Painting these ornaments this holiday season has been quite magical. I love bringing joy to others and using tiny paint brushes is always a fun experience for me. It has been lovely getting the acrylic paints out again and working on so many small canvases. As I created these ornaments, I fell in love with certain compositions. I decided to take these small paintings and make them again on larger 8” x 8” canvases so they could hang year round in people’s homes. The burro was the first one I decided to recreate.
After the burro ornament sold, I wanted to paint this animal again. I love going out hiking at Red Rock Canyon State Park here in Nevada. We are met on the trail by wild burros on occasion and it is a wonderful experience. Our dog just sits and watches these beautiful beings as they eat, run, and play with one another. I decided to do a close up of the burro to show how much personality each one of them has. They are quite cheeky and love a little mischief. The next ornament I fell in love with is the bear.
When I recreated the bear on an 8” x 8” canvas, I decided to really focus on the fur and the color palette. This painting took a lot longer than I planned and the title came to me because the bear and I were both lost in thought while he was being created. The red and yellow mixture with brown to create a pigment of sienna in the fur was an interesting touch. Each color was mixed as I painted so every stroke has different colors if you look closely at the original. These paintings will be available as originals only.
I decided not to make prints of these 8” x 8” because I like to have some paintings that are only available as originals. I hope everyone will enjoy these paintings as much as I enjoyed creating them. If you have any questions, please contact me via the website contact page. Thank you for reading and I hope to see you at Tivoli Village on the 19th!
-Karen Hilliard