Birds of Paradise II Daily Painting #15

This Painting is SOLD.

Daily Painting #15

November 7, 2007

“Bird of Paradise II” acrylic on unframed, 8”x8” canvas.

I’m in a flower mood. I decided to paint another view of the Bird of Paradise Flower. By the way, I forgot to mention in the previous painting the source of my subject matter. I used a photograph as inspiration from a book titled, ‘Flowers and Plants of Hawai’I’ by Paul Wood, Photography by Ron Dahlquist. I bought the book in Hawaii and always love looking through it. Well, I used another photograph from the book as inspiration again. If you like flower books as coffee table books, then this is a good one. I bought it in the airport on Maui, but I’m sure Amazon.com has it too.

Since I spent 3 days with 500 people and Wayne Dyer on Maui last week, the Tao has been on my mind… A LOT. The movie, ‘The Secret’ came up in discussion and apparently Wayne Dyer was approached to be in the film. He declined because he thought there was too much focus on the ego and not enough focus on sharing and giving back to others. He then talked about the following four important virtues of the Tao (the true Secret… what a paradox that is!):

1. Natural Sincerity: Find your truth in nature and be willing to live by it. If you do this you’ll see it everywhere. Live honestly, with simplicity, and as natural as possible.

2. Gentleness: Be kind to the kind, and kind to the unkind. Instead of saying, ‘What’s in it for me?’ start asking, ‘How may I serve?’ When you are inspired, spirit takes you in the direction you want your life to go towards. (‘When you are inspired, dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you find yourself to be greater, by far, then you ever dreamed yourself to be.’ –Patanjali)

3. Reverence for all Life: Love all creatures. Stop using force in your life, only use power. Using Force will weaken you, while power will strengthen you. If this is something new to you I HIGHLY recommend you read the book, ‘Power Vs. Force’ by David Hawkins. After reading this it will make you think twice about the thoughts you think to yourself or toward others. You are only a part of the problem or the solution and this all stems from your thoughts.

4. Supportiveness: Live a life in service to others. Try your best to stand in the center of your being and forget you are even there. What is your inner calling? Everyone has a gift to share with the world. How will you support others by following your inner calling?

There is a great quote by Albert Einstein that I immediately thought of after hearing Wayne talk about these 4 virtues, ‘I want to think like God thinks… the rest is just details’. What a great quote, huh?

Well that’s all for today. That is until the next painting….

Peace & blessings,
Gayle Etcheverry

eBay auction at:
http://stores.ebay.com/Gayles-Paintings

Gayle’s Art web page:
http://www.GaylesPaintings.com

and of course….
http://www.GodBlessHumanity.com

Birds of Paradise #14

This Painting is SOLD.

Daily Painting #14

November 6, 2007

‘Bird of Paradise’ acrylic painting on unframed, 9”x12” canvas.

Well I am back on the mainland. We returned from Maui late Sunday evening. The trip to Maui was incredible and very difficult to return to Los Angeles after spending 10 days in paradise.

One thing that I looked forward to the most (besides seeing our dog, Lucy) was to return to my loft to paint. Hawaii is such an inspiring place and it is filled with artists. Every evening after dinner, Blaine and I would walk down Front Street in Lahaina and look through all the art galleries. Needless to say, my head is spinning with new ideas for future paintings.

I thought the perfect first Daily Painting after Maui would be of a Birds of Paradise plant. Hawaii has so many beautiful plants, flowers and birds… and this is a little blend of them all (in my mind). Every time I see one of these plants I think of Lucy when she was a puppy. My friend Merrill and I used to be roommates and we lived in a house in Mission Hills. We had a Birds of Paradise bush in the backyard and she’d take the flowers and shred them and shake her head like she killed a real bird. Maybe it was her future training for catching pigeons on our rooftop patio (we have a MAJOR pigeon problem in Sherman Oaks). Anyway, that thought makes me laugh and reminds me just how crazy our dog used to be.

The holidays are quickly approaching which I just cannot believe. I read somewhere that there’s about 8 weeks until the new year. Now that is NUTS! No way it is already that time of year. Oh well… what can you do? Nothing. Just let it ride and let go.

So I am happy to wrap this up by saying I AM BACK AND READY TO PAINT.

This painting is up at my ebay store at:
http://stores.ebay.com/Gayles-Paintings

and of course at my web page:
http://www.gaylespaintings.com

And don’t forget to visit my new web page:
http://www.GodBlessHumanity.com

peace & blessings,
Gayle Etcheverry

Earth Flower Daily Painting #11

This Painting is SOLD.

October 7, 2007

Daily Painting #11, ‘Earth Flower’ is a 10”x10” unframed canvas, 1 3/8th thick oil painting. There are several layers of paint on this canvas so it will take at least 2 weeks to dry. I used brushes for this entire painting. The photo reference I used for this painting came from Maryanne Brunetti, a talented photographer from New Zealand who’s web page is http://www.creativeeastbay.org.nz to view her work, go to ARTISTS – FILM – PHOTOGRAPHY. Many thanks to you Maryanne for letting me use one of your photos as an inspiration. I kind of used it as a guideline and then ‘went to town’ with the color like I always do. I taped the painting process on video and will upload it on youtube in the next few days (still learning iMovie). I ended up changing my mind on the petals - The pink/white theme I was trying to achieve just wasn’t working (which you’ll see on the video). So I decided to go into full, vibrant color. I like the final result much better.

I was drawn to this photograph of Maryanne’s because it makes me think of my daily walks with my dog, Lucy. In the neighborhood behind our condo building there are several houses with rose bushes and we always stop to smell them. Lucy even smells them sometimes (so cute!). But I love to watch the bees crawl all over the roses. Can you imaging how incredible it must smell to a bee? Think about how massive the flower is in size compared to the bee. So while I was painting this, I was trying to pretend that I am the bee looking at the center of a flower. This is what I think they see.

The theme that’s been running in my mind this entire week is something I read in the Wayne Dyer book on the Tao. It’s from Verse #17 on living as an enlightened leader. This is the part that rang true to me…

The great leader speaks little. He never speaks carelessly. He works without self-interest And leaves no trace. When all is finished, the people say, “We did it ourselves.”

And then from a Hafiz, 14th Century poet:

Even After All this time The sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe Me’ Look What happens With a love like that, It lights the Whole Sky

So what does this mean to me? Well, I’ve been really trying to listen more, speak less, be kind and loving to others without any conditions. I’ve been noticing nature’s gifts everywhere. All the while saying, ‘Thank you’.

I heard an idea for a meditation the other day. Just sit and smile. Smile so big that all of your organs inside are smiling. I suggest you try it. Even if you are just walking or driving in your car. It may sound goofy but it really works. ☺

I have missed my paintings (I REALLY miss it!) this week because Dena and I are working on the Fall part of the Oscar’s. We should be finished in a week or so. Until then I will have to wait till the weekend for a new Daily Painting.

Peace & Blessings,
Gayle Etcheverry

eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/Gayles-Paintings

web page http://www.gaylespaintings.com

Dolphin Play Daily Painting #10

This Painting is SOLD.

Daily Painting #10

October 1, 2007

'Dolphin Play' is an acrylic painting on a 12"x12" unframed canvas. The canvas is 1 3/8th inches thick. I used brushes, palette knife and toothbrush (old :) to apply the paint. If you look closely you'll see thick scrapes of paint across the top from the palette knife and all over the painting you can see color splattered. That was accomplished with the toothbrush.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved the ocean and everything in it. I used to dream of surfing as a child and playing with dolphins in the water. I did learn to surf as an adult, but haven’t gone swimming next to a dolphin in the water, YET. Definitely going to put that one on the life’s list tonight!


Now, I do have many ‘dolphins’ in my life now. Let me explain… My friend Chellie Campbell has a simple way of categorizing people into three groups; Sharks, Tunas and Dolphins. Sharks are people who are looking for lose-win situations (meaning they win, you lose). They probably could care less about you, think nothing of you, and probably want to do some harm to you in one way or another. Tunas seem to attract lose-lose situations (you both lose). They whine, complain, bitch and moan about everything. They seem to be a victim all the time. They usually swim in very large schools too. Dolphins always look for win-win situations (you both win!) and THESE are your people. They love you, praise you, play with you, make you smile, will fight of sharks if needed, and treat you like family. Naturally, I prefer dolphins and thankfully attract them all the time. Whenever I am confronted by a person who is acting like a shark or a tuna, I immediately remember this classification and think to myself, ‘NOT MY PEOPLE! Don’t take it personally and they are NOT dolphins’. It makes all unpleasant situations easy to deal. It also reminds me not to become a shark or a tuna if I am confronted by one and stay true to my dolphin nature. If you like to learn more about my rock star friend Chellie her web page is http://www.chellie.com

Ever since I started the daily paintings I’ve had dolphins on my mind. Again it’s the Maui thing. I must always have Maui on my mind or something. That’s a good thing.

My business partner, Dena and I started our annual Oscar’s/Red Carpet job and it will last for 3 weeks. If you haven’t checked out our web page before, please feel free to do so at http://www.prettyinpaint.net

I will do my best to work on some daily paintings through the week, but if you don’t hear from me as often as before, this is why. Also I’ve been working very hard on my latest web project… more information soon to follow, I promise! Maybe in 2 weeks.

Until next time…


Peace & blessings,
Gayle Etcheverry

DON’T FORGET! The auction on Four Ballet Dancers will close tomorrow, Tuesday October 2nd at 10:22am PST.

To view the auctions at my eBay store go to
http://stores.ebay.com/Gayles-Paintings

Or you can always go to my web page
http://www.gaylespaintings.com