It has been a while since my last post!

My hubby is finally home from a six month deployment, but now we have to move.  I am moving back to Jacksonville, FL and he is moving into the barracks in Virginia Beach.  Not the ideal living arrangement for a married couple, but we will make it work. 

I should have posted these before now, but here are some of the things I have created since my last post, enjoy!

Here is a watercolor painting I did as a gift swap, now she is one of my really good friends!

I also made some earrings to pass the time....

You may find my earrings and my paintings for sale in my Etsy Shop www.andreamcgee.etsy.com please stop by and check out my shop!  I also do commissioned pieces so let me know if there is something you would like!

I painted a Palm Tree for my Cousin Jon it was commissioned by my Aunt and Uncle as a house warming present for his new apartment.

Busy, busy:)

I have been a busy girl!  Last week I helped a friend paint her kitchen a nice warm Toasted Nutmeg color, it looks amazing!  My hubby was at a place he was able to call from so I spent a lot of time waiting for phone calls:)  And too afraid to start something in hopes he would call.  Over the weekend I helped a fellow Navy wife with her homework.  She is a smart lady her brain was just overloaded with two kids, school and her hubby away.  She didn't really need much help, more moral support!

I just finished painting this Dolphin:

I am working on a couple other paintings I am hoping to post tomorrow!

Until then, here is a painting I did for my cousin for her wedding.  First, let me explain a little, her man proposed to her while playing the board game clue.  They played with their group of friend all the time and she was always Miss Peacock and he was always Professor Plum. 

I will post more soon!  I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it!

Painting the day away:)

I have been painting all day:)  My family has made some requests and I decided today was a good day to paint!  Evidently I was right because it was 19 degrees outside when I woke up this morning!  That is c-c-c-cold!

 My Aunt Linda called a few days ago and mentioned she needed a sign for my Memaw's room and the Bathroom so my Memaw remembers where she is going.  So, I volunteered to paint a couple of signs for my Aunt to hang on the doors.  I painted these today.

I painted this a few weeks ago for my Sister-in-law in Louisiana,

She loved it and asked me to paint a monkey for her new baby girls' room.

One of my Sister-in-law's friends saw her Fleur de lis and commissioned her own.

Our Neice's brothers saw her painting and of course they wanted their own paintings.

 For Hunter...Tennessee Volunteers

For Dominic...New England Patriots










I still have a dolphin for Dawson and the Philadelphia Eagles for Dillon, and Mason has yet to submit his request. 


My Brother's kids are on facebook so when my nephew Bram saw the monkey I painted he asked for a painting of an F-18.  Since my husband works on them everyday I had him find me a picture of an F-18 to paint, so that was his contribution.  This is an F-18 on the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman, which was the last ship my husband was deployed to.

Then I asked my Niece Sadie what she would like, and she requested a butterfly in a garden.

Since I am posting paintings for family, here is a painting of a pelican I did for my Dad for his birthday one in 2005.

I will post more as I finish them!  I hope you are enjoying my work as much as I am enjoying creating it.

Missing Key West

After posting the pictures of my paintings the other day I really miss my balcony in Key West!  Most of the pictures were taken outside on the balcony were I painted them.  At the time I am sure I was cussing the heat, but it is a chilling 29 degrees outside right now, and I am kinda missing my warm Key West balcony!  I am not the only one, my Boston Terrier, Bailey Buttercup is not much for the cold either.  She spends as little time outside right now as possible, and I am pretty sure if she could she would not touch the ground with her little dog feet.  I put little dog booties on her, but she wouldn't have anything to do with that, and immediately shook them off...I tried!

This is our Bailey:)  I think I might have to paint this picture of her too:)  She is a sweet girl!  She has one little problem though....she CAN'T control her LICKER!  She loves everyone and if you are within licking distance she is going to lick you! 

Some more History...

I have covered, high school, and college, and some of my adult life...so while I was bartering with my artwork, my then boyfriend was either 5 states away or out on an aircraft carrier.  Most of the paintings I posted in my last post were done while I was in a long distance relationship and living in the Riverside area of Jacksonville. After three years of dating long distance we finally decided to tie the knot.  I moved from Jacksonville, FL to Virginia Beach, VA.  I got a part time job at an Art Supply store and slowly built up my art supplies.  Our roommate, like my husband, was also in the Navy and when he returned from a 6 month deployment I painted him a painting as a welcome home/ Birthday present:

 

One of their friends in the Navy saw a picture of this and Commissioned me  to do a painting for her friend who was deployed at the time.  The girl's beloved dog had passed away while she was gone and her friend wanted to surprise her with a painting of her dog hanging in her living room for her return.

I was in Virginia Beach less than a year, when my husband got orders to Key West, FL.  So we packed up and moved to sunny, beautiful Key West!  Wow what an adventure!  My husband was on shore duty so he didn't have to deploy for the entire 3 years we were there, yay!  I worked part-time at a beautiful location where I was surrounded by water.  It was really hard to have a bad day in Key West, all you had to do was walk outside and look around and you couldn't help but smile!  I actually got to paint a few paintings just for me!  A lot of my work has been what other's have asked for, I finally got to paint a few things just because I wanted to! 

We would go to the sunset festival at Mallory Square every chance we got!  I could not get over how many different colors there could be in any given sunset, amazing!  I loved walking down Whitehead Street and seeing the light house across from The Hemingway House so I did a painting of the Key West Lighthouse at Sunset. 

 

As I mentioned, I really loved walking down Whitehead Street, so I did a painting of one of the Cottages along the way.

I have always loved the work of Vincent van Gogh, and I always wanted a painting of Cafe Terrace at Night, since I can not afford an original, I did my own! 

We went to the Key West Aquarium and I fell in love with Jelly Fish, they are so beautiful, so I painted one of those too.

I call this My Isle of Serenity, I painted this to hang over our bed!  

I also painted one similar to this called Single Palm Isle and this is about the time I discovered Etsy.com and started my shop www.andreamcgee.etsy.com 

After my cousins visit to Key West, I was commissioned to paint her, her own island too, but she wanted a boat on it. 

Same painting, just an Up-close picture of the island

I also painted a few coconuts, just for the fun of it, and ended up selling a few of those too! 

One of my co-workers saw my etsy shop and commissioned me to paint her a seahorse.

Then my Mother in Law requested a Bunny.

 

A friend requested a painting on the wall of her son's room, this was fun! 

Then my husband's squadron asked that I paint them an alternate squadron patch logo.

 

Then the VFA 106 First Class Petty Officer's commissioned me to paint a mural in their Mess Room.

Here is a close up...I decided to personalize this painting for the 7 current First Class Petty Officers and painted their names as the eyebrow ridge of each of the skulls.

Then my mom asked for a painting with palm trees, poinciana trees and sea oats.

I think this gets us through Key West...so this is a good place to stop for the day.  I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it!

Oh, yes...I didn't want to leave anyone hanging from yesterday's post...there was nothing but water in the dog dish, so I have no idea what the dog was doing!

Some history...

Well, let's see, I guess I will start with College, since that is when I really started trying to sell my work trying being the key word, I usually gave it away before even attempting to sell it.  During college I learned that giving art as gifts was a good way to promote your work.  So I gave paintings as house warming presents...which was usually apartment warming presents for my friends back then, not quite homeowners yet.  I would give them as birthday presents, and Christmas presents, and it turned out, word of mouth was a pretty good way to get started.  I am kind of disappointed, I do not seem to have any pictures to post here.

Painting on trade was good too!  I painted a couple of murals at La Nopalera, a Mexican Restaurant on the corner of Beach and San Pablo in Jacksonville, FL, they paid me some in cash and some in food.  That got me a couple other jobs, three paintings at the La Nopalera on Hendricks Avenue, and this Mural for a guy who worked for Honda, of which we made a trade for parts and work on my Honda Accord (including a Timing Belt).

This is a 3 x 6 foot mural of Dolphin Fish and Wahoo.

A combination of the fish mural and the murals at the restaurants, got me another job!  A lady who had seen the murals wanted me to paint a mural in her bathroom, of which I got paid money for.

Beginning of Fairy Mural

Once my coworkers saw pictures of the murals, a few of them decided they would like their own paintings.

Tampa Bay Buccaneer's Ship

Tampa Bay Buccaneer's Flag

The two Tampa Bay Paintings were done for a co-worker who wanted to surprise her Husband when he came home after being deployed in the Navy.  She had looked everywhere for the Tampa Bay ship on a poster but could not find one.  So
she commissioned me to paint one for her.








Then another co-worker and I went to St. Augustine and she decided she wanted a painting of Flagler College for a nook in her new house.

Another co-worker's fiance commissioned me to do a painting for him of a dream he had about her all lit up in moonlight.  So she modeled for this painting:

I guess I am at a good stopping place for now...as I said before, my husband is currently deployed, I shipped him his first care package from me today and ran a few errands, so I need to go play with our furry kids for a while, I swear my Havanese is blowing bubbles in his water bowl I need to go see what is in it, his whole face is wet like he is bobbing for apples...I will type more tomorrow!  Hope you are enjoying my work as much as I have enjoyed creating it!