Adopt 171 by Katya Minkina  8×5″ Watercolor (Sold)

Katya Minkina. A wonderful artist with beautiful paintings. Be sure to check out her paintings of Maui as well as her figure drawings! I first ran across one of Katya’s pet paintings and let me tell you, this girl has a way of capturing the soul of the animal. It’s wonderful, be sure to check out the many other paintings!

What a sweet painting – Katya captures the eyes so well. You can feel this dogs gentle spirit. So sweet…

Adopt 216 by Katya Minkina 8×6″ Watercolor

So many wonderful paintings of Katya’s to choose from – the animals grabbed me – but be sure to check out her website! I love a dog with a scruffy look (like my dog). So much character. Beautiful!

See more of Katya’s work from these links:

Website  |  Facebook | Daily Paintworks

Read a bit about Katya, from her website:

 I fell in love with Hana, Maui at first sight and instantly knew it would nurture my artistic soul for many years to come. A slow-paced life at the backdrop of the spectacular ocean, rainforest and vast green pastures relaxes the soul and opens it up for deep breaths of inspiration.
It was not until 2015 that I really discovered this magical piece of paradise. After the first visit to Hana, the rest of the year was spent in shuttling between Seattle and Hana for gasps of fresh air and a much-needed connection with the magic ‘āina (land). I am blessed to call heavenly Hana my home now – a place of many living paintings that I can’t wait to manifest on my canvas.

My life before Hana embraced several other special places with which I will always keep a strong bond: Moscow where I was born and raised, Hyderabad (India) where I spent the early years of my adulthood, Seattle, a point of big transitions, and Hana, a place I chose with my heart.

I was born in Moscow, Russia in 1981. Growing up among my mom’s paintings, art books and inexhaustible stack of typewriter paper, I thought drawing was the most natural way of being. At the age of 7, I got enrolled into an evening art school for children where, after a regular day in my other school, I was initiated in the fundamentals of drawing, painting and composition. For the next 9 years my life revolved around methodical still life painting in class, field trips to art museums and the zoo, art history lectures and painting homework that filled my weekends and summer holidays. 
In later years after completing my studies in linguistic and foreign languages, I settled in Hyderabad, India, where for five years I taught French in an international school. Painting and drawing took a back-seat, but the longing never quite went away. In 2008, life took me to Seattle, WA and the circumstances arranged themselves perfectly for me to return to drawing and painting. I discovered life drawing at Gage Academy of Art, and the open studio provided me with a much-needed practice to reanimate and hone my drawing skills. In the course of the next few years, I stuck to the disciplined schedule of a studio monitor to be able to attend as many figure drawing sessions as I could. Slowly, drawing yielded a transition to painting.

I remain fascinated with my primary source of inspiration, which is figurative art. On occasion, I turn to still life painting for its immediate availability, challenges of composition and practice of color palette. The real challenge of the recent years has been plein air painting. Meeting and observing the work of contemporary masters of this genre at Maui Plein Air Invitational events has instilled in me a true admiration of their craft and dedication.
Painting on location in Hana is always an adventure. Juggling the ever-changing natural elements, keeping up with the changing light, trying to block out the distractions has all been a steep learning curve.  Continue reading HERE…

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images via katyaminkina.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.

Red Geraniums, Sunny Window by Janette Jones  20×20″  Oil

Janette Jones. I ran across her work on Instagram. What a treat! I love the loose brush strokes. It’s fabulous that these pots have no perfect edges, it’s so much more interesting to me. She strategically places bits of light where it matters most, maximizing the WOW – be sure check out her work!

Really, is there anything happier than a beautiful geranium? I have always adored them!

See more of Janette’s work via these links:

Website  |  Instagram  |  Facebook

Read a bit about Janette, from her website:

The comments heard most often about her paintings are “they make me feel joyful”, “lift my spirits”, and “they are filled with a sense of light and lightness”. As an artist who is constantly looking for the beauty of light in every subject, this is music to her ears. As a person who is wildly optimistic about life and positive about the future, she is thrilled her paintings reflect this “joie de vivre” attitude and bring joy to her collector. Janette uses a strong sense of design, personal color mixes and an intimate point of view to create her distinct style.

Catch you back here tomorrow!

All images via JanetteJones.com, used with permission…

Images are not for reproduction, they are property of the artist.