Waking up to Paint with Kelli Folsom: The Work is Joyful!

Once again I am overwhelmed by the appreciation and support I receive on a daily basis! Every time you comment on a painting, share my work on social media sites, add me on google+ or like a youtube video and of course buy a painting, it helps me out tremendously. So, I want to say a big THANK YOU!

So often, I get comments about my work ethic....and I would like to not sound like a Pollyanna, but I often wish I had more daylight hours to work by or more energy because the work is so enjoyable. Not always pleasurable, but joyful. It is very important for me to keep it this way. To guard my happiness and keep the positive momentum going, lest that sneaky little sister self-doubt should creep in and sabotage my progress.

As far as the minis go, I have been doing them off and on for about 4 years and I have always set a timer. I started doing this my last year of school to work through problems faster. Between doing demonstrations for classes and these minis, I have gotten better at prioritizing and painting faster. I've always loved a good drill! Something about the focus, the adrenaline, no time to overthink - just whatever is in there comes to the surface. When I was in grade school I lived for the end of the week math drills where whoever completed the quiz first with a perfect score got a big giant cookie with M&Ms in it. Now that was some motivation for a little 8 year old, and I would win almost every time. I really just wanted to win, often I would just split the cookie with all of my friends. I guess not much has changed about my personality. If you are a painter, I hope you embrace your personality traits and use them to fuel your progress. It may be in a totally different way than mine.

Here are some of my minis completed this week:

"A Good Pearing" - 7"x5"

This one was really fun to do! I've always loved a good wine bottle painting. The shiny highlight and reflections I just can't resist. I also really enjoyed putting down some juicy light on that pear.

This one still doesn't have a bid on it. You can get it for $50 here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/494629

"Two of a Kind" - 6"x6"

This one was probably the hardest to do in 1 hour, just because it was more up close and I had to try to model the form more. All of those little ins and outs where the stem comes out of the green pear was tough, especially because when oils are fresh out of the tube they are really soft and buttery so it can be tough to get a lot of fine detail.

"Yellow and Pink Flowers" - 6"x6"

This one was just so much fun to paint! I wanted to do all shades of pinks,purples and reds and have the yellow carnations really pop. I accidentally ordered some brights (paintbrushes) and I found they came in handy on getting those super lit crisp edges.

"Sunflowers on Blue" - 7"x5"

Well they are all fun to do, but I can never resist a sunflower.....or two! Decided to pair it with a lighter background this time. (This one did not photo well. I think because it is dark outside this morning and overcast. The background is more of a blue-green. I'll try to retake tomorrow).

Available here for $50: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/495764

"Roses and Carnations" - 9"x12" - oil on panel

I loved that mini so much I decided to do a variation on it for my classroom demonstration. This time with some roses- yikes! I'm really getting into studying roses lately and they are still intimidating to me. I decided to take it a bit more dramatic this time with a bolder composition and darker background. I spent about 90 minutes on this one with talking.

Starting bid is $95 here: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/495765