Balboa Afternoon - SOLD

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"Balboa Afternoon"

Oil, 12" x 12" on canvas panel.

Sold.

I spent all day Sunday at the Balboa Artwalk. It's a one day show on Balboa Island in Newport Beach featuring 100 artists with booths all lined up on the boardwalk. So if you can imagine, our booths are set up in front of the sand and beach right behind us. How cool is that? thousands of people visit the artwalk and for me, an artist who loves to paint boats, it is the perfect way to spend the day.
Sales were amazing and I just feel so fortunate to find new people that want to put my art in their homes. I did a drawing for a small painting and have 56 new names to add to my mailing list. I was really surprised at the number of artists that came by and I met a lot of artists who I had met on facebook but never face to face. How cool is that!
I painted this painting during the Artwalk as a companion piece to "April Afternoon". It's actually the left side of the larger photo I used for "April Afternoon".  I really enjoy painting during a show as I think it creates a great conversation piece. The same collector bought both paintings so I will deliver this one later in the week when it is a little less wet.
If you are an artist in the Southern California area you should think about signing up for the Balboa artwalk next year. It's a terrific show.



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

Finding a Friend

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"Finding a Friend"

Oil, 8" x 8" on canvas panel.

$350.00 with display easel.

Just finished the last day of my three day workshop. Although I am exhausted (and yes, I know I only had to travel about 20 steps to my Carriage House to teach the workshops) I have so many great memories and fun stories from this week! We painted five paintings, which is amazing and learned a lot. This painting featured here is from Day Two and is actually a companion painting to the one I posted yesterday. I love those colors!

Thank you Joan, Debbie, Corinne, Sarah, Beatrice, Barbara, Ilene and Betty. I am honored you chose to study and paint with me! Can you see the new gift all of my workshop attendees are wearing? They are embroidered and personalized and I love mine! From here on, they are now going to be included with all of my workshops!

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

Waiting For a Friend - SOLD

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"Waiting For a Friend"

Oil, 8"x 8" with display easel.

$350.00

Sold.

I have been teaching a workshop all week and the experience has been just amazing. Eight wonderful ladies, from Illinois, Arizona and California who traveled afar to rediscover their joy of painting and painting with a palette knife. It has been an incredible week and I have so enjoyed the laughter, food, paint, wine, great music, having fun in the Carriage House and even ...  the thalo green paint everywhere!

I am blessed to be able to meet so many wonderful artists! More detials to follow, I promise.

Only two spots left in my June 18 - 20 workshop ... http://www.saetastudio.com/Leslie_Saeta_fine_Art/Workshop_June_2012.html.

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

Middle Child - SOLD

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"Middle Child"

Oil, 6" x 8" 

$350.00 framed.

Sold.

Painting with a palette knife allows you paint loose and have fun with textures and colors. This one was really fun to paint. I am a "middle child" and I use to tease my family I was the neglected middle child. Although it was very far from the truth, they had fun teasing me about my "middle child" status. I am blessed with an amazing family and so fortunate to have wonderful parents and siblings. And since my maiden name is "Byrd", this one makes sense to me!

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

Calming the Soul ... Again

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"Calming the Soul Again"

Oil, 8" x 8" on canvas panel

$350.00 with display easel.

I keep thinking I am going to get control of my schedule one of these days and yet it just doesn't seem to happen. I had a long talk with my mom today and her advice was "Just Say No". She reminded me of how when I was younger I would walk into a meeting with my hand raised and say "I'll do it and my mother will drive". I guess you could say I haven't ever really gotten over that.

So my new motto is "just say no".  I want more time in my studio and I have blocked out hours every week that are my painting time. Unless you are one of my boys ... I am busy. No exceptions. I hope ...

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

Contemplation

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"Contemplation"

Oil, 6" x 6" on museum quality canvas panel

$200.00 with display easel

Contemplation ... something all of us artists seem to do a lot. It's defined as "full of deep thought". That's me alright ... although I think I am actually a "multi-tasking comtemplator" (is that even a word?).   Because most of my best thoughts come to me when I am doing something else. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. I know I should learn to relax, stop and "contemplate". But I am having too much fun to slow down!

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

The Perfect Day - SOLD

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"The Perfect Day"

Oil, 6"x6" on museum quality panel.

$200.00 with display easel.

Sold.

In case you are wondering why I titled this painting "The Perfect Day" it's because it seems lately every day feels like a perfect day. And I promise I am enjoying it ... hour by hour!

I have a workshop coming up in a few weeks that is full and now that we have our new "in-ceiling heaters" on the outdoor patio we will definitely enjoy our gourmet dinner al fresco! I do have a few spots left in my June painting workshop if you are interested.

Until next time, have a perfect day!

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

Sailing Right On By

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"Sailing Right on By"

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

$200.00 with display easel.

 

The fundraising event at our house is tonight and I was up until 2:00 am trying to get my oldest son and his teammates ready for Coachella ... When does this insanity end???

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

Sunbathing - SOLD

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"Sunbathing"

Oil, 6" x 6" on museum quality panel

Sold.

There is something about painting boats that makes me smile. It's the shapes, reflection and palette knife texture that keep me painting them over and over again. One of the days I will stop. But I can't imagine it will be in the new future. No way!

These boats are also from Lake Norman. And I promise ... they really were this color. Not. Oh well, I thought for a second I might try to convince you. I love changing the colors in a painting and it's one of the things I talk a lot about in my workshops.

I am in charge of a very large school fundraiser at our school this weekend. and this year the big event is actually at our house. We have been doing a lot of great things around the house and I absolutely love the process of remodeling (yes Kathy ...). We finish the projects tomorrow which is a good thing since the event is on Friday ...

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

Resting

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"Resting"

Oil, 6x6

Sold with display easel.

I have started a goal that I will paint at least four small 6" x 6" paintings at the beginning of each week. The good news is that it is week one and I have reached my goal. The bad news is it's only week one. How long can I keep this up? Any betters out there? (And please do not bet that I can only last one week. That would be really pathetic.)

If you missed today's "Artists Helping Artists" show on Pinterest, you might want to listen to it here. Some pretty good tips!

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

Happy Day

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"Happy Day"

6x6 oil on museum quality canvas panel

$200.00

So why is it we have to have a party or an event on the calendar to motivate us to get the house projects completed? I think my husband thinks I use these "events" as an excuse to sneak in a new project. I actually think he might be a little bit correct. But when you own an "almost 100 year old" house there are always projects. And more projects. I like to think of it as "deferred maintenance". 

We are hosting a big school fundraiser at our house next weekend and I have had quite a few people roaming around outside installing heaters in our patio ceiling (how cool is that?) and fixing up our fire pit. And ... replacing some grass and planting some flowers and ... and a few other things ... but it's spring so why not?

I failed to mention there is a huge silent auction for this event that I am in charge of. And for the last few months I have been hounding parents at the school for donations. I kind of became "persona non grata" as I noticed parents heading the other direction when I walked in to the school gym. They know me too well and it's the time of year I am always asking for donations. This is my sixth year involved in the fundraiser and I am looking to go out with a bang. Our youngest graduates this year so next spring I will definitely have more time to "garden".

Of course if it rains next weekend I am in really big trouble ...

It's the time of the year when my very neglected garden actually looks pretty nice and my long forgotten daffodils have decided to reappear for yet another year. 

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

A Creative Day

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I had some fun last night with Picassa and decided to create this video which features the workshops I teach in my Carriage House. The music is something I found on the internet that is license free. If you create a video, make sure you don;t use copyrighted music.
I then felt even more creative today so I had some fun and created a mosaic. The photo below actually consists of tiny pictures of my paintings ... all combined to create the photo of my palette knives! If you click on the plus sign you can actually see all of the paintings. It's created with  http://mosaically.com.
Tomorrow I will post another painting.

Palette Knife Painting by lesliesaeta

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

Blue Reflections

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"Blue Reflections"

6x6 oil on museum quality panel

$200.00 

We took a quick trip this past weekend to Davidson, NC to visit our son and watch a few of his college baseball games. Everything was so beautiful and green so I thought it might be fun to head out in the car and look for some great inspirational photos to take for future paintings. There is a huge lake in the area, called Lake Norman, which has about 37 miles of coastline. So you can only imagine how happy I was when I came across a few small yacht clubs and tons of boats to photograph. I am set for quite a while with photos to paint. This is the first ...

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

Resting

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"Resting"

Oil, 6" x 6" with display easel.

$200.00

Painting with a palette knife allows the artist to create some pretty incredible "strokes". At my workshop this week we had fun mastering the palette knife. The completed paintings were stunning and and very fun to paint. This painting of two red pears was one of my demos on the first day. It's loose, colorful and really shows the palette knife strokes. If you haven't tried it, you should pull out a palette knife and have some fun!

I promised I would post the photos from Day Two of the completed paintings. Aren't they fatastic?

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

April Afternoon

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"April Afternoon"

Oil, 12" x 12" on museum quality panel

$550.00

This painting was the demo for the second day of my April Palette Knife class. I can't wait to take the photo of all of the paintings as they are all stunning! I am so pround of what the class accomplished and you will not beleive these paintings when you see them! Wow!

We had an absolute blast today. The day started with coffee and berry smoothies and then I provided a "pick me up" with warm chocolate chip cookies and milk in the late afternoon. We ended at four o'clock and I then I cooked a gourmet dinner for the class. We dined on crab cakes, smoked salmon and homemade berry cobbler. Such a wonderful day!

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

Afternoon Sail

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"Afternoon Sail"

Oil, 12" x 12"

$550.00 unframed.

I am gearing up for a workshop next week in the Carriage House and have lots of projects and new things to try out. I am very excited! I am also very inspired with my "pending paintings" file in my studio. It's a wire mesh tray that has photos and canvases with sketches all ready to be painted. Usually there are only about two or three ideas in the file. But currently there are twelve. Yep. Twelve. And after yesterday's inspiring AHA show I am actually going to paint flowers this weekend. I cannot remember the last time I painted flowers. I can't wait!

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

Floating Along - SOLD

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"Floating Along"

Oil, 6" x 6" on museum quality panel

SOLD.

Now that I am back in my studio I seem to be painting boats ... hmmm. I am hoping today I can paint the Wilson Field at Davidson College which is a location my middle son is spending a lot of time these days! And a note to my oldest son (before you start complaining) ... I will paint something from one of the photos I will take at NCAA's next week. I promise!

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

My Three Boys

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"My Three Boys"

8" x 16" oil 

$750.00 framed

Available at Debra Huse Gallery

If you look at the date of my last blog post it appears that "life" has gotten in the way for me these past few weeks. Wow. I cannot believe it has been so long since I have posted on my blog. Which of course also means I haven't been painting as much in my studio either. But I do have a good excuse ...

January and February were the busiest two months ever in my art career and although it was amazing, it was stressful too. For the first time my art felt like a job as I was faced with deadline after deadline. I am not complaining as it was wonderful, but I was just a little tired. Combine that with the fact I had to "re-engineer" the AHA radio show, and it was a very busy time. So I just needed a little breather to enjoy my family and attend lots of sporting events featuring, you guessed it, my three boys.

But I am back. Painting in the studio and loving every minute of it. So watch out.

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