Orchid Weather

These are certainly the dog days of summer here in the eastern U.S.

In the Philadelphia area we are at a feel like temp of 105.  Lucky me, I am in my AC studio working and listening to Blog Talk Radio (Hi Leslie! Love the show)

My next gem is the Peridot for all you August Birthdays.

The Peridot is a bright lime green through olive green stone.  And after some research I think I found the perfect floral counterpart for this birthstone.

The Cymbidium Orchid fits the bill with beautiful greens.  I am about half way through this one.

Besides painting I am keeping busy constructing a new website to act as my "store" in the future.

I just build a page on Fine Art America where you can go to purchase a painting of mine, framed, canvas wrapped or just a notecard.  If you are so inclined please click the FAA icon at the top right of my blog and take a look.

Well, back to work thanking my lucky stars I do not have to be outside today!

Back to the Future

It has been a very busy last couple of weeks.  

Family, holiday week and party preps.  I have not been able to paint in the last two weeks.

And I think summer is like that for most of us.

So I thought I'd add a short post about how I got into this whole fine art world.

I was a greeting card illustrator.  First for Hallmark Cards, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri and then as a very busy freelancer with card companies all around the country and beyond.  And I was very happy with this career.  It was not bad money and I got to paint full color and see them in stores.

One of my first cards painted for Hallmark.  It was their number one best seller that year.

And then the age of the computer hit with a vengence!  Suddenly people weren't buying so many greeting cards anymore.  The greeting card industry took a huge hit on this.  Companies, even Hallmark, scaled back their staff while quite a few other companies closed up all together.  And eventually my assignments began to dwindle.

By then I had two small children and deceided to settle happily into motherhood for awhile.

After the kids were in high school and college (they are in their late twenties now) I went back to school and completed graduate work for teacher certification.

I taught art for ten years at a private school in Philadelphia.  Great kids and many fun projects.

As a teacher I had to take continuing education classes to keep my state certification.
And one night I walked into a watercolor class at my local community college.  I had not painted in many years and never in watercolor.  I thought it would just be an easy class to earn my credits and off I would go.  Well, I was hooked from the first brush stroke!

I brought this holly twig in, laid it out on a white napkin and this became my first painting from that class.

After the class I went back to my classroom but on my days off I read everything I could about watercolor.  I watched you tube videos, read all the art magazines and just played with the materials.
Finally I deceided to get serious and found this old photo I took in my garden and began.

"Blue Moon", Watercolor, 12" x 16"
My first complete real watercolor painting.


Although now I see many things I'd love to improve on this, at the time I was pretty excited.   Honestly, I didn't think I'd even finish the thing!

So then there was another and another and here I am.

My point in this little narrative is that you can become anything you want if you work at it.  I know we adults say that to kids all the time but how often do we say it to ourselves or each other?

Last year I retired as an art teacher.  I guess I could have gone on with teacher for a few more years.  But I had done every project imaginable, twice, and I wanted to see what I could do as a painter.

Painting is not the kind of career that you retire from and I hope to keep working at it and improve into old age.

I'll be back next week with a new painting.  Can't wait to walk into my little studio with coffee in hand and start all over again!

Honors for "Autumn's Last"!

I am so honored and thrilled to share that my painting "Autumn's Last" has been juried into 

The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s

                            34 Annual International Juried Exhibition!

Acceptance into this show has been a dream of mine since I began painting again four years ago.  Just can't say how amazing this feels!

"Autumn's Last", Watercolor, 18" x 24"

Siberien Iris

I can't believe how fast the summer is going and I'm only on my 4th Gem!  

This is Amethyst for the month of February.  But the description of the actual stone may be more of a red violet so I may have to do a few more washes to this one before it goes in the set.

I have, after much research, found my subjects for AquaMarine and Turquoise.  Not so easy to find.

What are they?  Well, you will just have to check back once in awhile and see!

I'm off to the shore.   No wonder I'm not further along on these paintings! 

Have a great weekend.  

"Amethyst", Watercolor, 8" x 10"

Rudbeckia

"Topaz", Watercolor, 8" x 10"

One more gem to my collection.  Sorry no progressions on this one.  It just seemed to move along at such a good clip that I forgot to stop and photograph. 

Topaz is the birthstone for November and is prized for it golden orange pinkish tones for which the Rubeckia fits the bill.  

I have chosen my next Italian scene  and will move on to my first large painting of the summer as well as keep another little gem on the side.

It has been difficult to keep working this through to completion because it's just so darn beautiful out side today!  Well, I'm done for the day and I think I'll take a walk with my camera.

Enjoy your day as well!

P.S.  I am researching flowers for the other birthstones.  Any suggestions?

Forget Me Nots

"Sapphire", Watercolor, 8" x 10"
©Carmella Tuliszewski 2013

These small paintings are such a treat to work on.  So much so that I am on my way to a new series.
By the titles "Rubies" and "Sapphire" you may know which way I'm going with this.  Over the Summer and Fall there will be 12 of these little "Gems", one painting to match each Birthstone of the year.
I imagine them as matted prints for birthday gifts on their own or to accompany a larger gift.

But for now they are pure joy to paint.  They are fun practice and keep me busy while I deceide what next larger painting to do.  The colors here are glazes of Colbalt Blue, Ultramarine and Prussian Blues.

Forget Me Not

Working on another 8"x10" little "gem".