Throwback Time

Spring is upon us in Chicago (hooray!) and we just got back from Mom and Dad's lovely Easter brunch. 

Our contribution was homemade waffles and our simple maple syrup bacon that is featured in the post, Saturday Morning Breakfast.  

I just upgraded to a digital SLR camera for taking better photos of my art...the Nikon 3100. As my sim card just arrived yesterday I am in full test mode. Taking pictures galore trying to figure out how it all works. Waiting on the tripod, which should arrive tomorrow. This is necessary for taking crystal clear shots of my paintings.

In the meanwhile I thought I'd share some art pictures taken at Mom and Dad's today...my first attempts with this camera. 

Their beautiful house is home to many paintings of mine from back in the day. Some as far back as high school! As you will see I was working much more figuratively back then.

 Throwback time...

Painted sophomore year of high school. I never did finish the hands!

 I painted this from an old photograph of my father and my sister. It is an oil on canvas. One of the last oils I did. After this painting I switched over to acrylics...something to do with babies crawling in the house and length of drying time.

 

This was done with watercolor pencils back in high school. 

Self Portait. I believe I painted this in 2003.

Watercolor of fellow classmate in high school.

A painting of my daughter and my mother.

This is my very first painting I did when I was 14 years old. It is based on a photograph of my sister at my grandparent's farm, circa 1977.

I am so looking forward to getting this tripod and...

Prints are coming to my Etsy Shop! First prints will be of Wanderlust,

And some super exciting news about my art to be revealed soon! So stay tuned...

Thanks for going back in time a bit courtesy of Mom and Dad's private collection ;)

Happy Easter!

I woke up this morning...

....and thought it's a great day to start my blog!

Why did I name my little journal Wander In Art? Well, besides the fact that it sounded like a line from a lovely folk song, painting wandered back into my life after thirteen years. I had picked up a brush once every two years and tried to squeeze something inspiring onto the canvas. Once, eight years ago, when I was living in California, I did a painting for my parents, based on an old photograph. It was completed after months of work and self-doubt.

It was in January of 2011 (January...ah the month of resolutions!) where I began to paint regularly after the urging of my husband and mother-in-law. I tucked my five month old and two and a half year old daughters into bed. And I painted them, my two children. It was a good place to start.

Since then it's been a whirlwind of painting and learning how to navigate my one-woman art business from my home.

I'll be sharing some of that and some of the rest of my art driven life. I love decorating my home, painting and doing projects with the girls, growing my garden, setting the stage for a fabulous dinner party, giving old furniture new life, and scouring blogs, books, and antique fairs for inspiration. Wander In Art encompasses all things beautiful that I strive for in a life well-lived.

My Original Muses