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! 

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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!

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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!

 

For Just a Day

Daylily, watercolor and ink

Daylilies - such showy bright buttons of color!  July is the month that they burst into bloom.

This will be my free gift in early August to my friends who receive my newsletter! 

It's easy to get a friendly, colorful newsletter right in your inbox!

You can join me at the button below!  I'd love to be friends!

Let's get connected!

Yes! Let's be Friends!

For Email Newsletters you can trust.

Daybreak

Daybreak, 11x14" oil on canvas
©Helen Read

Dawn can be the most magical time of day!  It's as if colors vibrate and come alive as the sun lights the sky.  Ancient scripture tells us that blessings are new every morning... and so it is!  Beauty is renewed, the birds begin to sing, light and color delight the eye! 

Please click here for pricing information and a purchase link.
To see more, visit my website!   

Proven! After years of teaching drawing....

I know that these 5 Tips work! 
For those who are new to drawing, for those who need a timely reminder, these 5 tips (plus a few more bonus tips) will up your game and do away with common frustrations!

I've taught hundreds (probably thousands) of students how to draw over the years.

These tips come from that experience and from the common things that can get in the way of progress.

My FREE DOWNLOAD will help you draw a better drawing,
(without stress and self-criticism!) 

Click here!  You'll get the immediate download, then several more helpful tips will come to your inbox on the next 3 days!  

 It's all free!! And there's nothing to lose... in fact, there's a lot to gain! :) 

I love helping people become more confident and proficient artists!  Let's connect!  

Check out my website meant for artists and those who love to create!

 

Ruffles and Lace

Coming in just a few weeks  ~

this is my gift in July to my friends!  

I love Irises... such beautiful color!  

My first awareness of irises was as a child.  We lived in Texas on a ranch.  The colors of the summer landscape were green and sand - sometimes a reddish sand.  To get a flower to grow in summer probably meant it was a cactus.  (I learned early in life that picking the beautiful flowers of a cactus was never a good idea!)

But one year I found some iris growing next to a chimney on our property... that was it - just the chimney.  I'm not sure when the house had accompanied the chimney; well before I was around!  And near the chimney were purple irises.... still thriving, still blooming, years and years after anyone had tended them. 

 Such tenacity!  Harsh conditions. Abandoned but thriving. 

You'll be able to download this, print it and enjoy it in your own home, but you will need to get my newsletter to do so!  Every month I send out a newsy note with my latest work, with gifts and links to cool stuff!  

It's super easy to join - just click the button below and you're in!!
My newsletter will be sent during the first week of the month - click the button and watch your inbox on July 7th! 

 

Count Me In!

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