.

Below see what this painting looks like when framed, and also what it might look like in a room.

Creatively Uninspired? Here's Help!

 

Inspiration ~
that magical feeling that artists have as they create!

Hold up! Maybe not! …what if “inspiration” is over rated? If you are like me, there are times when inspiration seems illusive, and you find yourself saying things like:

“I don’t know what to create”
“I’m out of ideas”
“I’m not inspired by anything”
“I don’t feel like creating”

That’s when an internal voice entices us to stop and wait for inspiration to arrive with a spark of creativity. I’ve experienced that… and sometimes I still have those feelings crop up. But, I’m learning to get to work in spite of them. Listen to what this well-known composer said:

“I’m inspired about every 5^th day, but I only get to the 5^th day when I show up on the other 4 days.”
~ Tchaikovsky

Inspiration comes to us as we are working. Crazy, isn’t it? It’s rare that inspiration arrives while we are waiting for it. We may have an idea we want to explore, but really, it is as we are working that inspiration truly comes to call. Does that seem surprising?

It comes in the nitty gritty, when we encounter unexpected snags that need a solution. Problems lead to new ideas and new approaches. It’s as we are creating that possibilities begin to flow. On the other hand, procrastination (or waiting for inspiration) usually results in unrealized creativity or unfinished work. What might have propelled us forward is delayed or derailed. (This applies to just about any area of life, doesn’t it?)

I’ve said it before, and I believe it every time I start a new work; Every painting (or sculpture or drawing or piece of music) is an act of faith ~ we are giving substance to what is unseen. I’m finding that by stepping into my creative work regardless of how inspired I may (or may not) feel, inspiration will usually follow!

It may not feel like much is happening for the first 4 days, but wow! exciting possibilities await on the 5^th day! As it turns out, Inspiration is there waiting for us to show up!

Download my FREE Inspiration Tips pdf!  These are three things I use and that you can do right now that will invite inspiration!

©Helen C Read
Photo Credit: Jon Tyson

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Lakeside Sunflower Landscape Painting

 

Lakeside Sunflowers
11x14" oil on canvas 

Visiting the Chicago Botanical Gardens, I was captured by the serenity of this lakeside scene.

Such profusion of color. It was as if each of these sunny flowers had turned their faces toward me nodding in the breeze.

Deep shadows contrasted with the sparkle of sunlight.  A reminder of the abundance and
delight of nature.

 For all the details & pricing on this painting, visit my website. 

 

Shown framed in a black matte wood frame - 3/4" across the face, 1.25" deep
Framed or unframed domestic shipping is included. 

 

Wildflower Landscape in Progress

 Scroll down a bit and you'll see this same landscape done in watercolor.  Using the same reference photo, I'm now working in oil paint.  There are certainly differences because of the medium. 

Here's the progress so far!
It measures 11x14" on stretched canvas.

Waterside Wildflowers

 

Waterside Wildflowers,  5.5x7.5" watercolor on paper
matted in white for 8x10" frame. 

More information on this painting here!  

 Late last summer, I spent a day at the Chicago Botanical Gardens.  It is a beautiful acreage of plant life in all  shapes, sorts and sizes.
This little lake had a profusion of flowers growing wild along the edge.  I'm glad I snapped a photo, because it has come to life once again in watercolor!  

 Ready to ship and hang! 
There is an option for framing.  Check out the link above for all the details.