I am the first to admit, I am NOT a summer-lover. I have never loved the things that go with summer…THE HEAT, outdoor activities in the heat, the camping, the BBQs, tanning at a pool, or seeking sun in some island paradise. I am just not a summer girl…give me wind and cold and rain, fresh autumn days, and cool nights, overcast and misty days of winter, or even a morning spring breeze…but summer? No, I am never happy to know that the heat will be around for at least five or more months. However, I find ways to stay cool, even in the summer months, and making art is one of those ways. My art space is air conditioned, and I can put on the tunes, keep cool, and paint. And paint, I DID.

This is probably my favorite painting of the summer, and my favorite self-portrait of all time. It’s where I was hiding out, on those toooo hot summer days.

Sunflowers are never far away from my thoughts, or my easels. And this summer, I added a few new canvases to my collection. This one is a tiny 2 1/2 x  3  1/2 inch canvas. You can pretty much figure out my inspiration for this tiny painting…and actually for most of my sunflower paintings. Yes, Vincent van Gogh. I LOVE his sunflower paintings. This summer, I read a very good book about his life, written a long time ago, by Irving Stone, called Lust for Life. If you are interested in his life, I recommend reading this book. Irving Stone was an excellent writer.

I also tried a variety of canvas sizes to paint on….I am loving these tiny 3 x 3 inch canvases!

They are so small and fun to do in an afternoon…they are small enough that you can do a series in no time. I love the combination of collage and paint!

I was even inspired by Klimt this summer…adding metallic paints was exciting!

I even traveled to Thailand this summer…by means of Google Maps. I found a lovely scenic landscape to paint…in the style of Mr. van Gogh. I fell in love with this clouded sky.

Ballerinas showed up this summer too, in paintings…

and in my drawings…

and in my mail art postcards.

But portraits wanted center stage too…so I found the time to create some mixed media portraits…

using pastels and acrylics.

I was a little surprised that another self-portrait popped up.

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My online art shop has been closed for most of the year, to give myself time to focus on painting. I really wanted to work on my painting skills. So, I found any time I could, to practice, practice, practice. And I loved every minute of it!

After eight months, I am happy to say that I have just loaded up my shop with some new items, and we are calling this

the Grand Re-Opening of Artcy Lucy’s online shop!

I am so pleased to offer some of my newest summer creations. I hope you will stop by and take a look. I am really happy with the work I did this summer, and I am happy to offer affordable original art in my little corner of the Etsy.com world. I am thrilled with the art-filled summer, and hope to say the same for fast-approaching autumn!!!  

Hope you have all enjoyed your summer…whether you like the heat, or like me, have escaped into your A/C cooled art space!