Happy New Year

I wish my friends, family, and on-line community love, good health, good fortune and the time to enjoy it in 20ll.

Original Art and Finding Fine Art Team Treasury by JC Strong

The “Let’s Redecorate in 2011" treasury highlights The Finding Fine Art Team. The goal of the team is providing art lovers the opportunity to acquire original art. The artist’s talents within this team are diverse. You'll find original paintings, drawings, mixed media, collage, printmaking and photography.

The best part of viewing and purchasing original art is you can see the hand of the artist in the strokes and texture of the work. I like to think original art has the spirit of the artist within the painting. An artist leaves the best part of him or herself on the canvas.

Sometimes you can see the serene stroke of a watercolorist, the deliberate or swift stroke of the oil and acrylic painter, the strokes with abandonment and joy, and complexity of assemblage, woodcut or printmaking. At times you wonder how did they do it? Then you have the opportunity to see "happy accidents" that happen in every art form.

So when redecorating in 2011, have fun searching for original art on the Etsy web site.

Etsy Updates/News
Other teams and tags on Etsy with original art:
Vast Team - Visual Artist Street Team
AWE Team - Artist Walk Etsy Team
firstfridayartwalk - First Friday Art Walk

Original Painting California Landscape by JC Strong

It’s been a turbulent 24 hours. Southern California has had lots’ of rain. My neighborhood lost power for 18 hours. (I kept the frig closed so my Christmas goodies would not spoil. I know what's important.)

Water came down so hard, our road seemed like a river. Everybody is safe in our neighborhood. It just reminded me nature is in control.

I started this painting of the T-Street area, bridge, and majestic tree before the lights went out and I finished it this afternoon. It's a beautiful sunny spot in San Clemente, California. I'll paint a rainy day some other time.

I give the old masters a lot of credit for the ability to create without electricity and heat etc. I couldn't paint in candle light. I'm glad for the little advantage's this Christmas, like electricity and heat.

Latest Updates:
I started a Facebook Fan Page you can see additional samples of my work on that page. I also enjoy viewing other artist's work

Original Painting Impressionistic Landscape Lagoon River by JC Strong

This painting is my creative memory of Xel-Ha near Cancun, Mexico. A few years ago I went to this area and Xel-Ha is a "natural aquarium." It's a beautiful place where a river meets the ocean. It's one of the first places I learned how to snorkel. It was a fun time and place.... I'm no pro. I just had a big mask fins and splashed around and enjoyed the wonderful scenery.

Etsy Highlights:
I found a wonderful shop Talbertart. This artist is a "contemporary realist" and has some beautiful cityscape's and figure work in his shop. You'll see a lush painterly quality in his work.

Treasuries:A Burst of Life II and A Burst of Life I celebrate fashion and creativity. It adds excitement to your life and surroundings.

Merry Christmas Original Watercolor by JC Strong

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone, especially those of you that have been following this blog.

I’m grateful for the people that have taken the time to follow my virtual art journey and it’s also a pleasure to follow other people, artists, and artisans on their personal creative travels. I know it takes time to follow, read, and digest all the material on the web. So I appreciate all of my virtual art friends.

It’s good to know that art is going strong. May the coming New Year bring good health, good luck and of course artful discoveries.

Walking Corona del Mar Original Painting by JC Strong

I love walking the streets of Corona Del Mar its a sweet beach town. The tress are expressive like "rooted men" welcoming its citizens home. This particular day you can see the mix of colors in the ocean and sky.

You wonder what people are thinking as they walk home. I always try my best to capture a simple moment... The title of this work is "Welcome Home."