Denise Hopkins, Author at Denise Hopkins Fine Art - Page 2 of 145

Day 29. Probably had been for quite some time.

by Denise Hopkins | Jan 29, 2023 | 31 in 31, birds, Blog

“Expanded Horizons” 10×10 oil on canvas

This bird has been my mind all month, but I’ve resisted the urge to do 31 paintings of her. I’ve seen several since the start of the month: on a drive where she flew over me for at least a mile and I had to force myself to focus on the road, when I was leaving for a run and just yards from my house and she hovered above me as though ordaining the journey.

There’s that saying about love: you find it when you stop looking. But maybe it’s not that we stop looking. Maybe it’s more that we find it when we stop looking only in one spot. I stopped seeking out that one Great Blue Heron in that one spot by the train tracks. And without a one track mind, the blinders lifted, and she was everywhere. Probably had been for quite some time.

All 31 coming exclusively to my subscribers list Feb. 1 at 8pm. Make sure you’re on it here.

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Written by Denise Hopkins

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Day 28. For A New Beginning

by Denise Hopkins | Jan 28, 2023 | 31 in 31, Blog

“Courage Kindled” 6×6 oil on canvas

Today’s painting did not come swiftly or easily. I scratched off more of it than I added. But, in the end, I really think this is the painting that wanted to be brought to the surface. This is the one that took all that scraping off to get to.

For a New Beginning

by John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,

Where your thoughts never think to wander,

This beginning has been quietly forming,

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,

Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,

Noticing how you willed yourself on,

Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety

And the gray promises that sameness whispered,

Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,

Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,

And out you stepped onto new ground,

Your eyes young again with energy and dream,

A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear

You can trust the promise of this opening;

Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning

That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;

Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;

Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,

For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

All 31 coming exclusively to my subscribers list Feb. 1 at 8pm. Make sure you’re on it here.

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Written by Denise Hopkins

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Day 27. The bird is coming from inside the house.

by Denise Hopkins | Jan 27, 2023 | 31 in 31, birds, Blog

“Breakthrough” 6×6 oil on canvas

Today’s painting started off just as the egret, but I placed it too far to the top of the canvas which in turn made the whole thing just beg for a figure. And the stripes? Those are an experiment. Let me know what you think?

I can’t get enough of these elegant coastal birds, the Great Blue Heron, The Great Egret. I must not be the only one, because whoever named them did so using the accurate but not very creative or scientific word “great”. They are great. They fill me with awe.

These paintings are not of hats. They are of ideas. The bird is coming from inside the house.

All 31 coming exclusively to my subscribers list Feb. 1 at 8pm. Make sure you’re on it here.

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Written by Denise Hopkins

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"Seeking, Striving, in it with all my Heart" 48x48in oil on canvas “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” -Vincent Van Gogh This is the part where I stare at the blinking cursor on my screen. Because there’s a jumble of thoughts, of what I could...

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Day 26. Easy to miss

by Denise Hopkins | Jan 26, 2023 | 31 in 31, Blog

“Morning Walk” 8×8, oil on canvas

I’m looking at my line up of paintings from the month, and if there’s a “which one is not like the others,” it’s this one. I started a folder on my phone called “morning walks” just in case I ever wanted to refer back to some little discovery in a painting. Today’s painting references one of those photos where a little patch of land between two buildings on my morning walk struck me as particularly rich in color.

Over the years, I’ve gotten away from direct landscapes even though aspects of them always make it into my figurative work. There’s something odd about doing a landscape on a small surface, like trying to contain it. But this isn’t some park or some vast, sprawling grassy knoll. It’s an undeveloped lot in a small town, on my route to the coffee shop. It is contained. It is easy to miss.

I started this month with the mantra “pay attention.” So here it is, me trying to.

All 31 paintings available to email subscribers first on Feb. 1 at 8pm. Make sure you’re on the list here.

Comments

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Written by Denise Hopkins

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Blessing for when things don’t go as planned

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"Seeking, Striving, in it with all my Heart" 48x48in oil on canvas “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” -Vincent Van Gogh This is the part where I stare at the blinking cursor on my screen. Because there’s a jumble of thoughts, of what I could...

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Day 25. Go far, go together

by Denise Hopkins | Jan 25, 2023 | 31 in 31, Blog

“Go Together” 8×8, oil on canvas

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”.-African Proverb

Another bouquet, another day to reflect on what it means to be part of a community. The group of artists creating with me this month (in all the various forms, not just painting) have made my studio time more joyful, more exciting, more connected.

I’m eager to share some of their work with you at the gallery party on February 3. The show is officially international with one of the group’s Canadian artists already having sent her piece (and it’s a great one). In addition to visual art, we will also showcase our poets and musician.

But in my excitement, I’m getting ahead. There’s still 6 whole days of painting left. So just like I did on day one, I’m going to keep taking it one day at a time.

After several emails, I’ve decided to change things up. I want to offer my 31 paintings this month to my emails subscribers first. So many of you have asked about certain paintings but are not local and cannot make it to our celebration on February 3. I’m working to give my email list first dibs on all 31 on February 1st. Make sure you’re on the list here.

Comments

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Written by Denise Hopkins

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Blessing for when things don’t go as planned

Mar 23, 2023

Tell me about that person, again? The one whose life unfolded exactly as they’d hoped and planned it would? The one who by doing all the right and warranted and acceptable things, got exactly what she’d expected? No really, if she exists, please tell me about...

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Jan 31, 2023

"Seeking, Striving, in it with all my Heart" 48x48in oil on canvas “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with all my heart.” -Vincent Van Gogh This is the part where I stare at the blinking cursor on my screen. Because there’s a jumble of thoughts, of what I could...

Day 30. Ride the waves

Jan 30, 2023

"Circling Back" 8x8 oil on canvas If you aren’t a painter, let me describe the typical process for you. 1. An idea! 2. A decent start with the first few marks of the piece. 3. Looks like trash. 4. Looks like the most glorious things you or anyone else has ever created...

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