Acrylic Portraits

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:05:00 +0000

I wanted to do some "funky" "fun" portraits for gifts using Acrylic Paints. Since I use oil most of the time, there was an adjustment for me--the paint dried very fast. By the time I finished the last one, I was working much faster! These are only 6 x 6 and were lots of fun to do.

Portrait of Sloan

admin — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:29:00 +0000

My latest portrait--Sloan. He is such a sweet little boy, you just want to hug him!

12 x 16

Rhonda Hartis Smith

Emma’s Portrait

admin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:23:00 +0000

Spring has turned into Summer then into Fall, where have the months gone? This is the my latest portrait--Emma. I wanted the focus to be her sweet smile. Hope I succeeded in some small way.

8 x 10

Rhonda Hartis Smith

Sunflowers

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 23:26:00 +0000

It's been so long since I've posted anything that I'm afraid that I don't remember how! Time seems to fly and before you know it, Spring has passed and Summer is almost gone. I have been painting some but just not posting. Since my last post many months ago, I have attended a Portrait Conference in Atlanta Georgia, which was fantastic, and took a watercolor workshop plus a caligraphy workshop. So time marches on and all I need to do is practice! In about a week, I am heading to the Peninsula School of Art in Wisconsin for Landscape Boot Camp taught by Dawn Whitelaw. I am very excited about this but also a little apprehensive about anything that says "boot camp". Dawn is an excellent teacher and I am sure I will learn lots.

I did a couple of Sunflower Paintings that were pretty large for me (14 x 36). They look great in their new home. Here is the first one.

Spring Fever!

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 00:43:00 +0000

Spring is so close I can feel it!!! I am so excited because it seems like we had a long cold Winter with several snowfalls which is very unusual. A couple of weekends ago, my husband and I took our motorcycle out of hibernation and went on a little adventure to one of my favorite spots--Sulphur Well, Kentucky. There are two reasons I love this place, #1, The Lighthouse Restaurant--a delightful place that serves family style home cooked meals and #2, the Buela Villa Hotel. The Buela Villa Hotel was open from 1903 to 1969 as a Hotel then a Boarding House. The going rates were $5.00 per week back in the day. There is the main structure then there was a separate building that was on stilts and housed a bowling alley and dance hall. Sounds like a fun happening place in it's time. My source for most of the information is from the Metcalfe County Geneology Page. Visitors came to the area to drink the sulphur water believed to have medicinal properties. The water contains sulphur, magnesium, salt and iron--yummy! There is still a stream so next time I'm there, I'll try the water (maybe).

Remains of the gingerbread on the old dance hall/bowling alley.

The Buela Villa Hotel in it's present state. Just a little rickety.

Inside one of the rooms. They were fairly small with a little room between two big rooms (bathroom???). All of the wrap around porches have collapsed but I can imagine the guests sitting out there, drinking the water, taking it easy. . .

Rough River, Kentucky
Went on my annual retreat with several family members and friends of family. We had a weekend of quilting or whatever you wanted to do. I did a little quilting, a little painting. . . and a little bird watching! How often do you get to look at the lake/river and see an Eagle? What a beautiful sight.

Amelia was running around the cabin in her tutu so of course I had to paint her since I do love to paint ballerinas!

5 x 7

Rhonda Hartis Smith

Winter Be Gone!!!!

admin — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:04:00 +0000

Last week we had more snow! The snow button on my car does ok with snow but forget about ice. If this keeps up, I'll need to get a 4 wheel drive vehicle again--ouch! Fortunately, it has warmed up this week with temps in the 50's and low 60's, giving us a hint of Spring--just enough to start my Spring fever. The last signs of snow have disappeared now and hopefully we won't have any more. Here is a view from our back yard--I love to watch the cows.

Here is another portrait that I did in December. This was done from a very small picture. Her mouth was a challenge but felt like I finally captured it.

5 x 7

Rhonda Hartis Smith

portrait of Mallory

admin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:10:00 +0000

This is the second time I've painted little Mallory, I love her bright blue eyes. She is quite the model and so much fun to paint.

5 x 7

Rhonda Hartis Smith

Pet Portrait for Kellie

admin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 14:58:00 +0000

This is a Portrait for Kellie of her little dog. I'll have to fill in her name later (temporarily lost it). I thought she had the sweetest expression on her face--especially her eyes--that I hope I captured. Today is 1-1-11, ready for a new year and a new decade. Hope you have a prosperous, productive and Happy New Year!!!

7 x 5

Rhonda Hartis Smith

Little Sloan

admin — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:10:00 +0000

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season! I'm off work this week and will spend the week sewing window treatments for my son, Justin, who has been patiently waiting. . . I am looking forward to 2011 and to see what the next decade will bring. I feel very blessed and am very thankful to be able to paint, work, sew, cook--to do what I want to do. I did make one New Year's resolution but forgot what it was, oh well, I still have a couple of days to come up with my list. This year we had the first white Christmas in 15 years! We were very excited and it's so beautiful.

I've been busy with Christmas commissions and one of them was little Sloan. I love the colors of his outfit, what a cutie and so much fun to paint. I did two of these as gifts.

5 x 5

Rhonda Hartis Smith