Enlightened

This painting was done on 6 x 6 wrapped canvas and is titled Enlightened. You can find it for sale on Daily Paintworks.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

She Forged Ahead

Another daily painting. It's titled "She Forged Ahead." Dedicated to all the women who kept going regardless of the obstacles. It was done using acrylics on 8 x 8 x 2 inch wrapped canvas. Sides are painted grey so no need for a frame. You can find it for sale on Daily Paintworks.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

And The Winner Is.....

Thanks to everyone who entered my Birthday Bash Giveaway! I've decided that everyone who entered will get one of my Fine Art Reproductions. Take a look at my reproductions here and let me know if you would like something besides "Singing The Blues." Your reproduction will come printed by me on matte graphic image paper using archival inks said to have a life of 99 years.

Hope you all enjoy your art!

Birthday Bash Giveaway!

My birthday is on the 22nd so in celebration I'm having a contest!

Here are the rules: You must be 18 or older to enter and live in the US. There are several ways to get entries and please let me know if you have questions.

Here's how to get entries: 1. follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bettyrefour and let me know you've followed either by leaving a comment here or tweeting me. For an additional entry tweet the contest to your followers.
2. "Like" me on Facebook then tell your friends and ask them to like me as well and tell me you sent them. Let me know when you like me: http://artist.to/artbybettyrefour For each person you send that likes me you get an additional entry. 3. After reading this do something nice for someone or multiple people and ask them to pay it forward. Let me know what you did. This is good for 5 entries. 4. Take a look in my etsy shop and find your favorite item and leave a comment telling me what it is. http://brefour.etsy.com, this is good for one entry.

That's it! Multiple chances to win and the winner gets a Fine Art reproduction of my painting pictured here - Singing the Blues. I'm also having a contest on my card blog at http://noteworthycrafts.blogspot.com so go and enter there as well. Good Luck everyone.

Oh and last but not least the winner will be announced sometime on August 23, 2011 right here in the comments section. Please make sure I have a way to contact you.

Push - Contemporary Abstract Painting Supporting Breast Cancer Awareness

This has been a rough year for me. Just when I thought that soon I would be able to feel the ground under my feet again and not cry when someone asked about my mother, my uncle died suddenly of an apparent heart attack. A few weeks later a friend was diagnosed with Breast Cancer and not long after that another. Then, just last week another dear friend was diagnosed with cancer.

It would be easy to sit back and feel sorry for myself or allow myself to drown in my grief but I refuse to do that. Instead, I choose to paint, something that I have not done a lot of this year. I choose to continue to push no matter what.

There are people around me that have no idea how much their kind gestures have meant to me. Words of encouragement from members of Etsy Project Embrace and of The Etsy Twitter Team. A compliment or purchase of my art. Including me in treasuries. An unexpected present or card in the mail. Someone bringing over dinner...little things can go a long way.

With Breast Cancer Awareness month upon us, this painting is dedicated to my maternal grandmother and countless others who have lost their battles with Breast Cancer. Everyone involved with Etsy Project Embrace. My friends on The Etsy Twitter Team. Everyone that took the time to do something nice, not only for me but for anyone. The survivors, friends, family and everyone that continues to PUSH no matter how insurmountable the obstacles seem...until there's a cure for all types of cancer.

You can find this painting for sale in my Etsy shop with a portion of the proceeds being donated to support Breast Cancer Initiatives. Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Name That Painting

The hardest thing about painting for me is coming up with a title, and since I have joined a daily painting group that task is even harder. What I have decided to do is have a contest! Help me come up with a name for this painting and if I decide to use your suggestion for this painting or any of the paintings I do this year I'll send you a reproduction of one of my works. So put those thinking caps on and help me out.

This was done using acrylics on 8 x 10 x 1/2 inch wrapped canvas. The staple free sides are painted purple. It is signed and dated on the back, wired and ready to hang. You can find it for sale in my etsy shop, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to support Breast Cancer Initiatives.

Please, please, please leave a comment with your suggestion and make sure I have a way to contact you if I like your idea. Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Bloom

Bloom - (c)Betty Refour - 2010

One of my resolutions for the new year is to paint more. In order to help me with that resolution I joined a daily painting group here in Oklahoma. This is my first painting of the new year. I'm not sure that I will be able to keep up the pace of painting daily but I'm sure going to try.

You can find this painting for sale in my Etsy shop with a portion of the proceeds being donated to support blood cancer initiatives.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

One Last Present To Share

Tangled (c) 2009 - Betty Refour

Whenever I've given a gift of art I usually do pieces 8 x 10 or smaller but this year I decided to do a large painting for someone. This was done using acrylics on 36 x 24 wrapped canvas. I hope they like it.

Happy Holidays everybody! Thanks for stopping by.

Remembering Liza

Liza - Acrylics on an 8 x 10 Canvas Panel (c)Betty Refour 2009

One of the most influential people in my life was my maternal grandmother. While my mom encouraged academics she fueled my desire to be an artist. When mom bought books she bought art supplies. She taught me how to knit and sew and would encourage me to draw and paint.

One of the many things I learned from Liza, as we called her, was the idea of giving back. She encouraged me to do volunteer work and to donate money to causes I believed in whenever I could. Little did I know just how important those ideals would become in my life. In 1986 after a courageous battle with Breast Cancer we lost Liza and I became an advocate for Breast Cancer Awareness.

In the years since I have had several friends diagnosed with Breast Cancer some have survived and others have not but I do whatever I can to promote awareness through art in honor of Liza and countless others.

We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go in the battle against Breast Cancer so please do all that you can to support awareness.

This painting is part of the EBSQ online show Think Pink.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

His Dreams Were Uneasy

His Dreams Were Uneasy (c)20009 - Betty Refour

This was done using oil pastels and acrylics on an 8 x 10 canvas panel. You can find it for sale in my Etsy shop.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

Reflections

Reflections - (c) 2009 Betty Refour - Acrylics on an 8 x 10 Canvas Panel

This is my newest work. Enjoy!

Her Dreams Were Of Colors

Her Dreams Were Of Colors (c)Betty Refour Acrylics on Canvas Panel 2009

This painting is about an artist who constantly thought about color so much so that her dreams were of colors. You can find it for sale in my etsy shop.

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.

What Did You Do Today?

Glass Pendants by Rose and Betty Refour (c)

I've been looking for something to do with all the images that Rose has drawn. We've done cards, magnets and tees but I wanted to do something else. She likes to draw small sometimes and so I decided to see how her images would look as glass pendants. Today we each took one of our images and cut them to fit these tiles. This is our first attempt so we still have some kinks to work out but I don't think they turned out half bad. The best part is that she enjoyed it and it is sometimes hard to find things that will keep her interest. The one on the right is hers. So...what did you do today?

Have a great day everybody, thanks for stopping by.