Cuckoo Clock Number 3

“Excellence begins as a decision – one where you look at your life, business, and relationships and decide that everything you touch is going to better, that the example you set is going to be inspiring, that the performance bar is going to be raised higher, and that the legacy you leave will be memorable and long-lasting.”
–Gary Ryan Blair

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2014

Cuckoo Clock Number 3 – A Watercolor Sketch

I like the bird standing outside of the designated bird window.  A bit of a rebel, don’t you think?

Gary Ryan Blair helps business owners, corporate executives and sales professionals manage their time, set their priorities, and stay focused so they can achieve their goals, grow their business, enjoy more success and greater freedom.

Cuckoo Clock Number 2

“Striving for perfection is the greatest stopper there is.… It’s your excuse to yourself for not doing anything. Instead, strive for excellence, doing your best.”
– Sir Laurence Olivier

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2014

Cuckoo Clock Number 2 – A Watercolor Sketch

I like this one.  It just makes me happy. 

I love that quote today.  If I were to strive for perfection, I’d never be able to do little things like this.  The joy is in the creation, just for the sake of my love for art.

About Sir Laurence Olivier

The brilliant English actor Laurence Olivier, known for roles in such films as The Entertainer, Rebecca, and Wuthering Heights, was central in founding Britain’s National Theater, and was artistic director there for ten years. He was born on May 22, 1907 in Surrey. Not a Method actor, he used external attributes to create a character. He craved performance and was depressed between jobs. He was the first actor to direct his own Oscar-winning performance, in Hamlet. He died on July 11, 1989.

Cuckoo Clock Number One

“The primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but thought about it. Be aware of the thoughts you are thinking.”
–Eckhart Tolle

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2014

Cuckoo Clock Number One – A Watercolor Sketch

Yesterday I mentioned that I was going to share some cuckoo clocks I sketched for a class I’m taking.  I’m sharing them on my blog just for for kicks and giggles.

Keep in mind… these are rough sketches to come up with creative little cuckoo clock ideas.  I only picked one to post to the class gallery.  This was NOT the one. 

Eckhart is a spiritual teacher and author who was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge. At the age of 29, a profound inner transformation radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work in London with individuals and small groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher. Since 1995 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada.

Eckhart Tolle is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Power of Now (translated into 33 languages) and the highly acclaimed follow-up A New Earth, which are widely regarded as two of the most influential spiritual books of our time.   http://www.eckharttolletv.com/about/eckhart/

Hunn Funeral Home – 8″ x 10″ Watercolor & Ink

“Forgiveness is the economy of the heart.…forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.”
– Hannah More

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2014

Hunn Funeral Home – 8″ x 10″ Watercolor & Ink

It’s been quite a while since I posted anything on my blog.  I seem to be doing a lot of art for my licensing portfolio and that’s stuff you just don’t show until it’s time.  So many issues with copyright and so on.

I am taking a MATS Bootcamp class for the next few months and I have decided to share some of that fun with you.  Starting tomorrow, I’ll be sharing a bunch of cuckoo clocks I came up with for the class.  They are mostly creative experiments and will never see the light of day, beyond this blog.  Some will be developed further.  We’ll see.  Until then….

Thanks for checking in. 

About Hannah More

English writer and philanthropist Hannah More, one of the most influential women of her time, is seen as a proto-feminist because she argued for true education for women. She was born near Bristol on February 2, 1745. When her long engagement to a local landowner ended badly, he gave her a yearly stipend in apology, which allowed her the freedom to move to London and write plays. She later shifted to philanthropic work and writing popular religious tracts. She died on September 7, 1833.

Merry Christmas from Lake Eufaula

“A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day.”
– Albert Schweitzer

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Merry Christmas from Lake Eufaula - 4″ x 6″ Watercolor Postcard

Have a very Merry Christmas!

About Albert Schweitzer

Albert Schweitzer, the German medical missionary, won the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian work at a hospital in French Equatorial Africa, where he treated and operated on thousands of people, including hundreds of people afflicted with leprosy. He was also an organist, famous for his interpretation of J.S. Bach’s music. Late in life, he worked with Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell against nuclear proliferation. He was born in 1875 in Kaysersberg and died in 1965.

My Watercolor Christmas Postcard This Year

“It is the heart always that sees before the head can see.”
– Thomas Carlyle

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

My Christmas Postcard This Year

I painted this little card to send out this year.  I love the idea of Santa having a nice break at his vacation home after delivering all those presents.  And of course, he takes the elves along.  Mrs Claus is probably inside making the margaritas.

Have yourselves a very Merry Christmas!

About Thomas Carlyle

Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle is best known for his biographies of Frederick the Great and the German playwright Schiller. He was born in 1795. The first draft of his acclaimed two-volume work, The French Revolution, was accidentally burned by his friend John Stuart Mill’s maid; he rewrote it from scratch and imbued the rewrite with more passion and immediacy than was common at the time. This made his writing very popular in Victorian England. He died in 1881.

A House Portrait - My Big Brother’s Christmas Card

“The most successful people are often very intuitive. Consciously or unconsciously, they follow their gut feelings. Following intuition puts us in the flow – a very alive, productive, and desirable state.”
~ Shakti Gawain

copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

My Big Brother’s Christmas Card – His House Portrait

I was so excited to get my brother’s Christmas card yesterday.  I painted this portrait of his house as a surprise when I visited him in Idaho in August.  It brought tears to his eyes then… and to my eyes last night when I opened the card.  I really love what they did for their card.  It made my Christmas.  (Love you Dine & Cari!)

It sure has been a long time since I posted here.  Of course I’ve been busy at the sign shop, but I also have been preparing collections for art licensing and I’m saving the reveal of those until later.  I’m headed to Atlanta in a few weeks and am excited about my trip to AmericasMart Home & Gift show.  I was there a couple years ago, but got temporarily way-layed by that whole flying thing.  I am now excited and back to business!

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday time and are avoiding all the stress that comes with it.  My hubby has recently had a hip replacement, so we are laying low and having a quiet Christmas.     No stress there. 

Shakti Gawain

Shakti is a pioneer in the field of personal development. For over twenty-five years, she has been a best-selling author and internationally renowned teacher of consciousness. Shakti has facilitated thousands of individuals in developing greater awareness, balance and wholeness in their lives.

Shakti has written numerous books considered classics in her field. Her distinguished publishing history includes best sellers Creative Visualization, Living in the Light, The Path of Transformation, Four Levels of Healing, Creating True Prosperity, and Developing Intuition. Her books have sold over 10 million copies and have been translated into more than thirty languages. She is the co-founder, with Marc Allen, of New World Library Publishing Company.

She has appeared on such nationally syndicated programs as The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, Sonya Live, The Larry King Show, The Leeza Show, America’s Talking and New Dimensions Radio, and has been featured in New Woman, New Age Journal, and Time Magazine.

Through her seminars and her books, Shakti helps people heal and develop all levels of their being — spiritual, mental, emotional, physical — and access their intuitive inner wisdom. Sharing the ideas and practices that have helped her the most in her own life, she guides others on their path to living more consciously. She facilitates us in finding deeper meaning and purpose through developing our unique gifts and abilities.

Shakti is a passionate environmentalist, who believes that as we bring more awareness to our daily lives, we can learn to live in balance on our planet.

She and her husband Jim Burns, live in Mill Valley, California.

Thank You!

“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”

– Pablo Picasso

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Thank You!

I painted this for my new friends, Val & Mary Easley.  They have been friends of my hubby’s for decades, but I just met them. 

We drove to Clinton, OK this weekend and spent time with this wonderful couple.   Mary is a die-hard crafter.  She has a sewing room that made me drool!  Then, outside is another whole building where she crafts all kinds of things.   I loved seeing all that, but more than anything, Val and Mary are two of the nicest people I have ever met.  Val is almost 82 and Mary is a young chickie of 72 and they have been married for 31 years.   They were awesome!

If you follow this blog, you may have noticed that I have been missing in action.  I’m still here, but I have had to exercise some self restraint, where the computer is concerned.  I’ve been so busy in my sign shop that it has had to come first.  It’s amazing how much I can get done when I don’t spend the first 2 hours of my day on blogging and social media.  Since 2007, I have blogged 5 days a week.  I’m just going to cut that back to maybe once a week.  I am going to try anyway.  I love doing this and I love being part of a larger art family, for sure.

I am still painting every morning between 5-6 am.  That will never stop. 

About Pablo Picasso

 

Pablo Picasso, the Spanish painter at the forefront of Cubism, is perhaps best known for his painting Guernica, which depicts the hopelessness and violence of war. The masterpiece hung in the Museum of Modern Art in New York until democracy was restored in Spain; the painting was then sent home, where it hangs now at Reina Sofí a, Spain’s national museum of modern art. Born in Spain in 1881, Picasso spent his adult life in France. Although he’s known for his abstract paintings, his realistic work, particularly his Blue Period, was equally accomplished. He loved to be surrounded by friends and had multiple love affairs. He died in 1973.

Rusty Old Truck Layered into Posey Park Painting

“I’ve learned that people whill forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Dr. Maya Angelou
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Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Rusty Old Truck

I painted this from a reference photo by Skappy at WetCanvas.  I left the background empty on purpose, so I could do this….

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Maya Angelou

Dr. Maya Angelou is a remarkable Renaissance woman who is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary literature. As a poet, educator, historian, best-selling author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, she continues to travel the world, spreading her legendary wisdom. Within the rhythm of her poetry and elegance of her prose lies Angelou’s unique power to help readers of every orientation span the lines of race. Angelou captivates audiences through the vigor and sheer beauty of her words and lyrics.

Zentangle and the Orange Alpaca – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

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“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
– Truman Capote

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Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

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Silly Little Orange Alpaca – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

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Mary Y. over at WetCanvas posted the cutest little Alpaca youngster on her WDE a couple weeks ago.  I painted this from her photo.  In fact, the Halloween Cat was also from her WDE.  Of course it was a white cat.  I’m sure Mary won’t mind her white critters becoming orange.  She knows what happens at Bethville. 

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About Truman Capote

The flamboyant American author Truman Capote is best known for his book In Cold Blood, the true story of the murder of a wealthy Kansas family. Written in a literary style, it spawned the creative nonfiction genre. Born in New Orleans in 1924 and raised by relatives in Alabama, Capote moved to New York when he was nine to live with his mother. He was a larger-than-life personality, known for his colorful attire, his lisping voice, and his outrageous statements. He died in 1984.