Yes, Please! More Peonies!

 Peony Blossom ~ Perfect Beauty
© Helen Read
7x5" Oil on gesso panel

Available framed in black wood - 1..5" deep, .75" across the face)

Or, sold unframed

(domestic shipping included in pricing, IL residents - please add 8% sales tax) 

Please click here for more information and a purchase link.  

Why buy art framed?  All the guess work is taken out - when you receive your painting, it is ready to hang!  This saves time and allows you to put your beautiful painting on the wall
immediately!  The frame that is included is a solid, well made wooden frame which accents and protects the painting perfectly! 

It's Peony Season again!

 Peonies are one of my favorites!   This little watercolor is my free download print
for the month of June!  

It's available to my friends who have subscribed to my email list... every month I have a little free gift like this - maybe you'd like to join us!?  No pressure... no purchases are necessary...
We just stay in touch and I share what's happening in my studio!  

This link will get you all set up to join us! 

Yay! Let me join!

For Email Marketing you can trust.

Just for May - a GREAT DISCOUNT!

 Sunspots, 9x12" oil on linen panel
©Helen Read 

Not far from where I live there is an old farm.  It's a step into history.  On the approach to the farm, there's a bridge over a creek and this painting is a view that I saw as the sun dipped farther toward the horizon.   Just a few bright spots of color landed in the deepening shadows.  
Moments of complete tranquility... the lazy flow of water, light and shadow, and blues against greens.
A sense of another place and time!

Visit my website for purchase information.

Framing is a matte black contemporary wooden frame. It is 1.5" deep and approx 3/4" wide on the face. This option simplifies the decision, purchase, and waiting period for framing to occur. When you receive your painting, it is ready to hang!
(Photo available on request.   Please email me)

The Joys of Springtime!

 My garden in May - even before the dandelions demand attention, these early arrivals bring joy in their colors and delicate smells.  This little watercolor represents those first delights of spring time after a long, gray winter.  Lily of the Valley and Brunnera; delicate and lovely.   A proclamation that life is returning!  

This little watercolor was a free download to my friends in my May newsletter.  Each month, I make a new work of art available to those who have subscribed!  It's easy to join :). Click here ~ be added and at the beginning of each new month, you'll get a colorful, newsy note and downloadable art... and other fun surprises! 

Spring Cleaning Sale! 25% off these until 4/30/21

 Studios have to be cleaned too! 

I need to make room for new works - so these featured paintings need to find their new home!  See below for a larger photo and purchase links!
Don't delay... 4/30 is just around the corner - and as you can see, the cottage painting has already found it's new home!
Domestic shipping is included in this great price.
And there's a framed option and unframed option for each of them. 

The frames are wooden - 1.5" deep and 3/4" on the face.
They are either (as noted) black or cherry wood. 

 

Post sale -  Visit my website!  There's more to be seen!  

Daylilies, 10x8" Oil on panel 

 

 

 

Summer Shadows, 12x9" oil on canvas

 

 

Scentsational - 8x8" oil on panel

 

 

Elm Grove, 14 x 18" oil on canvas
 

 

Autumn in Color, 10x8" oil on panel 

Post sale -  Visit my website!  There's more to be seen! 

 

Beyond the Now..... what if?

 Beyond the Now,  16 x 20" oil on canvas
painted around the sides - ready to frame (perfect for a floating frame)
©2021 Helen Read 

$740.00
(domestic shipping included,  IL residents please add 8% sales tax) 

Click here for more information

The earth in vibrant color hints at a future time when Creation is restored.
Colors vibrate - the earth is pulses with life.

All is again as it was in the Creator's first plan.
----------

What if...?

That's what I hope to let the viewer imagine.  Of course, we can only imagine,
and yet, most likely our imagination isn't big enough!

April's Gift

Yes... the gift of color and life seems to burst forth in April.  What a welcome relief from the cold and grayness of winter.  This little watercolor is a bit of an experiment with some new materials.  The transparency and vivid colors are to their credit!  I am trying out Yarka's SemiMoist watercolors, and they are passing with flying colors! (literally!)  :).  

This painting is available as a free download for those who receive my monthly newsletter... Along with cool discounts and a a first view of new work.  Join in!!  I love adding to my group of friends! 

Yes! Please sign me up!

For Email Newsletters you can trust.

A GiveAway Contest!! :)

 Who doesn't love a free gift!? 
I don't know that person! 

This little mini oil painting is going to one of my newsletter friends in February...
and it could be you! 

Every few months I have a drawing for a FREE Painting. 
This little 3x3" painting with it's own tiny easel will be winging its way to someone in the next couple weeks!  It's not too late to enter. 

Sign up to receive my monthly news note and all the details about how to enter are right there!
Plus, you'll get a free painting download every month that you can print for your own use. 

Let's stay in touch! :) 

click here to get your newsletter!  

 

Autumn's Debut

 

                                                                      Autumn's Debut

18x14" oil on canvas
painted around the sides
©2020 Helen Read - ready to frame

Please click this link for pricing information and a purchase link.

I love that very first hint of a change of seasons - a change of colors - a change in the air, in birdsong, in the feel of the wind.  The weather is still warm, the sun casts its heat on colors, even the shadows are warm... but there it is, a first debut of yellow and orange.  Autumn is on it's way! 

This painting captures that moment and the sense of change in the air. 
It' is painted in thick paint and vivid color.  Painted around the sides, it is perfect for a floating frame.

Visit my website for more paintings is vivid color!

                                                                                         

When Autumn Leaves Begin to Fall

 Commemorating the carpet on my lawn right now! 

Autumn leaves... in the glory of gold, bronze, red and green... 

This little watercolor tells the story!  

Visit my website for more to see!

Fall is Coming ... So is a FREEBIE!!

 

 

 

Leaves are turning colors and birds are preparing for a fall flight...
But Bluejays stay for the duration!  

 

This little guy is my October free give away! 
One of my friends will be the winner and this mini-painting (3x3" with it's own display easel) will stay in it's new home this winter!    It could be YOU! 

 

Click the button below!
All you need to to is be part of my email friends - you'll get a once a month newsy note which always contains
something special as a gift.  Every few months there is a give away contest, like this little bluejay painting. 

 

There's nothing to lose ~ but many possibilities for fun!  

 

Yes! Add me in!

For Email Marketing you can trust.

Scents of Summer

 

Scents of Summer

Watercolor & Ink on paper. ©2020 Helen Read 

Summer seems to be slipping away - it always slips away too quickly for me! 
Here's a little reminder of the beauty we enjoy during the warm days of the year. 

Watercolor always captures the carefree days of summer time, 

and this was a quick respite from a long week of work!  

Pen and Ink to Watercolor

 

The beginning of any school year is always hectic ... but this year so much more so!  I'm teaching all of my high school students remotely.  All the hands on things we usually do in person is now digital.  It's an entirely different kind of stress!  There hasn't been much time to sit with my own art.  

 But yesterday, Saturday, was a rainy day - and it was a day of art therapy for my own inner soul! 
It's was most needed!  

The top picture is a pen and ink drawing of a garden scene.  I always love the look of pen and ink - lovely detail, delicate shading with line or stipple - it just captures my imagination.  

But the need for color on a rainy day is compelling - so I added watercolor to bring it to life.  

Sometimes you just need, for yourself, to indulge in line, shape, and color.... to free your mind of stressful thoughts, to let your hand flow freely over the page... it's deep therapy! 

Coming SOON!!

 My Summer Creation! is almost finished!!  

 

I'm so excited - this has been on my mind for a long while and it's finally coming to fruit!   I've taught hundreds of students to draw for the last several decades.  So, finally, I've put together a course to teach graphite drawing!  

It's almost ready to go - but visit my website to see all the details:  https://HelenCReadArt.com

I take a low stress, positive approach to drawing for the new beginner or the person who has some background in drawing but would love to take their skills to a new level.   

 In 5 Chapters, you'll learn 

• Observation skills
• Drawing with greater accuracy
• Tricks for proportion and perspective
• How to make seamless shading
• Create realistic textures
• How to accurately transfer an image
• Compositional guidelines
• And from start to finish, how to create a beautiful realistic drawing 

There are 20 demo videos with clear instruction, and over 30 pages of downloadable notes and a variety of other free resources.  Plus a friendly voice of encouragement and support! 

Join my wait list to be informed when it will be ready for registration! 

If you'd love to learn to draw OR if you'd love to take your skills to the next level
ALL while having fun.... this could be just the course for you! 

STAY INFORMED at this link!