Brande Arno Art

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard - $75.  Buy on Etsy Today, I planned to paint a shack.  I had an excellent start to the painting and was so happy.  Lasted about one hour.  I dug myself and the shack in a big hole. We couldn't crawl out so I had to scrape it all off. I wasn't going to give up on getting a painting, so I looked through my camera and found this little girl.  She was being a good girl at our local farmers market.   She was very friendly and pretty much posed for me.  I wish that I'd taken a minute back then to ask for and then write her name down on a piece of paper so I could lose that too. She had an ID bracelet on and I made it a little prettier than it really was.  Now, I didn't have to do that with her...she was pretty inside and out. 

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard  Sold, Thank you I'm brushing up on my plein air skills to get ready for the annual Seneca Lake Plein Air Festival.  The artists arrive at headquarters, which is The Smith Center for the Arts, on Wednesday, September 30.  We paint outdoors on Thursday and Friday.  On Saturday evening is a gala show and sale.   I'm a charter artist and I love this event.  A link for complete details is  Smith Arts In the western part of NY, the weather has been heavenly.  The sun is casting wonderful shadows and the sky is a beautiful shade of blue with clouds that tempt me to just paint them.  In spite of the perfect painting environment, I still had trouble finding a subject to paint.  Mostly due to dangerous parking on the side of busy roads. Below is were I finally decided to paint: Not the best picture, but you get the idea.  Next is how I started: And like always, I didn't snap photos...

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard - NFAC - Sold Nibblefest Art Contest Starting September, 20, 2015  I totally enjoyed painting this piece.  Nibblefest has a dragonfly theme for September and what better reason for the artist license to come out of hiding?  Like all Nibblefest auctions on ebay, the bidding starts at just 99 cents.  The link will go live at 12 noon EST, 9/20/2015

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Click to Bid I really wanted to paint another mouse.  I looked through my sources to come up with an unusual pose.   This mouse is definitely wanting to stop on a dime. I'll be traveling over a long weekend to visit family for a happy occasion.  It's nice to get away, but I know me...I'll be wanting to use my brushes sooner than later.

5 x 7 inches, Oil on Panel $ 85. Click to Buy Although, I haven't posted new paintings at the frequency I usually do, I've been busy in the studio.  I completed a larger commissioned painting and doing lots of homework with an on-line course.  And to guarantee complete stress...I'm also trying to build a website. 

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Sold Decided today to paint a bunny.  How cute is this little face...you'd never know I had a little trouble capturing just the right look and for me that involves strong brushwork and clear color mixtures.  I also love the rich emerald greens of the background.

4 x 4 inches, Oil on Gessoboard Click to Bid I've said this before, but it's worth rubbing in again:  I live where paintings are just outside my door!  I'm so blessed to live in Western New York, where old barns, shacks and outbuildings can still be easily found.  In real life, this shack lives next to two large maple trees, but in this painting, they are reduced to just saplings.  Artist' s license at work.

5 x 5 inches, Oil on Gessoboard $ 45. Etsy Shop This is my first Eastern Bluebird sighting and painting...all in the same day!  Four of these beautiful birds were at the birdbath and shrubs that live just under my living room window.  So I grabed the cell phone out of my smock and walked very slowly to the window. As soon as I could focus the lens, I started snapping.  Got three somewhat grainy photos, but that's ok.  I'm really excited about their visit and getting any photos.  According to my "Birds of New York field guide", the usual winter pattern with Eastern Bluebird is they migrate to the western third of the state and fly in groups.  That explains why this group stayed close to each other while perching on the shrubs and taking turns sipping from the birdbath. I sure hope they make my birdbath a daily must do.

5 x 7 inches, Oil on Gessoboard - $60.  Etsy Shop It seems that some birds would rather glean birdseed from the ground than perch on the feeder.  And as in the example of this cardinal, get snow on their beaks by doing so.  Maybe I should mind my own business.

Click to Bid Owl Time, 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Board This little guy is my entry for Nibblefest's May "Time" theme contest.  I painted it from the wind-up kitchen timer that I lovingly use.  Red and purple, doesn't get better than that. 

"Burch Mouse" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Board SOLD This is a birthday present for a very dear friend of mine.  I don't know, I really love this little guy...she might not get him afterall.  Well for now, he's drying.

"Toes Crossed" 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board Sold This beautiful Hummingbird has his toes crossed for me...that's because I'm hoping for more days like yesterday and today.  Got the peas planted yesterday and God watered them in last night, while I slept.  

"Nuthatch Calls for Spring" 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board - Sold OK, update on the weather for the Finger Lakes area of NY.  Snow-COLD...not just cold!  I've been complaining about winter and just like any other time I complain about weather, nothing changes.  So I decided to paint a little bird today.  Lots of them still at my feeders. I've been saving my dryer trap lint for them to soften the nests that are sure to be built.  I'll be putting that out in an netted bag in two weeks.  So Spring will get here...just not in the next two weeks or so.

"Sugar Shack l" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Board Sold, Thank you I'm waiting for pure Maple syrup.  March is the month that the trees are tapped and when sugar houses or shacks are in full operation here in upstate NY.  Then comes Maple Syrup weekend.  So In anticipation, I'm planning on painting a couple or more real sugar shacks.

Vintage Barn Series ll, 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board Buy on etsy Painting Barns is how I cut my teeth with plein aire painting back in 2006.  I'm naturally attracted to them because of wonderful childhood memories helping out on a relative's dairy farm.  I'm especially concerned with neglected and or abandoned barns.  

Punxsutawney Phil lll, 6 x 6 inches, Oil on Board- Sold I was very recently approached by a charming women who grew up in the general area of Punxsutawney, PA.  She fell in love with "My Punxsutawney Phil" and wanted to buy it.  He is part of what is known as: Artist's Collection and therefore not for sale.  But I offered to paint her very own Punxsutawney Phil as a commission.   Yesterday, being the nor'easter snow storm that it was, I couldn't help but think of the real Punxsutawney's 2014 prediction of 6 more weeks of winter.  So what better day to paint this fella?  His patron is pleased and so am I

"Vintage Barns" 5 x 5 inches, Oil on Board I tried to paint a pigmy goat today...tried and tried.  But today was palette knife day.  I don't know why.  If I had to guess, it had everything to do with viewing a wonderful collection of artwork yesterday.  The work of other artists does bring out the more creative side of me, and that means the palette knife gets a workout.

"The Little One" 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Board Sold - Thank you Another record breaking cold and windy day today.  Decided to protest the cold by painting an adorable spring lamb using older photos.  I love lambs and it is especially heartwarming to see them jump when playing.  What a comfort to know that more will be born this year for me to visit, albeit roadside, for pictures and sketches.  Spring 2014, where are you?

Olympic Skating Chicken, 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Board - Sold  Thank You! Well for the past 6 days, I've been in A-fib or Atrial Fibrillation.  It's very hard to do anything, much less doing my usual routine...so I've been watching more TV and I'm thankful for the Olympics.  Trying to keep a sense of humor about my condition,  I decided to use my artist license, stretch some boundaries and put figure skates and poses onto some chickens.  Today is the first painting made from the sketches.  I hope to have a series of four paintings finished before the Olympics are over.

The Tracker, 4 x 4 inches, Oil on Board Sold, Thank you Painted this yesterday and spending today watching my favorite olympic sport, figure skating.  Thinking I might make a series of skating chickens.