My favorite food as a kid had to be cereal. What else tasted so good and had a small toy in the box (if you got to it before your siblings did)? This is a mixed media piece. It is color pencils blended with mineral spirits, ink and acrylic paint and measures 6x6.
This is the next painting in my series honoring children's book. This is a wonderful book and favorite of my kids when they were young. We read it often. 12x12 on panel with a special hole in the back so this can be hung with or without framing.
Someone got to enjoy a candy kiss. I thought I better paint this before the other two disappeared. This is an oil painting on 6x6 panel. It is 3/8" thick and has a special hole in the back so you can hang it with or without framing.
I was visiting at my sister's house in Atlanta and I noticed the morning sun pouring in her kitchen window. I just couldn't resist painting this picture of her window sill with these oranges. 6x6 oil painting on panel. This is 3/8" thick and has a special hole in the back so this can be hung with or without framing.
I find painting crumpled paper a challenge, but I always love the end results and feel it is well worth the effort. 6x6 Oil on board. This is 3/8" inch thick and has a special hole drilled in the back so this can be hung without a frame if you want.
I needed to paint something that reminded me of a warm summer day. I am so ready for winter to be over. This is 6x6 on 3/8" panel. It has a special hole drilled in the back so this can be hung without a frame if you want.
This is an oil painting that I did for dear friend and great person for her birthday. She is also a great artist. You should check out her web site www.christinewaara.com . This is an 8x8 oil painting on panel.
This features a single pear with plenty of personallity! It looks much nicer in person than it appears online. I just couldn't get the best picture of this one. It is painted in oil on hardboard and measures 6x6.
My partner calls these "LIFE BOARDS", so that is what I decided is the official name. Each board represents someones life, (or childhood). This measures 12x16 and is oil on a hardboard panel. These panels are 3/8" thick and have a specially drilled hole in the back so it can be hung without framing to add to the illusion of it being a real bulletin board with things "tacked" to it. I am still offering special deals on custom orders for these "LIFE BOARDS", so email me if you are interested in ordering one. artbyjoy@aol.com
Here is my first new painting of the new year. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. It took longer than most of my paintings to complete and has several layers of paint to give the wood a deep rich look with just the right reflections. 9x12 on hardboard.
This is a custom painting I did before Christmas. The photo isn't the best because I forgot to take a picture before framing it and getting it to the client. This photo was take through the glass by my client. SOLD!
This was a custom order that I did for a client. It is an 11x14 pastel painting. 
I'm back! I was very busy before Christmas, trying to get orders done and out before the holidays. I couldn't post what I was doing because I couldn't risk spoiling the surprise for the person receiving the art as a gift. This painting is one that I did for my brother as a gift. The whole thing is painted on, including the wood border. It was fun gathering up items that I thought would be a good representation of my brother's childhood. I set everything up on a bulletin board and took about 40 pictures with different lighting to get the shadows just how I wanted them. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. This was done in oil paint on hardboard from Dick Blick. The board is 3/8" thick and has a hole in the back for hanging, so it helps with the illustration of it being a real bulletin board. It is 18x24. I have received such positive comments on this when I showed it to friends that I have decided to set up a web site and offer these as custom pieces for sale. If anyone is interested in getting one done, I am going to offer a super special deal, because I need some more examples to put on the site. I have decided to offer these in 12x12, 12x16 and 18x24. Email me at artbyjoy@aol.com . I would love to know what everyone thinks of this idea.
6x6 Color pencils on coated illustration board. This was an experiment. Not the easiest to work on, but it came out ok.
I thought I would do a little experimenting today. I did this painting with water colors and color pencil. I have been spending a good part of each day working on custom orders that need to be done and delivered by Christmas. This was a good break from that. I would love to hear what you think about this painting. Email me if you are interested in purchasing this. artbyjoy@aol.com
Next time I paint a picture of a doughnut, I am going to eat some of the sprinkles off of it first. This is a lot of sprinkles when you work on each one individually. 5x7 color pencil painting.
Here is another twist on "Ball and Jacks". I came across this little tiny real crystal ball in an out of the way little shop and I purchased it because I knew it would make a great addition to my artwork. Here is my first offering featuring this little treasure. 6x6 Color Pencil Painting. Why am I calling it a painting if it is a color pencil drawing? Because, it is done in layers with the color pencil and then using mineral spirits to spread out the color with a brush or swab giving it a washed effect, more like painting than your typical color pencil effect.
I call this one "Cherry Conversations" because it seems like these three little cherries are having a gossipfest and sharing all the secrets. 6x6 color pencil painting. Why am I calling it a painting if it is a color pencil drawing? Because, it is done in layers with the color pencil and then using mineral spirits to spread out the color with a brush or swab giving it a washed effect, more like painting than your typical color pencil effect."
I have loved gourds and pumpkins since I was a kid. I was always fascinated with all of the colors and shapes of the gourds and you don't get a more beautiful orange than you find in the small pumpkins. This is a 9x12 pastel painting. This is the first still life painting I have done in pastel. I have done animals and portraits before in pastel, but I use a very different paper that uses a different approach. I wasn't sure I could pull this off, but I was pleased with the results. What do you think? 
I wanted to show you a piece of work done by a friend of mine. This is a watercolor and is included on the up and coming web site that features video lessons. Christine Waara is a wonderful artist and a great teacher. This 5.5x5.5 painting is listed on ebay for sale. Click here to bid on this piece.
What can be better this time of the year than candy corn. I video taped the painting process of this for my upcoming new web site. The site is coming along great and will be loaded with video art lessons and tons of top quality reference photos to use for art. It should be up and running within a couple of weeks. I will keep you all posted. I am very proud of the way it is turning out.
Here is a new twist on an old favorite...Apple Jacks. 7x7 oil on hardboard. 
These beautiful flowers were from my mom's garden. They were so beautiful and just begged to be painted. 7x7 Oil Painting on hardboard. 
Sorry for not posting for a while. I was very sick and it seemed to take forever for me to feel good enough to paint. Once I did feel better I had several custom orders to get going. Sooooo....I am back! Here is my next offering. 5x7 oil painting on hardboard.
I thought I would play around with some words and make a painting to match. 7x7 Oil painting on hardboard.
I went to our local flea market looking for anything interesting to take pictures of or to buy that would make a good painting. I found a really nice old milk bottle to paint....and...I came across a booth that was selling handmade cupcakes. They were so beautiful. I hand picked two different ones to purchase. When I told the vender that I planned to do a painting of the cupcakes they said to make sure that we ate them after. Yeah, like that was going to be a problem. They were as delicious as they were beautiful. This is 6x6 on hardboard.
This is a painting of one of my actual tubes of paints. This is 4x4 on gallery wrapped canvas. Gallery wrapped canvases are intended to be hung unframed.This is 1.25 inches deep making it strong enough to hang unframed without warping.The entire image is shown on the front, but extra, coordinated pigment, hasbeen added on the sides to compliment the picture. No staples are visible.It's ready to hang on your wall!
I found doing the foil on this painting to be quite a challenge. I was pleased with the overall effect. This oil painting is 6x8 on canvas mounted on hardboard.
Here is the progress on this Candyland painting. I think another couple of days and it should be done.
Back to one of my favorite subjects...marbles. This is 4x12 on gallery wrapped canvas. Gallery wrapped canvases are intended to be hung unframed.This is 1.25 inches deep making it strong enough to hang unframed without warping.The entire image is shown on the front, but extra, coordinated pigment, hasbeen added on the sides to compliment the picture. No staples are visible.It's ready to hang on your wall!
I must be a weird person. I don't go to many places and not see everything as a possible subject for artwork. That includes the grocery store...especially the grocery store. I walk the produce aisles looking for prime pieces of fruits and veggies not for something healthy to feed my family but for something wonderful to paint. (Ok, ok, after I am done with my painting, I do feed it to my family.) When I came across a selection of pears, I was in my glory. They were all so fresh and great looking. So I present to you here my first of many paintings featuring these pears. The oil painting measures 8x8 on pre-primed panel. It is 3/8 thick with the sides painted black and a special hole predrilled in the back for hanging. No framing is needed with this one. (I think this painting turned out much nicer than the online picture shows.)
