Paintings July-September 2012

Here are my most recent paintings. I have more in the works. It feels good to be painting regularly again. I took a year leave-of-absence from USU for personal reasons, so I'm painting a lot more at the moment. 

"Dahlia"

July 2012

"Iris #3"

September 2012

"Samhain 2012"

This is my first attempt at art nouveau. It's a pretty painting if I do say so myself.

I'll post a better photo later on once I get a large enough scan. 

My scanner wasn't quite big enough to capture the whole image. 

This is a piece was a commission for the USUPA (Utah State University Pagan Alliance) to use for posters advertising the 2012 Samhain ritual. 

2012 Pendants

Here is my new batch of wire-wrapped pendants. Currently, all are available. You can email me through here or check them out on ebay by looking up my seller tag

 'astara-alysand'.

Jasper

Amethyst

*SOLD*

Green Aventurine

Rose Quartz

*SOLD*

Tiger's Eye

Coral Fossil

*SOLD*

Lapis Lazuli #1

*SOLD*

Rhodochrosite #1

Apatite

*SOLD*

Amethyst #2

Lapis Lazuli #2

Botswana Agate #1

Botswana Agate #2

*SOLD*

Jasper (aka African Turquoise)

Labradorite

*SOLD*

Lapis Lazuli #3

Rhodochrosite #2

*SOLD*

Lapis Lazuli #4

May 2012 paintings

"Iris #2"

May 2012

This was a photo that my brother took. 

"Magpie"

May 2012

The magpie is one of my totem animals. The magpie teaches us to incorporate two extremes into a harmonious balance. Our light and our shadow living as one. 

"Snow White"

May 2012

For anyone who is familiar with the television show "Once Upon a Time",

this is the real-life manifestation of Snow White. I've really become hooked on this series and I painted this as a reminder to always believe in fairy tales. 

"Wasp"

May 2012

At first blush it would seem strange that I would paint a wasp since they are the creature that brings me the most discomfort and fear in life. However, that is why I painted this. The wasp is my shadow totem. A shadow totem is something (generally an animal) that we fear or are completely disgusted by. The shadow totem brings us our most challenging life's lessons, and once we finally become ready to learn those lessons the shadow totem discontinues to be so frightening. Once the lessons are achieved, then the shadow totem moves into the position of our most important life totem. I painted the wasp so I could have a daily reminder of the things I am learning at this point in my life. 

New and Old

Life has been interesting. I've been working on my Bachelor's Degree

from USU, and I should be graduating Spring 2013. 

I've recently been accepted to the Cache Valley Gardner's Market 2012

to sell my wire-wrapped pendants and gemstone tree decorations.

I won't be at the market every Saturday, but I'll put up a notice when I plan on attending! 

This post includes some new work, but also some of my old work because I finally had some professional pictures taken of them (some are too large for my scanner). 

Now I have hi-def images that I can make prints from in the future. 

After school is out in a couple of weeks, I have a few commission pieces to complete, but then I will focus on a new batch of pendants for the Gardner's Market this summer (and for sale online). 

Enjoy the following images!

 This water lily was a birthday present for my mother-in-law. 

 This was a photo taken after it was framed, so not the highest quality image. 

 A better image of my "Heritage" watercolor. 

 "Magpie Queen" 

One of my spirit animals is the magpie, 

so this was a personal representation for me.

16"x20"

watercolor on illustration board. 

 "The Dream: The Beginning"

This is part one of a three-part commission.

 Yay! More magpies. I've wanted to get a tattoo for a long time, 

but I could never settle on what to get. 

This is a watercolor interpretation of one of my ideas. 

Two magpies symbolize "Joy in Union", 

and they have an essence of phoenix represented in the stylized tails. 

 Better photo of "Hurricane"

 Better photo of "Energy Flow"

 This is a blue jay, and part of a commission piece. 

 This is the completed commission that the buyer gave as a Christmas gift. 

 Same marigold as previous

 Same roses as previous

This was part of a Christmas present I gave to someone.