Tag Archives: fort collins

How to Draw Mary for May Crowning

Happy May! The month of May is often the time families honor Mary with flowers, so I thought it would be fun to offer a video tutorial of how to draw Mary with a flower wreath crown. All you need are a pencil, paper, and something to color with. I used colored pencils, but you can use any media you desire! The nice thing about this project is you can change up the colors however you would like. Perfect for budding artists and the young at heart.

I did this project with my 4 year old and 7 year old. My oldest, Holly, gave Mary a flowing veil and depicted her surrounded by angels. My youngest drew her twice.

If you have children who are too young to draw along but like to color, I have a copy of the line art listed below that you’re free to print and use for personal use.

Feel free to tag me on Facebook or Instagram and use #artwithamyheyse so I can see your finished Marian masterpieces! You can find a few more drawing tutorials on my YouTube channel. I also have a St. Lucy painting tutorial available in my Etsy shop.

We Shepherd Together

Sometimes a project is just meant to be. My dear friend, Elizabeth Zelasko, got me in touch with a lovely lady named Anne who felt called to commission an artist to create an original piece of artwork. The idea for this image was of a priest holding a lamb and Jesus guiding the priest. She knew the title would be “We Shepherd Together.” The image had been on her heart for years, but not being an artist herself she wasn’t sure where to begin. Elizabeth was one of the artists she got in touch with, but when she was unavailable to create the image, she got Anne in contact with me.

On the phone, I had a pretty clear idea of the direction I wanted to take for Anne’s piece and the sketch came together very quickly. In my personal experience, I have always found that there is a certain rhythm and flow to a project when it’s meant to be. It’s like my hand is drawing or painting faster or with a skill level I shouldn’t have. Though it’s hard to know for sure, these moments definitely feel guided by the Holy Spirit.

We Shepherd Together sketch

After I sent Anne the final image for her to approve, I can remember the feeling of elation I had when she said, “You nailed it!” It felt good to be part of the process of collaborating together to create a piece of art meant to inspire our clergy. If there’s a will, then there’s a way, and God always will find a way to make it happen.

Prints of “We Shepherd Together” are now available in my Etsy shop.


Mermaid Chair

In July, the Downtown Development Authority asked me to paint an Adirondack chair for Old Town Square. I decided to paint a mermaid because my daughter Holly loves them. The mermaid chair is a perfect addition to the splash pad in the square that lots of kids play in.

It was so much fun to paint and I’ve enjoyed seeing it out and about whenever I’m downtown. I feel so honored to have been asked to work on this project. Thanks for supporting up-and-coming local artists!

Before

Mayumi

A goal of mine had been to paint close-to-lifesize portrait paintings of my two daughters, Holly and Mayumi. In 2018, the completed painting of my daughter Holly was finished and was accepted into a regional fine art show. I started working on the painting of my youngest, Mayumi, a little over a month ago.

The painting depicts 18 month old Mayumi in her velvet and tulle Christmas dress. You can practically hear her saying “Cheese” as you look at her toothy toddler grin. A lot of nights were spent painting chubby toddler fingers, her sweet little face, and the different textures of her dress.

Even when the painting was in the early stages, just a sketch on a piece of paper, Mayumi recognized herself. She would proudly point to the painting and say, “Me” throughout the process. She was excited to see the finished product which I will be hanging up on the wall next to Holly’s portrait. I’m hoping to enter it into the National Fine Art Show at the same gallery later this season.

Mommy and Mayumi
“Mayumi.” Watercolor, 16×20”

Holly

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Two things I’ve always known: I’ve always wanted to be an artist and I’ve always felt called to be a mom. I’m very blessed that I have been able to be both as my vocation. To date, this is the largest watercolor painting I’ve ever worked on. It’s a slightly larger than life-size portrait of my daughter, Holly, just shy of her 4th birthday. The final painting measures 24×36″.

I started off by sketching Holly on a separate piece of paper before transferring the final drawing to a hand stretched watercolor canvas I made. Because I’m on-duty mom during the day, I could only work on the painting after the girls went to bed (and after getting some “veg out” Netflix time with the husband). Most nights felt like chipping away at an iceberg, but I actually finished what I set out to accomplish.

Holly with an in-progress painting of herself.

There were lots of late nights after the girls went to bed, lots of tears throughout the painting process, lots of prayers, and a whole lot of love for my sweet daughter…

Two days before finishing this painting, I was in tears because I was struggling with part of the painting. I started to tell myself the lie that I’m not “good enough.” I struggle with anxiety and depression, and since things had been a little hectic over the last few months, I felt a little more on edge. My kind husband suggested that I take a “night off” from the painting and return to it with fresh eyes. When I picked up the brushes again, I painted feverishly while the baby napped. It was like my hand couldn’t stop moving. I told Holly she could watch all the TV she wanted while I worked and then I was done within the hour!

“Holly.” Watercolor, 24×36”.

Lots of people ask what Holly thinks of her portrait. In the early stages when I would show it to her, she was always excited that I was painting her, but she would point out things like, “Mom, you still need to paint my eyes” or “I need hair.” Four year olds… ha ha. The day I finished, she told me, “That looks great, Mom” and wanted to take a picture with the painting.

Kevin and I posing in front of Holly’s portrait.

I finished the painting a couple days before a call for entries for a regional art show at the Lincoln Gallery in Loveland that I had been eyeing. The painting was accepted into the 2018 Regional Fine Art Show. Though the opening reception was a little bit rocky, it was a very positive experience. I was honored to be featured with all of the other INCREDIBLE artists. All of the pieces in the show were truly top notch. I felt really honored to be featured among such great talent.

My dad and grandpa standing next to Holly’s portrait.

We took Holly and Mayumi to the gallery to see the painting on display. Holly was acting really bashful, but enjoyed seeing the art and perked up a little bit when our family was offered candy by the gallery attendant.

Holly and Mayumi sitting on the gallery floor.

The experience has been a really emotional one for me. This is the first year that I ever dared to submit artwork to call for entries. There was a part of me that feared rejection and another part of me that would try to tell me, “You’re not good enough. Why even bother?” My inner voice isn’t always very kind, but I’ve learned a lot over this past year on how to quiet that voice and listen to God’s encouraging voice. I felt called to paint Holly in this simple moment in time, I felt called to enter this particular call for entries, and I was accepted. It was a big accomplishment for many reasons.

The closing reception was a few days ago, and when I went to pick up my painting, I received nothing but encouragement. The two staff members helping artists sign-out their paintings were very kind. When I entered the gallery, they said, “We were just talking about you! We loved having your painting. Everyone who stopped by loved looking at it and talked about how sweet the little girl and her pose was.” They proceeded to tell me that they would love to have my work in their gallery again and encouraged me to apply for the National Fine Art Show next spring. I can’t wait to make some new artwork, so I can hopefully experience this gallery adventure again.

Here’s some more details of the painting:

Mr. + Mrs. Lowry

Happy one month anniversary to Hannah and Zach Lowry who were married on November 1st at a beautiful ceremony at the Tapestry House. Hannah was a stunning fall bride. It was fun attending and seeing a bunch of my former co-workers and celebrating their marriage.

Both Hannah and Zach have ridiculously kind families (no wonder they both turned out to be such great people). It was really nice meeting everybody.

My go-to wedding gift in always a handmade portrait of the couple. This little watercolor of the happy couple measures 4×6” and I’m glad that the bride and groom said I did them justice! Below is also a start-to-finish time lapse video of the painting process. Enjoy!

“Hannah and Zach.” Watercolor, 4×6”.

Transformer Box: Complete!

It took a little over a month, but I finally did end up finishing my koi transformer cabinet for the city. I’m really happy with how it turned out and I’m thankful that the weather cooperated during the last few weeks.

When I first started the project, it was incredibly hot. So hot that I got sick one of the days I was working on it. The following week, it was so cold that I had to wear long underwear and two coats for shorter painting sessions. That’s Colorado for ya!

I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity to create art for the city and the friends/family who supported me by visiting, bringing me cookies, and helping assist. You can see photos from the process below!

Erin and Darin

A little over a year ago, my sister-in-law and brother-in-law asked if we wanted their dining room table set. It was a high quality table with matching chairs in great condition. Our set at the time was completely mismatched, so we agreed to exchange their dining room set for a portrait painting. Originally, Erin and Darin were interested in getting a portrait of my nieces and nephew, but it was hard finding a picture they liked. Over a year went by, and they finally decided on a picture from their trip to Hawaii.

Building up all of the layers of colors.

It was a challenging painting because of all of the different textures (blowing hair, hat mesh, beard stubble, detailed sunglasses, ocean, etc), but it was a lot of fun to work on. Life got busy, so I had to work on it in small chunks of time over the course of a couple of months. You can see in the in-progress photo how gradual the build-up of layers was (another reason why it took a long time).

I’m beyond excited over the final results! I can’t wait to see what it looks like displayed in their new house.

“Erin and Darin.” Watercolor, 11×14”

Wedding Commission for Nicole

I recently got the opportunity to work on this fun watercolor commission for Nicole. Since it was her “paper anniversary,” she wanted to gift her husband a watercolor painting of one of their wedding pictures.

After she sent me a couple of pictures for reference, I combined elements from her two favorites to create this painting.

Fun fact: we both have the same anniversary date, June 25th, just a couple of years apart.

An in progress picture of the painting in the early stages.

Watercolor, 5×7”

Becca

It just kind of worked out that I finished my portrait of Becca the week leading up to her birthday. It’s a little crazy realizing we’ve been friends for almost two decades. We met in the lunch line the first day of sixth grade but didn’t see each other again until 7th grade. She has always had a great and offbeat sense of humor, a listening ear, and a generous heart.

Years later, I can still depend on her to make me laugh and offer an encouraging word. A lot of great memories come to mind: hot man lists, writing stories together, making mix CDs, hanging out in the basement making or watching movies, hours long conversations at sleepovers, learning that we’re “soulmates,” rooming together in college, hilarious postcards in the mail, escape room outings… I could go on and on.

The photo reference for this painting is from one of her many hiking adventures. As of late, she’s been tackling many 14ers, taking beautiful photographs from her adventures, and offering that great listening ear and empathy to the students she works with. I wanted to capture a sense of her adventurous spirit and optimism.

Watercolor and acrylic, 8×10”

Becca was painted using watercolors and white ink was used for some of the hair and highlights. The background originally was watercolor, but I ended up painting over it with acrylics. You can see a time lapse video of my process below.