Inspiring Ideas

Spring is a season of birth and renewal, so it's a perfect time to introduce several new columns to our list of current favorites. We've spoken with many of you at painting conventions and, as requested, we'll be sure to include more technique-oriented features, information about new products, and stories about some of your favorite painters.

Tips and Techniques
Have you ever wanted to learn how to set-up, photograph, and paint your own still life design? Over the next eight months, Sue Pruett will teach you still life painting skills in her new Still Life Studies column. You will explore the basics of still life theory and put this knowledge into practice by painting beginner, intermediate, and advanced still life paintings.

Expand Your Horizons
Beginning in this issue, we'll also be featuring a regular column by Gisele Pope and Nony Housh titled ‚"Expand Your Horizons." This dynamic duo will help you look to the past for inspiration from master artists and show you how to incorporate some of their styles into your paintings. My personal favorite, Impressionism, is this month's topic. Gisele and Nony encourage you to "loosen up" and experiment with color, reflections, and shadows. Give it a try with a watercolor painting by Debra Henkener, which is painted in a loose, carefree style.

Adapt a Design
As the weather warms, flea markets open their doors and garage sales crop up in every neighborhood. Painting on "found" treasures has resurged in popularity, so we felt it important to include a feature on adapting designs to a variety of paintable surfaces. In each issue, Jill DiMaria and Maria Grimanis will paint a design and explain how to use all (or part) of it on alternate surfaces. Be sure to watch for those beloved garage sale notices in your local papers!

Time to Celebrate
Spring is a time of celebration. For those of us living in four-season climates, we look to our flower beds to see if the dormant plants have begun to peek through the ground. And when they do, it's a joyous day. We reach for our gardening tools, as our hands are simply "itching" to feel the soil. At the same time, we long to hear the familiar melodies of spring songbirds. Greet your feathered friends with a new feeder by Jamie Mills-Price, and they'll be certain to claim your yard as their domain.

It's also time to think of gifts for Mother's Day and Father's Day, and many of you will be attending weddings and graduations. With that in mind, we're pleased to present a variety of projects to fulfill your gift-giving needs.

While it can be difficult to find designs with a masculine flair, check out our Ivy and Canada Goose Magazine Rack, Pheasant Serving Tray, and Fisherman's Table Grouping, all of which will appeal to the special men in your life.

For weddings or showers, the Swedish Springtime Dala Clocks, Faux Brocade and Roses Wedding Memories Box, and Gather Together Bride's Board will make a lasting impression on the newlyweds.

Make a List!
When decorating your home or choosing a gift, there's nothing like homemade (or hand-painted in this case). Whether you are looking to paint colorful accents for indoors or outdoors or something for that special someone, we've got you covered!