acrylic paintings

Great Horned Owl painting: First Friday Art

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This month, I’m sharing a Great Horned Owl painting I did over the past couple of days. I used acrylic paint on a piece of unfinished oak wood. Sometimes I paint the main subject shape with off white paint before adding the color. I used this technique in my High Desert Mural. This time I did not do the lighter base painting.

Great Horned owl painting

I like how the grain of the oak shows through on this painting. It gives it a more rustic quality.

For this Great Horned Owl painting, I used a photograph from a fellow volunteer at the High Desert Museum as my reference. John Williams is one of the talented members of the Photography Team at the Museum. He took this photo of a Great Horned Owl in 2022 and calls it Surprize.

Owl photo

Be sure to visit Seeing the Gift to see more of John’s wonderful photographs!

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.

First Friday Art

Triceratops painted rock: First Friday Art

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I created this palm-sized Triceratops painted rock about twenty years ago. Many of us, young and old, love dinosaurs and this one lived in my garden for a while. I painted it with acrylics and covered it with a thin layer of clear finish.

Triceratops painted rock

Triceratops’ unique anatomy is apparent in this mounted skeleton at the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. Their name means ‘three-horned face.’ The massive skull has a fringe of bone in the back. The horns and bony fringe may have helped protect this dinosaur from Tyrannosaurus rex, its most common predator. I’ve featured a big T. rex rock and a smaller one in previous posts.

Triceratops skeleton
Triceratops mounted skeleton at Los Angeles Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles, CA
Source: Allie_Caulfield Derivative: User:MathKnight, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Though they look ferocious, Triceratops were herbivores. This stout dinosaur has been described as sort of a cross between a cow and a rhinoceros. These massive creatures could weigh well over 11,000 pounds.

Models of this and other life-size dinosaurs can be found JuraPark in Baltow, Poland. I’ve seen models at other museums and parks, but have not visited this site. Their Triceratops models look amazing!

Dinosaur models
Model of dinosaur, JuraPark, Solec Kujawski, Poland
Source: CLI, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Hmmm. After seeing this model, I’m feeling inspired to create a baby Triceratops painted rock. 😀

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.

First Friday Art (FFA)

Western tiger swallowtail box & photo: First Friday Art

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Here’s a western tiger swallowtail painting I did on a small wooden box.

Western tiger swallowtail

Here’s one I saw on the High Desert Garden Tour a few years ago. The Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, ranges throughout western North America.

Seasons Butterfly 21July2018
Butterfly on flowers

The state insect in Oregon is the Oregon swallowtail butterfly, Papilio machaon oregonius. They have paler yellow coloring on their wings.

Would you like to attract butterflies to your garden? Here are a few things you can do, according to Gardeners.com:

  • Choose plants that attract pollinators
  • Limit, or eliminate, your use of pesticides
  • Provide shelter for breeding and avoiding predators
  • Provide water
  • Consider keeping a beehive

For a good list of plants that attract butterflies, go to Attracting Butterflies, Hummingbirds and Other Pollinators.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Be sure to include the First Friday Art tag.

First Friday Art

Mt Pilchuck & Eagle table: First Friday Art

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This Mt Pilchuck & Eagle table was made to raffle off for a fundraiser. I painted the tabletop with acrylic paint and lightly carved around the edges of some of the components. My husband, Gary, designed and custom built the table.

Mt Pilchuck & Eagle table

Here’s a closer view of the top.

Handmade coffee table

This Mt Pilchuck & Eagle piece is a one-of- a-kind creation since we learned making something like this takes a lot of work. We previously made another table for ourselves with a different design that I may share in the future.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

A flying unicorn mural: First Friday Art

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This is a flying unicorn mural I painted in my daughter’s room when she was little. She could not decide between a flying horse and a unicorn so I painted both in one. 😀

I prefer working on small projects and had never worked on something so large. Piles of eraser dust accumulated on the floor beneath my rough sketches. I used acrylic paints, and a lot of patience, to complete this mural.

flying unicorn mural

Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

First Friday Art

Woodland scene mirror: First Friday Art

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Woodland scene mirror

This is a woodland scene, painted and carved onto a 10″ x 10″ mirror. I created this work with acrylics in a folk art style and carved around the edges of each element. A meandering creek hosts a coyote, raccoon, and leaping salmon. Tall evergreens border the shore. The bald eagle is soaring over snow-capped peaks in the distance. This woodland scene is loosely based on where I used to live.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

A husky pocket pet: First Friday Art

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Here’s a husky pocket pet I painted on a rock. This breed can sometimes be a handful.

A husky pocket pet by Siobhan Sullivan

But in the right hands, they’re great pets. Here it is curled up in a cozy blanket.

Painted rock by Siobhan Sullivan

My first dog, J.C., was part husky. One of the things I remember most about her was her thick undercoat – a common trait of huskies.

After brushing her, I understood how people such as the Coast Salish once made blankets from dog fur.

A Woman Weaving a Blanket by Paul Kane. 1856.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? If so, include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

Sockeye salmon 2-sided rock: First Friday Art

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Today I’m sharing a sockeye salmon 2-sided rock painting I created. On one side you see what this fish looks like when it’s spawning, and on the other side you see what it looks like at other times in its life cycle. They look SO different!

Sockeye salmon rock
Fish painted on rock

Sockeye salmon travel from the ocean to freshwater to spawn. Kokanee are a landlocked version of sockeye. If you’re lucky enough to catch one, they are especially delicious smoked.

Here’s a video of sockeye spawning in the Adams River in British Columbia, Canada. The 3-minute video, by Luke Gibson of Life of Luke, shows aerial and underwater shots of the fish. I loved his creative solution to filming underwater shots on a limited budget! A true artist will always find a way to work around obstacles.

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

Gentle lion on a box painting: First Friday Art & CFFC

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Here’s a gentle lion on a box painting I did several years ago. I was going to sell this acrylic painting but decided to keep it instead.

Gentle lion by Siobhan Sullivan

It’s the perfect size for a stack of sticky pads. They serve as external hard drives for my brain. 😀

Painting on a box by Siobhan Sullivan

Do you have artwork you would like to share? Include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC) – Non Alive Animals

Sheepdog & pine basket: First Friday Art

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To help celebrate the holidays this year, I’m sharing two pieces – a sheepdog & pine basket. I painted this Old English sheepdog on a rock for a friend. Doesn’t it look comfortable? This breed’s fluffy coat makes them appear much bigger than they are.

Sheepdog & pine basket

I’m portraying this rock on a small pine needle basket that I usually display on a wall. Though I’ve made pine needle baskets before, I didn’t make this one.

This piece was in an antique store so I don’t know its history. I love the pinwheel pattern in the center. Some unknown artist put a lot of time into creating this basket. Its delicate center, surrounded by the strength of the bundled pine needles, is tied together with radiating lines of tiny stitches.

Pine needle basket

First Friday Art

Hope you liked my sheepdog & pine basket artwork this month. Do you have artwork you would like to share? Include a First Friday Art tag on your post.

A calm jay painting: First Friday Art

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California scrub jays are usually a loud and active kind of bird. I shared this painting I did of a calm jay exactly four years ago today after a hectic political season. I wanted to show that a sense of calmness can return even after a time of chaos.

Calm jay by Siobhan Sullivan Oct 2020

The jay pictured above, and the one below, appear calm on the surface. But underneath those calm exteriors, there is a flurry of activity. Their minds are running through a lot of “what ifs” and their bodies are ready to spring into action.

Jay getting a drink

Today we are facing many challenges and “what ifs.” It may be difficult, but I hope you’re able to capture moments of calm, no matter how brief, before you flutter to your next destination.  

First Friday Art

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High Desert Mural: LAPC & Monday Mural

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High Desert Mural Siobhan Sullivan 17 August 2020

I have been busy filling up space and time by creating a High Desert mural. I recently posted more details on creating my Outdoor Pronghorn Painting. This weekend I added three additional paintings to the mural.

Outdoor pronghorn painting by Siobhan Sullivan August 2020
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Outdoor pronghorn painting: First Friday Art

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Outdoor pronghorn painting by Siobhan Sullivan August 2020

Here’s an outdoor pronghorn painting I did in our backyard. It’s the first Friday of the month so it’s time to share your First Friday Art. If you have artwork you would like to share, use the First Friday Art tag.

We have an 8 x 16 foot shed in the backyard and it had a boring blank west-facing wall. It needed something to make it more interesting. I thought of painting a pronghorn, one of my favorite critters.

Out building prior to painting near Bend, Oregon August 2020
The shed prior to painting
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Tiger painting in acrylics: First Friday Art

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Here’s a tiger painting in acrylics I did on a small wooden box. I liked how the eyes turned out on this piece.

It’s time to share artwork since it’s the first Friday of the month. If you have something you would like to share, use the First Friday Art tag.

Tiger painting in acrylics by Siobhan Sullivan July 2020

Giving art wings: Calming through creating

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giving art wings Woodhouse's scrub jay Aphelocoma woodhouseii by Siobhan Sullivan Nov 2016
Stress and chaos can take parts of you away; creating art helps to bring it back.

I decided I needed to spend some time giving art wings. Here’s a painting of a scrub jay that I worked on this week. It helped me cope with some of my stress. Jays are one of my favorite birds and the most common one in my neighborhood seemed to be the perfect subject. Click  here to see another of my jay paintings and to read an entertaining post about jays.