I'm Only An Oil Painting Artist!

 

I have sadly neglected my blog for quite some time again!  This past year (2016) has been a very eventful and fascinating year in my art life!  A couple of years ago I had an opportunity to license a painting of some whimsical snow carolers.  They were printed on popcorn tins during the Christmas shopping season of 2014 and 2015.  It was delightful to see this happen, but I have had some of my work licensed for other products during 2015 and 2016 and amazingly these works have been printed on things like dishes,rugs, pillows, fabric, and so forth.  To tell you about this is way too long and boring, which brings me to the next series of blog posts.  They are fascinating to me, because I'm Only An Artist, but I admire quilters so very much.  The block pictured above is around 100 years old.  This one is from a group that was given to me from my granny's unfinished stash about 20 years ago.  That's a story in itself, and I will share more about it later.  Starting tomorrow I'll be sharing the process of a quilt being made by a lady who is using the fabric from my designs sold by Robert Kaufman.  She has generously shared her process through images and notes and I'm excited about this to say the least!  And, concerning the story of the 100 year old quilt blocks made by my granny and her friends......that will have to come later.  For now, I'll end this post by using Paul Harvey's famous words...please tune in tomorrow to hear...."The Rest Of The Story".

Retro Cat and Red Apples - A Still Life Painting

Retro Cat and Red Apples

6x8 Oil on Canvas

Cheri Wollenberg

 

This little ceramic cat was an article that graced my grandmother's home for many years.  As a child I was fascinated by it as well as other items that she had placed around in various arrangements or on certain table tops with family pictures.  She had 9 children of whom my mother was number 6.  My grandfather had been a farmer all his life except when he served in WWI so they didn't have a lot of monetary things.  Their home was full of love; however my grandmother of 4'11" was a disciplinarian!  I'm sure she had to get her bluff in some way because of her size if not because of the need for organization in a large home and family situation.  Plus, on this side of my life I understand why one would not want 15+ grandkids jumping on her beds.  All this to say, I was not allowed to play with her knick-knacks, but I had a great imagination.  I imagined stories around this little ceramic figure....some of them quite whimsical.  It became one of my possessions when I found it in my mothers garage many years later.  This little painting makes me smile.  I smiled all the time I painted it.  The figurine is in other paintings I've done.  I still get a charge of memory out of arranging it in compositions great and small.  It is listed in my Etsy store.

Christmas Snowman Painting II

Christmas Snowman Painting II

10x10 Oil on Canvas

by

Cheri Wollenberg

This little snowman painting is the second one in a series of snowmen I'm painting for Christmas this year.
He is whimsical and playful.  My inspiration came from a seller on Etsy who makes adorable felted animals.  You can see her creations by following this link: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BearCreekDesign?ref=ss_profile. If you are interested in purchasing prints of my snowmen follow this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/87566997/snowman-fine-art-print-of-original-oil. 

Snowman I - Christmas 2011 Painting

Snowman I

10x10 Original Oil Painting

by

Cheri Wollenberg

Every year I try to do a special daily painting for Christmas.  This painting was for fun, it is not realistic but whimsical at best.  I loved doing him.  I felt like a child again and very playful.  I plan to do several more of these little guys if the mood and brush so dictates.   I was inspired to do this fellow when I saw the most adorable felted snowmen on Etsy by Teresa.  Her handmade creations can be seen by clicking this link:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/BearCreekDesign?ref=ss_profile.  I am selling prints of my snowmen here.