Sunlit Sunflowers

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"Sunlight Sunflower"

Oil, 12" x 12"

$550.00 with display easel

Click here to purchase.

Taking a month off from painting boats last month has forced me to discover some new subject material. Until this year I have hardly ever painted flowers. In fact, I have probably painted them less that five times total. Why? I have no idea. No clue.

How dumb am I? I had the time of my life painting this painting. Sunflowers in a glass with some awesome shadows? With a palette knife of course. I want to paint more paintings like this!

I mentioned I had another photo shoot this past weekend. I took about two hundred photos of lots of flowers in vases, vegetables and even cupcakes! So get ready for roses, more sunflowers, gerber daisies, hydrangeas, tulips and who knows what else.

It's very fun to mix it up a bit.

Webinarts courses start again in March. Use the discount code intro20 to save $20 on the registration fee. 

I just added new workshops in Indianapolis and Charlotte this year. Check them out!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

Peppers

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"Peppers"

Oi, 6" x 6" on museum quality panel.

$200.00 with display easel

Click here to purchase.

Monday Night Studio in the Carriage House is turning out to be fun! And productive. I love that I am meeting new artists and that we have the chance to paint, laugh, learn, tell great stories and finish a painting (or two). Today we started out painting these peppers and then we moved on to sunflowers in a glass.  I'll post that painting tomorrow after I tweak it a bit in the morning.

These next few weeks are going to be crazy. Tomorrow I am doing a demo for the Westlake Village Art Group. On Wednesday I am having dinner with one of my favorite artists (whom I have never met) and next week I am teaching a three day workshop in Atlanta. I am also going to get to see all three of my boys at their different sporting events! And of course, I am trying to paint everyday if possible! 

I had another fun "photo session" today as I want to have new images to paint for the Atlanta workshop. I cannot believe how well my photos came out considering I used a $4.00 lamp from Home Depot and my ipod to shoot the photos! It's so nice that we don't need to spend a ton of money on fancy photography equipment. 

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

Life After 30 - SOLD

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"Stanford Daily"

Oil, 12" x 6" on museum quality panel

Sold.

Life after 30. Now that the Challenge is over I am thrilled that it doesn't seem as if it is over. But then again, its only been one day. Fortunately I still feel the need to head out to my studio every moment and paint. Thank heavens.

I read quite a few posts on Facebook today that many of you are continuing this challenge.  How cool is that? In truth, I think most of us are continuing the challenge too. We are just moving at a different pace. I am confident we will continue to paint everyday but I think we also take more time to paint. We'll paint bigger. And try lots of new things. 

For me, today was a big time catch-up day. I sat at my computer and worked on my ipad for most of the day. I use a wonderful financial program called Invoice2Go. It's very basic and all I have to do is create an invoice every time I receive a payment. That includes art sales, workshops, gallery commissions, studio supplies sales, aprons, merchandise sales, webinARTs classes or anything, (The invoices can also be emailed and paid through a link to paypal.)  Once the invoices are logged in then a bunch of awesome sales reports and graphs are automatically  created.  The program gives you sales details by client, by month, by year, by quarter and by just about everything.  My accountant was blown away. Me too!

One of my goals this year is to sit down on (or near) the first of every month and update the Invoice2Go program. For me this is quite a project and usually includes examining the usual hiding spots (including the pockets of my painting apron!) for a random check or two. The program also has a Receipts2Go component to keep track of your expenses. You enter the information and take a photo of the receipt (on your ipad or iphone) which is so cool! The only problem is every month I have to search my wallet, purse and the four "receipt bins" (that are stored in my studio, office, bedroom and car) for receipts. Fortunately I have the program on my laptop, ipad and iphone and it's all synched up.  It's amazing ... you should check it out.

Good news. I have been asked to be a guest panelist at the Plein Air Convention in Monterey this April. I'll be participating in a Social Media Forum and also spreading the word about the AHA show. I am very excited!

Feel free to post up to two paintings here on my blog this weekend. Be sure to include a link to the place on your website or blog where the painting can be purchased!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

Looking Back at 30 Paintings

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30 Paintings in 30 Days

"My Favorite Things"

Here is my "collage" of the 30 paintings I completed in January. I created it with an on-line program called picmonkey. Just go to PicMonkey and select "create a collage". You can use one of their designs or you can design your own. To make a collage with 30 photos you will need to design your own. Then you can drag your uploaded photos in to the collage until you are done. 

It's a fun tool to use. You can change the width and color of the grid lines between the photos and then save the completed collage as a jpeg on your computer. Post your collages here! 

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Thirty - SOLD

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Sunny Day", Oil, 12" x 6"

$350.00 with display easel.

Sold.

Day 30. Holy smokes. 

There were many times this month when I thought this day would never come. And now it's here and I am really sad. As you know I had a hard time deciding what to paint on the last day of this challenge. Next to painting boats, umbrellas are my favorite. So I tackled a striped one and I am really happy with it.

So the challenge is over for now. But we all know, of course it's really just the beginning. 

This is the time for all of us to build upon what we have accomplished already this year. Whether you painted five or thirty paintings, it doesn't matter. We have all learned something from painting more often, from blogging everyday and sharing our art on Facebook. The results have snowballed and have been amazing. Many of you told me that you have already blogged more times this month than all of last year. Most of you have found a way to leave "the stuff" behind so when you enter your studio it's all about painting. A lot of you are painting faster and having little trouble finding inspiration to paint. It's been a great 30 days and I thank you all for joining and inspiring me to paint every day this month.

Tomorrow we will head back in to our studios and paint some more. We will continue to push ourselves out of our comfort zones and take some risks. We don't need to feel rushed and we don't need to ignore our families anymore (haha). Just paint what you want, but take a little more time to build on the momentum you have created these past few weeks. 

I spent most of the day today writing the show notes for this week's "Artists Helping Artists" radio show. The show is all about the 30 in 30 Challenge and my co-host Carrie Waller and I will be sharing many of the wonderful comments you have all sent me about your experiences. I am thrilled with all of your stories and astounded at how much we have all grown ... in just 30 days! To listen to the show click here.

If you weren't able to participate in the Challenge I do hope you will will listen to the show. There are so many great stories and suggestions as to how we can all benefit from painting every day. 

I do hope that you will want to continue to share your art on my blog. Every weekend you can go to my blog and upload two paintings. Hopefully they will be ones that you painted that week as I do want this to be a motivation for us all to continue to paint and share! (In order to upload two paintings you will need to have two different links for the paintings. You can't use the same link. I suggest you use the link to the exact page on your website or blog where that painting is featured so you don't have any problems trying to use the same link. If you don't yet have a website or blog, then you can always  just upload the image with no link.)

I encourage you to upload your paintings even if you haven't participated in the 30 in 30 Challenge. It is never too late to start painting more often. And be sure to listen to Thursday's AHA show. It's going to be fun!

I hope you are following my blog posts so you can receive my updates in your email inbox. There is a chance I might create another one of these "Challenges" again soon. I do have a few more things up my sleeve that you might want/need to know about. So just scroll up on this blog and find the box that looks like this. Enter your email address and you are all set!

Finally, I promised I would show you all how to create a collage of all of the paintings you have completed for this challenge. I will add that in tomorrow's blog post and leave a place for you to post your collages! So see, you are not finished with me yet!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-Nine - SOLD

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"A Girl's Best Friend", Oil, 8" x 6"

Sold.

Click here for purchase information.

Day 29. Really? It just can't be.

And all of a sudden I am feeling this inordinate amount of pressure to come up with some "kick-ass" painting for the last day. I guess you could say the pressure is back. Ugh! I feel like it has to truly be "one of my favorite things". Sadly I don't paint people because I would paint a painting of my absolute favorite thing ... my three boys. Oh well, maybe in my next Challenge (of course I would have to title that challenge "Paintings that you have no clue how to paint!"). 

I am also thinking about painting boats. But that seems dumb and way too easy. I think I can wait one more day for that. And one "boats relapse" this month was enough.

I have already painted my favorite food, drink, cocktail, vegetable, college, flea market find, hobby, silver goblet and on and on. I guess I just need to keep thinking. But don't hold your breath, my last painting in this challenge may be something really anti-climatic.

What are you going to paint on the last day of the Challenge? And what are your plans for Day 31? And Day 32?

* A quick note - I have a spot open in my Atlanta workshop. The workshop is February 11 - 13 and includes a home cooked gourmet dinner by yours truly! Follow this link for more information. Just email me if you are interested.

I also added a two day workshop in Indianapolis on March 26th and 27th. This will be my first time teaching in this part of the country and my only chance this year. So sign up if you are interested! Click here for more information.

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-Eight - SOLD

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Skinny Carmel Macchiato", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Sold.

Starbucks is one of my favorite things. I love their coffee. And I love the whole experience of walking inside the store, smelling the aroma of delicious coffee beans and the "always cheerful barristas". The concept just works. Every time.

I have been a Starbucks fan for a very long time. In fact, I was the first person (of all of my friends) to get a latte/espresso machine. Most of my friends thought I was obsessed with my preference of lattes over an "ordinary and boring cup of coffee". And everyone knew about my obsession with Starbucks. When we got married, Dave and I received 14 coffee grinders as gifts. I have five Christmas ornaments of either a Starbucks latte machine or coffee cup that have been hostess gifts we have received over the years. 

So I couldn't imagine going through an entire month of highlighting my favorite things without painting a Starbucks cup. I thought about painting a red one, which is my favorite, but I think that will be for another time.  We painted these at "Monday Night Studio" in the Carriage House today which is gradually becoming "Monday Afternoon and Night" at the Carriage House. When you are having fun it's just too hard to stop painting!

As I mentioned, I have two spots in my Atlanta workshop as there were some last minute cancels. The workshop is February 11 - 13 and includes a home cooked gourmet dinner by yours truly! Follow this link for more information. To register, just email me.

I also added a workshop in Indianapolis on March 26th and 27th. It's through Renaissance Fine Art and Kathleen O'Neil Stevens is awesome! This will be my first time teaching a workshop in this part of the country and my only chance this year so if you are interested, please don't delay to sign up. Click here for more information. 

Enjoy these last couple of days. We are almost done and it may seem that the Challenge is coming to an end. But really, we are all just beginning. I promise!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-Seven - SOLD

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Hoover Tower", Oil, 6" x 6"

Sold.

I think I am in a bit of denial. There really can't only be four more days left in this challenge! I am sad and cannot believe it. I still feel as if I am just getting going. Please don't end!

Of course, all of us shouldn't need a "challenge" to paint every day. But I do have to admit, it's been an awesome kick in the butt. And a great way to start out 2013. I can't help but wonder where would I be had I not done this challenge? The thought kind of scares me.

In four days I am going to continue to paint. I am going to paint and post as often as I can. But since I want to paint bigger and more complex paintings, the pressure of having to "paint everyday" won't be curtailing my painting dreams. And hence, I can reach out of my comfort zone once again. I am hoping you can expect to see something on my blog about five times a week. 

And I have just realized ... that means I can paint some boats again too! (OK, truth is I didn't really miss them as much as I thought I would. Hmmm.)

On another note, if you would like me to share your experiences with the 30 in 30 Challenge on the "Artists Helping Artists" radio program this week please email or call in live to the show. The show airs this Thursday at 9:00 am PST and 12:00 noon EST. 

I also have two spots in my Atlanta workshop as there were some last minute cancels. The workshop is February 11 - 13 and includes a home cooked gourmet dinner by yours truly! Follow this link for more information. To register, just email me.

I also added a workshop in Indianapolis on March 26th and 27th. It's through Renaissance Fine Art and Kathleen O'Neil Stevens is awesome! This will be my first time teaching a workshop in this part of the country and my only chance this year so if you are interested, please don't delay to sign up. Click here for more information. 

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-Six

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Waiting for Sundae", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Usually I am a day ahead in the Challenge and able to post my painting in my nightly blog. But we just arrived home after spending two and a half days in Arizona cheering our son and the Stanford swim team. It was wonderful but the eight hour drive home today was especially tough with the rain and fog. I really hate driving in thick fog!

So, I will be painting two paintings tomorrow (I hope!) so I can get back on track. 

Update - my painting for today is posted!

I wanted to mention that I have had a couple of cancels in my Atlanta workshop so there are a few last minute spots open. The workshop is February 11 - 13 and includes a home cooked gourmet dinner by yours truly! Follow this link for more information. To register, just email me.

I also added a workshop in Indianapolis on March 26th and 27th. It's through Renaissance Fine Art and Kathleen O'Neil Stevens is awesome! This will be my first time teaching a workshop in this part of the country and my only chance this year so if you are interested, please don't delay to sign up. Click here for more information. 

I cannot believe we are on day twenty-six. We are almost done. Wow.

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-five

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Look, I'm taller!", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information.

For some reason, in my family being tall became important. My boys are therefore lucky because they are 6'7", 6'5" and 6'4". Since my husband is 6'2", I am the "shrimp" in the family. And that's unusual because I am 5'11". If you look back at out Christmas cards often the tallest son is not the tallest one in the picture. Tip toes can be a huge advantage. In fact this year I heard from many of my friends that the boys height didn't seem right. Funny.

So after I painted this painting, all I could think of was my boys. 

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty - Four

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Pick me!", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information.

I have been asked a lot about what my plans will be when the "30 in 30" Challenge is over. My plan is to paint. A lot. Hopefully every day.

But I am not going to start another "30 in 30" Challenge in February, I promise.

There are so many positive things that have happened to all of us this month. My blog this month had over 40,000 visitors. That's right, 40,000. I am shocked and completely blown away. I am most excited that there were so many people looking at all of your art! For those of you that participated in the challenge, I think we are more motivated, confident and feeling like we are better painters. Of course, the dishes are piled up and our families are neglected. Ha ha.

Seriously though, January was a fast sprint for all of us to get back in the studio and paint. I think it worked and I know many of you are excited from all of the new exposure and sales.

I think February will be a good month to slow down a bit, relieve some of the pressure and start painting bigger and more involved paintings. But I don't want to lose the momentum. That's why I will paint every day. I just might not finish a painting every day.

In order to keep us all motivated and working together, I would like to invite you to visit my blog every weekend (in February) and post two of your paintings from that week. Just be sure to include a different link for each painting. (I recommend that you put the link to the page on your website where the painting is for sale. Makes sense, doesn't it?) Knowing that you can post two paintings every weekend should keep you on track to continue painting. But give you the flexibility to try different things and have a life at the same time. Ha!

As you can see from my painting today I am still painting spools. For some reason this painting reminds me of my three boys. Very similar but different. Built the same but with different personalities. And very colorful personalities ...

So just when you thought you were done with me I hope I have enticed you a bit to keep the momentum going ... in the meantime, we are getting close to Day 30!
Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-Three

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"In a Row", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information.

The spools of thread are back! I took a lot of photos of these spools last week and I love the reflections on the glass. I intend to paint a few more because I am completely addicted to these colors! Who would have thought I could get so much pleasure from four $1 spools of thread! Hopefully they will keep my occupied until the next swap meet. Ha ha.

Tomorrow's "Artists Helping Artists" show is going to be a great one. It's titled "Tips to Creating Dynamic Paintings" and I am really excited about the information written for the show.  We are also going to cover tips on how you can use your ipad/tablet in your art studio. I think you will love the ideas! To listen to the show just follow this link. It airs live at 9am PST/12noon EST or you can listen anytime after the show airs as all of the shows are recorded.

Next week's show, which airs on Thursday, January 31st, will be titled "30 Paintings in 30 Days ... So What Did We Learn?".  I would like to share on the air many of the emails I have received from all of you regarding  your experiences. So please email me if you would like to share. You can also call in to the show live as we will open the phones for the last 30 minutes for guests!

It's weird but I feel like an entirely different artist than I was a month ago. It's hard to explain but I have more confidence and I am enjoying painting about 1000% more than before! I don't want this feeling to end! Ever! So what can I do to make sure that doesn't happen?

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty-two

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Radishes", Oil, 6" x 8"

$250.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information.

This painting was completed at my Monday Night Open Studio event. Most of us painted the vase and pear painting I posted yesterday. But we still had some time left so I thought it might be fun to paint some radishes.  I think this painting would look so great in a kitchen! Perhaps mine?

I enjoyed painting the radishes so much that I bought some beautiful orange beets at the market. I will try to paint them next week. Or the week after ... I am loving painting every day so much that I think I am going to continue this phase for a long time. I hope you all do too!

The AHA radio show on Thursday, January 31st will be all about the 30 in 30 Challenge. I'd like to encourage many of you to call in to the show to talk about the experience. I'd also like to share some of the great themes you all have created for this challenge. If you have a theme you would like to share, could you email me or leave it here in the comment section? Thanks!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty One

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Duo Reflections", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information.

My internet was down all evening but it's finally working again. I have no idea what was wrong but it's fixed and I am not going to worry about it.  

We had a great time painting in my studio today. I finished two paintings so I am ahead for a change. I have been thinking a lot about what to do when the 30 in 30 Challenge is over and I have some fun plans for the months to come so stay tuned for how you can be involved! I promise it will be great for all of you.

Have a great painting day!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Twenty - SOLD

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Baby Pomegranates", Oil, 6" x 6"

Sold.

Click here for purchase information. 

This silver dish with pomegranates is another one of my "finds".  Although, it's kind of hard to call it a "find" since it's been sitting on a shelf in my powder room for 12 years ... But it's funny how I forgot it was there. And yes, the pomegranates were a bit dusty. 

When I set up the photo shoot I used a very direct light coming in from the left side. Hopefully you can see the light depicted in the painting although the photo doesn't quite depict the light as well as the painting.

I am hosting my first Monday Night Studio this week. It's an open studio concept. Artists just need to bring supplies and a photo inspiration and I'll provide easels, glass palettes, wine and cheese and crackers. You can paint the same thing as me or I can help you with your own painting.  The session is from 4:00 until 8:00 and reservations are required as we are limited to 8 people. Email me if you are interested.

I must say that thanks to this Challenge I am in a really good place. I love painting more than I ever, I am painting better than ever and painting every day has finally become ... a habit! I am so excited! I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am!

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Nineteen

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Bright Reflections", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information. 

I went on a scavenger hunt throughout my house yesterday and found about twenty things that I thought would look good in a painting. The silver cup in the painting above was one of them. I then had a "photo session" and took another 250 photos. My photo set up looked like this:

It's nothing fancy, just an old desktop easel, clip-on light, glass palette and scrap book paper (for background colors).  But I have my next ten paintings already planned out! And I have all of my first day "painting exercises" ready for my next workshop.

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Eighteen

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Blocked", Oil, 6" x 6"

$200.00 with display easel.

Click here for purchase information. 

This painting is inspired from another one of my findings from the Rose Bowl swap meet. (I loved playing with blocks like these with my boys when they were younger.) I found these baby blocks at the same booth as the spools of thread.  And once again, I am wondering why I didn't buy more of them.

I do think this painting would make the perfect baby gift. So if you know a mother to be with a baby boy on the way then this might be the perfect gift to give! I will be painting some "pink versions" and can also paint commissions featuring baby initials if wanted!

I am getting a bit sad that this month is going to be over soon. But I have a feeling there will be quite a few of us painting A LOT in the months to come! I am thinking five paintings a week might be my February my goal. Maybe more? How about you?

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.

30 in 30 - Day Seventeen

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My Favorite Things - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

"Silk or Cotton?", Oil, 6" x 6"

Before I discovered oil painting my favorite creative passion was sewing. At about the age of ten my mom taught me how to sew. Before too long I was making all of my clothes. Eventually I was working part time in fabric stores, making model garments, entering sewing contests and making my wedding dress! I always imagined I would be making adorable "girl clothes" for my kids. But three boys later and all I could really do is make cool Halloween costumes ... and costumes for the school musicals.

My fascination with sewing is what attracted me to these adorable spools at the Rose Bowl swap meet last weekend. At $1.00 a piece I cannot understand why I only bought four. I should have bought all they had! I am going back next month on a mission to find more.

One of the things this challenge has done for me is open my eyes to all of the fun things to paint. I was in a bit of a "boat rut" and am so thankful that with the exception of one day, I have reached out of my comfort zone to find new things to paint.

So I am curious, what have you learned about "subject matter" while participating in the 30 in 30 Challenge?

Check out my upcoming palette knife painting workshops at http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshops.html.