For some reason I keep loseing this blog post--this is the 3rd and final time I will try to post it. Happy Election Day! I'm glad it's almost over & will be glad to not have to hear the politics on tv so much. LOL! Anyway my contest is over & I will be posting winner tomorrow. Didn't have a lot of participation--but some. Maybe next time will be better. I am posting some new pictures taken today of the view out my front door with the colors --I hope you enjoy! Also, I want to share a friend's shop with you. Her name is Arlene and she has been a friend of mine for many years. She lives in Michigan and also has an etsy shop. It is http://paintindaze.etsy.com/. I hope you will take a moment and check out her shop for some beautiful artwork as well as great prices. I will post some of her work here to give you just a little taste of what she does. Have a great day!

Election day! Finally we can be finished with all of the politics. (lol) right! Anyway, I will be staying up late to watch the election results. No matter who we have selected, God is in control. I believe it is He who ultimately chooses for His purpose. I have taken another picture from my front view with all of the pretty colors. I hope you enjoy. We do have an amazing view here and it is always changing. I will be anouncing the winner of my give away tomorrow and posting the prints I have given away. Thanks to all who participated. Although the turn out was small, maybe more will participate next time.

I want to take a moment to feature a friend of mine. Her name is Arlene and she lives in Michigan. She is a wonderful artist. I will be posting some of her work here and hope that you will visit her site. She has an etsy shop which is http://paintindaze.etsy.com/. Please take a moment and pay her a visit.

Here are some more pictures of our home. I have others that I will locate and publish later. I hope you will enjoy & coment on these.

This time of year is so pretty and the view I have from my front porch is amazing. I know you will envy me when you see this photograph, eventhough, it no where near captures the beauty, it will give you a little taste of it. If the earth is a beautiful as this, what must heaven be like? I'll post other photos periodically of my world view as it changes with the time of day and the season. It is always beautiful.
This week, I will be picking up Sandy Abuchaun at the airport on Thursday. She is coming to teach some painting techniques to our club, the Kingsport branch of Decorative Painters,"Different Strokes for Tole Folks". I feel fortunate as she will be staying with me for a few days. I know it will be a great time and there is always something to learn from other artist. Next spring we will be having Dorothy Dent. I hope she will stay with me as well.
I think I will post some pictures of my home, it is not fancy, but I have painted much of it. I hope you will enjoy looking at a little of my world.

Contest! I am having a contest for both of my shops. I will be giving away an 8 x 10 Limited Edition print from each of my shops- www.backroomtreasures.etsy.com and www.stonecottagestudio.etsy.com . I want to see which of my pieces of artwork you like the best in each shop. I realize that just because a person doesn't buy the item doesn't mean they don't like it. So, I would like to know which item you like best in each shop. The contest will last from today until through Saturday, November 1st. Here's what you do: Visit my shops and come back to my blog, and leave a note telling me which item you like the best. By all of the comments left, I will put your name in a drawing and give away an 8 x 10 Limited edition print for each shop. So please visit my shop and let me know what you like & may YOU be the winner!

Have you seen my little aceo or the notecards "His Eye is on the Sparrow"? I have given away hundreds of this little sparrow. I have sold quite a few of him as well. The reason I give them away is because I want to use the sparrow as a reminder of God's love. The Sparrow was originally painted for a friend undergoing a bone marrow transplant. I was listening to the old hymn with the same title "His Eye is on the Sparrow" and I was reminded of God's love and care for us. So, I painted the little original for my friend and sent it off to her. So, now, anytime I hear of a person who has cancer, or is going through a difficult time, I like to send them one. If you are that person, or know of a person who could use a little encouragement, please let me know, you don't have to give any details, and I will be glad to send you or them a sparrow that they can keep as a reminder that God cares for them and for what they are going through. Just send me an email with your address where to send it and I'll be glad to send you a sparrow. I will post a picture here of it so you can see.

Here are some of my most recent paintings from both shops

The summer is finally over and it is Fall Yall! This is such a beautiful time of year. The colors, the sights and smells. I love the smell of wood burning. Love to step outside and smell that someone is burning their fireplace. I love the smell of hot cinnamon cider, corn mazes and hayrides! It just takes me back. I grew up in Michigan and this time of year is so beautiful there. Here, in E. Tennessee, The mountains are beginning to look like a brightly colored patchwork quilt. There is inspiration all around for painting, it's just having the time. I have been keeping myself busy the past several months teaching art classes. I have taught 2 drawing classes at the Johnson City Senior Center. I have just finished teaching a drawing class at the Jonesborough Senior Center. I teach a decorative painting class every Thursday at 1:30 at the Jonesborough Senior Center. This class is is open to all. The cost is only $5.00 and I supply the paint and project. The class is growing and may soon need to be divided into 2 separate classes as to give more attention to each student. I also teach an acrylic on canvas painting class on Wednesdays. These classes are for 3 weeks, then we take a break until time for the next project. Currently we are painting a cottage. Our next project will be a brightly colored cardinal in a holly bush. I am so thankful to have these classes & for each student. It is so exciting to see them create a project that they thought they couldn't do. Also, just watching their improvement is a real blessing.

Hello, I haven't blogged in about 1 year! Wow! The year has flown by! I have opened a new shop, Stonecottagestudio@etsy.com . Please stop by an visit. My other shop, backroomtreasures has gotten so full, just too much for people to go through, and I wanted to do a cutsie-pie style of artwork, so I opened Stone Cottage. Actually, Stone Cottge Studio is all new. We have converted our huge garage into a studio. That really took so doing. The drywall is not up as of yet, but it has been insulated and has air conditioning. So, it is usable. I have been uysing it too. It is so nice to have a place to paint and not worry about leaving things out. Better than that, not having painting items all through the house and having to spend lots of time hunting for the items I need.

I am also teaching 4-5 classes per week now. It is such fun. I have two drawing classes I teach at area senior centers, they are the drawing on the right side of the brain ciriculum. Then I teach a beginner decorative painting class, a kids Wed night class and every now and then a canvas painting class. The next one is coming up soon. It will be a cottage and a bridge done in sort of a Kincaide style. Please visit my original shop backroomtreasures as well as my new shop and send me a convo anytime.

Hello again! I haven't blogged in a long time! Many things have changed. I think the last blog, I had just started expirimenting with Aceo's ( 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" paintings). I have done so many of those now that when asked to do a 4 x 4 mini painting for the Arts Dinner Silent Auction Charity, it was no problem, seemed like painting LARGE. I did 2 of them. I have sold quite a few of these little treasures, mostly on ebay. Some for opening bid, and some for a pretty penny! I love it when that happens. It doesn't happen often enough though. I do love to use my artwork to help others. I think I will begin actively looking for ways that I can help with my artwork. Recently, an etsy friend, Sharon Foster told me about an animal rescue that had burned and they were trying to raise money. I was able to send some cute dog & cat prints to be put into a basket to be raffled off. I love painting the animals, and why not use the artwork of animals to help them? I would like to encourage some of you who paint to do the same.
Also, there are always plenty of charities and causes around to help raise money for. Currenty on etsy is the MoxieRings fund. A fellow etsy shop keeper's husband was killed in a tragic car accident on Feb. 10th. You can look up the Moxie Fund and buy something or list something & the proceeds will go to that fund.
Enough about that. I have a new grandson! Denis Mariano Lavery, born Jan. 10th 2007 weighing in at 8.9lbs! I have a picture I painted of he & his father, called "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" I'll try to load it on this site right away. Haven't done this for awhile so, it make take some time to become famaliar again. Also, the site has changed. Anyway, you can see it on my etsy site. It is listed under sold items, I haven't relisted it yet. The original went to the proud parents.

Meanwhile, Coby, my firstborn grandson, is still the subject of many paintings. I will be soon doing a painting of him petting a cow. It will be from a photograph taken last fall. I would have done it sooner, but my entire hard drive on my computer was wiped out & that is something that was never recovered. Lucky for me, my niece has the picture on her computer.
I did one little Aceo painting that I wanted to mention called, "His Eye is on the Sparrow". This was inspired by the song with the same title. The original was painted for a friend of my in the hospital at UAB having a bone marrow transplant. I just wanted to remind her with this painting that God watches out for the little sparrow and that He's watching over her as well. So far, things are going well for her and she is back to work teaching! The little sparrow print has been sold many times and has been given away free many, many more times. I enjoy sending him out to people who need a hug. I have gotten so many good emails from people regarding the sparrow. He is with people all over the country now and that makes me feel pretty good. If you need one, please let me know. I'll send you one free.
When I get back to adding my pictures, I will also add a few recepies with pictures of really yummy stuff. Thanks for stopping by. Judy

Art LoversHello, I can't believe it's August already. I don't know where the summer has gone. I haven't even taken the time for the really fun stuff yet. It's too hot right now to do anything anyway, maybe September! I've been spending too much time on the computer. But, I have learned about something fairly new in the artworld, or collectors world- well actually both. ACEO's I had never heard of any such thing until just recently. Art Card Edition/ Originals. This is a very inexpensive way to own original artwork. You may totally love an artist but can't afford to buy their originals, well with the Art Card Editions, you CAN have an original at a very affordable price. How cool is that! You don't have to settle for a print. I have been checking on etsy and on ebay so I decided to do a few myself. I have to say though, I guess I have got to get stronger glasses, finer brushes and practice painting the small stuff. It is kind of hard for me. I will be making some of my large paintings into these 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" mini prints though. the ones I have done already and have not yet listed look great. Oh, how I wish I could paint originals that good that small! You can check them out on ebay. I am listed as backroomtreasures01. Check them out.
I have just finished painting a mural at an area spa & I will try to post some pictures to this site as well as some of the murals I have done in my own home. Happy painting until next time. Judy

Hello, My name is Judy O'Hara. I live in East Tennessee. Welcome to my blog. My blog is mainly about Art and painting. I love to paint. I have been painting for about 15 years or so. Currently I have 2 shops on etsy. In case you are not familiar with etsy, it is a site that has only been in existence for just over 1 year. The site is set up for crafters and artist to sell their work. It is very inexpensive and unlike ebay, it is not an auction.

You can view some of my artwork at www.backroomtreasures.etsy.com and www.eltonious.etsy.com. I hope that you will visit and let me know what you think.

I will be talking a lot about artwork, not only my own but friends and other artist as well. I am a member of two art leagues. One is the Watauga Valley Art League of Johnson City Tenn. The other is the decorative artist club, Different Strokes for Tole Folks in Kingsport Tenn. (that's the local chapter-I am also a member of the national association)

There are many talented artist in this area. Something about artist, I find them to be the nicest people. Many are just so talented and humble as well as very helpful and many are also great cooks.

As an artsy kind of person, I am not the best organized person, I have to admit I am sadly lacking in organizational skills. I do try hard but it sure doesn't come easy.

I gotta say that I believe practice is the thing that has helped me to improve the most. I am mainly a self-taught artist, although I have attended a few classes and workshops. Probably the second thing that has helped me is Betty Edwards book, "Drawing on the right side of the brain." If you would like to learn to draw but feel you can't, just look at the first chapter of her book. What an improvement those students made in such a short time! Wow, it showed me that anyone can learn to draw. The talent is not in the hand, it is in the eye. You must learn to really see, not just to glance at something and think you know what it looks like. Check it out and better yet, try it! I know you will be surprised to find that you really can do it.

I love to look at other artists work and occasionally to buy other artist work. The last couple of pieces I bought are, "Greg's quilt" from Sharon Foster on etsy. It's a beautiful watercolor painting of course, of a quilt. The other, I bought at the Sycamore Shoals Art show from a friend in the league, Barbara Jernigan. The print is called "Capitol Nostalgia" another watercolor- doesn't just about every major city have an old Capitol Theatre? Maybe you notice that both prints are watercolors! I am just learning to paint in watercolors. I plan to take a class this fall from a very talented watercolor artist in the area. I can't wait.

Right now, I am just about to finish up a mural I am working on in an area Spa. I will post pictures of it when I am finished. Murals are one of my passions, my entire house has many murals, it just gives the home so much character. Maybe I'll add some pictures later on. The only problem, I'm pretty much out of space and I'v found a few things I's like to add. What will I do??

I will also post some of my favorite recepies later on for others to try. I have millions of them- I'm not kidding. I finally broke down a few months ago and got rid of a couple of boxes of recepie books- thats when I was doing the flylady.com thing. I really need to get back to that. It really works. Probably helped me more than any other thing I've tried to get my house in order.

Another artist friend of my is Arlene, she has a site on etsy also, don't know if she has anything listed at the moment. She lives in Michigan, where I used to live. Her site is www.paintindaze.etsy.com. She is so talented and so humble. She also has encouraged me more than any other friend, although I have many friends who have encouraged me so much!! Thanks to all of them. Arlene encouraged me when I felt like giving up. She is also a wonderful christian friend and sister in Christ.

I think I've said enough for now and its getting late--so until next-May God Bless