Clementine - Cow Painting

Clementine 

18x18 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Clementine is a black baldy cow.  She seems to be gazing out of a window at her viewer doesn't she?  Our family has been in the cattle business for over 50 years.....going back to my husband's dad who was a farmer and raised cattle.  I especially love to see this crossbred cow mixed with Hereford cows grazing on green pasture.  The design in color, texture, and composition is very exciting for me. For more information on the Black Baldy click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Baldy 

 Clementine is named for a dear friend in Arkansas.  I am honored to know her.  She is a fine, Christian person and mentored my husband and I when we lived in Fayetteville.  For information about buying this cow you can follow this link.  Just CLICK.  

Strawberries and Demitasse

Strawberries and Demitasse

6x8 Stretched Canvas

Still Life Painting by Cheri Wollenberg

I've been buying  fresh strawberries again.  So, this usually means that because they are so beautiful I am compelled to paint little paintings of them before they are all consumed!  In this little composition I arranged the strawberries around this little demitasse, blue and white cup and saucer.  I loved the primary color scheme it created; however, I must confess that I have several more little paintings in the "oven".

This small painting can be found in my Etsy shop.  You can click the widget at your right on the screen or click here.

Lizzy Has A Bad Hair Day - Animal Painting of Cow Named Lizzy

Lizzy Has A Bad Hair Day

16x20 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

I think every female at some time in their life has had a bad hair day!  I visited with my aunt a few days ago and she told me that her day started out bad and for some unknown reason she had not had any good things happen to her.  Her sweet smile indicated to me that her attitude was positive and ready for the good to happen.  We all experience bad days.  Hair makes a lot of difference to some of us and certainly can make a difference in the start of a day. The photo of this cute cow reveals that maybe some cows experience the same thing.  What fun it is for me to make a story from this!!!!  Her hair is between winter and summer coats.  She is a crossbred Charolais cow and she gleamed in the sunlit, green wheat pasture.  The yellow whites against the green created a beautiful and inviting image for me to paint, but I chose warm colors instead for a background in this composition.  I haven't placed her in my Etsy store yet; however, you can click here to go straight to my store,http://www.etsy.com/shop/chatterboxart .  She will be there soon!  You can click on the Etsy widget to the right of this post too.

HAVE A GOOD HAIR DAY!

Snowmen–Paintings and Tins

I couldn’t decide what title to give this post!  I knew it might be a longer post, so steps or parts seemed to be the answer.  I wanted to bring credit to many deserving people who have blessed my life as a painter over the last three years.  So here is my story:

 Each year I try to paint something for the winter season and/or Christmas.  I started out painting realistic scenes and subjects.  I would have them printed into note cards for my personal use.  Then I was very inspired by a young lady who “felts” and sells her work on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/shop/BearCreekDesign) in 2011.  She creates some of the most charming felted snowmen and they seemed to “talk” to me .  It was as if each said “paint my sweet face” and I’ll bring a happy attitude to everyone who sees me during the winter!  I contacted her and asked her permission to allow me to use the images of her adorable little snowmen.  I painted my first two whimsical snowmen in 2011.  Last year I created two more and they are added here:
         
         Snowman III                             SnowmanIV

Part II of my story is kind of like Buzz Lightyear’s approach to life, “Infinity and Beyond”!  However, I would insert the text, “Etsy and Beyond”!  I began to sell on Etsy in 2009.  I have enjoyed this venture so much that it is difficult to explain unless you are an Etsy seller!  I ‘ve met the most wonderful people from all over the world….good, kind people…..sellers who encourage, and buyers who enjoy my work!  For more on this story you can actually go here, see my studio and read more about the process of my work: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChatterBoxArt/about/.

Part III…. Last year from January to July I worked with a young man who has a design firm to create the composition that is on these tins.  He had came up with the idea of the grouping of snowmen and hired me to paint them in my style.  I'm very grateful to him for his trust and confidence in my work.  I'm also grateful that my work was exposed through Etsy and this blog.  I've worked very hard to get my work to the public.

Caroling Snowmen

 

Part IV…….. My work is being displayed on popcorn tins and sold in Walmart stores this month.  These two generous people who let me interpret and express their ideas in my own "style" are absolutely AWESOME!   I wanted to thank them in this post for this opportunity.  My family is very proud of me(lol).  They have pasted the tins all over Face Book.  We have discussed that before this we might not have taken the time to see who the artists are on those wonderful gift items every year.  I think we will be much more interested now... Also, Etsy has provided the opportunity for me to do custom work for  many people.  I enjoy selling there.  Etsy is a great way to get your “hand-made” items seen, and I appreciate the efficiency and work of their staff and people.  My snowmen are available in small prints in my print shop:http://www.etsy.com/shop/artprintsbycheri.  For larger prints (up to 16x16 on canvas) contact me there.

Here is a look at the tins
           

Daisy Painting II by Cheri Wollenberg

Daisy Painting II

14x14 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

Daisies last and stay fresh looking for a long time.  This makes them very desirable to use in floral compositions in paintings.  I enjoyed arranging this still life with neutral, analogous colors and thought that the golden green centers of the daisies would be enhanced by this golden Frankoma pottery piece.  The beige eggs with the gold created a warm mood; however, I couldn't keep from adding something that would give the composition a punch so I placed the blue pitcher in.  The dark background seems to enhance the flowers and create a good contrast.  This painting is in my Etsy store.  To visit click here.

Pears and Turquoise Cup - A Perfect Paisley

Pears and Turquoise Cup

8x8 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

I love to paint pears.  In art school we learn a great deal about composition...how it is constructed and classical views of how to create good composition.  The artist wants to take the eye on a tour.  The artist does this by employing the elements and principles of art to direct the viewers' eye.   Sometimes we do it intentionally and sometimes is purely by accident.......an unconscious or natural tendency when creating a balance in the composition.  The paisley is just a designers' name for a spiraling line of direction.  Here I have a paisley design that is formed with the three golden pears winding from the right edge of the canvas toward a turquoise cup on top of a brick in this painting.   The background and foreground colors and textures are suppressed or are not significant, but was intended to complement the composition.  Please take the tour and give me your comments.  This painting is listed in my Etsy shop.

Blue Hydrangea Painting

Blue and White Hydrangea in Blue and White Vase

6x6 Original Oil Painting

by

Cheri Wollenberg

I have a pretty large collection of blue and white dishes and home decor.  We use our Churchill Blue Willow dishes every day.  I can't resist them. I think these blue and white hydrangea splashed with touches of greens create an interesting composition.  I have this little painting listed in my Etsy shop.  To comment, tweet, like, "pin" or see where to find this painting......Just click the title above.

Cherries and a Sip of Tea - A Painting

Cherries and a Sip of Tea

12x12 Oil on Canvas

Original Painting

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Red, juicy cherries larger than life are scattered in front of a small, turquoise colored tea cup and saucer in this painting.  The cherries are approximately 3 1/2 inches wide.  Placing splashes of pale oranges and greens that were less intense to complement the subjects seemed to calm the composition somewhat.  This one is also for a show coming up. 

Rooster - Rooster Painting

Rooster 6

12x12 Original Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

It won't be long until my husband and I will be moving to our farm home.  I mentioned in an earlier post (June 14)  that my grandson and I had talked about raising some chickens.  He has not forgot!!!  Thinking about chickens again caused me to remember a painting that I did of a rooster.  I never was very happy with the results.  The compostion was not right for the support size.  So this is what I did to this fellow....  I cropped him on the canvas, took my exacto knife and did a little "surgery".  He was painted originally on a 16x20 stretched canvas.  I cropped and cut a 12x12 image from it and I'm much happier now.  The composition reads better.   I glued the painted canvas to a heavy foamboard with archival glue and framed him.  He is in my Etsy shop.  You can see two views...one of him and one of him framed.   Have a look at him.  He is a very welcoming fellow:)

Pink and White Peonies

Pink and White Peonies

18x18 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Last spring one of my students brought some pink peonies for my class to paint in a still life arrangement.  I had some white ones that we mixed with them to make a fuller bouquet.  I can almost smell the fragrance they made as I write this post.  Their aroma is extremely pleasing to me.  As I painted this composition, I changed the peonies to a more peach colored pink in this painting.  They were actually an intense or hot pink color, but this particular "vignette" of peonies, I wanted to do warm tones.  I enjoy the challenge of the anatomy of the particular flower, peony.  Since this image was taken, I've painted the bud in the foreground a little sharper.  I felt it didn't need to be quite so lost and it needed to come more forward.  I have set my white peonies in still lifes every year for about 9 years now.  Each year I find that they are a challenge.  I don't know why they are a little difficult, but I thoroughly enjoy the process of painting them and hope that I learn more each time.  To see the price of this painting you can click Peonies. 

Pears IV

Pears IV

18x18 Original Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Painting oversized pears create an extremely impressive composition.  In today's new homes the ceilings are high and to place a painting almost halfway to the ceiling dewarfs many subjects.    The pears (one in the foreground and two in the background) are four times the size of a real pear, casting shadows across the white table cloth that dissapears to a rustic, dark red background.  This is my fourth painting this year of larger than life pears.  The others were requested by different buyers.  Click Pears to get more information about the size and price:)