Landscape Oil Morning Snow by Della Burgus

Frosty Morning

In church a couple of weeks ago, our pastor asked us to greet one another by saying something good about the snow.  I couldn't think of a thing at the time, but a little while later I had one of  those V-8 moments, you know, like the commercial. Someone eats something really bad that tastes really, really good, then hits his head and says, I could have had a V-8.  Suddenly I realized - hey, I am an artist! The snow is really beautiful to look at, as long as you don't have to be outside in it. Why is it so easy to forget who I am, and to fail to be thankful for all the gifts of God?  He gives good gifts to men and women, but sometimes it takes a little digging for us to see their value. 

He has made everything beautiful in its time, and has set Eternity in the hearts of men. Ecclesiastes 3:11

This painting is an oil on stretched, wrapped canvas, standard depth. All the edges are painted and no staples show, so that it may be displayed with or without a frame.  It was painted in  a loose, "painterly" style,  a little more Impressionistic than some of my work. It will be listed on Daily Painters and Art Helping Animals on Tues,  Jan 26.  Or you may purchase it through  Pay Pal on this blog by clicking on the Buy It Now button.

Frosty Morning

Oil on Canvas

11 x 14

$100

20% will be donated to Rimrock Humane Society

Best of America Pastel Artists Competition

 

                  Panda, Pastel, 17 x 17                                                                           Palomino, Pastel, 9 x 13                                

The two pastel paintings above were selected to be included in the two volume book set, Best of America Pastel  Artists which was published in December and features the work of 123 pastel artists from all over  the country. According to the publisher, the works were chosen "based on numerous factors, with the most important being style, innovation and uniqueness..."

The books are 8.5 x 11, soft cover books and each artist has been provided with two full pages for artwork reproductions and contact information.  It is a great honor for me to be included among such artists as Larry Blovits, Alan Flattman and Albert Handell.  The contest sponsors are Kennedy Publishing Company, Dick Blick Art Materials, and Sennelier Pastels. 

The original paintings are no longer available.  Coincidentally, both were purchased earlier last year by Robin Edghill of "The Frame Up." in Richland Hills Texas.

Being published has been  a lifelong dream of mine and an honor for any artist. Thank you for allowing me to share my joy with you.

When is spring? Work in Progress

The weather has been cold and awful here, but it has resulted in the most beautiful scenery.  I decided it would be fun to paint a snowy landscape, so yesterday I ventured outside to take some reference photos. The frosty trees made a wintry fairyland of our neighborhood.

What a difference a day makes!  Good thing I took the photos yesterday. Once again, Iowa has been canceled due to the weather.  No photography today - I can't get my front door open! All that lovely frost has gone now and everything is covered with ice. Not nearly so pretty, and not at all nice.  As the ice melts and refreezes,  I hear limbs falling onto the roof. It is a terrible sound. Hope it is over soon. We had one of these storms a few years ago that lasted for three days and  left everything looking like a war zone.

Click on any photo for a larger view.

        

Here are some of the shots I took yesterday.   My husband offered me the use of some of his also. I think he has thousands.  I will combine elements of them into a composition.  Something to help me remember this winter - as if anyone can forget it.  I can't promise how it will turn out, but watch this space for further development...

White Stallion in the Snow - Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Sold

...forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead...
 
A little late for my New Year's greeting.  This painting was supposed to be finished a couple of weeks ago.  But it has been said - and quoted often on this blog - "Life is what happens when you are making other plans."  How true.  And that is what makes life exciting!

2009 was a roller coaster ride for me as well as for many others. Good times and bad, happy and sad, confusion, chaos, and very little clarity. But, like the horse in my painting,  I have found there is no direction to go, except forward.  No living in the past, no going back to undo it. I can only hope to face the future with the same determination, faith and joyous abandon that this horse shows as he gallops through the snow. 

This is an oil on canvas painting, 14 x 18, standard depth. All the edges have been painted and no staples show so that it may be displayed without a frame, but would look beautiful in the frame of your choice.  This will be listed on Daily Painters and also on Art Helping Animals on Tuesday.

Strength and Elegance

Oil on Canvas

14 x 18

10% will be donated to

True Blue Animal Rescue

This piece has now been sold. Thanks for reading and please check again for new artwork!

Feline Art Cats Persian Beauty

 Persian Beauty

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

8 x 8 x .75 inches

20% will be donated to 

Rimrock Humane Society
This painting has been sold.

When I Look In Your Eyes, Part 3

Third in a series of paintings inspired by the song of the same name from the Dr. Doolittle movie.  See Siamese Cat and Western Palomino Horse. 



Persians, like Siamese are an exotic looking breed. With their long, silky fur, intense gaze,  and aristocratic walk, they are themselves a work of art.   Though beautiful, glamorous, and more than just a little mysterious, they are also cats and in many ways behave as other cats do. They have their likes and dislikes - especially when it comes to toys, food, and people.  They can be loving and affectionate, or disarmingly cool and thoroughly disinterested. Just like any cat, and almost all people!

This painting is being sold to benefit a new charity for Art Helping Animals, Rimrock Humane Society. They are doing a wonderful work with and for animals in the Billings, Montana area.

Their mission is:

  "To alleviate needless, inhumane suffering of animals and to
bring to our region a higher level of compassion for the creatures
who share our planet with us but who otherwise have no voice."

This wonderful kitty is fortunate enough to have a home and people who love her, but there are many others who do not. The Rimrock Humane Society has some loving,  caring people and many adorable adoptable pets. Please check out their link by clicking on the link below.

Rimrock Humane Society

Persian Beauty is an acrylic on stretched canvas.  All the edges have been painted and no staples show, so that the painting may be displayed with or without a frame.  20% of the sale will be donated to Rimrock Humane Society.  It will be displayed on Daily Painters Gallery and the Art Helping Animals blog. 

Floral Art Pink Rose by Della Burgus

Summer dreams...

Inspiration: 
 Last week I came across some photos of our rose bushes taken last summer.  I remember the day they were taken, early morning, beautiful warm sunshine, soft breeze. As I bent to inhale their fragrance,  their soft petals kissed my face and I wanted to hold on to that moment forever.  Photographs were the next best thing.  Originally I had planned to do a composition with the bushes, or perhaps a few of the flowers, but the memory of that moment expressed itself as a close up of one bloom. The color, the fragrance and the delicacy of the petals take me back to that warm summer day, even in the midst of this cold, cold, snowy weather.


Did you know that most of the roses that appear in the bouquets you receive from (or buy for) your special person have little or no fragrance?  They are special hybrid roses,  developed to last a long time in the vase, but the sweet, distinctive fragrance has been lost.  The result is a beautiful, long lasting rose... or is it?  Is a rose without fragrance still a rose? There is a lesson in that somewhere, I think. Also, of course, the thorns have been bred out and I know there is a lesson in that!  The thorns may be an inconvenience but they protect the flowers. Sometimes in our efforts to "improve" on the design of God, we miss some of His blessings.  And often the blessings of God come with thorns -  not to hurt, but to protect us.

Dedication:  Like many people I first heard Susan Boyle sing on YouTube and was overwhelmed by her spirit.  I have been listening to her CD and have especially loved a song called, Who I was Born to Be.  I am enough of a novice that I can't figure out how to include music on this blog, but I want to share some of the lyrics with you. 

Who I was Born to Be

When I was a child
I could see the wind in the trees
And heard a song in the breeze
It was there, singing out my name...


But I am not a girl
I have known the taste of defeat
And I've finally grown to believe
It will all come round again.


And though I may not 
Know the answers
I can finally say I am free
And if the questions 
Lead me here, then
I am who I was born to be.

She had a dream and overcame a mountain of miracles to work toward that dream.  Susan, this bud's for you...

About the Painting

Summer Dreams

Oil on Stretched, Wrapped Canvas

8 x 10

 All the edges are painted, no staples show

Display with or without a frame

$90, shipping included

20% will be donated to

Old Dog Haven

To purchase email me

Email Della