Brande Arno Art

Sea Otter Painting, 5 x 7 inches -  Click to Buy Oil on Gessoboard - $ 60.  Otters are cool.  This guy has his paws on what he considers a cookie.  You know, one of the filled ones that we identify as clams.  Sea Otters float on their backs and support whatever they're about to eat on their belly shelf.   Then a simple 360 rotation and the table, face and hands are swished clean ready for the next seating.

Nibblefest Art Contest -Sold 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Panel This month's Nibblefest Art Contest or NFAC, has a Space/Planets/Stars theme.  So don't you know the first thing that came to mind was the "Lost in Space" TV Show. Then the B-9 Robot.  But really, space is not cute, and I like to make cute paintings for Nibblefest.   See how I talk to myself? So looking closer at what I think is cute, the top of the list are mice.  Although let it be known right here and now,  not a one of them are welcomed in my house.   What goes with mice...cheese.  Mice and cheese,  like toast and tea.  Somewhere in my childhood, I learned that the moon was made of swiss cheese.  So there you have it!  A cute mouse, on the moon and nibbling on the abundant supply of swiss cheese, with the earth off to the side.

5 x 5 inches, $ 55. Oil on Panel - etsy link Today, I struggled with a strong desire to go clothes shopping instead of studio time.  You see, I was overcome with fear today, fear that I'd paint a dud.  If it was a bright sunny day, I probably would have went shopping, but it was instead a day with overcast skies and threat of rain. Glad I faced my fear today and completed this bird.  The photo source is unusual where poses are concerned, but I wanted the challenge and I'm pleased with the result.  Now on to cleaning the studio.   

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Panel - Sold I've been busy with keeping records and trying to be very aware of my creative process.  Today's painting comes after a couple of hours loosening up with a failed painting.  So I changed subjects and tried again.  The song I painted to was a broken record that went something like this: Oh what the hell, you're running out of time, just get something done...how many days are you going to go without posting a painting?  You have to get something done...Just do it!  Now this can go one of two ways.   First and best way is, you throw caution to the wind and really loosen up, every brush stroke magically works and you don't have time to overwork a painting.   Second and worst way is, things get bad fast, you can't concentrate, draw, mix colors...squeeze paint out of the tube because you failed the first time. What about the middle, why does it have to be about extremes?  I answer that by offering...

5 x 7 inches, Oil on Gessoboard- $60. Click to Buy My husband and I have dinner date night on Fridays and have three favorite restaurants.  So once every three weeks we visit The Big Bass Brasserie, where they feature first class food, wine and a brew master on site.  A very cozy environment complete with a  Bass in a rather large tank.  He's happy to be swimming and poking around the rocks and artificial greenery in the tank with him. With this painting, I used my picture of said Bass.  I'll post that below.  I changed the angle of the tail to capture movement and I had fun spattering some darker mixtures and making bubbles. I went into this painting knowing that I'd struggle on the water.  I must be oil or something, because water does not let me get close to capturing it.  So I decided the best way to solve that weakness was to make strong verticals for water then add a squiggle here and there.   Strong verticals also ...

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard  Bid Now This is the homework for a on-line course and the facebook link is  Here  to show the full homework.  The course link is  Here This will focus on being comfortable talking about my art, the process and inspiration.  Taking advantage of social media, creating a mailing list for newsletters...in other words, get up- to- date. There was inspiration and process noted on the facebook links.  Please click one or both if you're curious.

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard - Sold I've been exercising lately.  My hope is to get some flexibility and muscle strength.  I've given up on loosing weight...but enough about that because today, I want to focus on the Easter Bunny.   Children really enjoy the special talents of the Easter bunny.  How he comes up with all kinds of hiding places for Easter Baskets and eggs.   I have wonderful memories of said activities stretching (pun intended) from my childhood to watching my granddaughter.  So in honor of the yearly work of the Easter Bunny and my ever increasing need of exercise, I created Palates Bunny .  Why not combine the two? Thinking more about the Easter Bunny, I wonder why he stops hiding eggs when the youngest child gets wise to him.  The last Easter Egg hunt I had was in 2011, when the Easter Bunny asked this grandma to hide all the freshly dyed eggs.  I didn't count or keep track of their location.  We ended...

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard-Sold This is my favorite shed in the neighborhood.  It's worse for wear, but has so much character because of it.  Yesterday was such a sunny day, in spite of being April Fool's day.  I was driving home from an appointment and passed this shed.  The sun light on this shed made me turn around. Maybe if it wasn't the first real nice sunny day, I would have drove by, but not yesterday.  Enjoyed just looking at the shed and then took a few pictures, knowing that today, I'd be making a painting of it.  Which makes it the sixth or so painting of this shed.  Different seasons, same shed.