In My Mind

"In My Mind"

Acrylic, 24" x 48" 1.5"

There are a lot of strange things happening with this painting. First being the name. I named this piece "In My Mind" because this beach, where I have spent many, many days, is where I am in my mind. Where I want to be. Where I will be again.

The second strange thing about this beach landscape is the absence of palm trees. When one typically imagines a Carribean beach setting, coconut palms line the waterfront. But here, in my mind's playground, there are pine trees. Even though the pristine turquoise and aquamarine water suggests palm trees, in actuality, the pine trees are just right. I blame my partial Southern, east coast upbringing.

You may be wondering where this mental paradise is located? There is an "out island" of The Bahamas called Eleuthera. It is due east of Nassau, and is a true hidden gem of splendor. We discovered it by referral when my husband was introduced to it by a fellow commercial airline pilot. You see, 20 minutes north of this beach there is an airport with 4+ flights per day to Miami. And 40 minutes south of this beach there is another airport with 5+ flights per day to Fort Lauderdale. It is an airline pilots dream.

The name of this beach is Gaulding Cay Beach. I could go on for an eternity about how wonderful this place is, but I won't bore you. Most blog readers only have 3 minutes per viewing. If you would like more information you can read all about Eleuthera and Gaulding Cay Beach by checking out my other blog; www.thedesertchronicles.com

I will say that I love this beach, this island, not because it is beautiful. No, that's not fair. Of course I love it because it's beautiful. There is no denying it's breath-taking scenery. But there's something more to this island for me that not everyone experiences in the same rush of connectedness. But when I'm there, it's like I'm finally home. I have lived in 18 different homes, in 11 different cities, and six different states during my life. And nowhere, I mean NOWHERE felt like home.

I have visited 30 other states and 6 different countries, and NOWHERE felt like home.

Until I stepped foot on some tiny, remote, isolated island no one has heard of or pronounce.

God willing, we will be moving there, full time, in 2 years, 11 months, and 27 days. Not that I'm counting. We have been dreaming of this, planning for this, aligning our lives for the past three years so we can move there in July 2014.

Needless to say, I have a new favorite painting. It didn't come easy I can tell you that. I'm good at clouds. That's about it. I've never painted a beach, an ocean, sand, or pine needles. Nothing came out like I envisioned it, but that's how painting is for me. There is a disconnect between my mind and my paintbrush-holding hand. Somewhere between gray matter and red muscle, my heart gets in the way and plays havoc with the results.

It's not perfect. Not nearly. But to my heart it is. And that's OK with me.

Purple Fronds

This piece is a commissioned work based on my painting "Fronds for Life". I met the purchaser at my art show in May and she contacted me to paint a Fronds painting for her mother using teal and turquoise.

Commissioning art is hard for the artist. We newbies can't charge much, in fact I've spent so much time on this painting by the time I receive payment I will have made approximately $2 an hour. But of course I'm not complaining. Gotta start somewhere!

I have learned a few things over the past year of accepting commissions:

1. If you don't know the buyer, ask for 30% down, that way if your piece is rejected you can at least cover your cost. (Haven't actually done this one yet but I will next time!)

2. Find out who is accepting the final project. Find out how many people must approve the final piece. If there is more than one person it will be HARD to get that painting perfect for everyone.

3. Have patience. The buyer is busy and this painting may be the center of the artists mind but it is probably not the center of the buyers mind.

4. Be prompt in completely the project. But not too prompt. If you finish a big piece too fast, the buyer might think they were ripped off some how.

5. Business cards. Hand them out to everyone you meet in the art world. Give extras to anyone who purchases your work so they can share you with their friends.

6. Have a day job.

Anyone have any advice about commissions? Getting more, getting paid, etc?

Macaroni and Cheese Wall Art

"What's for Lunch?"

30" x 48" x 1.625" acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

Yes. I have a painting of a big bowl of mac-n-cheese on the wall of my dining room.

(How do you like those taupe walls and industrial vinyl flooring? Yes, government housing at it's best!)


It's a crappy painting copied off of an incredibly good painting done by someone else. I have redone this dang bowl sixteen times.

This is as good as it's going to get or I may just have to bash the thing in with a hammer.



I even wood-grained the background to match the color of our table and chairs. And yes, even the wood-grain sucks.

Can't win them all, can you?

Summer Art Clearance

So my art show is all wrapped up with pretty good success! I sold a few paintings and received two commissions that I am presently working on.

The rest of my "inventory" is now 50% off from their original prices. I am making room for new and upcoming projects.

Please feel free to visit my commercial site, www.paulareynoldsart.com, to see the remaining pieces from my show.

Thanks for looking!

With This Ring

"With This Ring"

6" x 10" watercolor

For this months assignment over at the Calypso Moon Artists Movement, we were to study the videos from the Royal Wedding and using them as inspiration paint something Royally wonderful.

I won't wax poetic about the Royal Wedding as that has been done ad nauseum, but I will state a few things I learned from the viewing and completing of this painting:

1. The Royal fingernails were superbly done. Short, but not too short nails, no colored polish, and not a cuticle to be seen. I wonder if the Royal Manicurist gets the Rack if there is dirt under a Royal fingernail?

2. Details, details, details. In an era when a video can be paused, zoomed in on, copied, pasted, and painted, it's a good idea to make sure all details are perfect. No lint, no dirt, no stray strands of thread, no dust, no NOTHING. There is no more hiding imperfections when every minutiae of your appearance can be panned and zoomed for nit-picking.

3. I officially know the hands of the Prince of Wales better than I know the hands of my husband.

4. He had one heck of a time getting that tiny band onto her finger! I wonder what he was thinking as he pushed and shoved the ring over her knuckle, "Get on there you bloody pile of rubbish! Brilliant. Just brilliant. In front of 2 billion people and I can't even get this bloody ring on her finger!"

5. There was a moment where Prince William seemed to be falling asleep. I bet the Archbishop of Canterbury is a real bore. How fun would that have been! And the headlines read: Prince William Falls Asleep During Royal Wedding, But No one Noticed as They Too were Asleep!"

6. Katherine's sister is gorgeous and her dress was stunning! (Of course so was Katherine's!)

7. Poor Prince Harry. He looked as comfortable in all of that Royal Regalia as a stuffed Christmas goose. Will he get the same pomp and circumstance when he gets married as he's not the Crown Prince?

8. The hats. Oh my, the hats! I think they're superb and should be in fashion here in the States!

9. The Royal Baby Timer has officially been set. Eight months and 2 weeks to go.......

Matchbox Car Mat

This is a car mat that I made for a friend's son's birthday. It's an acrylic painting done on a sheet of mat board (the stuff that picture frame matting is made out of.) Josh has one, though a tad less detailed, and when he has friends over, the play mat is one of the favorite toys.

It's for Matchbox cars, Hotwheels and the like.

I really try to make birthday presents special. I've seen Josh's friend play with Josh's car mat a dozen times, driving cars around the streets, parking in the parking spaces, and then flying the planes off of the runway.

I had a spare mat board laying around so I thought, "Why not?"

Here are a few close-ups of the "attractions":


McDonald's. Always a kid favorite! And an upgrade from Josh's car mat McDonald's; a drive-through!


A community swimming pool, conveniently located on the same cul-de-sac as the house!


A playground with swings, monkey bars, slide, and a merry-go-round.


An apple orchard. I'm a Yankee at heart.


There's home!


No community of Air Force families would be complete without an airport! Here's a short little runway wide enough even for a B-52!



And a fishing pond.


It was a lot of fun to paint, quite fast as the details were quickly done, but the outcome is great! I hope the little boy is enjoying his new car mat!

Art Show Results

Last night was my first ever art show! I had 23 pieces on display in the "local artist" gallery at The Firehouse in Del Rio, TX. On display in the main gallery were the works of the contestants of the annual Del Rio Artist League's Judged art show. I had four pieces entered into that contest, separate from my private showing.

And guess what? My painting of the robin on the wire, "Freedom to Soar", won second place in the oil/acrylic landscape category! Yippee! I was really surprised to see a ribbon on it, but how exciting!

There were a few hundred entries in the entire show, and there was some fantastic art represented. The winner of the "Best in Show" was also my favorite, a watercolor of a basket of southwestern looking vegetables spilling onto a table top. It was by far the best piece of art I have ever seen. EVER.


Here I am in front of my bird! I'll tell you, I felt slightly like a small town celebrity when I first entered The Firehouse. My showing wasn't to start until 7, but when I arrived at 6 the place was hopping! There were a few dozen art league members studying the artwork, chatting, and getting things set up. When I introduced myself to one of the ladies, she yelled, "PAULA REYNOLDS?! Hey, ladies! Paula Reynolds is here!" After a brief pause, the same lady continued, "You know, the one who painted the BIRD!"

Suddenly I was half-surrounded by a bunch of very tiny little old ladies all smiling and shaking my hand. "We were hoping you would come!" "We just LOVE your painting!" "It's so new and fresh, so unlike anything we've seen here before." "We've all been painting the same thing for years for the art show and it's great to see some new work!" "I knew she was young! You can just tell from the style of painting."

I tell ya, my ego got a bit of a boost last night!

Everyone was so incredibly friendly, outgoing, and sincere that even though most of the members were old enough to be my grandmother, they felt more like new friends. I am glad to be their "new, young blood" into their "little old lady" art club!


Here are some pictures of my smaller gallery space, before the show got started. The paintings were arranged by color, mostly; blues, brown/green, purples.


Some of the paintings have been done within the past year, others as far back as ten years ago. I figured if there was wall space needing a painting, I may as well put it all up!


The paintings looked nice on the walls and under bright fluorescent lighting. The lights made even the ones I've been staring at for years seem new and exciting.


The opening was quite busy, especially with the flow of people coming in for the Judged art show. Maybe 100 people or so came in and of those, I spoke with probably half. I tried to be approachable but not pushy, so if someone loitered around a painting more than another I would gently start a conversation about the painting they were looking at. I met quite a few very kind people last night.

The paintings that garnered the most interest were:

1.) The desert landscape with the four season sections. I heard over and over that "this could be a painting of my backyard!" I pointed out how from afar the desert looks dead, brown, uninteresting, but when you approach it and really more closely, all kinds of colors, details, and life appear. Apparently, I even accidentally painted "The Sleeping Lady" mountains of Mexico in the background. Cool!

2.) The dandelion painting. There were quite a few people who came to look at the painting a few times, commenting kindly on it. One man came back over and over, and when I approached him, he had a wonderful faraway sentimental look on his face. I won't give away a strangers story, but I was thrilled that a painting I had done could evoke such emotion and sentiment in a complete stranger.

3.) Mrs. Starkers. You know, the naked chick running through the field. I was hesitant to put her up. I wasn't sure if her nakedness would be a problem, but I figured what the heck. It's not like you can see anything. At first, when the young children came through with their parents, the kids would run over laughing and pointing at her while mom and dad tried to get them to look away. It was kind of funny. Sorry, parents! But when the kids were gone and the wine drinkers started coming, small groups of women would gather around Mrs. Starkers, smiling and laughing with each other. Each time that happened I would go over and gently enter their conversation by asking them what they saw in her, all naked and running. I got the same answer from each lady. (I think it's a tad revealing, excuse the pun, about the nature of our culture.) Here's the gist of Mrs. Starkers from a strangers perspective:

"She's free. Total freedom. Free from childcare, housework, business work, everything. She's so free she's not even hindered by clothing."

And then they would get this far away look on their face, like they were imaging themselves being free from childcare, housework, business work, everything.

I'm certainly glad I brought her along to the show. She stole it!


Of the 23 paintings I brought, 4 sold. And they were the four that I painted within the last two weeks. Now, I hope I wasn't cheating or putting bad art karma out there, but a few weeks ago I realized that most of my pieces were quite large and expensive. So I painted a triptych and a single daisy that were small, fast to paint, and had proven themselves sell-able as I'd sold ones similar to them before. I was simply hoping to have a few pieces say "SOLD" so other patrons might feel more comfortable purchasing art from an unknown artist. You know the thinking, "Oh, she must be good if some of her art has already sold!" Something along those lines.

And it seems like my initial idea was right on. Within an hour I had sold both the triptych (Live, Laugh, Love) and the small, red daisy. They were inexpensive, $65 and $60 respectively, so I made only a small amount, but those big, fat SOLD letters printed in red are what I was after by putting those pieces in. We'll have to see if it equals more, and larger sales down the road.



So now it's over. The paintings will stay up through the end of May and then the unsold ones will come on back home with me and resume their places on my now empty walls.

This whole process has been exciting, stressful, fun, interesting, and so totally worthwhile. I'm already concocting some ideas for new paintings, and I've already reserved the gallery space for next May.

Only 364 days to go. I better get started...........