Have been working on a new one for quite some time. It's a commissioned painting. Started in July, had to wait over a month for it to dry so I could continue.

Started with a black canvas:




Several sessions later - I finished with this today:

Very nice!!,,,

Thank you, Leigh!


She will eventually get proper arms and hands, I dread painting those though.

omgosh! So very talented. I too only found this thread now.

and she has a hookah!

I was thinking, if you haven't done it also, how about illustrating childrens books and or book covers? I love your style!

I too love to see those progression pics. That's thrilling.

Thank you very much, Fleta!


Maybe book illustrations is a good idea, dunno really. I think I'd have to learn to work faster then, haha. The hours I've already put in this one ...

Right, I know you said those oils can take as much as a month to dry. Maybe faster work would utilize a different medium? IDK.....just suggesting is all. So many ideas you pour out, it seems. lol.

Normally this oilpaint dries faster, but humidity was insane in July, and I think I used just a tad too much medium

Acrylics should be better for illustrations. I sometimes use acrylics, the two horse paintings in this thread are both done with acrylics.

Sometimes having to wait is okay though. I can't paint hours on end, day in day out, cos of my neck injury. Su(ks big time, but it is what it is.

Love the first one. Almost Van Gogh-ish.
There is something about art and Holland.
Some of the greats have been born there, must be the water or air or something.

Thank you
But can I become famous before I die though?
And I ain't cutting off my ear either. I must admit I love Van Gogh! You can feel his passion, his pain, all of his emotions, in his work.

Both of these are awesome really good work....

I also have a neck injury. I understand what you are saying. It's painful for me to keep my arms out stretched. I have massive arm and hand pain.

@ Thank you TxsGal!



Quite horrible to have or what. Limits life and the fun things you can and want to do. I had a pretty bad whiplash some 15 yrs ago, but recovered remarkably well from that. Unfortunately I had another accident - indoors - in 2012 and that literally did my head in :(
At the mo working towards getting a disability benefit. Tried a few different jobs, but it don't work. Always something involved that I cannot do. Not sure if getting the benefit will work out, not easy anymore these days, so fingers crossed. I'm perfectly fine as long as I don't have to look down, sideways or up for any length of time, length being 10-15 mins max.
Meaning I can't read a book or magazine normally anymore either, so either have to use a stand or read Ebooks. Talking to someone who's sat next to me isn't particularly pleasant either.
If I don't have to do stuff that overburdens my neck, I don't have any significant pain. I do have chronic tinnitus because of it, which gets real bad if I do overdo things.
Have you ever been to a cranio-sacral therapist or osteopath? They often can do an awful lot for you. Don't know where I'd be today without mine ...

Never heard of cranio-sacral or osteopath therapy. I am back to seeing chiropractor for mid and lower back. He can not touch my neck due to spinal cord injury, spurs and more impinging discs. I refuse to end up with a G tube if I do more surgery (it's a definite possibility or death).

Yes, can't over do anything. Live and learn for weeks after fogetting you shouldn't be carrying that laundry basket, or turning your head while laughing....

I've had cervical epidural injections, dry needling (up to 50 needles at a time)...nothing works. Told them to take their pills and shove em too.

Yup, I'm trying the benefit route, AGAIN....I agree, not so easy. Makes you want to jump up and slap the Judge when it's a woman and she says, "how do you put on your fine eye liner?" I'm not appearing this time.

I completely understand about reading also. I can't even hold a book or magazine. The weakness and numbness of my arms gets to shaking so bad. I have to rest the object on a table or something. Not easy trying to figure out how to read while laying down anymore.

I painted my back door last week. By the time I got to the 2nd coat, and was TRYING to do the trim, I had to pry my fingers apart off of the brush from cramping. I was using 2 hands to hold the trim brush too. *sigh*....

You keep painting tho, a little at a time. It's beautiful work!

Owww, that's awful! I haven't had surgery and I hope I won't need it either :/
I have a benefit and these days they make you 'work' 20 hrs a week for it. Basically volunteer's work, as you're not allowed to take a proper job of the market, and anything over 20 hours is not considered volunteer's work anymore. This work can be anything from folding letters and sticking them in an envelope, assembling cloth pegs to picking up rubbish in public areas. I was lucky that my coach realised I still have a brain and she tried to outplace me. So I did 3 months at a campsite, reception desk. But I was limited to what I could do there as well, so only did the 7 hrs a week, 2 mornings. Couldn't handle more. When that was over (you're not allowed to work in the same place for over 3 months, as then you could be taking a proper job of the market), my coach found me another place at an office. I really enjoyed it, but the work I had to do (enter data from calling cards into a database) didn't work out too well. Totally did my head in, literally. The constant looking down at calling cards on a desk and back to the computer, is a movement I cannot make for more than 10-15 minutes and I did it the entire afternoon. When I got home (I actually wasn't fit to drive anymore, totally off this planet, but I had to) the only thing I could do was sit in a chair, like a zombie. So I called in sick. Still on sick leave now. Gotta go and see the neurologist on the 16th.

Anyway, you may wanna look into those therapists, sure they must have them where you are as well. A chiropractor uses what they call a "hard method". He forces things into place. The other ones use a far more gentle technique, but just as (to be honest far more) effective.
Mine found out that my sacrum was misaligned, and probably has been for a few decades. Now I've been to a very good chiropractor for a couple of years when I was approx. 30, I'm not sure he even noticed nor did anything about it. But this misalignment has a lot to do with the neck, and can cause migraine-like headaches as well.
An osteopath or craniosacral therapist looks at the entire picture, not just the disks that may be somewhat out of place etc. I.e. my osteopath regularly works on my diaphragm as this is connected to the neck with nerves, and also to the lower back (hips) with other nerves. So if the diaphragm isn't relaxed or in good shape, you can suffer from menstrual-like tum-aches, neck aches and pain near the hip/lower back area and constipation. All of these can be alleviated by working on the diaphragm. A chiropractor can't do that for you, nor would he even know about all this. He'd just work on your hip, lower back or neck, while the cause (diaphragm) is not being treated. Meaning the problems will reoccur.
Funny thing is, my first chiropractor said that my right hip was misaligned forward and the other slightly backwards and he realigned those (the result of which never lasted). So he had noticed something wrong in the lower back area, but never diagnosed the misaligned sacrum being the cause of the misaligned hips :/ Go figure ... And he wasn't a therapist, but a proper doctor at that.
I think I'd be in even worse shape if it wasn't for my osteopath. She treated me very soon after my last accident, for 8 months on end, and helped me recover to at least where I am at the mo.

Just Googled it, both osteopathy and craniosacral therapy are to be found in the States. Once you've experienced that, you'll never want to go back to a chiropractor again! (Almost seems barbaric, lol.)
What they can do for you and your body is astounding (so much more!), more lasting results (not a temp fix) and far less crude/harsh/and possibly even damaging to the body, which I find vitally important with such serious injuries.

How did you get injured? You had a (car) accident as well?

You're highly talented CrystalFairy. I like what I saw. Keep it up!

I will defintely look up those therapies for my area. I just can't drive more than an hour one way anywhere. I'm so sick of wearing a neck brace for driving. It makes wrinkles by your bottom lips and chin ya know? lol

I've had all of those symptoms as well that you are mentioning with that sacrum. The chiropractor did say at one time, I saw him 8 years ago, before my cervical fusion, that my hips were twisted. But ...I also have a crushed right foot from, yes, the car accident. 10 years ago. No breaks. Hit a tree. Engine came in a foot and half while my foot was still on the break. Head took out the rearview mirror. They basically put my foot back on that was dismembered, the heel was badly crushed into graham cracker crumbs they said. So I lost 1 1/4" of height on that. I don't know what that would work out to be in meteric....around 3 cm?...so another year later is when I had the neck fusion. C5-6. I also hit a tree head on sledding when I was 8 years old. Now they should have done 2 levels at once, not just one. C6-7 is broad based encroachment/imingement with bone spurs that have gouged my spinal cord into injury. Permantly causing loss of nerves particulary in hands then up. When you feel fire, know that your nerves are dying. Cord signal is screwed up down to T-3 from C3-4. Yep, bone misalignment is imminent with loss of discs. ......*sigh*

Yes, on the looking up down and not for more than 15 min. Exactly! Speaking of which, I gotta get off this pc. Grab my ice pack.

That sucks that they won't allow you to stay at one job for more than months, just as you are getting over the stress of learning a new job. Even if it is mindless. I have to have a routine to feel safe.

I'm not working now. I had gone back to being a certified nurses aide last year, due to lack of employment in the computer tech industry, along with all the other jobs Obama has sold out over here. Turning us into healthcare and or damned restaurant workers. Arrrhhhhh. I'm biding my time here. Not for very long. let's see how long it takes me to permantly paralyze myself.

I've seen every neuro surgeon in this clinic system. Now they say, I'm too complex and have referred me to a UW. What the heck are students going to do for me? No way. Not cutting me open again.

Hey, get to posting some more progress pics, okay?

My goodness, that must have been one he|| of an accident :/ So sorry for you, awful! Makes my injuries seem like insignificant in comparison.
I also bashed C5-6 during my car accident. And unreal you have to work healthcare, way too heavy for such serious injuries! Bluddy dangerous. Over here you'd probably get disability benefit without any hassle.

Weird how these things go. That guy I've been seeing over the weekend had an accident and broke his neck. Had a serious operation, but he's not troubled by it at all anymore!? Unreal.

No pictures of progress yet. My neck seems to have sorted itself out a bit now, it was too upset to paint for days.
But I will post updates when there is one :)

Take care of yourself girl!!

Yess!!! Finally felt like painting again, and the canvas was dry enough :)
So ... Ms Priestess has got arms and hands and the water/mirror/or-whatever-it-is she's kneeling on, is finished as well :)

A recap: This is where I left off couple weeks back:




And todays work :)

I was gonna say the "Mists of Avalon" is my favourite here but then i saw the horse with orange background. You have some crazy circular brush strokes going on there at the background- really cool. That might just become your painting signature, using these strokes again.
All your paintings are pretty but looks like some of them had more time than others and therefore have more character.
Well complete is a relative term anyway, Leonardo da Vincy could work on a single painting 9 months (not every day though) and he could never decide when the work was complete. He usually just ran out of time. I wish you could find time to take a second look to the Mists of Avalon. it has potential for not only prettiness but also a some real monetary value. I wonder is there anything you can do yo make it look even more distinctive?
It seems you have developed 2 styles 1 for landscapes and other for symbolistic/syrrealistic stuff.

Same goes for the horse head on orange background. bacground is really cool, the horse head is well drawn but i wonder is there something else you could do with the horse's head itself? smth that would make the brush strokes come out more, maybe?

Best of luck to you Crystalfairy and don't take my comment too seriously. The main thing will always be to paint the way YOU want it done, never try to please the others.

You've seen that right, almost like different styles, but that seems to be have become my style
And the horses, yeah, great to do! The horse paintings are done with acrylics and I can't really work acrylics the way I do oils. I prefer oils, esp. the good ole terp oils. Unfortunately they're very unhealthy and impractical (cleaning the brushes is a pain in the @$$). So I now use water-soluble oils, which are less 'fluent', bummer, cos it makes it more difficult to do what I used to be real good at. But I value my health more, and the ease of cleaning up.

The Avalon and the one with the woman in the street (Venice Bride) were the last ones I did in terp oils.
When I was doing the Avalon one, I was thinking of doing something to the left, as it seemed a bit 'bare'. But decided against it. It's had its final varnish, so adding something is out of the question. I don't think I will ever part with that painting :) It's in my meditation / energy room, always has been, in my previous home as well. Unless someone offers a fair amount of money for it ...