Combining forces (because I can't spell collaborate without looking it up;))

Big news!!  But you'll have to suffer through some paintings to get there.

 This one DID turn out, and I am really pleased with it.  I like the broken strokes that allow other colors to peek through.

 Uh. I guess you're already to the surprise: I am collaborating with a friend, Zach Lee of Urban Revival Designs, on some artistic endeavors.  Part one: he built these awesome surfaces and frames and then let me paint inside them.  Part two: he sold those paintings to a restaurant that he's designing.  Part three: you'll really have to go through a lot of paintings to get to part three.  Scroll on!

 I really love this mini for its bold colors and lines.

 A quick painting from a photo by Gerratt Reynolds.  I'm going to go back to the photo and work on some more pieces from it.

 Following are nine minis including this one.  I held a quick fb sale and shipped most these babies off.  The proceeds from the sale went to benefit a family in TX that we know of who have a very sick little girl. I really love numbers three and four.

 Ach!!! possibly my favorite painting ever:)  it's called "A Brilliant Way" and I love the colors and lines, really makes me not dread autumn so much.  It's got sentimental value as well and I hope that the recipient is pleased.

 Abstracts; I'm kind of digging blues right now.  I went through years of cadmium red flirtations and I think the blues have me now.

 I also love this one for the bold colors mixed in with a few softer ones...and the blues!

 This was an experiment with liquid acrylics.  I plan on using it to apply my very first coat of resin, with many more to follow.

 I painted over this to get ....

 This.  It's called "Roots and Branches" and it's deeply symbolic.  I slapped some varnish over the top which accentuated the colors.  It's in my kitchen now, a place of honor.

 This was another stab at abstract and I really love everything about it.  including the fact that it was painted on top of a painting I couldn't stand anymore, and on one of the last painting surfaces that my husband made for me 10 years ago.

 I painted over this: "Standing in Line in Santa Fe" to get...

 This.  I wasn't in love at first, I had liked some of the elements of the abstract piece, but I do love the barn and grass colors.  I've added some details and a thick coat of glossy gel medium, so that the colors will be enhanced.  Reference photo by David Gillette.

 This reminds me of an ink blot test.

 And this is cool because it was painted with glass paints.  It's super glossy so I couldn't get a picture without glare.

 "The Ancestors:'Lead Thou Me On'" This represents a dark and dreary place where one is enduring and pressing forward without realizing the help and strength that others are lending.  Surely many helpers and friends/family are seen, and many, many more are unseen.

 Ok. Part three: I'm not a natural with abstract painting.  Zach is.  He's got a great eye.  So when I started this today and he asked me where I was going with it, I thought it was a pretty good question.  He picked it up and sanded, scratched, sketched and stained, and kind of finished it up for me.  Next time I work on it, I plan on brightening it up with some white (his idea).  So the collaboration effort kind of goes like this: he'll build some surfaces and I will too.  I'll start paintings and he'll manipulate them (and I might steal them back for a second to work some more), basically we'll combine efforts on pieces and they will be sold under his design label.  I've never heard of anything like this before, but I think it's a great and fun idea.

 So fiesta-ish

 And I might work on this some more.  I do like the feeling of warmth rising.

And the very last of my husband's surfaces:(  This one I painted, and sanded, and scraped, and sketched, and stained, but it still needs some help.  I do love the colors though.
So my questions are these: abstract painting seems to need to come from the gut.  It takes passion and energy and attention to technique and textures etc. My passions are the Gospel, motherhood, and nature.  How do I create  abstract pieces that will speak to me, that will release pent up passions about the things I love? And how will I ever make the time to create AND stay balanced with my responsibilities? Thoughts are welcome:)