Brande Arno Art

"Buffalo Cardinal" 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 55.   Buy on Etsy This painting is the second of my 2014 Christmas Cardinal series.  Western NY (Buffalo area) got slammed and I mean slammed with a major snow storm.  My heart is broken as about 13 people are reported to have died from this storm.  Sadly, more could be discovered as five feet of snow in less than one day shuts down roads and leaves those drivers stranded. Yesterday, where I live (Rochester area of NY) a few inches of snow fell.  For about an hour though, it was coming down thickly and I thought about complaining.  Because of my addiction to watching the birds at my feeder, I've seen them endure harsh winter weather with determination and grace. They are an inspiration to me, so instead of voicing my complaint, I gratefully started supper.  

"Ferret Angel" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Nibblefest Art Contest, NFAC Sold, Thank you The theme for the November 2014 Nibblefest is two creatures in one.  When I gave it some thought, I knew I was going to put angel wings on some kind of animal.   Then I narrowed that animal down to either a Ferret or a Meerkat.  It wasn't until I actually sat down to paint that I decided to paint a Ferret.  So here you have it, a very hard to find Angel -Winged Ferret.  Like all NFAC or Nibblefest Art Contests, this piece opens with a bid of .99 cents and auction will close on November 27. On another note, I received quite a bit of positive feedback from yesterday's post "Rocky".  I'm kinda glowing inside.  It was very nice opening so many emails. 

"Rocky" Commission Portrait I really enjoyed painting Rocky's portrait.  I've never met this charmer, but I'd bet he's a very loving dog.  I worked on this portrait in three stages.  You can look at my Facebook process pictures HERE . I love painting portraits of doggies and kitties and I'm always looking for an excuse to do so.  

"2014 Christmas Cardinal No. 1" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold, Thank you It's snowing outside and my woods have been transformed into a winter wonderland.  Normally first snow results with me gazing out the window with wonderment and awe. This year, I'm reacting in fear with shock and awe. See, I haven't fully recovered from the winter of 2013 -2014.  That winter was RUDE.  That winter was MEAN.  That winter was a BULLY.  Wait a minute!  I haven't fully re-absorbed all that stress hormone, cortisol...I need more time. So, even though I've filed a complete and detailed complaint, it's still snowing.  A better use of my time would be to paint a Christmas Cardinal. Just like there's more snow in my future, so will it go for my Christmas Cardinal Paintings.  

"Amy's First Shoes" 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Collection of the Artist There is a paint copper challenge on Daily Paintworks.  I normally don't paint metal because...well it's difficult and I have enough problems with self esteem.  But the temptation was too great when the metal was copper.  Back in 197_ I decided to get my daughter's first pair of baby shoes dipped in copper and mounted. Traditionally baby shoes were dipped in Bronze.  But I loved copper and it was a choice.  Some people went overboard and got their baby's shoes dipped in silver.  But not me, because I didn't want to eat macaroni and cheese more than the month it would take to save for copper.  Let me tell you...Painting copper is harder than I feared it would be.  But after 4 scape's, I got this and I'm more than pleased.  So thank you, Carol Marine for posting the challenge.  I learned more than I should have! Below is the actual shoes and the the

"Post Road Cow" 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 60.  Buy on Etsy The photo source is one that I snapped while participating in a plein air painting competition in Geneva,  NY.  Since I discovered them in 2012, the herd and I spend at least three hours together if not all day as I try to create a plein air painting featuring them.  How do I do that?  Well memory and my experience learning that most animals will repeat their poses given enough time.   Having their babies grazing with them makes the attraction all the more harder to resist.  This year, however, they were way too far back in the field for me to paint plein air.  I painted a few barn scenes and then returned only to find them back there every time, so I resorted to taking pictures for future studio work.  

Samantha 6 x 6 inches, oil on Gessoboard Collection of the Artist A bird flew high, fast and hit one of my two large studio windows.  It was such a horrible noise.  While I was running down my stairs to go outside and check, I was hoping against hope that the bird would be just stunned, but she broke her neck and passed very quickly.    Seeing this bird on the ground and knowing how she died, I was in shock.  A flashing thought that Cardinals mate for life brought my heart down even more.  Then the artist in me couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was.  I studied her feathers, her eyes and decided I would feel better if I made a painting of her.  She wasn't given a name in life, but I gave her the name Samantha. The pose is from a photographic source. I chose this pose because of the gesture, almost like the bird is asking why are you sad?  Samantha's unique coloring is what I wanted to capture and I'm thankful that I have a measure of artistic skil

"Clamped In" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard  I painted this sweet heart the day after I wasted three hours trying to salvage a hopeless painting.  It was a long walk on a short Pier. I want to tell myself that I'm learning by trying to fix a failed painting.  But what I have to learn is when to fold um.  In my case, because I like fresh brushwork and after a certain point of maybe this, maybe that with the brush...it's lost.

"Ready, Set, Go" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Buy on Etsy I don't know why, but a plethora of Robins, Titmouses, Finches and yes, Chickadees were at the bird feeder all at once.  Reminded me of a flashmob, birdie style. I'm not sure, but it looked like some of these delicate creatures were working the feeders, throwing the millet to the ground in favor of the black sunflowers seed.  Note:  I'll be moving to pure black sunflower seed next week.   Just goes to show, you don't have to be an egg-head to be smart.

"Spying Chickadee", 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 50.  Click to Buy Today was another stellar fall day and my hand injury of yesterday does not hurt...It's a beautiful life!  Celebrated both with this chickadee painting.  

"Election Day Chickadee" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold - Thank you Today was an exceptionally wonderful day, in terms of weather.  So I knew closing the garden would be part of my day.  I was able to finish all the work, to include moving two perennials to new homes.  This way, they have all winter to work on their root legs. So glad I was able to paint this sweet little dee.  Not sure what will happen tomorrow because although I got lots of garden work finished...I decided to use my shovel to cut back a plant and hit a buried rock hard, jamming tissue in my painting hand.  I did vote and hope you did too!