The Red Door

The Red Door,  5.5x7.5" watercolor and ink on paper

©2014, Helen Read 

matted in off white matting and ready to frame in 9x11" frame

SOLD

The red door grabbed my attention!  A quiet street, gardens and flowers, a white picket fence, and a red door demanding that we stop and look!  And it all seems to fit perfectly!  This small painting is from a scene in Cape Cod... and is posted in the Virtual Paintout website.
I've worked in both watercolor and ink to create the sense of place. 

 

January .... a look back

Presence, 22x15" - acrylic on paper 
©2011 Helen Read

There seems to be no end to all the busy-ness of this season!   Its been a great season of family visits... and there's been extraordinary busy-ness at work with an old semester (final exams and grading) finishing up and a new semester (150 or so new names and faces to learn - and a new semester to get started).   

This is a joyful painting from a few Januarys ago... I'm reposting it as I work on some new things in the studio.   I very much hope to have something new and interesting posted soon!! 

 

A new year.... a new abstract continues.

2013 has ended and now we begin 2014.   I look forward to new ideas, new work, and new postings. 

In review, last year was incredibly busy.... and my studio work reflected that.
But, was also working on a series of abstracts, which are continuing into 2014. 

The one above is one of those which is now nearing completion. 

This represents the day of creation when the waters of the earth were separated from dry land.  

What is a little difficult to see here, is the iridescent colors and the glimmer of metallics in a few places.  It isn't quite done, but it is getting near! 

2013 In Review ...

What a busy year it has been!   Its been a good year - but with much busyness.  Family events have been notable.  My youngest got married this past summer in a beautiful wedding... Just 9 months prior, my middle son was married in another beautiful wedding.  Its also been a year of working on larger works of art, completing 3 larger paintings and also a number of smaller ones.  And, I've continued a full time job of teaching.  My daily schedule has been full and sometimes demanding.  As part of my teaching career, I've completed several more graduate classes - with just a couple more to complete this spring. 

In this post, I'm including some of the highlights of this year's studio work... The spring promises to be busy - but, I am looking forward to more studio work as the new year begins. 

Snow scape for a snowy December!

Icy Riverbank,  11x14" oil on canvas

©Helen Read 

SOLD

This impressionistic style landscape is an accurate representation of the snow I'm looking out at right now!  Its been a cold and snowy December ... the coldest in many years.
This painting brings out many lovely colors in the shadows ~ even though it is a painting of snow, there isn't much white in the painting. 

 

Ribbons and Bows

This drawing was done a few years ago - colored pencil on black paper. 

Now that December is here, I'm posting something to start off the Christmas season! 
Its been a tremendously busy fall ....  and I hope to have more here very soon! 

Sunflower tattoo

This has never happened in my experience ...  I've just sold the use of an original sunflower drawing as a tattoo.   This will be used for a new client in England, who found this image in an older blog post and really wanted it for her next tattoo. 

I'm very honored that someone would like to wear my art!

Barely There

Barely There, 10x 8" Oil on Canvas
© Helen Read
 

This is what I see, right now, as I look out my window!  The sky is a glorious blue, and just a few dried leaves cling to bare branches.  Yes, winter is on its way.   There's a stark beauty about this time of year, however, as fall makes its last preparations for winter's return. 

Fall colors! Marigolds.

Marigold,  5x7" Oil on canvas

© Helen Read 

SOLD

Have you ever looked closely at the center of a flower?  There is always something surprising and beautiful awaiting!  The colors of this beautiful golden marigold are so vibrant... they speak of this time of year in full color!  

Dried leaves and flowers

Dried Flowers, 10x8" oil on canvas

©Helen Read  

This fall has just evaporated!   Do you ever feel that way?   I've had many irons in the fire, as I usually do in the school year.  But its been complicated by the fact that I'm also taking 6 hrs of graduate work at the same time.... interesting.... but time consuming! 
So, my studio time has been very much limited.  And what time I have been in the studio has been spent working on a larger abstract.  So, I'm posting this fall painting in the meantime.  Its one of my favorites from a couple years ago - and its still available!  

Fall is here!

Fallscape,  12x10" Oil on canvas
© Helen Read

 

Its such a beautiful time of year, full of color!   This is a small plein air painting - where I captured the magnificence of the colors of fall!  So many warm colors of orange, reds and shocking yellows!
It is painted in an impressionistic style - rather loose and free.
Let this come to your house for a beautiful dash of color! 

 

New Abstract Underway

detail of larger painting

This time of year is always very busy ....  but I have started and am working on another larger abstract in the series of abstracts I've begun. 
This one, as you can see, has some textured elements in it.  Again, I'm working with the idea of small circles and using acrylic paint for its vivacity. 

I hope to have this one completed soon! 

Yay! 2 new homes!

Thank you for participating!! 

These two small paintings are headed to their new homes! 
And the profits will be donated to a family in extraordinary need. 
Thank you! 
Its exciting to be able to offer help to them, and participating in this auction helped to make it possible!

Benefit Auction - ends very soon!

        Its not too late! Yet...

       auction ends on Saturday 9/28
scroll to my most recent post to find out the
          story about who benefits! 

Bird and Berries, 7x5" Oil on canvas Please click here for the auction link Hollyhocks, 8x8" Oil on canvas Please click here for the auction link Dusty Road, 5x7" acrylic on paper (matted for an 8x10" frame) Please click here for the auction link