Karen Goodwin Smith Fine Art

Bird Series

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:05:00 +0000

Goldfinch

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Bluebird

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Chickadee Love

12" x 12"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Bluejay

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Robin No. 2

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

As Spring is hopefully approaching, I have been working on a series of birds. I hear the birds every morning as they are building nests and laying eggs! It brings such hope and excitement as new life begins all around. All of the paintings above will be available at Panoply in Huntsville, April 25 - 27 at Big Spring Park. Hope you will all come out!

I Love Pears

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Wed, 05 Feb 2014 17:55:00 +0000

Reflections of Pears

11" x 14"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Whenever I start feeling crazy or out of sorts I always go back to painting something comforting, like pears. I love the shape of pears and I am a sucker for blue and green together. So this painting just practically painted itself!

Day 30 !!!! 30 Paintings in 30 Days!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 13:05:00 +0000

Will You Be Mine?

6" x 6"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Wow! The 30 Day Challenge is over and I am a little bit sad. Such a great experience to push through the days when I didn't want to paint or couldn't think of something to paint. I think that was my biggest AHA moment, you can paint anything! Even the dessert you pick up at the store for a meeting! I took chances and painted things I had not painted before and nothing terrible happened! It's just paint, you can wipe it off or paint over it if you don't like it. Just making myself sit down and paint has encouraged me because sometimes I just need that extra push. This was a fabulous experience and I want to thank Leslie Saeta for putting the challenge out there!

Day 29 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 13:57:00 +0000

Pretty Please With a Cherry On Top

6" x 6"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

I was struggling yesterday trying to think of something to paint. I was also taking dessert to a meeting last night and in typical fashion I went to the bakery to buy the dessert. While I was there I thought, why don't I just paint the dessert!! Genius! I think I may go back to the bakery again today..

Day 28 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 16:21:00 +0000

Another Beautiful Day

11" x 14"

Oil on Canvas

This is actually the same composition I painted yesterday but I changed up the palette. I tried to go softer and more pastel, more of an early morning look. It was fun getting out of my comfort zone and mixing up different colors. I tend to paint more on the warm side so this was different for me.

Day 27 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 16:19:00 +0000

Beautiful Day

11" x 14"

Oil on Canvas

I have wanted to do an abstract landscape for a while now and had a perfect photo to work from and I had so much fun! I will definitely be doing more of these. I love just mixing colors and laying them in where they feel good!

Day 24 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:44:00 +0000

The Blue Vase

10" x 10"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

This is one of my favorite vases and I have painted it several times but I love pairing it with different items for still life setups.

Day 23 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 07:00:00 +0000

It Takes All Kinds

5" x 7"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

$45

Well I got back on schedule today with some apples on a small canvas. The funniest thing happened when I was gathering my fruit for the still life. I grabbed all the apples and as I was arranging them I thought, this green apple feels funny…. I got it out of the refrigerator…..but it feels weird…. Yes it was fake. Someone (probably myself) put it in the fridge thinking it was real. Well props to the fake fruit making people, good job!

Days 21 - 22 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 14:22:00 +0000

Happy To Be Together

14" x 11"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

SOLD

I tried so hard to get this one done in one day but it didn't happen. I had to put the finishing touches on this morning, so this is a 2 day painting. I went back to what I know, hydrangeas. While I still have a lot to learn about painting them they are my favorite.

Day 20 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Mon, 20 Jan 2014 20:38:00 +0000

Pomegranate

6" x 6"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

I picked up a Pomegranate at the store yesterday and the color was so great I thought, this is Day 20!

Enjoy!

Day 19 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 20:01:00 +0000

Yorkie

6" x 6"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

NFS

This little gem will be part of the silent auction at "The Dog Ball 2014" which will benefit The Greater Huntsville Humane Society. I took this picture a couple of months ago of my friends dog "Cooper" and have loved painting from it. He is a special little boy!

Day 18 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Sat, 18 Jan 2014 19:15:00 +0000

Oink

10" x 10"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

So today I decided to paint a pig. I had plenty of cows and sheep and so I thought why not! Since it has a dark background I was having trouble getting a photo without a glare so I took a side shot… it worked and you can actually see the colors so I just went with it. Hope you like it!

Day 17 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 19:05:00 +0000

Gerber Daisies

7" x 5"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Well today I decided that I had completely forgotten how to paint. But I finally finished these sweet Gerber daisies so maybe all hope is not lost. Trying to finish a painting every day is much harder than I thought it would be but I will press on!

Day 15 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Wed, 15 Jan 2014 18:40:00 +0000

In the Meadow

8" x 10"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

It is the halfway point today!!! I did miss a day yesterday, but I am not going to let that stop me I will just carry on! I went back to sheep again, shocking…. there is something about them that just keeps me coming back for more. I hope you enjoy the sheep for today.

Day 12 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Sun, 12 Jan 2014 15:21:00 +0000

House in the Bend

11" x 14"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

I took this photo while traveling from Nashville back to Huntsville a month or so ago. I saw some beautiful farm land and jumped off the Interstate and drove around for almost an hour taking pictures. I loved the shadows running across the road and the little house down at the end. It was fun getting back to a landscape for a change.

Day 11 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Sat, 11 Jan 2014 15:34:00 +0000

Cooper

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

SOLD

This painting is a special one for me. This is my dear friends little dog and he is such a sweetie. I actually helped her pick him out as a puppy so this was a really fun one to do! I am also a little partial to Yorkies as my own Sophie is a Yorkie Poo. The hardest part about this painting was getting Cooper to stand still for the photograph!

Day 10 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Fri, 10 Jan 2014 13:28:00 +0000

Missy

10" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Today's painting is actually a commission piece for a friend of mine. This is her sweet dog Missy that passed away and she wanted a painting done to give to her husband. Don't we all love our sweet furry babies! This was a joy to paint and I hope he will love it!

Day 9 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 23:01:00 +0000

So Happy Together

6" x 6"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Today needed to be quick because I didn't have much time so I went back to something I know well and that is pears. I have painted many pears and I still love them so much. I never get tired of them!

Day 8 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 20:22:00 +0000

Sunset at Rosemary Beach

8" x 10"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

I have been thinking about painting this sunset photo ever since my trip there in October. This may sound silly but the sunset was so beautiful I was afraid it just wouldn't look real if I painted it. I hope some of the beauty I experienced there comes through in the painting.

Day 7 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 16:57:00 +0000

Dolly

6" x 6"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

SOLD

So you may notice there is no post for Day 6….well that would be because I painted for about 4 hours and ended up wiping the whole thing off. I just could never get to the point where I liked up so I just salvaged the canvas and gave up for the day. But today is a new day! So here is another sheep, I hope you enjoy this. I like the way the light hit the sheep on one side and not the other. Fun colors to play around with!

Day 5 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Sun, 05 Jan 2014 13:32:00 +0000

T-Bone

5" x 7"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

After three days of sheep I came back to cows! I know it sounds crazy but it is really a good learning experience to paint the same subject matter over again. I have started to pick up on small things about shapes of eyes and heads, nostrils you know really important things in life! I hope you enjoy today's effort. Thanks for looking!

Day 4 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Sat, 04 Jan 2014 00:37:00 +0000

He Knows Them By Name

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

SOLD

Well it is Day 4 and I am still going! This has been such a great learning experience for me. This is my third sheep and they all look completely different. This one was particularly interesting because it was just a head study and it was fun looking at how all the little hairs grow in different directions on their sweet faces and then their wool is just crazy going in all different directions. It was interesting trying to capture that in a painting. I hope you enjoy it!

Day 3 - 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 13:01:00 +0000

If I Am Lost

8" x 8"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

I really enjoyed painting the sheep on Day 2 so I tackled another sheep for Day 3. This one was a sort of brown sheep and the colors were a little trickier but I think I captured it. I love the texture of the wool when painting sheep it is so much fun! I hope you enjoy this one! You can purchase my 30 day paintings on my Daily Paintworks site. The link is just to the right of this post!

Day 2 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 12:45:00 +0000

Watch Over Me

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

5" x 7"

SOLD

This is a photo I have been waiting to paint for awhile. I absolutely love sheep! The texture of their wool is so intriguing and they are just so darn cute, but more than that I love what they signify. Sheep are often used in analogies with humans, they need a shepherd. Sheep cannot exist alone. They need protection and guidance just like we do. I can absolutely identify with that and the need I have for God to guide me and protect me. I am absolutely dependent on Him for everything. I hope you enjoy the painting for today!

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Smith) — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 14:55:00 +0000

Lucy

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

8" x 8"

SOLD

So this is the first day of the 30 paintings in 30 days! I actually painted this one yesterday, and today I am painting a sheep. Looks like I am starting off with a farm animal theme. I actually want to paint from my photos from this past year, it just so happens the first 2 were farm animals! This sweet cow was grazing in a pasture as I was driving by so I just pulled over and she posed for me. I thought the solid white would be really hard and I was a little afraid of it but it went better than I expected. I may paint her again for more practice. Happy New Year everyone! She sold quickly on Facebook yesterday, hooray!