Parents receive Christmas Gift

Early Christmas Morning my Mother was taken to the hospital with a rapid heart beat, chest pains, shoulder pain, and upset stomach. She was put into a room so they could run test on her heart (she has a history of heart disease and over 10 years ago had triple bi-pass surgery).

My Father called me Christmas morning to inform me that they could not come for dinner b/c of her being in the hospital...so, what else could I do but take Christmas to her.

Above picture is my parents receiving the portrait that I painted for them. They seemed to really like it and that made my day!

Christmas Wishes

My 3 girls: Casey 13, Courtney 17, Christina 3

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a

Happy Prosperous New Year!

"Daddy's Store"

"Daddy's Store"

Beverly Gurganus

20x16 Oil on Canvas

I haven't had much experience painting landscapes, but I really wanted to attempt this painting for my Step Mother-in-law whose father used to own a store. I was told that in it's glory days, it was a small gas station. It would be interesting to have seen a photo of what the store looked like in those days, but this was the only photo I was able to get my hands on. This is what the store looked like before it was demolished.

I was told that my step Mother-in-law was deeply saddened by its destruction (her father passed a few years ago) so that inspired me to paint this for her.

"The Early Years"

"The Early Years"

Beverly Gurganus

20x16 Oil on Canvas

I am calling this one done :). It definitely was difficult painting from two separate photos with one being only black and white, and even though it isn't a perfect likeness, I am satisfied.

Progression of "Mom & Dad" painting

I'm happy with this so far...it brings back memories of my Dad when I was little :)

The start of a few more paintings

A couple of the paintings I will be starting in hopes to have complete by Christmas.

The top is of the store that my step Mother-in-Law's Father owned. He is now past and she was sadden by the fact that it recently was torn down. I decided that painting this memory for her would be the best gift I could possibly give her.

The second is for my parents. My Mother has been wanting me to paint their portrait and I was surprised to see that she wanted me to paint their younger years. This is challenging for me b/c the reference pics are of them individually and at different time frames. This is my rough sketch and I still need a little tweaking before I start adding paint.

Impasto using pallette knife

I have been staring at my tall wall in my Living Room for a while. My couch sits against this wall with art work hanging above that is obviously not to scale with the wall. I decided it is finally time to get a much larger piece for the space.

While chatting with one of my Facebook artist friends, I was challenged to attempt a palette knife painting and so after researching the medium (tool) I accepted the challenge. My first attempt taught me that you should not do impasto without a medium to assist in the endurance of the paint but also the drying time. Oil paint is way too costly!

The above picture is what my piece looks like thus far. It is taking me longer than I hoped because not only is it a larger piece (3'x4') but also I'm starting a few Christmas gifts that has hit my priority list.

So far, this has been a learning experience and the only advice I would give to someone who wants to give this a try (besides using a medium) would be...don't be as ambitious as me and start with a much smaller canvas :).

Keep Creating all!!

Portrait of Jeanie

"Jeanie"

Beverly Gurganus

24" x 30" Oil on Canvas

I took my daughter to get her senior portraits done this past summer and while I was there, I gave the photographer my business card. She said she would keep it on file just in case she had some request for hand painted portraits. I got an idea!

I went to photographer's FB page and found a photo of her that I was pretty sure she liked b/c she had chosen it for her profile picture. It can be difficult pleasing the subject of a portrait (or so I'm told), but I felt that if I used a photo that was liked by the subject then that would be a good start.

It has been a couple of months since I began the painting and I completed it this week. I'm sure that I will see areas to touch up and since this photo was taken, I have already made some touch-ups to her teeth. My intentions is to give this to her so that she has an example of my work, but as of now, I haven't decided if it is good enough. I'm going to give myself some time away from it and then make my decision when I can view it again with a fresh eye.

Would love your feedback :)