GRRRLS Like Us at the Canton Village Theater - One More Week!

There is still time to see my joint art exhibition with Mariel Collins at the Cherry Hill Village Theater in Canton, Michigan!

Boxing up my artwork to take to the Village Theater

My "Stronger Together" colored pencil series, on the wall

My "Stronger Together" colored pencil series, different angle

One of the far walls, which featured many of my 5x7 and 8x10 size colored pencils

Several of my 5x7 and 8x10 colored pencil drawings

More small 5x7 and 8x10 drawings

The third wall, which also featured many of my smaller 5x7 and 8x10 works

The entire main wall, with my "Stronger Together" series in the center

My two drawings "30 Days" (left) and "28 Years" (right), with one of Mariel's drawings in the middle

Posing with two of my colored pencil drawings: "Sexuality Bouquet (Stronger Together)" & "Religion Bouquet (Stronger Together)"

Our colored pencil artwork is on display in the lobby/atrium area until December 3rd. The theater is open to the public Monday-Friday from 10 am - 2 pm, as well as one hour prior to a show.

To see their show schedule, you can check out their website here: http://www.cantonvillagetheater.org/439/Performances-by-Month

Refreshments at the opening reception on November 7th included Filipino snacks from Mariel's family, and chocolate chip and spice cookies, provided by me.

The opening reception also had wine and water available

My and Mariel's artist bios and statements on display at the opening reception

You can read more about our exhibit here: http://www.cantonvillagetheater.org/481/Current-Gallery-Exhibit

Autumn Flora Photos

I didn't have much free time to snap a lot of photographs of changing leaves this year, but I did take some pictures of the very early hints of fall color on a trail walk along the Paint Creek trail in September, and (of course), documented the landscape work my husband and I did in October. I knew the hydrangea, hosta, ferns, and astilbe we planted would likely never look so good again, so I had to take a couple pictures of them when they were freshly planted. :) We also planted tulip bulbs in our front yard - and I'm hoping to see the rewards of that job come springtime!

Here are the (few) autumn photos I took of plants this year:

September on the Paint Creek Trail

September on the Paint Creek Trail

Someone left these pretty yellow flowers behind on a Paint Creek Trail footbridge

The new hydrangea bush that we planted in our front yard

The four new Earth Angel Hosta we planted along the north side of the house

We also planted four Lady Fern and two Astilbe plants along the north side of the house

And here's a bonus photo of a carnation bouquet on my parent's kitchen table

Holiday Gift Ideas 2017

I have a lot of great offerings for the upcoming holiday gift-giving season!

In my Etsy shop, I have lots of original colored pencil drawings, watercolor paintings, and acrylic paintings for sale at a wide range of sizes and price points, including:

• "Find a Proverbial Mountain" - 12x12 Acrylic Painting - $179
• "Red Hibiscus" - 5x7 Colored Pencil Drawing - $39
• "Bandaged Duality" - 22x30 Watercolor Painting - $399
• "Pattern Genesis in Blue-Green" - 4x6 Watercolor Painting - $29
• "A Spent Firework" - 8x10 Acrylic Painting - $99
• "Waterlilies" - 11x15 Watercolor Painting - $199

Most of my artwork features floral imagery, abstract patterns, or both - though I also have some Michigan themed art that makes a great gift for any Michigander (or Michigander at heart!) on your list!

• "The Great Lakes in Metallic Copper and Red" - 8x10 Watercolor Painting - $49
• "The Great Lakes in Yellow and Blue" - 8x10 Watercolor Painting - $49
• "The Great Lakes Rainbow" - 8x10 Watercolor Painting - $49

I also have notecard sized art prints - including my recent large format colored pencil drawings, older drawings, and watercolor and acrylic paintings:

• "28 Years: Detail Set #2" (6 cards for $10.50)
• "The Great Lakes" (6 cards for $10.50)
• "Nighttime Dessert" (4 cards for $7)
• "Michigan Watercolors" (6 cards for $10.50)
• "Vertical Flowers" (4 cards for $7)

Didn't find exactly what you're looking for yet? You can also order a custom painting or drawing. My popular custom watercolor wedding bouquet makes a great gift! Standard turnaround time is about two weeks (or up to three weeks if I get slammed with lots of simultaneous requests), but I also offer a rush turnaround option, which (depending on my schedule availability) will get your finished painting to your doorstep in only five days.

• Custom 8x10 Watercolor Painting ($95)
• Custom 8x10 Colored Pencil Drawing ($95)

If you live in the metro-Detroit area, you can also purchase notecard prints and some of my Michigan-themed paintings at the art market at the Paint Creek Center for the Arts in Rochester, Michigan. And the "GRRRLS Like Us" exhibition at the Village Theater in Canton, Michigan has several of my colored pencil drawings for sale right now, until the exhibition closes on December 3.

If you have any questions or want to discuss other options for custom commissioned artwork, don't hesitate to message me! You can email me at afrownfe[at!]gmail.com.

"Shame" - 8"x10" Colored Pencil Drawing

I have one more 8x10 colored pencil drawing which is now on display as part of the GRRRLS Like Us exhibition at the Village Theater in Canton, MI - a drawing which I am only now getting around to posting here on my blog, but which I actually completed back in October. It's titled "Shame" because it's a drawing of pink peonies, and one of the things peonies symbolize is shame.

I drew this with Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore brand toned tan paper.

In this first picture, you can see the reference photo I found on Google and used to inspire my drawing.

I started with lightly drawing the peonies in place using six different colored pencils.

Then I gradually went through and added up more layers of color, darkening the shadows and giving the flowers dimensionality.

Here is the completed drawing:

I ended up using 15 different colored pencils: black, dark brown, dark green, light green, yellow, white, light peach, three shades of pink, two shades of purple/process red, and three shades of red.

Here are some close-up shots of the finished, matted drawing:

It is for sale at the Canton Village Theater until December 3. After that, if it's still available, it will be listed on Etsy.

"Anticipation" - 8"x10" Colored Pencil Drawing

My exhibition at the Canton Village Theater in Canton, Michigan is now up! Swing by before December 3 to see my latest colored pencil flower drawings. All eight of my recent large format drawings are there, as well as five 8x10 drawings and ten 5x7 drawings.

Two of those five 8x10 drawings are so recent, I haven't even gotten around to posting about them here yet! One of those is the subject of today's post.

I finished "Anticipation" in late September/early October. I used Prismacolor pencils on Strathmore toned tan paper. The title comes from the symbolic meaning for anemone flowers.

Below are the in-progress shots of how I built up layers of color to fill this tan paper with a sea of anemone blooms. In the first photo, you can also see the reference picture I printed off from Google to look at while I drew.

By the time it was finished, I'd used 17 different colored pencils for this drawing.

It is for sale at the Canton Village Theater until December 3. After that, if it's still available, it will be listed on Etsy.