New Painting & New Store

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

I just added this painting to the figurative gallery on my website. It is titled "The Third Sorrow". Its an 18"x24" oil on hand stretched canvas.

This one has a lot of emotional meaning for me and because of that it took me several months to complete. I usually work on several paintings at once but not this time. I guess I was a little obsessive so instead of other paintings I have been working on a few sculptural object art pieces and several dolls during the paintings drying time. Those will be added soon also, once I get the "final touches" added. They just don't feel quite finished yet. It used to be I could complete several paintings a week but I now have an inner ear disorder and chronic back pain that slows me down quite a bit. Its a bummer to try to live with but still, I refuse to give up my art!

Also, I opened a store with cafepress.com. So far, I have only added a few products/gifts featuring some of my watercolors. I prefer oils, acrylics and pastels but sometimes I use watercolors to work on "studies" of a subject. I am not usually very satisfied with them as a painting but I thought they would make decent designs for gifts, t-shirts, etc. Check it out at http://www.cafepress.com/benitasweeney

Peace and happiness