30 in 30 Challenge Collage and My Thoughts

Presenting my collage of all the paintings I completed in the 30 in 30 day painting challenge!

Miniatures in collage available Here.
Small Paintings in collage available Here.


Well my family and I made it through the 30 in 30 Day Painting Challenge! It was definitely a fast pace and the month is a bit of a blur. lol I definitely got more paintings completed than  if I hadn't been involved in the challenge.

 It was challenging due to the fact that I work from life, either at my home or by travelling to a location to paint En Plein Air. I did enjoy picking many of my botanical subjects from my gardens or while I was on my morning walks. It was also enjoyable painting during the beautiful month of September in some of my favorite painting locations.

Painting daily really creates momentum and muscle memory. It eliminates any hesitation artists experience sometimes, after taking long breaks in between paintings. I will continue to paint almost everyday, but not necessarily finish a painting a day. I enjoy being reflective and also tackling larger works which take longer than one day. 

It was not just the painting that took time in this challenge, but all the behind the scenes work. Just blogging, adding work to my website and adding a link to our host Leslie Saeta's blog took quite a bit of time. However, I am happy I participated. Now that I can work at my art full time, it made me realize how I can fit daily painting into my schedule. I realized that I really enjoy balance in my schedule, time to be reflective and time to explore new ideas. The insight that I gained from the challenge was very beneficial. It was also fun being a part of an "art movement" with such a large group of global artists. Great camaraderie! Many thanks go to Leslie Saeta for once again hosting this challenge.

I would like to especially thank my family for their patience and support during the challenge. Big thanks goes to my son Brett who took photographs of my work almost daily!
Thanks to all my followers who received my work via email, commented or liked my posts on facebook. Your support and cheering kept me going!

Next on my agenda is more painting and publishing my next ezine!

Warmly,
Debbie

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Dairy of a Plein Air Painter #22

Purple Trails, 3x3in.Oil on linen/panel. 

Available Here

Purple Trails

"Petunia trail happily, spilling over floral bins in the warm summer breeze."

Debbie Lamey-MacDonald

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Plymouth, Nova Scotia.

My car was in for repairs, so I decided to paint en plein air on my back doorstep. With my flower gardens in bloom, there is never a loss for subject matter. I love how these miniature petunias happily trailed over top of  a flower bin and how the light created varied violet hues in their petals. 

My Subject

My Set Up

I view these little miniatures as meditation in motion. With nature strumming on around me it is a wonderful feeling to feel present while a peaceful shift occurs. As I painted, our beautiful sunny day turned into a cold and cloudy one. Such strange and unpredictable weather! I'm glad I seized the moment when I did as it passed quickly. Truly something to keep in mind as we navigate through life; screening out what is really important and enjoying small moments that are right in front of our eyes.

Warmly,

Debbie

P.S. While I painted hummingbirds nosily zoomed to and fro to my feeder hanging on the deck. They really are quite entertaining for such small creatures!

P.P.S. Visual memory really does come in handy when the weather decides to change in the midst of a painting. It is important to not change what you have already completed and continue on your initial plan for your painting. 

Special Note: If you had signed up for my blog posts to arrive in your email inbox, I finally have that enabled! Thanks so much for your patience. 

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"Violet Heads" -New Miniature

Violet Heads, 3x2in. Oil on linen/panel. $55

Available Here

Violet Heads

"As the herb garden awakens, violet headed chives sway about in a gentle breeze."

Debbie Lamey-MacDonald 

This past Spring when my herb garden was overgrown and full of weeds a bundle of chives decided to bloom in spite of their surroundings. Their violet coloured heads made me smile and were a wonderful discovery after a long winter.

I love puttering around my herb garden, filled with lovely scents and little discoveries. It seemed fitting to capture a couple of these interesting looking flowers in a miniature painting. I really enjoyed observing their intricacies and various hues.

During my creation of this miniature, I posted various stages of my process on Facebook. Here are a few photos of my various stages. I hope you enjoy viewing my process.

My subject--chives from my herb garden.

Subject set up--sketch in charcoal--bring on the paint!

In progress

Subject comes to life in paint!

I hope you get to wander in nature and drink up her intimate glimpses of beauty. Beauty is often not the grandeur, but the little glimpses of something incidental. These little moments of observed beauty make us stop and come into a present moment. For me...that is how I renew my spirit. How about you?

Warmly,

Debbie

Quick Links:

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Diary of a Plein Air Painter #19

4x4in. Oil on linen/panel

Available Here

First Day of Summer

"Raspberry bushes dance happily as their blossoms announce the arrival of summer."

Debbie Lamey-MacDonald

Friday, June 21, 2013

MacLellan's Brook, Nova Scotia.

9:00-10:45 a.m.

Finally on the first official day of summer I have escaped life's duties and returned to one of my old haunts. It is my first plein air painting of the season after a cold and rainy Spring. I have decided to paint a miniature painting to get reacquainted with the rhythm of being on location again.

Raspberry Blossoms, MacLellan's Brook, Nova Scotia

This morning as I drove down an old lane I was attracted to the abundance of raspberry blossoms swaying in a gentle breeze. I liked the grayish background and how they rhythmically arced to and fro with flicks of white blossoms scattered along their branches. They reminded me of butterflies and seemed to be happy to dance about.

Almost Finished!

My goal was to capture their movement and wildness omitting fine detail so as not to look laboured. Fresh strokes of paint without fiddling was necessary. This was an easy painting to go " too far" in completing, which would result in losing its freshness. I had to mentally tell myself to stop painting and resist the urge to add a bit more detail or flicks of paint. Knowing when to stop painting is a discipline in itself!

 Photo of the scenery around me

It was such a joy to be back out on location! How I have missed having all my senses engaged and the solitude of nature. Cheers to future outings!

Warmly,

Debbie

P.S. As I painted in the open field, butterflies fluttered past me, while bees buzzed close by. A gentle breeze made the trees rustle softly and helped keep the black flies at bay.

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Capturing Simplicity with Miniatures

I am participating in Leslie Saeta's  30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days Challenge and today our assignment was to make a collage featuring our work. I decided to highlight examples of my miniature paintings. Some are still available in my Fine Art Shop, while others have happily made their way to collectors. These are very affordable original fine art paintings and make unique gifts for someone special in your life. All work is painted from life in my studio or on location. 

I created this collage using an online photo editor called iPiccy.com. I love this editor and have really enjoyed making buttons etc. for my shop and blog posts. It is user friendly and lots of fun to use! Feel free to give it a try! Also it is not too late to join in on the marketing challenge if you are interested.

Wishing you a smooth sailing week ahead!

Warmly,

Debbie

Quick Links:

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Spring is.....

With Easter comes a feeling of renewal. It seems to bring a sense of anticipation, knowing that Spring is just around the corner. As a child I remember feeling the excitement of shedding winter coats in exchange for light spring jackets and new rubber boots!

Come along as I take you on a  journey of what

                                          

                                               Spring is....

              Spring is... 

                                                  pink rubber boots and enticing mud puddles!

"Together" Available

... shiny new marbles and twirling earth pots. 

"Rolling Along", Prints Available

                          Spring is... 

                                                                 muddy fingers, earthy mud pots...

and the sight of our winged friends' arrival!

"Announcing Spring", Prints Available

                                  Spring is ...

                                             the softness of pussy willows 

"Thoughts of Spring", Available , Prints Available

and their timelessness captured in glass bottles. 

                            Spring is ... 

             a rainbow of blooms...

"A Burst of Cheer",  Prints Available

...and delicate petals of varied hues.

                             Spring is ...

             renewal of spirit,

"A Sweet Scent",  Prints Available

...blossoms unfolding,

and mother nature's rebirth.

"Spring Dance", Prints Available

Wishing you a Happy Easter,
and 
May the sights and sounds of Spring 
bring you joy and upliftment!

Warmly,
Debbie

P.S. Featured work is available as prints and/or an original painting. Just click on the links below the photo. :D

Quick Links:

Fine Art Shop

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Facebook

Imagekind --for reproductions

Fine Art America--for reproductions

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Sign up for new blog posts in the side bar on this page. Then enjoy special delivery to your email box!

Movie Making and Egg Shells!

Well I am getting adventurous! I am taking Leslie Saeta's WebinARTS course, which I was lucky enough to win in her Christmas Giveaway Contests. It is a great course and one of our assignments was to try making a movie using our artwork.

I decided to create a movie of progress photos I had of a miniature painting of egg shells. Their are several programs to create these movies in, but I found Windows Movie Maker to be quite straightforward and pretty easy to use. I made the cover page as a button, saved it and used it as my intro and ending page with my shop link on it. Hope you enjoy watching it!

On another note I started adding more work to Imagekind a printing company where you can order prints of my paintings. Collecting prints is another economical way to enhance your space and let your mind wander as you reflect on the memories or feelings fine art evokes. Imagekind have several different formats in which you can buy your prints: framed, on canvas etc.

The following two paintings have been added recently to Imagekind.

You can purchase prints of "Rolling Along" here.

You can purchase prints of "Petal by Petal" here.

Thanks for looking! I'm heading to my studio to work on a larger still life I hope to finish this weekend. Trying to stay warm in these frigid temperatures in Nova Scotia this past week! Wishing you a great weekend!

Warmly,
Debbie

P.S. I will be sending out my Ezine soon. You may subscribe here. My current Auctions can be found here. Also you can have new blog posts delivered to your inbox through the link on the sidebar of this page.Thanks!