Tour de Colours

Cars on tour.....that is cars in Tour de Colours!!!!! This latest mural is a result of two minds coming together. You know the saying "two heads are better than one"? Well it is so true!! A friend /co-worker of mine has a little boy (who is as cute as a button and smart to boot!) that needs a super cute playroom. His mom  had an idea to use paint cards on the wall to help teach him colors. I thought it would be neat if we could take that idea and add to it. So I suggested we paint cars on the wall as if they're going on a color tour! I think it has turned out great so far! I still have approximately one hour of painting left and then she will seal everything down with several coats decoupage. 

Beep Beep!!!

Honk! Honk!

Whirrr Whirrr!!!

  Putt Putt!!! 

I got so carried away with the detail of painting that on the mural instead of painting "putt putt" , I painted "put put".....thankfully that will be an easy fix! Lol!

  Vroom!!!!

I will update with photos when it is finished!

Happy Painting!!

XOXO

Josie

CMHS Football Mural

This is a mural that I recently completed for CMHS. It took approximately 25 hours to complete and I used 4 colors of exterior house paint (black, red, white, and gray). After it was mounted, it was covered with a sealant that is used to seal the paint on cars. Go CMHS Knights!!!

Happy Painting!!!!

xoxo

Josie

Read, Read , Read

    With just a few days of school left, summer vacation is just around the corner!

 Time for fun in the SUN!

     As a child, I remember summers filled with corn-on-the-cobb & watermelon (yum), bare feet, waterhose wars, and chasing lightening bugs at night. I also remember lazy days of reading a good book. I can read a good book for hours! Even stay up half the night just to find out what happens in the end. In my opinion reading is one of the best hobbies a person can have, besides painting of course! LOL!. It lets you escape to another world and for a moment you step into the shoes of someone that you might otherwise never get to meet. Reading gives you insight into their world, place, or time!
 For children reading helps increase their vocabulary, comprehension and attention span (just to name a few). It makes learning all the other subjects much easier. Plus, it broadens their imagination and sets the stage for being a life long reader and learner.
So, as a teacher, I say read, read, read!

Children need to see and hear you read.  This is a picture of me with
Bryson and Anna. Every night we would read a stack of books. I know this picture is awful. I think it was taken about 10 yrs. ago!  I was in desperate need of highlights, but who has time or money for that when you have 3 little kids!

Curious George was always a favorite.  Bryson always wanted to collected all the  books in a series.  Other favs were Nate the Great, Tree House Mysteries, Dr. Suess, I spy, and so many more.

Bryson still collects books! Look at all the books!!!

Since I love art I want to share my favorite children's book illustrator with you.  His name is Jim Lamarche and his artwork is wonderful. Check out some of these books!

 

Of course, before I bid you good night, I need to post a mural.  

This is a mural of a book cover for Peter Rabbit.

Books can be great inspiration for murals.

Happy reading and painting!

Love, 

Josie

Mural Mural on the Wall...

      I just got back from painting class and I'm in the process of finishing an oil painting of a rabbit. After it dries (in about a week) I'm going to antique it. Once it's finished I'll post it. 
     In the mean time I thought I'd post pictures of another jungle themed bedroom.  This one was done for the former Marshall University and retired NFL football player Troy Brown. Naturally I was a little nervous so, I recruited the help of my painter dad. 

This is Mr. Cheetah .

This guy was a little hard to paint because it was on a tilted  wall that was textured like the ceiling.

Here is Mr. White Tiger! GROWL!!
This picture was taken before it was completed.  You can tell because of  the grassy area around his body.

Each of these paintings were over his little boys beds.  Can you imagine waking up in the middle of the night and seeing this?  LOL! Actually he looks pretty tame..and lovable.

Almost all of my murals were taken on old cameras which means I'm missing a lot of the final shots of completed murals.  The ones that were taken on digital cameras belonged to someone else and now I'm having trouble back tracking to find images. Honestly, at the time I never thought I'd be posting them on a blog! I've never really been that computer savvy! This is actually the first year I've really done much other than type!  Sad huh? LOL! 

Love,
Josie

Jungle Fever Mural

 As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I love to paint murals.  There is something about a mural that gives a room character and life of its own.  For a child, a mural can be something that lets him have a unique room that no one else has. What child doesn't want that?   Here is a fun whimsical mural that I did for a little boy's bedroom...

I think he is quite cute!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a good shot of this mural because of all the furniture that was in the room, but I think you get the idea. 

This is a Palm tree in another child's room.

Well, it's been a long day...

 time to tuck the kiddos in bed.  

Good night and sweet dreams!

 Love,

Josie

The Mask of Zorro!!

I'm finally starting to make my way through my photos.  As I come across paintings I've done, I'll post them!  I'm hoping that by putting them on my blog you'll be inspired to do a little painting yourself!

This is a painting I did for Cabell Midland High School band in 2009.  It was made to put in front of the drum major stand.

This actually looked much better in person!  The photo has a little bit of a glare!