So I tried the flowers.  Not so good....

I'm going to be optimistic and assume I will improve with each attempt.  Hopefully when I begin to paint my very large flower bouquets next week I'll be a lot better.

Don't worry!  I would never paint flowers without an animal standing near by.

Oh Daisy

4" x 4"

oil on canvas

Dream lover.

It's obvious I love painting penguins.

Sometimes after I finish a large body of work I am excited to jump right into the next project.  Instead, I try to take a little break to paint for fun.  I also try and work on things I may not be great at....which currently is flowers.  My next project is flowers and I'm not great at painting them.  I've done a few here and there but the large, glowing and colorful bouquets I'm envisioning are new for me.

I'm SO excited to get started but first....practice, practice, practice.

In the meantime....a doodle of my favorites!

4" x 4"

Penguin study

oil on canvas

Birthday cards...I love painting these little freaks.

Well, I finished up this group of biggies.  I really enjoyed working on these....but I'm excited to see them go to market.  Hopefully they will find their way into peoples homes and hearts.

The Meringue

The Bandits

Halloween

Cotton

Pepper

All of these paintings are for sale at Pryor Fine Art.

http://pryorfineart.com/cgi-bin/artist.cgi?id=148&artist=Ashley-Surber

(For some reason this close-up makes the background look white...it's not...

it's a very pale shade of blue.) 

The Bandits....

I love a raccoon lately.  I know they're mischievous and smarter than their own good but they have adorable little hands!  They can pick stuff up just like us!  And those eyes...swoon.

Anyway, I can't wait to paint more of these troublemakers.

For now, I hope you enjoy this giant painting of these two.

The Bandits

4' x 5'

oil on canvas

O.k. y'all.  This painting started out like any other.  Almost all of my paintings start with this sepia-toned under painting.  After I finished the under painting I did a few more layers....all still very monochromatic.

That's when it happened.  I fell in love with the monochromatic flamingo.  I just couldn't bring myself to go pink or anything else.

And then, of course, after a week I HAD to add a little blue.

The Ghost

16" x 20"

oil on canvas

Yellow.

I painted this guy a while ago.  I started it with another group of work but never finished it because of....

You guessed it!  The baby.

I love the way it turned out and actually had it hanging in my stairwell for a long time.  Now it is at The Atelier Galleries in Charleston.

So long good buddy....

Yellow

24" x 30"

oil on canvas

I'm ashamed to say this painting took WAY too long to complete.  Why?  Because of that ball and my decision to paint the entire thing blue/purple.  More purple than blue?

Anyway, I had to pull the ole' color wheel out and everything....and what did I decide?  Blue/purple...more purple than blue.

Halloween

36" x 36"

oil on canvas

I don't know why but I love painting cotton candy.  

Probably because it's delicious and pink and just awesome...but what I REALLY love is painting a cone of cotton candy in the flippers of a penguin.

Cotton

48" x 60"

oil on canvas

Pepper.

This was a bit of a departure for me.  I've never painted a sheep/ram before and actually never even thought about it.  I came across a photo of this guy (kind of...realism is not my strong suit) and I fell in love.  I had to try it and I have to say I want to paint him again and again.

Pepper is the little guy on top.  A dainty little thing that is as fascinated as I am with the sheep....or is it a ram?

Anyway....

Pepper

4' x 5'

Oil on Canvas

Hey!

It's been a while since I posted anything on here.  I had another baby and shockingly these girls take up most of my time. 

I painted this piece over a longer period of time.  It was just a busy time of year and it seemed to take many, many layers.  I love the way it turned out!  Fun fact...I try never to use black paint....it flattens things out it seems.  

My baby, Etta Mae, loves this painting so it is rightfully titled The Meringue...she was a lemon meringue pie for Halloween.

The Meringue

4' x 5'

Oil on Canvas