Lean on Me ~ New Pear Painting

Lean on Me

6" x 6"

Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

A new romantic pear painting just in time for Valentine's day.....give me a break, I am no romantic--but, I do like how cute the pears are cuddled up together.

Lean on me was painted using professional artist grade acrylic paint on a gallery wrapped canvas with painted sides to allow for hanging without a frame. Painting can also be placed on a small display easel. Painting was finished with a light coat of varnish.

This painting is no longer available for purchase.

Well, off to paint the pretty face of a cow.

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm!

Torrie

Prickly Pear Cactus ~ New kind of "pear" painting.

Prickly Pear Cactus

5" x 7"

Oil on Canvas Panel

Available for Purchase

$25.00, plus shipping

A bit of a departure from my usual pears~ This was a fun painting that made me a little homesick for West Texas. Prickly Pear Cactus was painted using professional artist grade oil paint on a museum quality canvas panel. This painting can be framed or sat on a small display easel.

I have almost finished with my commissioned paintings and then I will be finishing my large (16" x 20") ballerina paintings. I am anxious to get back to work on them.

Check back again tomorrow, there is a new red pear painting coming soon~

Thanks for stopping by,

Torrie

Starting Over - Getting my act together ~

Miranda and Audrey Grace

Going home day~1/15/10

It was November 16, 2009, and everything changed. Miranda was admitted to the hospital in Waynesville and later transferred by ambulance to the hospital in Asheville. She had spent the weekend with me in Charlotte and I knew she did not look well, but she was more gravely ill than either of us knew. She was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, H1N1, and pneumonia. We spent the next week waiting, the doctors were trying to keep Miranda stable to allow Audrey just a little more time to grow with her Mom. Just shortly after midnight five days later, Audrey had to be delivered, it was time to aggressively care for Miranda. Audrey was born crying and breathing on her own at just 3 lbs 1 ounce - ten weeks early. She was immediately removed from the room for infectious precautions, it would be five days before Miranda could see her baby girl. That was the longest five days.

Miranda spent the next two weeks recovering from pre-elcampsia, H1N1, and pneumonia.
She was released from the hospital and moved to the Rathbun Center across the street from the hospital to be near Audrey. December 8, Audrey is just over 3 weeks old. She is moved to the transition room and gets to live with her mom and dad while she continues to grow and be monitored. Audrey had a small defect in her heart that the doctors were hoping would repair itself on its own, which it would have done in utero had she not come so early; or if they would have to surgically repair the defect. There were good days and bad, but heart medications and a blood transfusion, along with time, allowed the heart to finish developing and catch up with Audrey. Finally, after just over two months in the hospital, it was time to take Audrey home.

Today Audrey, Miranda, and Dustin are settled in their own home in Waynesville and we are all getting into our new routines. The past two months have been a blur. I look back at all that has happened since November 15, when I moved to Charlotte and Miranda came for the weekend, and it seems like it has been much longer than just over nine weeks. Miranda has fully recovered and does not remember much of the really tough times in the hospital before Audrey came. Audrey weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces at her first check up after leaving the hospital and is continuing to do well.

It has been difficult to get back to painting. I think stress and worry drown any sense of creativity and imagination. I am just now completing commissioned paintings that should have been finished before Christmas. Everyone has been so kind and patient to wait for their paintings. I should be all caught up by the end of the month. Then, I am going to relax, enjoy my beautiful new studio, spend quantity time with Kevin and the rest of my wonderful family, and continue unpacking boxes that should have been unpacked months ago......

Check back again, there will be more paintings soon.

Torrie

EBSQart.com Spotlight on Still Life Interview with Torrie Smiley

The photo taken from across the room

Later with photo software, zoom and crop

Zoom and crop again

The featured Gallery at EBSQart.com this month is Still Life. I was asked to do an interview for their blog. Here is the interview, you can also see the interview on their EBSQ: Art Meets Blog.

What do I find compelling about Still Life is such a hard question to answer! I had to really think about it and what I discovered, to my amazement, is I love still life paintings. So many times when I set up to paint just for fun, it is still life. Landscapes and portraits seem like work.

When visiting galleries, I always gravitate toward the still life paintings. The different compositions-the setup, lighting, the everday objects The differences in technique can make the same still life look so different. I love detailed realistic still life and at the same time enjoy loose impressionistic still life paintings.

I often find myself looking at everyday objects the way the light is hitting it, the random placement, and immediately I think "that's a painting". I was eating at a restaurant in Ohio not long ago and from across the room I saw their water table set up, the light was hitting it in such a way, it was beautiful. I immediately grabbed my camera and discretely took several photos.

I guess what I am randomly trying to say is, I never set out to be a still life painter, my brain just led me that way.

This was then end of the interview. I have included the photos from the restaurant that day in Ohio. There is the original photo, the cropped versions of what could be two different paintings. See what you think....who knows when I will get around to painting it.

Have a wonderful day, I am off to actually cook dinner (lemon chicken with carrots)....those of you who know me are laughing right now.

Check back again soon,

Torrie

New Poppy Painting today~

Two Poppies

6" x 6"

Acrylic on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

~Sold~

I took the photos for this painting this past summer of the poppies blooming along Highway 74 through North Carolina. They were beautiful. I took several reference photos and then went on to painting other things. I came across some of the photos while moving the studio and decided to a paint poppies.

Two poppies is available for purchase by using the paypal button above or my online gallery with ebsqart.com or my Etsy.com store.

I am finishing up Lemons and Red Bowl for a commissioned piece and then getting busy with another Lily Pond painting. It is so nice to be painting again.

Thanks for stopping by and check back tomorrow~

Torrie

The Website is up and ready!

www.TorrieSmiley.com

The new and improved website is now online. Drop by and see the newly designed website.

Thank you Seth Wright for your hard work and creativity in putting my paintings online. I love it!

My newest pear painting has sold to a collector that has been patiently waiting for me to get back to work.

I have a new small poppy painting finished that will be available online by tomorrow. The commissioned paintings are coming along and soon there will also be new ballerina paintings available for purchase. The new year is off to a great start!

Thanks for dropping by~have a wonderful week!

Torrie

The Gold Pear III, new pear painting~

The Gold Pear III

5" x 7"

Oil on Canvas Panel

~Sold~

This is my first pear painting in my new studio. I am not used to having so much room and the sunlight is wonderful. We will have to make some changes with the lighting in the room to paint in the evening. I want to add the recessed lighting that is in the rest of the house and then add track lighting to spotlight my work areas. That will be fun. This painting is available for purchase by using the Paypal button above or from my Etsy.com store or my Online Gallery with EBSQ.com

I am also working on commissioned paintings. The Lemons and Red Bowl should be finished by tomorrow. I have also started a still life featuring the silver teapot I picked up at Goodwill last year.

Well, it is getting late, I have to get up early and paint!

Thanks for stopping by,

Torrie

The New Studio

The New Studio

Time to get busy! All moved in a ready to go. Hopefully, I will get a lot done this weekend, so many paintings waiting to be finished!

This is the new office/studio. So much room and great light! The hospital computer is against the front wall, so while doing the "day job", I can dream up a new painting, enjoy the view, or watch TV (on the shelves on the right). When it is time to paint, the cabinet doors on the right open and there are brushes, paint, and canvas all tucked away. The cabinets to the left with the glass doors hold vases, pitchers, bowls, cups, and other items used in my still life paintings. The gate-leg table has convenient drawers that hold my most used tubes of paint to be close at hand. All the studio furniture is from Ikea. Dustin put all the cabinets together; Kevin and Aaron put the table and desk together.

UP NEXT~

Almost finished with the website upgrade. Seth Wright has finished with the actual site, now we are just uploading all the paintings.

New Year, new studio, new website, new granddaughter~ Life is good!

Torrie