All Dressed Up, Pastel, 8" x 10", painted on Wallis Belgium Mist sanded paper

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Well, I pulled it off!  I was able to finish a painting for my Christmas card this year.  This happens to be an ornament on my tree, it is one of my favorites.  I thought I would use it this year as the subject for my card.  It is a bit altered, the ornament actually has 4 penguins.  I painted three to represent my family, as there are three of us.  Warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!

Sunflower, Color pencil with a watercolor underpainting, 4 1/2" x 6", done on Arches hot press paper

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

This is a small color pencil that I did quite some time ago.  I find that color pencil works nicely on Arches hot press watercolor paper, and a watercolor underpainting seems to speed up the process a bit.  Color pencil is labor intensive, so I rarely use it these days.  They take forever, and I was loosing patience.  Once I discovered pastel, I never looked back. 

Hibiscus in Sun, 4" x 6", Watercolor on Arches cold press paper

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

This is probably my favorite watercolor.  It was one of those few times when everything went my way, oh happy days!  I painted this from a photograph I took at a local farm.  This is teeny tiny, I wish I painted it larger (it probably would have been a disaster though, knowing my frustrations with watercolor).

Garden Impatiens, 4 1/2" x 6 1/2", Watercolor on Arches coldpress paper

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

Watercolor is not my friend.  It is an elusive medium that I struggle with, yet I still play and attempt to come up with something acceptable.  These paintings started out as one, yet together they did not work.  So, the scissors came out, and voila! I now have two little paintings.  I liked the simplicity of design and the transparency of the layering in these, they aren't fussy which I find difficult to achieve with watercolor.

Teddies in Transit, Pastel, 7" x 9", painted on Wallis sanded paper

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

It's sometimes difficult to come up with an original idea for my Christmas Card.  Back in 2002 I thought I would paint some teddy bears that I've collected.  I have them sitting in this sleigh on a table during the Christmas season, and they inspired me enough to paint them for my card.  I find it funny how you can capture a personality from a stuffed animal. 

Christmas Cardinal, Pastel, 8" x 8", painted on Colourfix sanded paper

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

In 2001 I decided to paint a cardinal for my Christmas card.  It is traditional I know, I guess I had to get it out of my system.  I haven't painted too many birds, but I did find this fun to do. The square format proved to be an expensive postage experience.  Because of the odd size, the US PO charges extra postage, not a good thing.  I did this format only one other time, again expensive to  mail.  I'll never do that again!

Allison 2000 12 1/2" x 16 1/2", Graphite pencil on three-ply vellum

© by Christine DiMauro, all rights reserved.

After drawing Three Sisters, I was feeling the itch to draw my daughter.  So, even though I have only one daughter, I drew her three times!  This was my Christmas card for 2000, and it shows my daughter at three different stages during the year.