Tag Along With The Window Painter

Window Painting on the Internet

Strawberry plant with ripe berry
Image M Burgess

Sharing on Social Networks

I wanted to take this opportunity to invite you to follow along with my paintbrush adventures. I frequently post on my Facebook Page - The Holiday Window Painter. The additional images and items I find to share may be of interest to the creative types like myself. I've discovered some really cool things along my path as an artist and I'd love to have you join me there. 

I am also on Instagram. I post daily, but most of what I post these days are images from my garden. It is Spring and I am a very avid gardener. Not everything I do is art related...or is it? There is an art to gardening, too. I love working with the earth and watching the tinyiest seeds grow into monster plants. Occassionally, I get an art project and of course I have to post items from that as well. 

Exploring the world around us is part of the blessing/curse of being an artist. The gardening allows me to photograph nature and in this study I am able to improve my sketches and my art in general. I see things most people would not in the images and the results are a treasure trove of visual information as well as healthy produce for my body. The plant kingdom offers many opportunities in color, form, and texture.

I write on many topics including gardening. My main topic of interest will always be my art, but I find joy in sharing my recipes, my gardening tips, and articles on preparedness. I hope to share more of my writing in published form, but for now I will add my notes to the circle of social networks and keep taking those pictures. 

This author's site may be reached through this link: Maria Burgess.com  The site is a catalog of my web publishing. It features my blogs and websites as well as some of my hstory. 

I have another post to draft, so I will see you somewhere on the web soon. Have a great day!

Cleaning Off Window Paintings

Today is the day that holiday art and paint gets removed from the glass and windows get shined up for the New Year. 

The video collection below should explain how simple it is to accomplish this slightly messy task. I really do not like this part of window painting, but it comes with the territory. 

It is not the cleaning I dislike so much as the destruction of my artwork. That part makes me sad. It is like a funeral in the rain.... If you are a new artist, take a LOT of pictures! Trust me on that one. The more images you gather, the more ideas you may find. I take before and after pics because I want to demo how well my paintings are set. I use a specific type of paint when I create holiday art and it holds up quite well in the deserts of Southern Nevada.

www.holidaywindowpaint.com

3 New Fall Window Painting Themes for 2015

I just love it when I can create a window painting scene that represents a business and its services. The creation of a few new characters encourages my artistic interest and helps promote a good spirit for the clients I paint for. 

I work on my art each year adding new trimmings and images. Each is designed to celebrate the holiday or season for which I am creating a painting. In the following scenes the newest additions to my portfolio are highlighted.

Fancy Fall Leaf Image

Leaves and holiday related characters and creatures adorn the Fall painting season. The soft browns, orange, vibrant reds, and fading yellows accent falling leaves and are used as the base colors in centerpiece images. I like using an outline of black for these leaves. I've tried yellow outlines, but the effect was not what I had hoped for. I love adding a few color lines inside the main outline to accent a leaf image. I used a stippling brush and a light brown for a soft effect on the outside of the leaf shown above. I am using this technique again as I really like the results. I have gathered a few new tools to add to my paint kit and I will experiment with them during the off months of window painting. Sponges would be a great way to add character to these leaves. The images in photo do not reflect the textures I add with brush strokes. 

Groomer Girl and Trixie Turkey 

Groomer Girl was created on the way to this dog grooming shop as I puzzled through ideas for what to paint. The idea hit me about ten minutes from the shop. I giggled the whole way in and was really amped to see the finished image. Inspiration is half the battle of window painting. I thought of the turkey with a soft, naive smile and the girl with a snickering look on her sweet face. The girl is now a permanent resident on the window scenes here at Groomer Has It in Las Vegas. She will appear in a Christmas scene with a reindeer when that holiday rolls in. 

Thanksgiving Display Basket 

The end window set features a veggie basket and it contains all the vegetables and herbs one might stuff a turkey with. I prefer these stuffings as opposed to bread based stuffing as it adds moisture to the bird and a delicious aroma to the process. I did my best to represent celery, onions, garlic, carrots, and the herbs - Sage and Thyme, but I neglected to add Rosemary. I use these in my recipe and I grow these herbs in my yard. The garden keeps me busy when I am not painting windows. You can see the basket weave process I used here. It is a series of lines and squiggles in an ordered display. 

Groomer Has It - Pilgrim Dog

What decorating job at a dog grooming shop would be complete without a dog in the scene!? This was a suggestion by the owner and the little guy here appeared wearing a Pilgrim's hat. The owner was thrilled with her artwork and said she is getting a lot of compliments. I'm glad that they turned out good. I'm always worried they aren't going to like what I paint. Ive not had any complaints, yet....Happy Holidays! 

(Bear with me folks, I am having a hard time getting Blogger to set my images correctly... That boom, Crash is my reasoning going out the window. I just want the images set with the text in between... is that so difficult??? ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!)