Vintage looking pressed flowers

THE CHESAPEAKE COLLECTION 

THE ART OF pressing  REAL FLOWERS and 

turning THEM into LIVE stamps. 

I am really excited about these and have been working on this project ALL summer.  I went to the Chesapeake Bay and while on walks, I gathered fresh flowers and weeds along the roadside,  painting them, pressing them, and then turning them into 'stamps' that were used for art.  

These will be taken to High Point Wholesale MARKET  in October.   We exhibit in the Commerce and Design building!  There about 24 of them!  I hope you enjoy!  

I really love the colors on this one 

A splash of red for fall! 

I am unsure how I will have the framed but am going to be hanging then in my house sometime very soon.  Here is the whole lot of them thrown on my extra large dining room table!  

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Whaling Scene

Calling All Whalers!!

Making History One day at a time.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/474883307/kolene-spicher-medium-whaling-scene?ref=shop_home_active_1

Small whaling Scene 

I don't know now I come up with these titles but they work.  I just imagine that they would have to use banners and signs to get the word out, Worthy Whalers Wanted! 

The Call to all Whalers!

So this is an antique frame.  I painted this on canvas so it is not behind glass.    

The colors go well with the other paintings that I have done.  Most of my work blends with each painting that
I have done in the past.  These both are for sale on ETSY today.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/474883307/kolene-spicher-medium-whaling-scene?ref=shop_home_active_1

I love anything nautical.  My house is full of all kinds of props!  I like how these look sitting behind the ducks.  

Here is the painting in its entirety.  It measures about 11"x13"  Check it out on Etsy! 

For Scale

I use acrylic paint.  I love to use vibrant colors to depict things but also manage to subdue them if necessary, don't like garish colors.  

I wrote an inspirational saying on the back.  Isn't this so true?  Sometimes, when I look back at what we have had to do, I think WOW, how did we ever do it!  Doing what looks

impossible starts with the first step...

Enjoy. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/474883307/kolene-spicher-medium-whaling-scene?ref=shop_home_active_1

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Atlantic Ocean Mermaid

Miss Atlantic 

She was queen for a day! 

Featured in her new Gold frame 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/474363435/kolene-spicher-original-mermaid-painting?ref=pr_shop

I briefly talked about this mermaid before.  It's been one of those things where the mermaid and the frame just didn't jive.  I have enjoyed her on my wall for a while now and finally found a frame that I believe to work.

The finish on this frame is reproduction in nature, meaning that it was newly painted to look old.  It's all crackled and bubbled and will look great with seashells and beauty decor. 

One of the funnest things about my job is creating things that make people feel something.  This mermaid has the sweetest expression.  Her expression is innocent.  Her little hands are naively painted.  She is just fun.

This is the newest frame, Sorry I keep reframing this piece.  I FINALLY am happy! 

OLD FRAME, this frame is too dark.  

In the water to the left and right of her arm is the saying "She was Queen for a day."  I want to be queen for a day!!!  ha 

Just for fun, I am adding what this painting looks like from the back side!  Look at my GIRL sitting on that chair.  She's pretty innocent, too! 

Enjoy. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/474363435/kolene-spicher-original-mermaid-painting?ref=pr_shop

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Small paintings with BIG impact

Using Book Shelves and small Cupboards to 

display small pieces 

Offers BIG Impact 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/460685836/kolene-spicher-original-whale-painting?ref=pr_shop

Its been a very long time since I have posted.  I have been dealing with another round of the old Ovarian Cancer.  There, I said it.  Now, I can get on with my job, LOL.  I have talked in the past about doing a show in September that is in Doylestown, PA.   I had to cancel this event. I am sorry about it, too.   I will plan on returning 2017, provided that I can get back into the show.  This show is amazing and there is a waiting list.  Maybe they will let me back in since I have a good excuse.  JUST SAYING.  Some days I feel I should have a blog about Cancer and dealing/surviving with it.  Step 1, The first thing I tell myself is that there is an end to it.  I fully believe that one day I will wake up and it will be G O N E.  Painting is good therapy, Step 2.  

I feel good and am at the other side of this...THANKS be to God! 

~~~~~

Using book shelves to display small art is a very interesting and good idea to me.  I have written about it before.    The ways to display the small paintings are endless.  Small easels, book stands, little boxes, decorative books--are all good props and add dimension and interest to display my small masterpieces (LOL).  This little painting came from my ETSY store just recently (lower right corner of picture above). 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/473120401/kolene-spicher-original-sailboat?ref=shop_home_active_1

The customer loved it and has already sent me a photo!  I LOVE SOCIAL MEDIA. 

All four paintings in this cupboard were provided by Kolene

Now,  I am ready to list another on Etsy.  This one is a long thin whaling painting that was painted on canvas.  It is actually a small canvas original.  The frame is wonderfully primitive.  Check it out on KOLENESPICHER Etsy.  

Add capthttps://www.etsy.com/listing/460685836/kolene-spicher-original-whale-painting?ref=pr_shopion

Thanks for looking! 

ENJOY your day. 

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Plans for a Large Scaled Vintage Photo Frame, Post 2

...A Change of Plans

I know that I said I was going to do something with "Flags" and "driftwood" but after looking at the frame for a bit and also the driftwood that I had collected, I decided that the driftwood was not consistent enough in depth.  While some were shaped perfectly, there were more shaped imperfectly.  

It's hard to imagine what this would look like after the tape is removed, but It will look
just fine.  The green certainly clashes with the blue but that will all go away in a bit. 

I liked the folky waves but ended up softening this look as the painting progressed 

In this shot, please notice the darkness added at the base of the painting.  
This creates a sense of
distance.  

I would call this sunrise... 

At the moment, I have decided to look at this painting for a few weeks.  I might add another boat that is larger in the foreground.  I had a wall over some sofas in my living room that badly needed some artwork.  This will do just fine for the time.  

I had a shelf that needed assembled and set to the right of the fireplace.  This painting will end up over that shelf (see below).  

Here's another shot that shows it with regard to the entire space.  

The colors blend very nicely.  Check out the piece of vintage vinyl on the right on the floor!  

I love using blues and reds and whites.  You can sort of see a red and white quilt on the bottom of the shelf.  When you have dogs like we do, you absolutely MUST cover these white sofas.  I use these quilts to do so.  No worries, the dogs are light and will not ruin the quilts.  

See how little my Girl is??  This shot also shows a good picture of the round floorcloth.  You can go to www.spicherandco.com to purchase this look or contact me on my blog, I can direct you.  

I also love the use of shells in a nautical house.  Someday soon, I am going to show you my seashell folk art.  I have a lot of it and love the way it blends with my 'stuff.' 

I love this shot of the artwork.  I am busy painting for the Doylestown Art show in September.  Go to this link to learn more. 

http://www.traditionalartisanshow.com

If you want tickets to this event, message me thru Facebook by going to the page that I manage.  Here is a link to that, too. 

https://www.facebook.com/Kolene-Spicher-224370351101609/

Enjoy! 

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VERY large scaled whale painted on a reclaimed wood type surface

He felt like a fish out of water! 

This poor guy was too big for the body of
water he found himself in! 

I love to paint big folky whales and this project was so much fun.  I purchased an old painting that happened to be on some  balsam wood.  Figuring that I could never buy the wood this inexpensively, I decided to purchase it.  Because of the fact that  light weight balsam wood was used, I could easily hang this over my dinner table with no fear of damaging the drywall or it falling on someone's head.  Plywood would have been too heavy.  

The finish on this piece turned out great with the alligator cracks, etc.  I had a time forcing the paint down into the slats, but in the end, I was pleased with my efforts. 

This gives you a good idea of the size and scale of this painting. I didn't measure it, but it is easily 5 feet wide and 2 feet wide.  

Here it is over my buffet.  LOOK at the scale. I thought about painting a ship in the background but then thought, nah, I always do that.  I like it simple! 

I decided that the edges need to be painted too.  This piece has sort of a bread board edge look to it.  I grained it to look like tiger maple, something that I LOVE. 

You can see that it needed the edges painted.  This piece would not be complete without the graining.  In the end, I decided that it needed to be hung over my dinner table! 

Thanks for looking!  

Enjoy your JULY4 holiday! 

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Plans for a large scaled vintage photo frame - nautical flags, possibly.

Ugly inexpensive large scaled vintage photograph print and frame made NEW! 

The Renovation steps 

 

Say goodbye to this picture! 

Yesterday, I was wondering around an antique shop and found this picture.  I am not going to lie, it was cheap, really cheap.  But hold on, sometimes cheap isn't bad.  I like cheap things because I can afford to experiment with paint and finishes without the pressure of messing up and wasting money.   

I was thinking that this would be good for displaying some nautical flags.  I love flags.  This picture was made well, it's just not attractive any longer.  Unfortunately, it cannot be disassembled.  Whoever made the frame, made it to stay together permanently, print and all.  

I had no option but to paint directly on the print with a gesso type paint.  Here is what I did. 

I painted the frame black.  I will show closeups of this in a later post.  

I had to tape it off to keep the edges clean and looking fresh and professional.  Although, I don't know how 'professional' it was to even have chosen this poor pathetic piece, ha.  

The frame was obviously made by a craftsperson with some skill.  The
corners are perfect in the front and the back. 

This frame steps in about 1 1/4" so it would be perfect for mounting something ON TOP.  This might be what I choose to do. 

I found this driftwood walking along the Chesapeake Bay.  I have a bunch of it! 

I thought these would be really fun with some kind of whale, ship, or
sailboat painted on them.  

My idea is to try to find square pieces and paint nautical flags on them and carefully mount them to my project frame.  

Check back later for updates.  This is going to be a slow project that I work on in between my actual "WORK." 

Enjoy the day! Happy Fourth of July! 

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