Max

I don't usually have stories to share about my paintings and where the inspiration came from, but my most recent painting is an exception to that.

We had a black Labrador named Max. Max joined our family when my daughter was six months old, and stayed with us up until April 4th, 2012 when we had to put him to sleep. Max was quite the character, with a strong will and a propensity for mischief (most especially if there was a skunk around. Oh, the skunks. You'd think a dog would learn to leave them alone!)

Max was also my companion. I had not realized how much he had become a part of my life until after he was gone. The loss is something I feel keenly. I painted this painting for my family, to always remember Max.

One of Max's quirks was that in the middle of the night, he liked to go out back, sit on a hill, and just gaze at the moon and stars. Usually this was around 2AM, and we didn't find it very funny - especially since we were the ones who had to go and drag him back inside (it wasn't safe out there with all the coyotes and other wildlife prowling around. And the skunks. Did I mention the skunks!??!)  But the truth was that Max was my moon-dog, and that's how I'd like to remember him.

So here he'll sit, on a hill of flowers and fireflies, watching the moon.

While the original will remain with us personally, already there are requests for prints.  Those are available for order on my website here.

Alice Carrying On!

It's been a little while since I posted, but I have a couple more paintings to share with you!  These are both from my Alice series:

"Viceroy"
4x4x.33, stretched, gallery wrapped and sides painted

"Viceroy" is an ultra-mini I did while going in between the second painting. It allowed for drying time, but also to play with the butterfly! The wings are iridescent and I love it!

The second, "Wanna Play" is my character development for my Alice series. Obviously, the Hedgehog and Flamingo croquet from Alice. I like the way it came out, though the hedgehog admittedly gave me some problems for a day or two. But this is why I am developing these smaller paintings before I launch into the larger sizes. And I DO plan on a much larger painting. I want to do a 24x36 painting with multiple elements. This means it'll be complicated and take a while, but should make for a wonderful painting, and absolutely will yield large sized prints!

"Wanna Play?"
Acrylic, 9x12x.75, stretched, gallery wrapped and sides painted

I had to put my faithful Labrador Max to sleep last week. I was suggested that I paint something of him. At first I rejected this idea. The truth is, I haven't even been able to paint until last night anyway. Now? Now... I'm thinking about it. Well, in truth, I'm doing more than thinking about it. I'm planning out a canvas now. It'll be a mini-break from my Alice series, but I'll get right back to it.

The originals for my Alice series aren't offered for sale yet because I am holding them all until I can do a complete show with them. The night of the show, the paintings will also go live for sale. Prints will be made of some of the paintings, and will be available beforehand (as I get the completed.)

I'm really looking forward to rounding out my cast of characters, and then creating several large pieces!

Contest

It's time for our first contest!!! YAY!

Yesterday, I posted a picture of a newly finished painting titled "Note" on Facebook. In it, I was playing with a music theme. Somehow, between concept sketch and painting, I managed to flip all the Clefs backwards! We all make mistakes, but this one is your gain! Are you interested in owning this painting for free? Listen up, because here are the rules:

First Prize: "Note", Original painting by Kyra Wilson
Runner-up prize: "Alone", print by Kyra Wilson

Go to this page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KyraWilsonArt

1) "Like" my studio page (if you already do, excellent!)

2) Have your friends, family, etc, "Like" my studio page, then have them leave a comment on the contest post giving YOUR name. Each time your name is mentioned uniquely in a comment will count as a vote for you. 

3) You may vote once for yourself. Multiple votes by the same person for the same person will not be counted. However, if a commenter would like to vote for someone else as well, including themselves - but only the once, that IS allowed - make sure it's in a separate comment. I will only count the first name mentioned in a comment if multiple names are listed.

4) Contest is open to everyone 13 years of age and up, internationally. 

5) The Contest is open as of now, and will run until March 27th, 2012 11:59 PM EST.

6) I will publicly announce the winners Wednesday morning, March 28th, 2012.

A Snail's Pace

So much going on, and yet... everything seems to be moving slowly, or not at all!

There have been quite a few things going on in the studio, not the least of which are prints (finally!) in hand of several different paintings. I'll be sure to post which ones, and prices by next weekend, and more prints are in the works!

Additionally, I'm getting back into my Alice in Wonderland mode. I had been doing fairly well working on it, and then life interfered. So, this past week I decided to do a small painting (6x6) just for the fun of it.

I have to tell you, I absolutely LOVE this painting (it's so much better in person.) It's in acrylic, and by the end of it I had stopped fighting with the paint and the obvious differences between oil and acrylic paints. More, I realized I am going to develop my own version of all the Alice in wonderland characters on these small canvases, and then I'm going to start creating bigger compositions involving them in various scenes. I see now that this was part of my difficulty. While my daughter cast as Alice is perfect, I hadn't created any other characters yet and was jumping in with several at once. I really am excited about creating them all one by one and then moving forward!

So, this painting is of a snail. The paint is a bit wet, and I'll probably post a better picture later when it's not reflecting so much flash!

“Will you walk a little faster?” said a whiting to a snail,
  “There’s a porpoise close behind us, and he’s treading on my
        tail.
  See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance!
  They are waiting on the shingle—will you come and join the
        dance?
    Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, will you join the
        dance?
    Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the
        dance?" ~L. Carroll