Long day

I've managed to have a studio day today.

I left for lunch, only to get back at it when we got back.

This seahorse will eventually be on a tray, but it needs to be cut out, sanded, and painted on the edges.

I have two seahorses drawn on the tray and I will paint them tomorrow.

Then the seahorse will be affixed and ready.

The rest of my day was spent designing another 24-inch dimensional painting.

This one will be spectacular, I think!

It will be a visit back to a painting that I have had for some time with an octopus on it.

I am adding the dimension after drawing and drawing all day on it.

Tomorrow finds me also taking down the sets for the summer surge, Lost World.

I think the kids have had fun with the design and lots of photos 

have been taken with their respective dinosaurs.

It will be lot of work, but altogether worth it as we salvage and store some of the pieces.

That way, we only need paint for most of the flats.

I'm looking forward to the next year already!

Long day, Acrylic on wood, 16 inches

Day 29 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025

 

Seahorses, coral, and more dinosaurs!

This one is a part of the series of elongated canvases for between windows or above doors.

I had people ask for years before I actually started this series a couple of years ago.

They began as 4 x 24-inch canvas, then we expanded them to 6 x 24-inch.

It gives the effect of the elongation with a width that is easier to create on.

Anyway, this is today's painting!

This is the final stage design consisting of a dozen flats that can be repainted from year to year.

Pastor Tim puts the wings onto the body after hanging the Pterodactyl.

 

The triceratops in place with its background panels.

The tyrannosaurus in place on opposite side of the foyer.

Velociraptor "Blue"

Long neck in place.

I still cannot imagine it is all finally done, and the children are enjoying them.

Some of them seemed in awe, others were non-plussed.

Oh well, they're done, and they have homes.

At least temporarily!

Two will stay at the church, maybe three.

The others will go to the Daphne public library and may make a tour around Baldwin County.

Sundays set up took over 7 hours to complete.

It was a late night.

Many hours, many hands, many hearts are in this, the biggest Summer Surge I have designed to date!

I am forever grateful to everyone who lifted a brush, cut a leaf, taped a leaf, painted a panel, painted a dinosaur or a leaf.

Those who prayed for us, but most especially the parents that allow their children to come and learn a little about Jesus!

Seahorses, coral, and more dinosaurs, acrylic on canvas,

day 28 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025

 

Eyes, bodies, wings, toes and a footprint?

Eyes painted today!

All five dinosaurs have eyes now.

A much quieter day of steady working.

I asked Pastor to not give us help today from the youth.

I knew we just had a few things to do,

Each one of the creatures got some final touches added.

The scope of the work was a lot more than I thought.

We had several toes to paint on each of the creatures.

We also touched up horns and bodies that needed some tweaking.

The biggest project was the Pterodactyl wings.

The kids painted the tablecloths yesterday and we carefully put them together on the armature.

The wings measure about 15 ft total.

The body will hang below.

The whole bird will be in the cafe area.

We also had a request from one of the pastors for a 5'9" Sauropod footprint.

Once the foamboard arrived, we set to work as I knew it would take awhile.

Ella Rose did an excellent job on it, happily painting away!

I love my husband, but I seem to always look drunk in photos he takes.

Ever the comedian, Chris put sunglasses on the long neck while I was working on it.

At least he thought it was funny.

My sense of humor was long gone after a long day.

We spent from 8:30-5:30 at the church today detailing.

This week is over.

The dinosaurs, walls, backdrops, props, are all done!

I am toast tonight.

I'm sure a good nights rest, and I'll be back again tomorrow.

I pray the children are as excited as I am!

Eyes, bodies, wings, toes, and a footprint?

Day 25 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025

 

Pod Party!

"Pod party"

Anyone who has been fortunate enough to have seen a pod of dolphin's play is indeed blessed.

Their antics of chasing the fish or simply playing can be a joy to behold.

Chris and I were fortunate enough to actually see a hunt by a pod near one of the piers.

The pod was large with little ones in their midst.

They were after a school of fish, but the little ones were not able to keep up.

The largest one, (we assumed a male because he was huge) started swimming around the group.

This scared the fish into the center of the pod and the party was on!

Everyone started jumping and diving into the ring and eating their fill.

It was so fun to watch!

We also wrapped up the youth helping today at the build for the dinosaurs.

I've never had so many adults curious about VBS.

They hear about the dinosaurs and have to come see them in person.

I am so happy that the kids are excited, the adults are excited, and the staff is excited too!

The best part is, the dinosaurs seem to have a home possibly touring Baldwin County in the libraries.

Two of them will stay at the church until October for the series the children's Pastor is teaching.

There is also an individual interested in possibly homing one or two.

The panels have all been painted, 16 of them twice, once for background, again for details.

The youth of KOTC and others have worked incredibly hard on this project!

Sarah and I will be putting details on the creatures on Friday, hopefully finishing up early in the day.

Sunday is set up day!

Whew!

For now, I'm putting this tired body into the shower and then the bed.

Goodnight.

Pod party, Acrylic on wood, 17 inches

Day 24 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025

 

Just clowning around!

Theres no clowning here for sure!

Just a lot of good old fashioned hard work.

I have been fortunate to be able to create several sets for the Vacation Bible school at Celebration Church.

I am so grateful for the talents God has given me, allowing me to help Him further His Kingdom.

Yes, it's a lot, yes, it's exhausting, yes, it's fun.

We painted

A
LOT 

TODAY! 

Palm branches got sprayed, two sets of flats had trees, 

and palms added to the backgrounds painted yesterday.

The stage is getting detailed and so are some backdrops we used over 10 years ago.

The stone gates are looking amazing.

The kids are really starting to see the whole picture coming to life.

It all will truly be beautiful indeed.

I am always amazed at the end result myself.

We also had an emergency run around while the youth that were helping were eating lunch.

Sarah and I brought our lunch to the CK building to eat and have some quiet time.

I heard thunder, then when I heard louder thunder, we both jumped up and ran outside.

We scurried around, picking up and bringing in all the items 

that were laying on the ground drying outside. 

The palm branches were not quite dry, so we propped them up against the fence.

We got everything in just as the rain started to fall.

Then the bottom fell out.

I prayed the palms just painted that morning were dry enough to hold their paint.

Heart pumping action for sure.

The KOTC had rehearsal for the VBS.

So, we packed up everything for the night.

I headed home, took dogs for a ride, ate dinner, got ice cream!

I then headed to the studio to paint as I have been itching to get back to my easel.

This "Just Clowning Around" is a small piece (11x14).

It is the demonstration piece for Hello Gallery.

I am teaching how to paint this little guy September 9th from 5:30 -7:30 pm.

It will be a fun class for sure!

It is now hot shower time for me!

I bid you Adieu!

Just Clowning Around, Acrylic on canvas, 11 x 14

Day 23 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025

 

I "Arted" more today!

The youth were all working hard today.

We will be ahead of the game by tomorrow evening.

I'm so proud of the kids, taking instruction, following through, and completing tasks.

They are an amazing team to have.

Of course, today we started painting the dinosaurs.

The kids are very excited to work on them.

But before dinosaurs, we worked on more leaves for the jungle atmosphere.

I am buying a container and storing these leaves for future use.

Not going through this again!

We've gone through almost 1400 feet of wire, several rolls of tape, and two large rolls of green papers.

Resorting to standing on a chair to reach the long neck's upper reaches.

The kids are excited to see them come to life under their hands.

By the time we're finished they will have several layers of paint on them.

The belly is worked on while the dinos were on their sides.

Several teams working at once.

Sometimes you have to get under the dinosaur to paint!

I think they're having fun!

Although I know we're all tired of leaves, wires, and paint.

Sets this big are a lot of work.

The stage is 10 separate pieces with a working door on one side of the stage.

Each alcove is 4 pieces X 2, the large alcove under the balcony is 8 pieces.

There are two reserve pieces for whatever we need.

Of course, the set dressing on Sunday will pull it all together.

I painted too.

 Really, I did!

I painted the upper parts of the set, to look like palms are peeking up out from behind the wall.

I set up and painted leaves by the dozen, changing them from flat to fabulous.

I then handed over the leaf painting to another team.

I also directed a lot of kids in their works.

Our total today was 78 more hours.

Go team KOTC!

I went to the hardware store to get more wire tonight as well as more green paint.

We have large palm branches to spray.

Multiple panels with palm branches and plants to paint for backgrounds behind each of the dinosaurs.

Gates looking more like stonework paint.

Greenery to assemble with several hundred leaves.

Really hectic, really head hurting (me trying to paint, while being asked "what's next?"),

 really fun, fun, fun!

I Arted more today!, Paint on multiple canvases, (including dinosaurs)

Day 22 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025

 

I'm "Arted" out today!

Each of these VBS builds are different and yet the same.

What an incredible day at Celebration Church.

The Youth and adults we have are amazing and wonderful.

I painted some, but the youth got an astounding amount of work done today.

Uncomplaining for the most part, they dogged until they were almost completed with 

Every

Single

Panel!

Sixteen to be exact.

I am so grateful for them.

There also was an amazing team of ladies cutting hundreds of leaves.

Several bunches of leaves had wires attached as well.

We have some purchased leaves that did not have wires.

Hopefully we can save all of them this year, instead of having to make them again.

If you remember, there were leaves two years ago too!

It's a lot of work!

The boys at the table were cutting wire for the leaves.

They cut wire ALL day!

I've also had to go buy more wire to put on the larger leaves.

It's going to be a jungle out there.

The guys also started the build on the "Gates"

There are two sets, one for the entrance into the sanctuary, the other is for the stage.

We also removed lights from the galaxies from last year, and taped the holes.

Two will be painted for the stage.

I'm not sure yet what will happen to the other two.

We also used scraps of paper from the leaf cutting to build "rocks".

Sarah is also there; I just didn't get a photograph of her working.

She painted 9 flats for the stage today.

I'm sure she's tired of the gray paint!

My right-hand woman for sure.

I can always count on her beautiful smile and generous laughter.

The youth are extremely excited to paint dinosaurs tomorrow.

Anyway, it was a full day of working together.

We were there from about 8am to 4:30 pm

20 people x conservatively 6 hours each

120 hours!!!!

Did I paint?

On sets, yes.

Did I get a painting a day done?

Technically, not really.

Space and Grace for me today.

I truly am "Arted" out.

Goodnight!

I'm "Arted" out today, No painting, just hard work!

Day 21 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2025