Artist Renee Mak

Celebrating  my daughter...  Monet . For today's Paint Party Friday post I'm privileged to share a fabulous work in progress by my oldest daughter Monet and a little but about her!   Monet is a self taught painter and is currently a student of life...  studying fashion design at FIDM in L.A. She surprised us all by flying in for my son's graduation after telling us she couldn't make it! She's one of my top three favorite people in the world and never ceases to amaze me with her talents and ability to make the world  break into a colorful song and dance everywhere she goes! Although her visit was too short, we did as many of  our favorite things as we could. One of which is always finding a new place to eat lunch and try new foods.    We also discovered the cutest little boutique in downtown Des Moines owned by a former FIDM student... which Monet knew from L.A!  It's called Mint L.A. Bo...

It's the end of the week already... I guess what they say is true.... "my how time flies when you're having fun"! This week for Paint Party Friday and Sneak Peak Friday I'd like to share three little somethings I had tons of fun creating! They are three "fussed up" canvases ( 12" x 12") that I began months ago but didn't quite know how to finish.  But last week, when I should have been doing something else, it hit me! They needed some bling! Vintage bling to be more exact!  The piece above is a vintage button, which I had two of, and keeps company with two random earrings, a thrift store tag and a Tim Holts key! The background and textures where made using molding paste and doilies... then adding paper, ephemera and acrylic paint.  They were really an experiment when I started.  What do you think... does it work?  What would you do differently... I'd love to try and picture it! This one (a...

It's Friday once again and the paint has been flowing! A few posts ago I blogged about painting three canvases that were not stretched yet but stapled to the wall.  I finally got them stretched and got to work on them again! Of course I added some drips and dots... and color and contrast! I found hearts and circles... and a few things with wings! I had so much fun but didn't have a lot of time... now I can hardly wait to paint  more tomorrow! Check out other fabulous artwork at these awesome sites...   Paint Party Friday and  Sneak Peek Friday ! Happy painting fellow artist... have a great weekend! xoxo

Happy Paint Party Friday and Sneak Peek Friday !  These are two fabulous art blog hops I play along with... follow the links and check out what other fabulous artists have been up to! Spring is in the air... so I've been painting up a storm with bright, fresh spring colors! Some of my favorite mark making  elements are stamping, stenciling and  faux writing... and this piece has them all. I'm still using the hand cut flower stamp I created this past January while taking Traci Bautista 's free online workshop... which you can read about here . This piece will be used in other projects such as collaged art, cards, jewelry and pillows... just off the top of my head! I really love working on sheets of canvas... it's so freeing! And now my head is just swirling with all the creative options for this design!  Happy painting and  have a great weekend!!! xoxo

Happy Paint Party Friday!  and  Sneak Peek Friday!!! I've been painting up a storm lately and discovered that the more I paint, the more I LOVE to paint! I pulled out three pieces of canvas I started last summer and tacked them up to the wall.  They're not stretched... just large pieces of canvas, measuring  about 15" x 48"! Originally they were going to be all blues and greens, but now they're well on their way to becoming  rainbow paintings! There is also sheet music and other elements collaged  onto each canvas... The collaged pieces may or may not show up in the end... but I  love knowing they're there! This post features just one of the three paintings I started last summer. I also began two more large un~stretched paintings, finished a small mixed media painting and am working on finishing two other acrylic mixed media paintings! This is what my busy little studio looked like this past week.  I just love painting... I hope you do to! T...

It's that time once again... Paint Party Friday and Sneak Peek Friday!  I love both of these groups because I get to see what other fabulous artists from all over the place have been painting this week! Today I'm sharing a painting that's been finished for a while but has just been photographed proper... This piece is a 36"x36" mixed media acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas.   It was originally part of my "After the Blues" series I blogged about here .  At the time,  I only finished three of the four paintings in time for the show and had this one left... unfinished. I set it aside knowing that some day I would just know what it needed. And that's exactly what happened.  One day, I saw brightly colored abstract flowers growing wildly!  Standing straight up as if shouting... "look at us!" So I painted it like I saw it and here it is. And the full meaning didn't even occur to me until just now. The original series, After the Blues, symbo...

Happy Friday everyone...  and a special welcome to all of my  Paint Party Friday and Sneak Peek Friday friends!  You are deeply appreciated here! What a busy week I've had... I only got to paint twice! But I'm heading to the studio soon, will paint the day away  and post my  Bloom True   progress tomorrow, so stay tuned! {read tomorrows post here!} All week I've been posting about what inspires me and asking the same questions of you.   I posted about inspirations  outside , with nature, and about  the "pops" of color I found  inside  my home.  I celebrated another fabulous Birthday... and posted my  Birthday Bash Giveaway ...  in case you missed that post, you can read all about it here ! To celebrate my Birthday week  I'm giving away three original pendant necklaces that I've created... {It's not too late to enter!} My grandmother always told me to  count my blessings one by one.  This week h...