Commission Painting in progress - S MORES and Coffee

Waiting for my paint to dry before I head back in to paint! Gosh, I must get very stressed or tense when I paint...Looked in the mirror and noticed that my face was all RED!

Guess it's time for a break... lunch time anyways! Thought I would share my progress on a commissioned painting I'm working on.

A client recently purchased my whoopie pie painting and asked for me to paint smores and coffee cups for her dear friends using similar colors and style...fingers crossed - that she likes it so far!

My Click-able LINKS below:

    Kellie Lynn Fine Art Gallery |Facebook | Etsy Shop| Twitter | Society6 | Fine Art America

PEEK-A-BOO PUFFIN 30 in 30 Day 1 - By Kellie Chasse

 "Peek A Boo Puffin"

Choose to start off Day 1 of the 30 Day challenge with a classic Maine bird - THE PUFFIN!

It was my parents anniversary this past weekend and they celebrated by taking a trip to Monhegan Island.  Monhegan is an artists frigging dream scape, right! Incredible coastal views!

Lucky for me, Mom has chosen to share her Monhegan pictures with me...so you may see a few Island scenes from this lady during the next few weeks!

 

So back to Peek A Boo -  Thought you may enjoy seeing a few of the steps along the way. I get a little distracted when I paint but managed to take a few pictures of my progress. It's funny, you know "we" painters can get into deep thought while we are working....and yep...forget to take pictures! Not as many as planned, but you get the idea. Hope to do this throughout the next 30 days with all the paintings. 

 

I have decided that I am not a FREE FLOWING painter...nope, pretty stiff actually. Thinking about tomorrows painting; should try to loosen up a bit. Why is it so hard for me to do.

Interested in purchasing Peek A Boo you can take a peek at my Daily Paint Works Gallery! 

Hope you enjoy!
~Kellie

My LINKS:
Kellie Lynn Fine Art Gallery |Facebook | Twitter | Society6 | Fine Art America | PartyPainter 

Cooks Lobster House Maine Art Exhibit

 "SLICE OF BLUEBERRY HEAVEN" 

Looking forward to putting up my Art Exhibit  at Cooks Lobster House , on Bailey Island Maine this weekend for the month of September! I was really excited to read that Cooks Lobster House was in OPRAH's O Magazine , for 2013's Summer Fun Things To Do in July, how cool is that!

Thought the Blueberry Pie Slice would be a good one for there! Maine's blueberry pie...hmmm, wonder if they are serving it at Cooks this weekend? I may have to eat the real thing if they do...even if I am trying to eat healthy (That's no fun).

Stop on in if you have the chance - they have some great food and have you all see that GIANT LOBSTER there? It's a Hoot!

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Grasshopper ~ Started a New Painting 22x15"

 

Started a new insect painting on Monday that I'm really excited about. Sometimes I wonder why I chose my objects...they seem to jump out at me and usually it's the bright colors and lines, not necessarily the object itself.

 

Have you ever really looked at a Grasshopper closely? Some folks were like EWE- bugs, but I find the details in his body incredible!  I knew this one would be a challenge with all the texture and color variations, but who doesn't love a challenge!  

We will be moving into our new tiny home this weekend, I'm talking beds and everything! So I hope to get things back in order and by the end of the month I'll be painting daily again. (fingers crossed). 

Maine...the way life should be! 
Feel free to check on one of my completed paintings of Boothbay Harbor - Sailing.



LINKS:
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SOLD! "Honey Bee"

SOLD - Heading off to the big state of TEXAS!

"Honey Bee" Original work of art has beautiful bold colors with an abstract appeal. Inspired by these hard working creatures and their decline in numbers. 12x12 2" Wood Cradle. Ready to hang.

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/kellie-chasse/honey-bee-dp50/139193



LINKS:
Kellie Lynn Fine Art Gallery |Facebook | Twitter | Society6 | Fine Art America | PartyPainter 

Cheers.....Shot of Patron - My journey to Owning A Gallery!

Holy cow has it been crazy at my house lately. I'm trying to get my pieces ready for my gallery showing in June, July, and August , just picked up "Patrons By The Sea", been holding my private watercolor sessions, and we have been looking at inexpensive houses! Yep, we are selling our home!

Here is some background for you in case you are new to my blog or missed some of my ramblings in the past about debt. - My husband and I have been fascinated with paying off all our bills via the Dave Ramsey plan for a few years now.  We've always been a little frugal, but once we read his book and started the "Baby Steps" we became VERY FRUGAL!

Our first step was to do a BUDGET! Figure out where all your money is going! It's surprising when you look at how many little things added up, like the coffee you pick up on your way to work each day, or the take out for lunch. 

Once the budget is in place - and that means budgeting 100% of your income, you can move on to the "baby steps". Now there is a little more to all of this of course than I'm explaining here so I  - highly recommend you read the book The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness.

 
What are Baby Steps?  It's all about paying off the smallest bill first then snowballing the payment from that into your next bill. So it would look like this. Say you had a Target card with $100 on it,  Sears bill with $500,  Lowe's card with $1000 and a $300 car payment with $5k left on it  (just random #'s here to give you and idea). 

How it works -  Pay basic monthly payments for each bill and use all and any extra income and put it on the lowest bill ($100 Target card) first. We had to get tough....no dinners out, no take out, no extra spending at all during this time frame. Fingers crossed and we manage to knock that lowest bill out in the first month just from not ordering Pizza every Friday night for the family but instead make home-made pizza! That's what we did.

Next....Okay so your no longer have a (Target payment) due since it's all paid off.  Next, use all the money you would have paid on the (Target bill) and throw anything extra you saved from not spending on pizza , or take out, or coffee...what ever it is.... and put that on your next bill (Sears bill).

Snow Ball: Once the (Sears bill) is paid off, you move to the (Lowe's) and so on. It's a snowball effect. By the time your reach your largest bill you have all that money that would have been spent for, from the bills you are no longer paying (Target, Sears, and Lowes cards). This makes it easier to bang out that vehicle loan quicker.

Extra Money: We did all these steps and now have a great amount of extra money monthly to drop onto our house mortgage!  Ah, but here is the rub once you see how much money you have when you have no bills to pay...... it may drive you crazy seeing that  $500+ a month going to JUST the INTEREST on the house!

Have you ever looked at how much you will pay back on a loan after you've paid the interest for 15 or 30 years! It's crazy....ours was over 120,000 dollars!

Mortgage Interest $120k.....after looking at this ridiculous number for interest only, it gave us the drive to look for a smaller home , one that we could pay cash for. Hence the house hunting week we are currently on. Our plan is to use the equity we have in our current home to buy the smaller home with cash.

I think we'll need to cheers with a shot of  Patron tequila to celebrate when we close on our paid for home! We'll stick our feet in the grass and it should feel different...because we'll truly own it.

As Dave Ramsey would say....live like nobody else today so that you can live like no-one else tomorrow. In other words......we can sacrifice the I wants for a short time so that our family can be debt free and have financial freedom tomorrow.

Looking forward to my mortgage free home...which will hopefully allow me to purchase an art gallery space with cash soon!


LINKS:
Kellie Lynn Fine Art Gallery |Facebook | Twitter | Society6 | Fine Art America | PartyPainter 


The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

Lovely Note from a Client

 Private Watercolor Session for Lexi's Girl Scout Badge!

 

I was so excited to be a part of this....thanks Lexi for the interview! :)

Here is the note from my client:

"So, I have a big favor/ question for you. My daughter Lexi is 9 and is in the girl scouts. She picked a badge that she would like to work towards, and needs to do it independently- not as a whole troop. She has picked painting! One of the tasks she needs/wants to do is to visit a local artist and talk with them about painting and view their artwork. Lexi also wants to paint a still life as part of the requirement. After reading through her packet and chatting with her, I immediately thought of you! Would you be willing to share your art with Lexi and chat with her? I was also wondering if we could do a class with you and she could do a still life with you? Honestly, I 'm not sure who is more excited about this her or me!"
 

                              PartyPainter - for group or individual watercolor painting sessions.

Tiny Pebbles - Work in Progress

"Tiny Pebbles"

Today's watercolor work in progress. I think they will go nicely with the other pieces in my Rock series.

It's a beautiful weekend here in Maine. A bit cooler than I like...but I'm sure I'll be complaining that it's too hot in July. Never happy are we.

May decide to take my art and paints out on the deck and work today. The sun's shining and the birds are singing....life is good!



Happy Painting
~Kellie

LINKS:
Kellie Lynn Fine Art Gallery |Facebook | Twitter | Society6 | Fine Art America | PartyPainter 

Maine River Rocks - Getting Ready For An Art Show!

Getting ready for an Art Show coming up in June. I am working on a rock series. This one is a larger 22x30 on aquabord with my favorite 2" Wood cradle. These are great for me, no matting or framing required!

SOLD Honey Bee - Changing the way we eat

 

Honey Bees - Work in progress. Inspired by a few articles I recently read. Scary stuff! http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/04/09/mystery-of-the-disappearing-bees-solved/

Our family is currently changing the way we eat. Really trying to focus on organic food choices, very little processed food, and drinking more water. It's been a learning experience for us thus far. Found that reading the labels on our food that soy, corn, sugar, wheat, peanuts, and dairy is actually in just about everything we consume. We are trying to buy from local farmers and started asking questions like who, what, where, when, and how our food is grown. 

I'm learning how to cook differently and the food is so good! We are using more spices and herbs...things I'd never tried. Eating more vegetables, fruits and nuts. Replaced Milk with Coconut Milk and changed from white rice to brown rice and quinoa.Yeah, I hadn't heard of quinoa before this.

I know...it really sounds like a lot of work, but really after the first few weeks it became a lot easier. Just about everything you try your hand at is difficult at first. As you learn you grow and it becomes second nature. Not only do we feel better but our family collectively has lost a total of  44 pounds since March 1st!

Update: Here is the final product

"THE CARDINAL" - SOLD

 

  "THE CARDINAL" 

SOLD

  5x7 Watercolor/Gouache on 140 Arches Cold Press

Daily Painting #42

Always playing with paints and styles even after 20 years...guess it never gets old with me. This is a looser style painting. I lightly sketched in the Cardinal and used a very wet on wet technique on the outside of the bird first.

This kind of painting is very fun for me....love freedom and lack of restriction it gives me. I'm free to explore and play...just like a kid.

Once the background was done I started some detailing on the bird. Here comes my problem...I like details and find it hard to just leave it alone...think you may of heard me say this before if you have been reading my blog for a little while now.

A big thank you to a fellow artist Karl from Watercolor Journal. We chatted a bit on facebook yesterday and I just love his style.....he encouraged me to give it a try!


Happy Painting
~Kellie

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LINKS:
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Fine Art America 
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"Little Lady Bug" - Signs of Spring!

   "Little Lady Bug"

  5x7 Watercolor/Gouache on 140 Arches Cold Press

Daily Painting #40

Was out with my friend the other day and while she was getting out of my car and she spotted a little lady bug crawling along the door handle. Looks like some things are waking up! Feeling spring in the air!

Special thanks to Photographer and friend Shannon Taylor for the reference photo!

Happy Painting
~Kellie

*Make sure to sign up for my email newsletter  - I will be drawing one winner each month to win a FREE Print!
*Buy it now button it will take you to my Daily PaintWorks Gallery before completing the check out. 

LINKS:
DailyPaintWorks.com
Facebook -Kellie Lynn Art
Twitter - Kellie Lynn Art 
Society6 
Fine Art America 
KellieLynnArtwatercolors

Painting Number 38 "Autumn Reflections"

   "Autumn Reflections"

  11 x 14 Watercolor/Gouache on 140 Arches Cold Press

Just want you all to know that I was so scared to show you all the original photograph! As I'm creating the post (such a typical thing I hope) I'm analyzing the painting more and seeing a few more things I could change. But I am going to leave it alone, I promise! 

I wanted to step out side of my comfort zone with a few larger paintings this year and Autumn reflections was a challenge for me. Not only is the size larger than my norm, but there is a lot going on in this one. When I first looked at the photograph I had no idea how difficult it would be to achieve the look I wanted. Took me longer than what was anticipated, but very happy with the outcome.
 


My cousin Valerie sent me the original photograph via Facebook. She thought it might be  something that I would enjoy painting - Thanks Valerie....you were so right! I love it when folks send me interesting pictures!
 

 ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH BY CANDI

So here's the original photograph taken by Candi at the Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA. She certainly has an eye! This is just so cool! Love the warm reflections in the water. You can see the leaves drifting along..no care in the world.

I'm off to drift along and enjoy my family time.......enjoy your weekend everyone!


 
~Kellie

*Make sure to sign up for my email newsletter  - I will be drawing one winner each month to win a FREE Print!
*Buy it now button it will take you to my Daily PaintWorks Gallery before completing the check out. 

LINKS:
DailyPaintWorks.com
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Society6 
Fine Art America 
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Daily Painting #37 - Northern Lights Watercolor

   "Northern Lights"

  5 x 7 Watercolor/Gouache on 140 Arches Cold Press

It's Daily Painting #37 for this year! So hard to believe I've accomplished that many so far and it's only February 27th. Let's hope I can stay motivated and continue the trend!

It's a long haul from my 30 day challenge were I completed a  painting a day, but at least I am painting each day! I've been working on a few bigger pieces that you may have seen if you follow me on the Kellie Lynn Art Facebook Page. 

Today's continuing work is of a leaf in the water. When I was first sent the picture from Valerie (thank you), I thought how pretty it was. Valerie sent it to me via email thinking that I may be interested in painting it...and I was like - OH YAY! Now, um....not so much! It's a lot of frig-in details!

That being said, it is a really good challenge for me. My eyes are going a bit crossed, but I think the end result will be beautiful. Stop over to check it out if you have the chance!

Happy Painting
~Kellie

*Make sure to sign up for my email newsletter  - I will be drawing one winner each month to win a FREE Print!
*Buy it now button it will take you to my Daily PaintWorks Gallery before completing the check out. 

LINKS:
DailyPaintWorks.com
Facebook -Kellie Lynn Art
Twitter - Kellie Lynn Art 
Society6 
Fine Art America 
KellieLynnArtwatercolors

"Magical Place" Birch Trees A Favorite Subject

 

  "Magical Place"

22 x 15" Watercolor/Gouache

Birch trees are one of my favorite subjects to paint. I wanted to feel the magic of the sunshine and the joyful happiness that the Maine forest brings to my heart.  It's so peaceful here in the woods and I hope it gives you that same feeling when you look at it.

Change of mood here and I hate to be negative but thought I would share my thoughts with you on this .....On a crappy note, I used a masque called Fineline and I was not happy with this brand at all. It seemed very, VERY hard to remove.

If you can picture it...I was sitting at my studio table for like hours...my poor little fingers were almost raw because I couldn't use my eraser without leaving most of it behind on my paper! My new eraser works great to remove pencil but this one did not take off the masque.

Note to self...buy a new bottle but pick a different brand.

In the end though, I was super happy with the way the painting turned out. It's another larger piece for me. Since the January 30 day challenge that Leslie Saeta put on...I am working my way up from my comfort zone of smaller 5x7 and 8x10 works.

Like to see more of my Art, here are a list of links below: Thanks for taking the time to look!

DailyPaintWorks.com
Fine Art America - Kellie Chasse Art
Facebook -Kellie Lynn Art
Twitter - Kellie Lynn Art 
Society6 
KellieLynnArtwatercolors
Pinterest 

BLUE LOBSTER PRINT GIVEAWAY ON FACEBOOK!

Happy Valentines Day - I want you all to feel the love so that means.....I will be giving away a  "Wicked Cool MAINE BLUE LOBSTER 11x14 Matted 8x10 PRINT" to my wonderful facebook friends, because you all are just the BEST!

If you would like a chance to own this little piece of Maine, then please 'like' this post and share it on your facebook page. The package deal is valued at $24.99 and the shipping is free!  The winner will be drawn on Valentines Day! 

Today's Project 8x10 PIG

 

Masked and starting painting.....

First layers finished...

Second layers finished....

I'm not completely finished with the big guy but it would appear that I'm done for today.

We'll see if I jump to something new tomorrow.  Sometimes it's best to sit on a painting and let me tell you....that after this past 30 days of painting straight completions, I'm absolutely okay with waiting. 

 I have this beautiful horse just staring at me...waiting for her turn on the paper. I'm hoping to get my art order in tomorrow. If you can believe it, I'm out of Arches Watercolor paper!

Daily Painting #29 "Lupine Fields"

 "Lupine Fields"

5x7 Watercolor/Gouache

$60.00

Day 29/30 of our Daily Painting Challenge.

Enjoyed painting today - the color choices are bright in lieu of it being an almost monochromatic color scheme outside. I opted for bright and bold inside! It is almost 50 degrees here in Maine today...so what the heck huh! Opera Rose makes me smile :)




Happy Painting
 ~ Kellie

DailyPaintWorks.com
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"Looking Up" 5x7 Watercolor/Gouache

  "Looking Up"

5x7 Watercolor/Gouache

Day 27/30 of our Daily Painting Challenge.

A different perspective on yesterday's painting "THE PATH".  This one is looking straight up through the trees looking at the  moon and the stars in the night sky. I can picture myself laying on the ground just staring up into the night...dreaming. Can't do that right now though...it's freezing out there!

Only 3 more days in the challenge...how is everyone doing? I'm struggling now...ready to do a more detailed painting.

Happy Monday everyone - hope you all have a great week!

~ Kellie

DailyPaintWorks.com
Fine Art America - Kellie Chasse Art
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Slice of Blueberry Heaven - Day 23 Daily Painting

  "Slice of Blueberry Heaven"

5x7 Watercolor/Gouache/Ink

Day 23/30 of our Daily Painting Challenge.


Today was a crazy day! I had a workshop today and got home in the afternoon in 11 degree weather only to find I was locked out of my house. Some how my lock on my door seized up and the key wouldn't go in! So after 15 minutes of trying and freezing my buttocks off.....I ran down to the neighbors. Finally got in long story short.....but didn't get a chance to start my daily painting until this evening and I had no idea what I was going to do. Well, food always seems to work for me - I found a neat picture of a slice of blueberry pie and cropped it!  Just finished it and now I'm off to watch American Idol! Have a great evening everyone, and if your are in Maine or New England...stay warm!


DailyPaintWorks.com
Facebook -Kellie Lynn Art
Twitter - Kellie Lynn Art 
Society6
KellieLynnArtwatercolors
Pinterest