Piggy Bank, Colorful Pigtails Art Series, Pastel, December Painting Sale, Texas Artist Vernita Hoyt

Art Sale Continues!  

The Piggy Bank 

The Piggy Bank
pastel on Mi Tientes paper
Inquire about price & availability here. 

The pastel "Piggy Bank" is one of my "Pigtails" series from 2010.  I held on to this colorful, fun piece for a few years before releasing it. Now showing at the DaVinci Artists Gallery, 315 W. Main St., Tomball TX, this pastel work is also available to internet collectors.

Because the artwork is at the Gallery, an internet inquiry for price/availability can be made by contacting me directly here or through my Facebook fine art page by clicking on the "message" option at www.facebook.com/vbridgeshoyt.artist/.

Be sure to mention the title of the artwork. 

(see below image)

This piece is pastel on a special Mi Tientes pastel paper and includes a backer board, all packaged in a cellophane wrapping for safe keeping during shipping and handling. Pastel is a soft medium and is best displayed when matted and framed with picture glass over the artwork to protect against the elements. If you want help framing, contact me.

The Piggy Bank
Small Paintings. Small Prices.
See art image at top of blog for clearer detail. 

December Art Sale!

For December only, I am offering a SALE of 10% off all my paintings exhibited at the DaVinci Artists Gallery, Tomball, Texas, also available to internet buyers.

INTERNET BUYERS will get 10% off + free shipping for the month of December.

Be first!

Contact me with a Facebook message at this link or through the "contact form" in the blog sidebar.

Over the next few days, I will be showing additional pieces that are on exhibit at the Gallery.  You can order directly from me by sending a message through the "Contact Me" form in the blog sidebar.

Be first! 

Gain the opportunity of being a first viewer. Subscribe to Texas Sauce Art Life to receive the updates by email. See sidebar.

Contact me to purchase the drawing or painting of your choice!

Shipping is FREE during the month of December.

As a child, I was reprimanded for daydreaming. Today my daydreams morph into paintings.  V. Bridges Hoyt — painting the sauce of Texas™. 

View my Texas Impressionist Oil Paintings. 

Subscribe to my Monthly Studio Notes in the top sidebar at Texas Sauce Art Life, or contact me here. Your email address is safe with me. 

Angel Wings

Last year I began a study of angel wings. This spring I was sitting at the patio table sketching Angel Wing Begonia plants. After the sketch, I noticed the similarities and the differences between the two pairs of wings.

Study of Angel Wings
pastel and colored pencil on sandpaper
(click to enlarge image)
Contact Me Here

Angel Wing Begonia Leaves
Pigma Micron 005 Pen & Ink Sketchbook Art
Contact Me Here

As a child, I was reprimanded for daydreaming. Today my daydreams morph into paintings.

V. Bridges Hoyt — painting the sauce of Texas. 

Nugget, a Pastel Pet Portrait

SOLD

NUGGET, All Grown Up
Boxer pet portrait
pastel on Mi Tientes paper
8x10 inches
artist Vernita Bridges Hoyt

You have probably figured out by now that I am on a mission to paint commissioned pet portraits to help Boxer rescue organizations. The two I typically try to help are both in Texas: Lone Star Boxer Rescue in the Houston area, and Legacy Boxer Rescue in the Dallas area. If a person wants the donation to go to a different organization, I am happy to send it as long as the rescue group is a registered 501(c)3 charity organization. I donate 25% - 100% of the sale price (less shipping fees) to the charity depending on the size of the painting. 

I am posting some images below of the painting of Nugget to show you the progression of the pastel painting.

Step 1: Line drawing and first pastel strokes

Step 2: All local color applied over drawing

Step 3: Detail developed as more pigment was added

Step 4: Eyes completed

Step 5: Painting sprayed with pastel fixative which darkens colors

Final Step 6: Color refreshed by adding highlights of pastel pigment

This painting was shipped to the owner after adding those final color highlights of pastel.

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As a child, I was reprimanded for daydreaming. Today my daydreams morph into paintings.

V. Bridges Hoyt — painting the sauce of Texas. 

The Wee Ones, Small Paintings and Portraits

Oh my goodness! I haven't blogged in two weeks. Guess that means I've not completed a painting in the past two weeks. I did start one—a small watercolor still life—but I haven't finished the painting yet. Honestly, I don't know why I am painting a small one. The wee ones take much longer to paint than the large paintings.

PORTRAIT OF BROOKE AT 5 YEARS
pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord

Until the watercolor still life is finished and ready to show, I will share a detail of this portrait painted in 2005. Click here to see more of my portrait work.

Commissions Accepted.

Thanks for following my Texas Sauce Art Life blog.
V. Bridges Hoyt

Yorkie Dog Portrait

"Art is much less important than life, but what a poor life without it." —Robert Motherwell.

Click image to enlarge.

I have painted homeless dogs and I have painted upscale dogs. Last week I was commissioned to design two tote bags with a Yorkie on them—my first Yorkie ever.

My client wanted only totes—so the original painting is in my inventory. This small work is waiting for somebody somewhere who will be reminded of their Yorkie and give this painting a home.

• Yorkie jr.  © Vernita Bridges Hoyt 2011
• mixed dry media on Arches 140# cp paper
• 10x8 inches
• artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Click here to view purchase details.

... and then there were totes.

ART. My newest tote bag design ... "Yorkie jr" personalized for the granddaughters of my collector. She is giving them as back-to-school gifts and really liked the way the Yorkie sits on the name. I can very easily personalize the Yorkie design with a different name. You won't find these at Zazzle or Cafe Press or anywhere but here. Email me for more information on the totes—txsauce@txsauce.net

When we look around us, we find art everywhere. Art is on labels of products, in our TV ads, on t-shirts and other clothing items, on all our greeting cards (which are a huge market), on the covers of books, on the pages of children's books, etc.—not to mention hanging on our walls and in our museums. Robert Motherwell was right when he said, "what a poor life without [art]."

Find yourself an artist to follow. There are many of us. I hope your artist will be me.

Visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TXsauceArtStudio.

Also, please check out my oil painting auctions at the DailyPaintworks Gallery, or you can view all available works at the Daily Painters Art Gallery.

Any questions, click here to contact me.

If you'd like to view my daily painting without the ramblings, click here to view the simplified One Painting a Day.

Moo Cows

A great artist is always before his time or behind it.
—George Edward Moore 

ART. I am really having fun with the TOTE BAGS! Today I personalized a couple to use as gifts for new babies in the family ... here is one of them—"Moo Cows for Paisley"—featuring my painting of four colorful cows. You'll want to order one of these for your child or grandchild!

That's all of the tote bags for awhile. Next I'll be getting back to original paintings.

Visit my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/TXsauceArtStudio. Also, please check out my painting auctions at the DailyPaintworks Gallery. You can view all my available works at the Daily Painters Art Gallery. If you have questions, click here to contact me.

If you'd like to view my daily painting without the ramblings, subscribe to my redesigned One Painting a Day blog.

Lily White • pastel 9x12 • artist V. Bridges Hoyt

Lily White detail

 ART.  "Lily White" is up for auction at Daily Paintworks.  Pastel sketch on Canson Mi Tientes black toned paper, 9x12 inches. "Lily White" will be beautiful in a double mat (off white with a red liner, for instance) to fit a larger frame, perhaps a 16x20 inch simple black frame. Contact me if you want to talk about framing.  txsauce@txsauce.net or artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Click on image to see detail.

Check out my other auctions at the DailyPaintworks Gallery, or you can view all my works at the Daily Painters Art Gallery. Any questions, click here to contact me.

Azalea Blooms Work-in-Progress Image #2

My mind keeps going back to the Hans Christian Anderson quote:
Just living is not enough.  One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.  ~Hans Christian Anderson.

Azalea
© V. Bridges Hoyt 2011
Work-in-Progress
pastel 12x16 inches

ART. I had other plans today but my muse appeared and said, "Every life needs a little flower." This is the second progress image of my pastel azalea blooms. No hurry. No plan. Just easel time.

Contact me.

Azalea Blooms in Progress

Just living is not enough.  One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.  ~Hans Christian Anderson

ART. Here is a little flower painting in progress. I am working this one in soft pastel and finding my way as I go. This is a warm up to find my muse as I ready to paint a commission in watercolor. Pastel is a quick medium and brings my mind back to the right side of my brain where I need it for painting. Nope, the commission is not a flower but a dog and is for an international customer who found my art on facebook.
LIFE. The sun is shining. Flowers are blooming. Freedom abounds in the USA. If we can just keep our freedom, our flowers and sunshine in our day, in spite of world news, all will be well.   

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Pastel Study of White Lily

"I like flowers, I also like children, but I do not chop their heads and keep them in bowls of water around the house." —George Bernard Shaw

White Lily. Pastel on Mi Tientes toned paper. 8x10 inches.

ART.  White Lily. Pastel Study on Mi Tientes black toned paper. 8x10 inches.  110225  

In answer to a challenge at WetCanvas.com and throwing caution to the wind, for the first time in my life I sketched a lily.  I love flowers in the garden, but they have never been my focus in painting. This lily sketch qualifies for a quick daily painting and will be exhibited in the Daily Painters Gallery. I think you'll be seeing more lilies coming up soon as I challenge myself to a series of flowers.

For more about this artwork, contact txsauce@txsauce.net.

Soft pastel is a pure pigment in stick (or chalk) form and is rubbed onto the paper or other surface as one would use a chalk or charcoal stick. Pastel art requires a frame with glazing (picture glass) and a mat (or two) to lift the glass away from the soft pastel pigment. The glazing preferably is glass. I learned the hard way that a permanent glazing of acrylic or plexiglas attracts the soft pastel pigment like a magnet attracts metal shavings. The plexiglas is good for shipping but should be changed out to picture glass soon after receipt of pastel artwork.

Christmas Amaryllis Gift

LIFE. Last Christmas my daughter gave me an amaryllis bulb for Christmas. We planted the bulb and, to my surprise, it sprouted green shoots that quickly grew into a beautiful flower or two or three. After a few weeks the flower died, but I was slow moving the bulb. Two days ago I noticed new growth. We are going to have a second generation of Amaryllis blooms on the kitchen window sill. I can't wait to see if they are as beautiful as the first ones were.

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Two Roses and a Rosebud

Sometimes a painting sits on a shelf for a few years before I bring it out again. This was a pastel I painted in 2007. I may do a little touch up on it, or I may just frame it as is. Here is the link to my beginning of

Two Roses and a Rosebud.

Two Roses and a Rosebud, pastel on paper

© V. Bridges Hoyt 2010

The thing about beautiful roses is they always have thorns to prick our fingers and arms. It seems that all things good bring a little trouble alongside. Speaking of which ...

I have put in more than the first 100 days of working for my government this year. Hey, isn't that supposed to be the other way around, i.e. government working for me? I hope by noon on Tuesday I will be done with the taxes ... and also that I can now enjoy the fruits of my own labor rather than working only to pay next year's taxes.  I have not painted much at all in the last 30 days or so, and I am losing myself. 

In Proverbs, I am now into "The Wisdom of Solomon" and will be quoting some of the verses that speak to me personally.

Your own soul is nourished when you are kind, but you destroy yourself when you are cruel. --Proverbs 11:17

Specials! Collectible Art

Click here for Bluebonnet painting 50% off SALE!

Invest in Collectible Artworks

© 2008 Vernita Bridges-Hoyt

"Up Close and Personal" 24"x30" oil on canvas, unframed

Available

Click here for details and purchase options.

The Border Collie painting above is one of my larger paintings. I show it in the context of the studio window so you get a clearer idea of the painting size. This one is offered unframed. If you have questions about purchase options or want a frame quote, click here to email me. 

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© 2008 Sean "Ozz" Oliver

"Twisted Roots" 8"x10" waterbase on oval canvas, unframed

Available

Click here to see detail or purchase options.

The small oval flower painting you see hanging to the upper right is an airbrushed piece on canvas painted by published artist Sean "Ozz" Oliver. This beautiful little painting is 8x10 inches in size and is offered at $250. Sean "Ozz" is well-known nationally for his airbrush work on motorcycles, pickup trucks, cars, mailboxes and more. Sean rarely paints on canvas, so this piece is a sweet collectible. Please email Texas Sauce Studio for availability and cost of shipping or click here to see detail or purchase securely through a PayPal button.

~

If you are interested in commissioning a painting,
email artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

~~~

Today's Blessing: A good night's sleep.
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See more daily paintings here.

Squirrel with Pear

This was an impromptu sketch of a squirrel in the tree outside my window at the farm. I took several reference photos for later studio work, then decided to do a quick life sketch of the little fellow who seemed to be happily posing for me.

The squirrel scampered across the yard carrying what looked like a green pear in his mouth. It was nearly as big as he was. How he could carry the weight of that load clenched between his teeth is a mystery. Once he reached the tree trunk, he scurried up it and never let go of the pear until finding just the right branch. I watched the squirrel for several minutes. He would nibble, then look at me, nibble some more, look at me, so forth and so on.

detail of squirrel sketch above

Please watch the Art Helping Animals art blog for more info on this pastel sketch.

Life Lessons

The Good Good Pig accompanied me to the farm. Sent to me by a friend, this book by Sy Montgomery became my bedtime ritual for seven nights. You might ask what lessons could be learned from a pet pig who lived out his natural life of fourteen years. 

   Christopher Hogwood ... "was a big Buddha master for us. He taught us how to love. How to love what life gives you--to love your slops. What a soul!" she said. "He was a being of pure love." ... Christopher Hogwood knew how to relish the juicy savor of this fragrant, abundant, sweet, green world.... that a pig did not become bacon but lived fourteen years, pampered and adored till the day he died peacefully in his sleep--that's proof that we need not "be practical" all the time. We need not accept the rules that our society or species, family or fate seem to have written for us. We can choose a new way. We have the power to transform a story of sorrow into a story of healing. We can choose life over death. We can let love lead us home. 

I will pass this book on to another friend. The first person to email me will be the recipient of this used/very good condition book, The Good Good Pig by Sy Montgomery. It's a book I could hardly put down. -- Email me here: artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Preview: Pigtails #3

work-in-progress detail of Pigtails #3

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I am working on #3 of the Pigtails series. This one is larger at 9"x12" size but is still pastel and colored pencil on toned paper. I'm having so much fun with the piggy paintings as they remind me of a time in my youth when Dad raised pigs. My dad even got into the spirit of this one and offered a color/composition solution, but you'll have to wait to see the finish.

1st progress image of Pigtails #3

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Purchase original paintings here: One Painting a Day.
Find original art Auction Sales here: Texas Sauce Penderings.
Find my Art Cards & Gifts here.

Cat of Many Colors, not Picasso

sketch detail showing face

Last night I tried a new paper with my pastel pencils, and I loved the feel of it. It is smooth. My pastel pencils glided over the surface with ease, and the brilliance of the colors on this paper is superb. This paper is made in Italy--Portofino acquerello, 100% cotton, 140 lb. hot pressed, acid free. It is described as being ideal for watercolour, gouache, ink and acrylic but worked perfectly for a pastel sketch, too. I will be using more of this paper.

My pastel sketch of the "Cat of Many Colors" is a life study. It had to be quick because I expected the cat wouldn't hold his pose for long, and he didn't. No sooner had I laid in the head, he moved it. Quickly I went to get the body proportions. I barely had the outline when he stood up and left the scene, so the rest of this life study was sketched from memory. This quick study catches the cat's essence. It doesn't try to be realistic in any way. It's a fun, colorful piece of art. This piece would be well presented with a colorful mat such as that shown below. I will include a mat (color may vary from that shown below) for the purchaser of this piece.

Cat of Many Colors

pastel pencil on 9"x12" aquarelle 140# paper

includes mat of artist's selection

$75 + shipping

Click here to email artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

15% of this sale 

will be donated to help 

Tabby's Place Cat Rescue, 

an Art Helping Animals approved cat rescue.

Not Georgia O'Keefe or Picasso, I still have painted the essence of this cat as I saw it. Please google 'Georgia O'Keefe cat art' or 'Picasso cat art' to see cats they have sketched, doodled or painted.

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Life is like a layer cake. You just put one layer on top of the other, and whether you frost it or not is up to you. --Ann Richards

Pigtails, This Little Piggy Stayed Home

This is #2 of the Pigtails series, so here it is for your amusement, enjoyment, or dislike ... however it is that piggies affect you. They always remind me of the little ceramic piggy bank I had as a child and the pigs my dad used to raise on the farm. The newborn piglets were always a delight to behold.

Pigtails, This Little Piggy Stayed Home

2nd in the series

6"x9" pastel on toned paper

My Minnesota artist friend Jane Freeman wrote, " ... saw your darling piggies...cute as can be with that Nita flare...they usually seem to smile. My pet pig Chester was a golden chestire and she smiled I am sure!" 

 

I've included an enlarged detail of that piggy's face, so you can see the piggy's smile as well as my sketching technique used with the pastel pencils. They are fun pieces to do. The third piece will be a bit larger and is a work in progress.

I have added #2 above the earlier post of #1 in the series to keep the series all together. 

~

1st of the series [posted 4/30/08] follows below.

Pigtails, Five in a Row

1st in the series

6"x9" pastel on toned paper

I know you've been waiting for some time [not you, Martha], and finally! Here is my pig sketch... mixed media on 6"x9" Mi Tientes pastel paper. The mixed media includes ink, colored pencil, graphite and pastel. When I use pastel, I like to add lots of pure color, and this one has lots of color.

This painting was inspired by a Diane Finlayson photo and painted with her blessing. A 10% donation will go to the Gorgie City Farm, a registered animal charity in Edinburgh, Scotland, where the pigs modeled for Diane's photograph.

Twenty-percent 20% of this painting will benefit True Blue Animal Rescue near Brenham, Texas. T-bar rescued my Border Collie Brooke among others. The 20% to T-bar will be designated for their Heartworm Fund which they established in Brooke's honor.

Email me if you are interested in this one --  artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

"Dream as if you'll live forever... live as if you'll die today." --James Dean
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Purchase my paintings here: One Painting a Day.

What is the one thing ...

Refrigerator notes posted in layers cover the door to the cooling box in my kitchen. Daily there is one note that peeks out from beneath the others. It always asks the same question--What is the one thing I'm not doing right now that, if I were, would make the biggest difference? Daily I thoughtfully try to answer that question. There are so many things. Today I think, "Maybe if I cleaned off the door of the refrigerator ..." One never knows. After all, it is said to be the little things in life that make the difference.

I have started a pastel painting of another Beagle to help out B.O.N.E.S. and will finish it late tonight, which brings the thought of sleep deprivation into my mind. These late nights and early mornings are too many. Perhaps a few eight-hour nights of sleep would make the biggest difference.

This is the finish of the "Amy" painting aka "Beagle Blues", a Beagle whose photo caught my eye on the B.O.N.E.S. web site. It is painted with pure sticks of pastel color on archival toned paper with a few white accents in colored pencil.

"What is the one thing I'm not doing right now that, if I were, would make the biggest difference? " ...anonymous

sold! Impressionist Bluebonnet Texas State Flower

The wildflowers bloomed early in Texas this year. Over Easter weekend I took lots of photos of Dogwood blossoms, bluebonnets and other wildflowers. Here is my first bluebonnet sketch for 2008. This could be a challenge as previously I've only pictured blueblonnets en masse.

© 2008 Vernita Bridges-Hoyt

Click on the image to enlarge.

Impressionist Texas Bluebonnet

Bluebonnet Sketch #1

6"x4" pastel & colored pencil on Mi Tientes [yellow paper is like pale butter in reality]

unframed, includes 8x6 inch mat

This is an original sketch by V. Bridges-Hoyt and includes a signed certificate of authenticity.

SOLD

email artist@vbridgeshoyt.com

Thank you for shopping.

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One Painting a Day
Sunflower Artist
Dog Days
Border Collie Art

Heaven in a Wild Flower

Sunflowers grow wild in Texas ... fields and fields of sunflowers. Cultivated sunflowers typically grow taller and larger, but there is nothing cheerier than a field of wild Texas sunflowers painting a sunny picture against a blue sky.

Sunflower © V. Bridges-Hoyt 2008

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,

And Eternity in an hour." --William Blake

To see Van Gogh's sunflower paintings, click here.

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Sunflower Artist

One Painting a Day

Recent Works

I pulled together this composite of recent paintings to see where I am headed. With the exception of the sunflowers on the upper right, all works in the image are completed. A few of them are sold. Still in the studio are the revised doll portrait, the Cardinal, "Patch" to help Old Dog Haven, the still life of copper and stein, and the trio of unfinished sunflowers. Click on Sunflower Artist to view this work in progress. It appears I am headed toward more sunflower paintings.

Images are copyright V. Bridges-Hoyt 2008. All Rights Reserved.

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Click here to see more of my daily paintings: One Painting a Day