"I've Got Your Back"

Poppies are so pretty and fragile looking, but very strong. This oil painting is on board 8 X 10 and can be set on a desk or shelf or hung.

I wish you all a very Happy Easter. I hope you get to spend it with loved ones.

A Rose by Any Other Name

I had a cousin who painted this rose years ago. I decided to paint it to see how different our styles are. Her rose was much softer in color.
I just love bright colors. I hope you like it too.

Sign of Summer

I love sunflowers, do you? I even like artifical ones, they are such cheerful and happy looking flowers.
Where we live we seldom have dreary days, but we did have one recently, so I decided to paint a cheery sunflower to brighten the day.
I am painting a series of flowers on small panel board. I like it because you can set them on a desk or shelf, or hang them on the wall. Enjoy

Am I Blue ?

This was a project for my art group. We were to paint anything we wanted but we could use only two colors, I chose blue and yellow.
I put it on  a 6" X 6" gallery wrap board. I especially like the gallery wrap because you can sit them on a desk, table, or shelf, or hang them.

White Iris in Pastel

I am having so much fun being back to my painting. I decided to try pastels since I had never worked with them.

I found a canvas board which I had prepared for an oil painting, and thought "I wonder how pastel would look on that."

 Here is a picture of it, what do you think?

I'mmmmm Baaack !

I have taken a long sabbatical from my blogging to finish my series of educational coloring books.
They are now complete, and I am back concentrating on painting.
Creating, illustrating, and writing the books was very rewarding, but I have missed my painting.
I hope my old friends will start to follow me again, and comment on my work. I will be adding work on a regular schedule.

Please ask your friends to check me out.

New Years Resolution

Most of us have started out the new year with our " New Years Resolutions" and I hope we can keep at least most of them.

On behalf of the children in our country and every country I ask you to add one more resolution,and that is to spend some or more time with a small child.

Our children , perhaps unknowingly crave the same things we do, attention, recognition,praise and love. And yet we "adults" are so busy seeking what we feel we need that we sometimes forget that the little ones need those things from us.
It is a proven fact that young children learn quicker and better from birth to 6 or 8 years of age than any other age.
They develop "life habits" during those formative years and it's up to us to teach them "good life habits", like the desire to want to read and learn helpful and beneficial things, and learn to treat others the way they want to be treated.
Some say " oh, they are too young to learn". Well I'm here to tell you that is just not true.If you don't believe it watch how fast a little one learns that if they throw their toy on the floor while sitting on your lap you will pick it up, and they have learned a new game.

Recently I saw a You Tube of several small Asian children playing guitars in concert, they were so small the guitars looked enormous in their little laps.
And the music and harmony that came from those little ones was astounding ! How did they do that at such a young age ? Someone took the time to teach them, and let me tell you they were incredible !

Unfortunately we give children electronic and mechanical games and toys and they learn perhaps more from them( and not always good things) than from us. Not that I'm opposed to those kind of games and toys, but I think they need more "human" relationship.

So please resolve to spend some time with a little one, playing a game or reading to them or teaching them art or music, or just taking a walk and enjoying nature.
Our little ones are truly gifts so lets show our appreciation for them by giving them a bit of ourselves and let them know we appreciate them.
Next time I will give a couple of suggestions on how to teach a child while spending time with them.

Keep in mind, I am an old grandma who loves children and what I give you I call "horse sense" or just plain ole common sense. I do not claim to be an educator.

Until next time show kindness,
Grandma Joy

Seems like forever

It seems like forever since I posted anything.
I spend most of my time on my passion which of course is creating my educational coloring books.

Look at my colortheunitedstates.blogspot.com site to see what I'm up to.

I find myself soooooooooo frustrated with our educational system, and feel so bad for so many parents who just do not have the time or energy to spend with their children after a frustrating day of trying to make ends meet.
For that reason I am begging grandparents who might have more time to help by spending time either in person or via the phone or scype with your grandchildren and
share helping with their education.
Folks we MUST help in educating our children or our nation will belong to people who are more educated than we are in the future.
Did you know that China starts teaching their children english at age 3 and by 5 years of age, they are fluent in english? And that is just one of the subjects they teach them at that age.
Please let me know how you feel aboout helping our young ones.

Grandaughter visited

My grandaughter, Jeffri who is all grown up now with a husband, came this past weekend for a visit.
It is always such a treat to get to visit with them. Husband,Gary plays Rugby and played a game here.His team WON ! ! ! ! Yeah !

New school visit

Last week I visited the 4th and 5th graders at a Las Vegas Elementary school.It is amazing the differance between the 1st graders and the 4th and 5th graders. The older ones ask lots of questions, and love to share their knowledge with you.They called me " Grandma Joy" but wanted to know what my "name" is,they are great!They ask if they did some research for my next book could I use it in the book,I was thrilled.

There will be no more school visits until January because of the holiday.
When I visit in January I will not go as 'Grandma Joy" but will take some other artists and we will visit the art classes.

Another school visit

I will be visiting the 5th graders at Rose Warren School on November 22. The students are studying about "travel", so it should be interesting to talk to them about geography.
They, too are interested in Alaska, so I will be sharing the "Color Alaska" coloring book with them.
I will share my visit with you afterward.

Art Meeting- Volunteers

I attended my art group meeting today. What a great group we have.
I had several volunteers who want to go to the school I'm visiting to work with the art class students.
I'm waiting for my school contact to return from Peru to give us a date to attend.
If you haven't volunteered at a school yet, you have missed a great experience.

Result of School visit

The 5th grade teacher at the school I visted this week has invited me to come back and talk to her 5th graders. I think it is so exciting.
It shows how much the teachers appreciate any help they can get.

School Visit

I had a great time at Rose Warren Elementary School this morning. I talked to the first graders about geography and Alaska in particular.I gave them each a "Color Alaska with Grandma Joy and Grandpappy Happy" coloring book.And color crayons which were donated by a local resturant. They were very attentive when I talked to them and they loved getting the book and crayons.
I also met the art teacher who invited me to come back ( as an artist) and talk to her class about oil painting.
Our children are little dry sponges just waiting for "good moisture for their brains". And I for one will do all I can to try to contribute to helping the teachers any way I can. I hope you will join me by volunteering to visit your local schools.

School Visit

I will be visiting one of the local elementary schools as Grandma Joy and reading the " color book story" about Alaska.Their teacher said they are very interested in Alaska. Since I,for a few years visited Alaska four times a year, I can imbellish on the story. I will be donating books to each child in the class and a local resturant has donated color crayons for them. I will post a photo of Grandma Joy with the children after my visit.

Pennsylvania front cover

I thought you might like to see the Front cover of Pennsylvania before I get too carried away with Massachusetts.

Color Pennsylvania

I just published "Color Pennsylvania with Grandma joy and Grandpappy Happy", one of the educational coloring books in my series.I am having so much fun, and learning so much myself while doing research for the books.
I had forgotten how much of U.S. History is in Pennsylvania.Now I am researching Massachusetts, another state chocked full of history.
I hope you will all join me in helping to educate our children. I will be giving suggestions on my up coming blogs on "how to help" with the education.

Finally Published !

I have finally published the first coloring books in my series of educational coloring books.
The subject is geography. They are "story" coloring books. A grandma(Grandma Joy) and grandpa (Grandpappy Happy)take their grandchildren to each of the states in the U.S. to teach them about the state by experience.The children learn things about each that they should be taught in school, but are not being taught.While they are having fun coloring they are learning the state capital, where it is located, when it became a state, state flag,animal,flower,tree, plus many important and interesting things about that state.
Please look at my new web site www.grandmajoyandgrandpappyhappy.com and get a preview of the books, then let me hear your comments and suggestions.
When I finish all 50 states I will be doing other subjects always featuring Grandma Joy and Grandpappy Happy and the Grandchildren.
I would also like to start a Nation wide campaign to have parents and grandparents visit their local schools to read to them and tell them stories.All you have to do is phone your local school and ask if you may come read to the children. The school will guide you and welcome your help.

Still "Learning" with Grandma Joy and Grandpappy Happy

I have been very busy with my coloring books and trying to locate an AMERICAN manufacturer for my dolls. For my foreign friends, please don't be offended but I feel very strongly about supporting your own first, then helping others if you can.
It has been a "learning" experience, working with printers. I did all of my drawings on "drawing" paper and submitted them to the printer only to be told they were"dirty"! ! ! in other words when they were put at a higher resolution to print, all the little impurities on the paper showed. Sooooooo I am in the process of re-drawing all of the books on bristol board so the print will be smooth, thus the reason for my being so quiet on the blog. I have a total of seven books that will be ready for publishing as soon as I get them re-drawn. I have to say this is one of the most interesting projects I have done.
I will keep you posted on my progress.

GrandmaJoy and Grandpappy

Hello All,
I know you have wondered where I have been . Well I have been so busy happily creating and illustrating a series of educational coloring books for children.
I will shortly be posting them, so come back soon.

Ice Box Canyon 18 X 24

Red Rock Canyon is a fascinating place for nature lovers, hikers etc. there are many canyons within the canyon. this one "Ice Box Canyon" is in between these two mountains and when you get inside the shade is very refreshing on a hot day.It is a great place to explore.

Green Grapes 14 X 11

While I was painting the "Arch Rock- Up Close"

I decided to rest my arm and work on something smaller.

I thought these might be a compliment to the " Cardinal Grapes" which I did.

Problem is, I have to paint fruit fast or it will all be eaten ! !

OOP ! All gone !

Arch Rock - Up Close 60 X 48

I FINALLY finished this 5 Ft. X 4 Ft. landscape. These two rocks sit atop another rock in Valley of fire State Park.
I posted a wider view I did of this prior. This park has so many different shaped rocks or mountains it can be a series of it's own. It is a great place to picnic and hike.One of Las Vegas local secrets. It is actually about an hour and half or so north of Vegas, but I think of it as belonging to Vegas.
I would reccomend going there in the fall or spring NOT July or August ! It's a little HOT those months.

Arch Rock at Valley of Fire 18 X 24

Valley of Fire
is a Nevada State Park which consists of fascinating natural rock formations.

Depending on the time of day and where the sun reflects on the rocks, they are various shades of red to pink to beige. On this particular there were lots of high ,mostly thin clouds, which made me think the rocks looked like " water colored pictures" ( of course this one is oil ).
In the fall and spring this is a great place to picnic, hike, bike or even just drive around and marvel at the beautiful scenery. The rocks here have various names like 7 sisters, beehive etc. so I will be painting many of them.My next one ( already started) is a 5 Ft. by 4 Ft. Close up of just the arch. I will post it when finished.

Cardinal Grapes 14 X 11

Table grapes are wonderful this year, I guess they are so good they inspired me to paint some.I've also started a green cluster to compliment these deep purple ones.

18 X 24

I finally finished this painting of Red Rock Canyon.

It is unbelievable how different the colors are on the mountains at different times of the day. Tomorrow we are going up to the canyon VERY early in the morning to see how they look with the sun rising on them.I also need to get the correct name of each mountain because there are a number of different ones and I can't call them all Red Rock Canyon, even though you see them from there. I will title this after our trip tomorrow.

I'm almost finished with a painting of Arch Rock which is in Valley of fire, another of our beautiful state parks.

WOW ! ! What happens to the time ? ? ?
I have been so busy working on three (3) new paintings, 2 landscapes and a cluster of grapes. Plus I'm making a new web site, one I can manage my self. It is very time consuming but I hope I will like it when I'm finished. I will be posting one of my new paintings very soon. And also my new web site information.
I think our 112 degree weather has also slowed me down a bit. Sure do look forward to fall ( Oh NO ! ! ! I don't mean to rush the time.
How is your summer going ?

Valley of Fire State Park - Nevada

Valley of Fire State Park - Nevada

24 X 18 Available

The name Las Vegas usually brings to mind, bright lights, show girls, casinos, gambling , glamour etc. which it is. However, we also have some of the most spectacular natural beauty in the country. We have Red Rock Canyon State Park and Valley of Fire State Park which are unbelievable. Because of the mineral content in the soil and rocks the colors are magnificent, and when the sun hits the mountains look out they are unreal looking colors.
I am doing a series of desert landscapes and this is the first in the series. Hope you like it.

Red Rock Canyon 18 X 24 SOLD

This painting is a commission I did for a young military family.

He is in the Airforce and plans to be a career man, and has already served two times in the Middle East.

He and his wife have four beautiful children, and since he is transferred about every two years it just so happens that each child has been born in a different place .

They buy a landscape painting for the child where they are born so that when the child is grown and have their own place they will have an art collection started and it will be special to them because it is where they were born.

What a great idea, not only are they teaching the child art appreciation, but also starting their collection.

I wish you could all have met this family, they such good parents and the children are not only beautiful, they are so well behaved.

This was one of those really great experiences we sometimes have as artists.

I sincerely salute this young family and want to especially thank the young man for serving in our military service.

I hope you all join me in saluting and thanking our men and women in the military service.

Mmmmmmmmm Garlic 14 X 11

Mmmmmmmmm Garlic 14 X 11

I tried to grow some garlic in a pot last year but my pot was too small and the roots had no room to grow ! ! I love cooking with garlic and was so disappointed , but I said " Oh well another learning experience ". Then I did the intellengent thing and read " how to grow garlic" and so armed with my new found knowledge I will try again this year.

In the mean time I painted a couple I bought from the store .

Waiting For Her Brave 14 X 11

I started a series called " Honoring Native American Women" a while ago and then got distracted and haven't finished it.But it is still something I WILL finish because I started it to really honor my mother who was Cherokee and Irish ,she was born in 1900 and the Native American people were still very discriminated against and since her last name was Irish they just claimed to be Irish to avoid discrimination.I look very Irish but have always said my heart I Cherokee and I love and respect the Native American people.So I have studied their history and my series depicts the women doing things they naturally did in every day life.Native American women were very respected and honored by their people.

I have been thinking about the series and getting back to it and that inspired me to do this maiden. I hope you like her.

Prickly Pear 2 16 X 20

The Prickly Pears outside our door are blooming again and they are such a welcome sight I can't resist painting them. Unfortunately they are so short lived.It's hard to imagine anything so beautiful coming out of that hard soil.

Hot Peppers 14 X 11

The HOT PEPPERS in my garden are all forming and I can almost feel the burn in my mouth.I have jalapeno, haberno and Thi peppers growing.I make a wonderful hot pepper jelly that is delicious and since my family and friends all like it jars of it makes yummy gifts. But since the real ones are not ready yet I decided to paint some.

Hope you enjoy them.

Apples 9 1/2 X 8

A year or so ago while visiting my son in Washington state I saved the seeds from one of the apples I had eaten.I dried them and brought them home with me, and promptly forgot about them until I was looking in my seed stash when planting my garden this year. So I planted them and much to my happy surprise I have two seedling ! ! It will be so exciting if I can actually grow a tree from one of them. In the meantime I hope you enjoy seeing my acrylic painting of apples.

Ripe Pears 9 1/2 X 8

This is such a great time in the desert, my fruit trees have all bloomed and have fruit on them, and are covered with net so the birds will leave US some to eat. thinking about that I decided to post one of my acrylic fruit painting.

Myterious Pink Hat Lady 16 X 20

Well this concludes my series of " Kentucky Derby Hats" for now. On to something new.

Sold

I said I was going to do something really different for me ! ! I call this an abstract , it is actually my interperation of a " sunspot". It's one little section of the sun with a spot.

12X24 Oil

Fancy Sunbonnet 20 X 16

I call this one " Fancy Sun Bonnet" If anyone remembers Sun Bonnet Sue, this reminds me of a " grown up" version, ( my own of course) of her .

Framed and ready to go.

I had such fun doing this hat. She is such a contrast to my cowgirl. I think I will do a couple more " Kentucky Derby" girls then do some thing really different.

For those of you who "create" you know what a joy it is, and perhaps for some of you like me who never thought you could, there just aren't words for me to discribe how much satisifaction it give me to finish a work and feel good about it.

Please let me know what you think.

I'm a Real Cowgirl

I finished my Cowgirl hat, what do you think? this series is such fun. I have about two or three more hats to do. So check back and see what's new.

size: 18 X24

I love the bow on this hat, it looks rather " flat" because for some reason the shadows don't show in the photo.

I call it " My New Hat"

16 X 20

I just started a cowgirl hat, which is so much fun since I'm a real westerner. I'm anxious to finish it and see what you think of it.

My friend and I were having lunch in a restaurant and suddenly there were about a dozen "red hat" ladies who arrived for lunch sooooooooo of course I thought what fun to paint my own red hat lady.

I call it " Red Hat Ready"

16 X 20

This is the seond in the series of Kentucky Derby hats. I'm having such fun doing them. I would love to hear some of your comments on them.

Our daughter went to the Kentucky Derby last year and we talked about her buying a hat for it. And just lately I was thinking about it and thought it would be fun to do a few paintings of women in big hats.So I started a mini series on ladies " Kentucky Derby" hats.What do you think ?

Calla Lillies

I love Calla Lillies, do you ?

I always think of Georgia O' Keeffee when I see them because she did them so beautifully. Not that I would ever compare myself to Miss O'Keeffee ! ! ! Heaven forbide ! ! But they are such fun to paint.

Poinesitta

I painted this poinesitta thinking I would use it to make our Christmas card this year, but when I tried printing it it didn't look as good as the painting so I decided not to make the cards. But I still like the painting.

16 X 20

Poppies

SOLD

Giclees available

14 X 11

I love poppies, they are such a happy looking flower. And so colorful.

My Choice

While visiting in California I saw this pretty little flower and didn't know what it was but I painted it and then posted it on artscuttlebutt(an artist website) and one of the artists who lives in Hawaii told me the name of it and said they grow in abundance there.But I have already forgotten the name so I of it "My Choice"

the painting is 8 X 10 .

Denise's wedding bouquet

This was a commission I had for a bride. It is her bridal bouquet in oil. Oil paintings of bridal bouquets also make wonderful anniversary gifts. If you have a good photo of someone's bouquet and would like me to paint it, please e-mail me alstonfineart@aol.com

Prickly Pear

This prickly pear grows in a pot just outside our door. It's pretty when it blooms, but don't touch !

Size: 20 X 16

Oil paintings

Unless otherwise noted,all artwork on this site is for sale. Please contact me to arrange a purchase. alstonfineart@aol.com Your purchase will be carefully packed ready to frame.

International buyers use PayPal only and will be shipped USPS Priority International

Grand Opening

I snapped a photo of this tulip just as it opened and thought " what a grand opening" thus the title, and here it is in oil.

Unless otherwise noted, all artwork on this site is for sale. Please e-mail me to arrange purchase.

Also please leave a comment on any painting, I like to know what you think of my work.

And if you leave me your e-mail address I will send you my latest painting while it's still wet on the easel----Alittle something to go with your coffee or tea in the morning.